Vintage Cartoons. . . And "Vintage Movies"

   Amadee Van Beuren (pronounced Van Burr-en) bought Fables Studio and renamed it Van Beuren studios in 1928. During the Golden Age Of Animation his studio was the least known, yet it packed a serious punch. Van Beuren was a business grad and a great businessman which this post is about.  If asked what Van Beuren Studios was famous for, most people today would probably look at you with a blank stare, not knowing that the little-known production company also helped lead the pack when it came to classic cartoons of their time. Van Beuren Studios was located across the street from Fleischer Studios, one of his biggest competitors of that time.   Like many non-Disney/Warner Bros. cartoon studios, critics and historians generally tend to give Van Beuren the footnote treatment, writing off the cartoons as cheaply produced drivel—but this isn't quite true. He put together some great shorts (Cartoons) that made great headway during the time. He also hired a few animators from competitors that also made a difference at the studio, giving them some free will. The studio produced cartoons featuring Felix the Cat as part of its Rainbow Parade series: The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg, Neptune Nonsense, and Bold King Cole, all released in 1936. Van Beuren released his films through RKO Pictures. In 1932, Van Beuren purchased Charlie Chaplin's 12 Mutual Film Company comedies for $10,000 each and re-released them through RKO Radio Pictures. Chaplin, not owning the rights to his Mutual Films, had no legal recourse against Van Beuren or RKO. Here is a list of production work that Van Beuren Studios produced during their brief 1928 - 1936 history.

• Aesop's Fables
• Cubby Bear
• Amos 'n' Andy
• The Little King
• Rainbow Parade (color series)
• Felix the Cat
• Molly Moo-Cow
• Burt Gillett's Toddle Tales
• Tom and Jerry
• Toonerville Trolley
• Parrotville

Live-action:

• James the Cat
• Stung (1931)
• Bring 'Em Back Alive (1932)
• Adventure Girl (1934)
• Wild Cargo (1934)
• Fang and Claw (1935 )

1. During World War 1, Walt drew patriotic cartoons for his high school newspaper.

2. At 17 Walt wanted to run away with his best male friend to join the Red Cross. Parents found out, and that ended that.

 3. Walt was court-martial by the Red Cross, yes, he finally got to join up. The whole story on this topic: Tap side bar picture of Walt Disney.

 4. Walt got real sick with influenza in his teens but recovered.

 5. Walt altered his birthdate on his passport application from 1901 to 1900 so he could serve his country.

 6. Walt worked at the local post office in his hometown in Marceline, Missouri.

  7. Walt's real family last name was D'Isigny which the family changed many years later to Disney.

   8. Walt got paid $40 dollars per wk as a cartoon animator, that's like $500 per wk today (Big Bucks) for just starting out as a young working man.

   9. Walt wanted to name Mickey Mouse, Mortimer but his wife persuaded him not to and said call him Mickey. Thank you, Mrs. Disney!

   10. Walt did not allow woman to become animators early on. An infamous letter from Mary Ford might have changed all that. Retta Scott got hired in 1942 as the first woman animator for Disney. See (Pic) of her on side bar of this blog for more info about her.

    Well of course there is more nosey history facts about Walt and maybe I will update this blog post later.

                             BJ/ 🙈🙉🙊