Color Classics
Encyclopedia
Color Classics were a series of animated short subject
s produced by Fleischer Studios
for Paramount Pictures
from 1934 to 1941 as a competitor to Walt Disney
's Silly Symphonies
. As the name implies, all of the shorts were made in color
, with the first entry in the series, Poor Cinderella, being the first color cartoon produced by the Fleischer studio. There were 36 films produced in this series.
process. The rest of the 1934 and 1935 cartoons where shot in two-strip Technicolor
, because the Disney studio had an exclusive agreement with Technicolor that prevented other studios from using the lucrative three-strip process. That exclusive contract expired at the end of 1935, and the 1936 Color Classic cartoon Somewhere in Dreamland became the first Fleischer cartoon produced in three-strip Technicolor.
While they are sometimes considered by film historians to be pale Silly Symphonies knock-offs, many of the Color Classics are still highly regarded today, including Somewhere in Dreamland (1936), the Academy Award nominated shorts, Educated Fish (1937) and Hunky and Spunky (1938, first in a subseries), and Small Fry (1939). The first film in the series, Poor Cinderella
, featured Betty Boop
(with red
hair and turquoise
eyes); future films were usually one-shot cartoons with no starring characters. Two color classics - Educated Fish (1937) and Hunky and Spunky - were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons)
; both lost to Disney shorts.
Many of the Color Classics entries make prominent use of Max Fleischer
's Tabletop 3D Setback invention, a device which allowed animation cels to be photographed against actual 3D
background sets instead of the traditional paintings. Poor Cinderella, Somewhere in Dreamland
, and Christmas Comes But Once a Year
(starring Betty Boop character Grampy
) all make prominent use of the technique. Disney's competing apparatus, the multiplane camera
, would not be completed until 1937, three years after the Setback's first use.
The Color Classics series ended in 1941 with Vitamin Hay, starring Hunky and Spunky. In its place, Fleischer began producing Technicolor cartoons starring Gabby
, the town crier from the 1939 Fleischer/Paramount feature film Gulliver's Travels
.
A similar series would be started by Fleischer's successor Famous Studios
in 1943, under the name Noveltoons
. Some of the one-shots in this series would be reminiscent of the Color Classics in terms of production value and story.
U.M.&M. altered the original opening credits sequences for some of the films, to remove all references to the names "Paramount Pictures" and "Technicolor", and to add their own copyright notices. Before the retitling could be finished, U.M.&M. was bought out by National Telefilm Associates (NTA). Instead of refilming the openings, NTA obscured the references to the Paramount and Technicolor names by placing black bars over the original title cards and copyright notices. Only a few Color Classics, among them, had their title cards redone by U.M.&M., among them Play Safe, Christmas Comes But Once a Year, Bunny Mooning, Little Lambkins, and Vitamin Hay.
NTA distributed the Color Classics to television, yet allowed the copyrights to lapse on all of the films except Tears of an Onion. Many public domain
video distributors have released TV prints of Color Classics shorts on home video. The UCLA Film and Television Archive has, through the assistance of Republic Pictures
(successor company to U.M.&M. and NTA), retained original theatrical copies of all of the films, which have periodically been shown in revival film houses and on cable television.
Ironically, original distributor Paramount has, through their 1999 acquisition of Republic, regained rights to the Color Classics, including owning what survives of the original elements. Lions Gate Home Entertainment (licensee for Republic, and who currently holds home video rights) has announced no plans to release the Color Classics officially to DVD.
In 2003, animation archivist Jerry Beck
conceived a definitive DVD box set of all the Color Classics, and tried to enlist Republic Pictures' help in releasing this set. After being turned down, Kit Parker Films (in association with VCI Entertainment) stepped in to provide the best available 35mm and 16mm prints of the Color Classics from Parker's archives to create the box set Somewhere In Dreamland: The Max Fleischer Color Cartoons. These "interim restored versions" contain digitally recreated Paramount titles; the U.M.&M.-modified prints had to have their title cards as well as their animator credits redone. Tears of an Onion was not included in the set, as it remains under copyright.
. All shorts from 1936 and onward were produced in three-strip Technicolor.
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
s produced by Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios, Inc., was an American corporation which originated as an Animation studio located at 1600 Broadway, New York City, New York...
for Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
from 1934 to 1941 as a competitor to Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's Silly Symphonies
Silly Symphonies
Silly Symphonies is a series of animated short subjects, 75 in total, produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939, while the studio was still located at Hyperion Avenue in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles...
. As the name implies, all of the shorts were made in color
Color
Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
, with the first entry in the series, Poor Cinderella, being the first color cartoon produced by the Fleischer studio. There were 36 films produced in this series.
History
The first Color Classic was photographed in the two-color CinecolorCinecolor
Cinecolor was an early subtractive color-model two color film process, based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor system of the late 1920s and 1930s. It was developed by William T. Crispinel and Alan M...
process. The rest of the 1934 and 1935 cartoons where shot in two-strip Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
, because the Disney studio had an exclusive agreement with Technicolor that prevented other studios from using the lucrative three-strip process. That exclusive contract expired at the end of 1935, and the 1936 Color Classic cartoon Somewhere in Dreamland became the first Fleischer cartoon produced in three-strip Technicolor.
While they are sometimes considered by film historians to be pale Silly Symphonies knock-offs, many of the Color Classics are still highly regarded today, including Somewhere in Dreamland (1936), the Academy Award nominated shorts, Educated Fish (1937) and Hunky and Spunky (1938, first in a subseries), and Small Fry (1939). The first film in the series, Poor Cinderella
Poor Cinderella
Poor Cinderella is a 1934 Fleischer Studio animated short film featuring Betty Boop. The first entry in the Color Classics series, Poor Cinderella was Fleischer Studio's first color film, and the only appearance of Betty Boop in color during the Fleischer era.-Synopsis:In this retelling of the...
, featured Betty Boop
Betty Boop
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in...
(with red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
hair and turquoise
Turquoise
Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula CuAl648·4. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue...
eyes); future films were usually one-shot cartoons with no starring characters. Two color classics - Educated Fish (1937) and Hunky and Spunky - were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons)
Academy Award for Animated Short Film
The Academy Award for Animated Short Film is an award which has been given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as part of the Academy Awards every year since the 5th Academy Awards, covering the year 1931-32, to the present....
; both lost to Disney shorts.
Many of the Color Classics entries make prominent use of Max Fleischer
Max Fleischer
Max Fleischer was an American animator. He was a pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon and served as the head of Fleischer Studios...
's Tabletop 3D Setback invention, a device which allowed animation cels to be photographed against actual 3D
Three-dimensional space
Three-dimensional space is a geometric 3-parameters model of the physical universe in which we live. These three dimensions are commonly called length, width, and depth , although any three directions can be chosen, provided that they do not lie in the same plane.In physics and mathematics, a...
background sets instead of the traditional paintings. Poor Cinderella, Somewhere in Dreamland
Somewhere in Dreamland
Somewhere in Dreamland was a 1936 film based on the titular song. This film was part of Max Fleischer's Color Classics series.-Plot:A young brother and sister carry a wagon with pieces of wood, gathering them for their stove. They pass by three merchants' shops: a tinker's, a butcher's, and a baker's...
, and Christmas Comes But Once a Year
Christmas Comes But Once a Year
Christmas Comes but Once a Year is a 1936 animated short produced by Fleischer Studios and released on December 4, 1936. It is part of the Color Classics series.-Summary:...
(starring Betty Boop character Grampy
Grampy
Grampy is an animated cartoon character appearing in the Betty Boop series of films produced by Max Fleischer and released by Paramount Pictures....
) all make prominent use of the technique. Disney's competing apparatus, the multiplane camera
Multiplane camera
The multiplane camera is a special motion picture camera used in the traditional animation process that moves a number of pieces of artwork past the camera at various speeds and at various distances from one another...
, would not be completed until 1937, three years after the Setback's first use.
The Color Classics series ended in 1941 with Vitamin Hay, starring Hunky and Spunky. In its place, Fleischer began producing Technicolor cartoons starring Gabby
Gabby (cartoon)
Gabby was a Max Fleischer animated cartoon series distributed through Paramount Pictures. Gabby was the town crier in the 1939 animated feature Gulliver’s Travels produced by Fleischer. Paramount and Fleischer saw fit to give Gabby his own Technicolor cartoon series, eight entries of which were...
, the town crier from the 1939 Fleischer/Paramount feature film Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels (1939 film)
Gulliver's Travels is a 1939 American cel-animated Technicolor feature film, directed by Dave Fleischer and produced by Max Fleischer for Fleischer Studios. The film was released on Friday, December 22, 1939 by Paramount Pictures, who had the feature produced as an answer to the success of Walt...
.
A similar series would be started by Fleischer's successor Famous Studios
Famous Studios
Famous Studios was the animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount acquired the aforementioned studio and ousted its founders, Max and Dave Fleischer, in 1941...
in 1943, under the name Noveltoons
Noveltoons
Noveltoons was an anthology series of animated cartoons produced by Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios from 1943 to the close of the studio in 1967. Casper the Friendly Ghost, Herman and Katnip, Little Audrey, and Baby Huey all got their start from this series...
. Some of the one-shots in this series would be reminiscent of the Color Classics in terms of production value and story.
Later statuses of films
In 1955, Paramount sold all rights to the Color Classics cartoons to television distributor U.M.&M. T.V. Corp.U.M.&M. T.V. Corp.
U.M.&M. T.V. Corp. is best known as the original purchaser of Paramount Pictures' pre-October 1950 shorts and cartoons...
U.M.&M. altered the original opening credits sequences for some of the films, to remove all references to the names "Paramount Pictures" and "Technicolor", and to add their own copyright notices. Before the retitling could be finished, U.M.&M. was bought out by National Telefilm Associates (NTA). Instead of refilming the openings, NTA obscured the references to the Paramount and Technicolor names by placing black bars over the original title cards and copyright notices. Only a few Color Classics, among them, had their title cards redone by U.M.&M., among them Play Safe, Christmas Comes But Once a Year, Bunny Mooning, Little Lambkins, and Vitamin Hay.
NTA distributed the Color Classics to television, yet allowed the copyrights to lapse on all of the films except Tears of an Onion. Many public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
video distributors have released TV prints of Color Classics shorts on home video. The UCLA Film and Television Archive has, through the assistance of Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures was an independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1934 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action....
(successor company to U.M.&M. and NTA), retained original theatrical copies of all of the films, which have periodically been shown in revival film houses and on cable television.
Ironically, original distributor Paramount has, through their 1999 acquisition of Republic, regained rights to the Color Classics, including owning what survives of the original elements. Lions Gate Home Entertainment (licensee for Republic, and who currently holds home video rights) has announced no plans to release the Color Classics officially to DVD.
In 2003, animation archivist Jerry Beck
Jerry Beck
Jerry Beck is a well-known animation historian, with ten books and numerous articles to his credit. He is also an animation producer, an industry consultant to Warner Bros., and has been an executive with Nickelodeon and Disney....
conceived a definitive DVD box set of all the Color Classics, and tried to enlist Republic Pictures' help in releasing this set. After being turned down, Kit Parker Films (in association with VCI Entertainment) stepped in to provide the best available 35mm and 16mm prints of the Color Classics from Parker's archives to create the box set Somewhere In Dreamland: The Max Fleischer Color Cartoons. These "interim restored versions" contain digitally recreated Paramount titles; the U.M.&M.-modified prints had to have their title cards as well as their animator credits redone. Tears of an Onion was not included in the set, as it remains under copyright.
Filmography
All cartoons released in 1934 and 1935 were produced in two-strip TechnicolorTechnicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
. All shorts from 1936 and onward were produced in three-strip Technicolor.
| Film | Characters | Original release date |
|---|---|---|
| #Poor Cinderella Poor Cinderella Poor Cinderella is a 1934 Fleischer Studio animated short film featuring Betty Boop. The first entry in the Color Classics series, Poor Cinderella was Fleischer Studio's first color film, and the only appearance of Betty Boop in color during the Fleischer era.-Synopsis:In this retelling of the... |
Betty Boop Betty Boop Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in... /Cinderella Cinderella "Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune... , Stepsisters, Prince, Fairy Godmother |
August 3, 1934 |
| #Little Dutch Mill | Hans, Gretel, Duck, Miser, Townspeople | October 26, 1934 |
| #An Elephant Never Forgets | Animal Children, Duck Teacher | December 28, 1934 |
| #The Song of the Birds | Little Boy, Baby Bird, Robins | March 1, 1935 |
| #The Kids in the Shoe | The Woman in the Shoe There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe "There Was an Old Woman Who Lived In a Shoe" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19132.-Lyrics:The most common version of the rhyme is:There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.... , Kids |
May 19, 1935 |
| #Dancing on the Moon | Animal Newlywed Couples | July 12, 1935 |
| #Time for Love | Swans | September 6, 1935 |
| #Musical Memories Musical Memories Musical Memories is a book on the performing arts written using the memoirs of French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. It was first published by SMALL, MAYNARD & COMPANY in 1919.... |
Old Man, Old Woman | November 8, 1935 |
| #Somewhere in Dreamland Somewhere in Dreamland Somewhere in Dreamland was a 1936 film based on the titular song. This film was part of Max Fleischer's Color Classics series.-Plot:A young brother and sister carry a wagon with pieces of wood, gathering them for their stove. They pass by three merchants' shops: a tinker's, a butcher's, and a baker's... |
Boy, Girl, Mother, Three Merchants | January 17, 1936 |
| #The Little Stranger | Mother Duck and ducklings, baby chick | March 13, 1936 |
| #Cobweb Hotel | Newlywed flies, spider hotel owner | May 15, 1936 |
| #Greedy Humpty Dumpty | Humpty Dumpty Humpty Dumpty Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English language nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an egg and has appeared or been referred to in a large number of works of literature and popular culture... , Mother Goose Mother Goose The familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom... |
July 10, 1936 |
| #Hawaiian Birds | Hawaiian Birds, Big City Orioles | August 28, 1936 |
| #Play Safe | Boy, Dog | October 16, 1936 |
| #Christmas Comes But Once a Year Christmas Comes But Once a Year Christmas Comes but Once a Year is a 1936 animated short produced by Fleischer Studios and released on December 4, 1936. It is part of the Color Classics series.-Summary:... |
Grampy Grampy Grampy is an animated cartoon character appearing in the Betty Boop series of films produced by Max Fleischer and released by Paramount Pictures.... , Orphans |
December 4, 1936 |
| #Bunny Mooning | Jack Rabbit, Jill Rabbit | February 12, 1937 |
| #Chicken a La King Chicken à la King Chicken à la King is a recipe consisting of diced chicken in a cream sauce, and often with sherry, mushrooms, and vegetables, served over bread or pasta.-History:... |
Rooster, Chickens, Duckie Wuckie | April 16, 1937 |
| #A Car-Tune Portrait A Car-Tune Portrait A Car-Tune Portrait was an early cartoon by pioneering animator Max Fleischer. Released on June 26, 1937, it gave an imaginative take on Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp Minor.... |
Band Leader, Other Animals | June 26, 1937 |
| #Peeping Penguins | Penguins, Mother | August 26, 1937 |
| #Educated Fish | Tommy Cod | October 29, 1937 |
| #Little Lamby | Little Lamby, Fox, Sheep | December 31, 1937 |
| #The Tears of an Onion | Onion, Vegetable Children, Crow | February 26, 1938 |
| #Hold It! | Kittens, Dog | April 29, 1938 |
| #Hunky And Spunky Hunky and Spunky Hunky and Spunky is a 1938 animated short film, part of the Color Classics series produced by Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Produced in Technicolor, the short revolves around a mother burro and her son.-History:... |
Hunky, Spunky, Miner | June 24, 1938 |
| #All's Fair at the Fair All's Fair at the Fair All's Fair at the Fair was a seven minute cartoon released in 1938. It was a Color Classic produced by Max Fleischer and distributed by Paramount.-Plot:The Film Daily called the short a "novelty cartoon" and gave the following review:... |
Elmer, Mirandy, Dogbiscuit | August 26, 1938 |
| #The Playful Polar Bears | Mother Bear, Bear Cub, Other Polar Bears | October 28, 1938 |
| #Always Kickin | Spunky, Baby Bird, Hawk | January 29, 1939 |
| #Small Fry | Tommy Cod | April 21, 1939 |
| #The Barnyard Brat | Hunky, Spunky, Other Farm Animals | June 30, 1939 |
| #The Fresh Vegetable Mystery | Carrots, Potato-Cops, Orange, Egg | September 29, 1939 |
| #Little Lambkins | Boy, Animals, Father, Mother | February 2, 1940 |
| #Ants in the Plants | Anteater, Ants | March 15, 1940 |
| #A Kick in Time | Hunky, Spunky | May 17, 1940 |
| #Snubbed By a Snob | Hunky, Spunky, Two Racehorses, Bull | July 19, 1940 |
| #You Can't Shoe a Horse Fly | Hunky, Spunky, Horsefly | August 23, 1940 |
| #Vitamin Hay | Hunky, Spunky | August 22, 1941 |