These have been really pivotal weeks here – the school has been taking a lot of my time (as it should since it’s my full time job!) but the Thunderbean world has bee crowded as heck as we try to get all the final tweaks for the Rainbow Parade, volume 2 set done before sending it off to be replicated.
For this week’s post, I thought it would be a good time to share one of the films we’ve prepared for the Blu-ray.
Trolley Ahoy (1936) is the second of the three produced Toonerville Trolley cartoons, based on Fontaine Fox’s famous comic strip. The Van Beuren Studio was familiar with adaptations from earlier efforts, as well as the Rainbow Parade Felix shorts.
This enjoyable little short (directed by Tom Palmer and supervised by Burt Gillett) is entertaining in animation and gags, with a great Winston Sharples score. The studio is enjoying a new maturity in all aspects of production, and the best of the Rainbow Parades from this Technicolor period are easily the best produced films the studio ever made. Despite the studio’s tumultuous production environment the year before, the studio’s output was well-reviewed and received by audiences in its last year of existence.
Their second effort shows new considerations when compared to the first, especially in personality animation. Their version of “Powerful Katrina” now has pupils, matching the Skippers as well as Mr. Bang. The color palette (on this film as well as the first) is a beautiful mix of softer watercolors that work well with the character palette. In addition, the short has ambitious shot after ambitious shot, all well-animated and executed. It’s easily one of the most extravagant films the studio ever made.
Note that this is a model sheet from “Toonerville Trolley”, with the earlier version of Katrinka. For the two animation drawings, say “Animation drawings from Trolley Ahoy, featuing the new version of Katrinka.
The original negative on this short is long gone, so, as with all but one film on the set, this was scanned from the 35mm Technicolor print master that Blackhawk films has stored at UCLA. We’ve been working hard on the set for a while, and right at the end have been paying special attention to getting the color just right. So, that said, let me know what you think in the comments of the cartoon and the restoration.
A special thanks to Mark Kausler, who lent his excellent Kodachrome print, allowing a color comparison as well as confirmation of the picture and soundtrack to use at the beginning of the print (since this nitrate element on Trolly Ahoy was missing the first part of it’s titles due to nitrate deterioration). We confirmed the title and music used- the same as ‘Toonerville Picnic’ released later that year.
I’ve uploaded the UHD (4k) version of the film, so make sure to watch it in as high of a definition as you’d like.
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.
Personally I prefer “Toonville Picnic”, because that one has an octopus in it. But it’s a real pleasure to see “Trolley Ahoy” looking so good. Subtle details, like the purpling of Mr. Bang’s complexion, really add a lot now that they’re brought out so beautifully. Congratulations to you and the whole Thunderbean team, as well as Mark Kausler and the archivists at UCLA, for making this stunning restoration happen.
I actually rode on a real-life Toonerville Trolley long before I became acquainted with the Rainbow Parade cartoons. When I was eight my family took a day trip to Tahquamenon Falls in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, eastern North America’s second largest waterfall after Niagara. To get there, you had to take a narrow gauge railway through the woods to the Tahquamenon River, then take a river boat to a landing a few hundred yards above the falls. The train was called the Toonerville Trolley; it was probably a generic term for any narrow gauge railway back when they started doing tours in the 1920s, thanks to the popularity of Fontaine Fox’s comic strip. It was a very cool train ride; we saw a lot of bears along the way. I have a feeling that the tour operator left food out for them. I rode the ToonervilleTrolley again on my last trip to the UP in 2000, by which time the comic strip was but a dim memory, and the bears were as abundant as ever. I heartily recommend the experience to any of you planning your summer holidays up north.
It’s too bad there were only three of these cartoons produced. It’s a premise that could have stretched out for many installments. I had never seen this particular one before. The print is a good one, the colors are vibrant, and it’s nice to see a cartoon that is less formulaic than the usual cat and mouse chase, and with human characters in the leads. Every gag is repeated at least three times, but in my book that adds to the charm. I’m glad the Skipper got paid in the end.
I don’t wonder that the Rainbow Parade cartoons are getting so much attention from Thunderbean; these shorts need to be preserved for future generations to enjoy.
It’s a shame Van Bueren didn’t last any longer, just when its output was getting good.
I think the colors look great. Colorful, while still looking natrural. You can really appreciate the watercolor backgrounds in this 4K version. Can’t wait for the whole set!
This looks amazing. Great job!
Great looking restoration, Steve! My favorite scene, and what had to be most difficult to animate, is the Skipper singing to the music of “Sailing Sailing” while the trolley “ice skates” along the tracks in perspective, and even lays all four wheels on one track as the whole background animates in perspective. The animator had to gradually increase the size of the trolley and the Skipper as they animate closer and closer to camera. What a scene, and what a cartoon!
Thank you, Steve and Mark – looking forward to Rainbow Parade volume 2!
Harlan Ellison wrote a short story about a woman whose spirit got captured in a recycled laugh track. Her laugh was taken because it was so joyful, infectious and ebullient that the narrator said it reminded one of watching the toonerville trolley. That’s how originally got interested in these cartoons.
Do you have any plans for the cover art for this new set?