It’s a Famous Studios sort of week– thanks to Cartoon Logic’s excellent new release, Famous Studios – The Champion Collection. I just got my copy and its a beautiful as I thought it would be (I was lucky enough to see a little progress along the way). Thad Komorowski has done a huge service to these cartoons and film history in this release – these films looking as good (or better) than they were meant to be seen. Support his efforts and get a copy if you haven’t already! [Click Here].
So, as a tribute of sorts to the set, here’s an unrestored Famous Studios cartoon from 1949: Spring Song!
But first, as usual, in Thunderbean land:
Shipping, shipping, shipping. We’re still getting out a batch of special discs with another following it, and then almost immediately following those we’ll be starting to ship the Rainbow Parades, Volume 2 disc. We’ll have an article about that set as it gets back here. The Thunderbean Noveltoons disc is just about to get back from being re-replicated as well, so we’ll be shipping those soon too.
It’s the last weeks of school here at CCS, where I teach animation. Even though I enjoy the job a lot, I’m especially excited for the summer this year and so happy to have a break. Having the extra time makes all the difference in being able to accomplish big things each summer- and this one is packed. I’ll be taking a trip out west to get a bunch of films to scan, then headed east to scan a bunch of other things too! Since there’s a lot of projects wrapping up, and as each wraps up it frees me to work toward the finish of another. Four are close right now, so those will be the first out the door. I’m already trying to figure out when to rest
Enough of that! Back to today’s cartoon!!
The Screen Songs are definitely not at the top of the list of best cartoons from the studio- but that said, they’re still full of quality work. The drawing and animation is appealing throughout this short, and the design and layout is well done. This is a Myron Waldman directed one, and I can recognize some of his layout in the early scenes. I especially love the illustrations during the song in this one, and can recognize some of the layout of those stills are also by Myron. Larry Silverman is also credited, and I’m sure a good amount of the usual team in the unit is on this film. I wish I had talked to Myron more about the Screen Songs. They’re such an afterthought in the history of the studio since they’re so simple, and sort of half-length in terms of actual animation footage.
The Jerry Colonna-baby bird is an especially strange moment in this film. Super fun to watch frame by frame or slow if you’re interested in a few extra laughs.
We were able to get some color back into this old NTA print that had faded, but yellows don’t pop the way I’d like them to. Still, it’s nice to see at least some color on this particular title.
Have a good week all!
Steve Stanchfield is an animator, educator and film archivist. He runs Thunderbean Animation, an animation studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan and has compiled over a dozen archival animation DVD collections devoted to such subjects at Private Snafu, The Little King and the infamous Cubby Bear. Steve is also a professor at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.
I recall that you posted this cartoon here less than a year ago, and I believe it was also the very same faded NTA print; at least, that sickly green sun, and those sickly green canaries, look very familiar. (You’re absolutely right that the yellows don’t “pop.” In fact, they’re not even yellow!) I won’t bother to repeat my earlier comments, other than to point out that Buddy Kaye did a fine job of writing lyrics for Mendelssohn’s melody.
Actually, this seems to be a different transfer than the one posted last year with somewhat cooler colors. Or maybe it’s the same transfer with a different overall color balance. An enigma. I think I prefer the original, warmer color balance myself!
I must echo your sentiments about this famous Studios “champions“ collection. We may have seen some of these many times over, but they’ve not looked as good or sounded as good as they do here. I hope is that this sells enough that the company might want to invest in more cartoons. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a TERRYTOONS collection down the road! Wow! Thanks for all your hard work on this. I look forward to the discs that you and THUNDERBEAN will be sending out in the coming weeks.
The Screen Songs are a definite reminder that these cartoons were designed to be played before a theatre audience. The phrase “follow the bouncing ball” was still in popular culture in my childhood. My church would sometimes have film festival evenings in which some of these “follow the bouncing ball” shorts would be run. Regardless of time or age, these generally engage audiences, and people of all ages will join in the song.
One of the treats for me in re-watching these old Screen Songs is when the lyrics on screen transform into partial or full animation. This one is particularly effective in its use of Pan, who was introduced at the beginning of the short and subsequently becomes the instrument for bringing the words of the song to life. While it’s not the first cartoon to utilize a faun as a symbol of springtime, it’s very effective here. These Famous Screen Songs contain a zestfulness, a joy of living, that is contagious.