One of the things I love best about scanning rare material is that rare material being seen again and poor Buster Bear (1930) was scanned ages ago, and languished, waiting for a release. I had shown some stills, but as waiting for the time to release it. Since scans were done December 4th, 2016, I think it’s time to get poor Buster more officially out of the bag!
Buster, the creation of silent cartoon animator John ‘Scarfoot’ McCrory, has been made a little famous over these past few years with the lost media crowd. There’s quite. Few YouTube videos mentioning the character now, and some are sort of fun to watch, even though they’re not always accurate.
Buster is sort of out already. Earlier in the year we did have a sneak preview set with this film on it. A handful of days back I also gave permission to one of the lost media animation fans— who was nice enough to ask if they could post it. So, since that’s happened, it seems like a good time to do a little post about the film here.
Cartoon Historian and Cuisine fanatic David Gerstein is the real hero when it comes to unearthing Buster. His sleuthing and care made it possible for us to scan the short from the master elements. Dave has unearthed all sorts of things, and more to come!
It’s hard to say what the actual arrangement was While Buster was clearly made for a Vitaphone release, it doesn’t appear to have ever been actually released to theaters. Perhaps there were sneak previews first, or perhaps Warners didn’t like the product in the first place. There are two previous ‘Buster Bear’ cartoons copyrighted. “The Life and Adventures of Buster Bear” (1930) and Buster Bear in the Spring Carnival” (1930). I think it’s pretty clear that there is at least footage from ‘Spring Carnival’ in this release. Footage from Spring Carnival has shown up in silent home movie releases, but a complete print of these has yet to be seen by more than just the few collectors that may or may not have them. Time will tell!
Tralfaz has a pretty good article on cartoons of 1931, listing a whole series of press releases on animation as well as reviews. It’s a great read, and lists these Buster Bear shorts as a sidenote.
Clearly McCrory was trying really hard to make a cartoon with appeal and clever synchronization-without understanding completely other contemporaries’ ability to incorporate those elements consistently in their films. From watching this attempt- and comparing to other studio films around the same time, it’s pretty clear he’s already behind the times in most production aspects. Perhaps part of that is that at least some of the film was made in 1930 or before. The lack of innovation or at the least having a film close to the standards of the time most likely is the real reason the film never really saw the light of day.
Personality is the most important thing that’s really lacking in this film over anything else, and no amount of animation extravagance can help Buster find one.
I ever much enjoy happy 30s cartoons. This one is historically interesting but clearly not a masterpiece. Sometimes viewing for enjoyment allows you to skip past a production’s shortcomings. One of the most historically interesting things is hearing the early Loony Toons theme “A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight” as the opening theme in this cartoon. Clearly this must have been a choice that Warners made.
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.
If someone deliberately set out to make a parody of a cartoon from 1930, it would no doubt be very much like “Buster Bear”. All the clichés of the era are in place: the endless pan backgrounds, rubber-hosey limbs (and necks), identical triplets dancing in unison, a cow udder gag, pointless musical numbers staged for their own sake, “Turkey in the Straw”, glissandos on the slide whistle and xylophone, and above all the utter absence of any discernable story or personality. There’s even a characteristic layout error, typical of early sound cartoons, where the upper body of the pig on the unicycle disappears for one frame. Still, it’s part of the illustrious history of Warner Bros. cartoons, even if only of tangential importance, and I can enjoy watching it over and over in spite of itself. Above all, I’m amazed that a 90-plus-year-old cartoon that was never released still exists at all, let alone in such pristine condition. Congratulations to you, David Gerstein, and the entire Thunderbean team for bringing this forgotten curiosity to light.
Buster Bear, you’re no Goofy Goat. Get the hook!
A few more cliches: characters (the frogs) doing the Black Bottom; unnecessary music notes drawn to let the audience know music is being played; Felix the Cat lookalikes. About the only one I didn’t see was an outhouse gag.
So much so, I’d suspect it of being a hoax if I didn’t know better!
Some scenes look a tad overblown, but the video looks really nice otherwise. I really love how senseless this cartoon is and I wish more rarities like this could surface at some point. Some of the work at the end gives me a little bit of Vet Anderson vibes, but I don’t think he was working at the studio in the meantime…?
Here’s to hoping that the FLIT commercials by Terry ever surface.
It’s quite possible that Vet Anderson worked on this cartoon, as he had been fired from the Van Beuren studio in the spring of 1930, especially as the drawing style used in this film closely resembles the style used by Paul Terry in his Aesop’s Fables films of the silent era.
Not only that, but at least one piece of animation in this film (the mother bear and her kids) is actually recycled from an older Aesop’s Fable: “Hunting in 1950” from 1926.
Strumm told me that that Jerry Shields was involved in the drawing the horse playing jump rope. The first half of the scene is 100% him. The cats playing the instruments have his trademark side mouth, the timing when the horse enters the stage is something only he would come up with, and the skeletal movement is way too limited to be Vet.
The second half of the scene where the horse exits has a bit more of an Vet feel to it where everything is flimsy and more on ones, but the first half is outright Shields, I’m very, very sure.
The second half of this scene does indeed seem to have been animated by Vet Anderson, as I recognize his clumsy way of drawing mouths.
Thanks for finally posting this Steve. You and your company did not deserve to go through all that stuff with Serenio (I kinda feel like I caused this whole mess since I was the one that first asked you about the updates to Buster Bear shortly before you announced it would be on the special set. I don’t think I was the cause for the cartoon being put on the set but if I was, I apologize greatly for asking, I was curious and didn’t know back then that somebody would do bad things to leak it). Anyway, I’m glad we can all finally enjoy Buster Bear legally.
It’s interesting that the cartoon uses A “Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight” as it’s opening music, which was also used on the Harman & Ising Looney Tunes. I wonder if this is just coincidence or if there is a little more of a backstory on this.
In regards to the cartoon, I thought it was kind of cool how Buster’s show is held at a town hall theater. (Municipal theater’s like these (which were in some instances also leased as movie theaters) were quite common out in Western Massachusetts, Vermont, and other states, especially in the hill towns where the population was to small to construct and build an movie theater.)
Great article, Steve!
Good grief, this cartoon is such a mess, lol
There is always value in things like this. It is just one example of what not to do in a cartoon. So there is educational value here, as most seem to agree.
It’s almost hard to believe it’s been so many years since you first revealed screenshots of Buster Bear to us readers. I am hoping the short will be available on an official Thunderbean disc someday down the line, as I was unable to get the special set with this on it. Many thanks, Steve!
This short only suprised me when I heard Buster’s voice and found out it was none other than Billy Murray! Which I’m a huge fan of! Not only is it interesting due do who all animated on it, but its so funny to hear Murray do a almost feminine voice for Buster with such a strange yet someone funny delivery. Not the greatest cartoon but interesting none the less.
Did McCrory think distribution of the film might go to Universal? Can there be any other explanation for his outer-space view of the Earth with passing clouds, and “The End” written on the dark side of the moon – other than an advanced case of dementia?
I’m floored that not only does this cartoon exist, but it’s in pristine shape.
I wonder if McCrory had to pay to use “That’s My Weakness Now.”
It seems NY studios paid lip service to the idea of mouth movements matching the dialogue. It happens rarely in this cartoon. Buster sounds like Farmer Al Falfa at times.
Buster Bear was a character in the Burgess Peter Rabbit books. I wonder if there was a conflict.
Perhaps we’ll some day learn why Warners decided against picking up this series.
Probably the most well-known recording of “T’aint So, Honey T’aint So”, by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra, with young Bing Crosby singing and Bix Beiderbecke, trumpet. Columbia Records, 6/10/28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r4KozeCIYw
Apparently this print (I conclude) was not run very much, and probably for good reason. For 1931 standards, it’s crude even compared to what Terry was producing. There are good backgrounds wasted on poor drawings and animation that tries too hard to be fluid without understanding its application. It’s movement for the sake of movement hitting musical beats on purpose in the name of being an entertaining “sound cartoon.”
“Clearly McCrory was trying really hard to make a cartoon with appeal and clever synchronization-without understanding completely other contemporaries’ ability to incorporate those elements consistently in their films. From watching this attempt- and comparing to other studio films around the same time, it’s pretty clear he’s already behind the times in most production aspects.”
It sure didn’t stop Paul Terry to open his own separate cartoon studio during the same time.
’30s cartoon aficionado that I am, it’s nevertheless pretty hard for me to “enjoy” this one after hearing about how John McCrory would physically beat his animators to get them to work faster. Animation artists in the Golden Age worked in some pretty less-than-cushy facilities sometimes, but that crosses a line.
I wonder if WB still owns a copyright on this character, or is he public domain?
Since no one has seen this before, it should be obvious that Warner’s saw no value in this “character.” It has no personality. Bosco had more given his purpose, which was to bounce to the beat of the music and smile.
And Checking the Copyright Registrations book, there was no registration of this title. So it already was in The Public Domain.
Well, if it weren’t for the titles, one might think this was a Terrytoons reject.
Or Harman-Ising/VB bolus!
I was lucky enough to order, and receive, the “Sneak Preview” DVD from Thunderbean and Mr. Stanchfield some months ago, with this cartoon on it. I was, in a manner of speaking, gloriously appalled. There’s no question about the reason Warners decided not to go with McCrory and go with Harman and Ising instead.
I just wonder if this cartoon is “so bad it’s good” or just garden variety bad?
Quite surprised to learn that there were more Buster Bear cartoons than this one! Graham Webb’s “The Animated Film Encyclopedia” (2nd ed., 2011) has an entry for this as a series, but I thought that was a mistake. I hope the rest of the Buster Bear junk will be available in the fullness of time…
Up-and-coming American cartoon studios sure had a thing for animated bruins that never were. Romer Grey’s Binko, Eli Brucker and Milt Gross’s Benny the Bear, and A.J. Bimberg’s Buddy Bear. Van Beuren’s Cubby Bear/Brownie Bear isn’t a household name, but compared to these guys, he was lucky.
I’ve owned a silent cut-down version of this short for years now; wonder how widespread those were?
Thank you for sharing this rarity!
This plays like a nightmare parody of a ’30s cartoon.
I am over the moon about Buster being released. The opening actually made me scream, seeing an animated Buster walk across the screen and dance. I’m so used to the same background being used with just a still image of Bosko. I also like the Earth spinning background, it gave me Universal vibes.
I can’t thank you enough for this release, now Buster won’t be forgotten! I hope this encourages more people to look into McCrory’s oddball shorts.
Glad this finally got a good quality release online! I still remember the “incident” earlier this year concerning it being leaked.