{"id":18978,"date":"2015-07-06T00:01:30","date_gmt":"2015-07-06T07:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/?p=18978"},"modified":"2020-03-09T09:10:40","modified_gmt":"2020-03-09T16:10:40","slug":"famous-studios-1948-49","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/index.php\/famous-studios-1948-49\/","title":{"rendered":"Famous Studios 1948-49"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the 1948-49 season, Paramount had complete faith in the popularity of Screen Songs<\/em>. The studio was now required to deliver 12 for this season – one per month. Inside the legalese of the 1948 agreement (below – click to enlarge<\/em>) is indication of a bonus to be paid to Kneitel, Sparber and Buchwald if they come in under budget. A financial incentive to make the cartoons as economical as possible. While the art qualities remain quite high on-screen, is it any wonder why so many of the stories seemed recycled from previous shorts? <\/p>\n

\"contract48-49-1\"<\/a>\"contract48-49-2\"<\/a>
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\"Odd

Odd to see NBC radio personalities Tex and Jinx (John Reagan “Tex” McCrary and Jinx Falkenburg) plugging Famous Studio cartoons in this May 22nd 1948 trade advertisement.<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Screen-song-poster49\"<\/a>Screen Songs 48-49<\/strong><\/p>\n

Locations and themes for this season’s sing-alongs ran the gamut from Florida, Ireland, The Ozark Mountains, the farm and the ocean. The contracted twelve Screen Songs for 1948-49 became:<\/p>\n

Readin’ Ritin’ and Rhythmatic
\nThe Funshine State
\nThe Emereld Isle
\nComin’ Round The Mountain
\nThe Stork Market
\nSpring Song
\nThe Ski’s The Linit
\nToys Will Be Toys
\nFarm Foolery
\nOur Funny Finny Friends
\nMarriage Wows
\nThe Big Flame Up<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Winston

Winston Sharples (right) confers with his violinist.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Noveltoons 1948-49<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Musical<\/a>

Musical cue sheet for A-HAUNTING WE WILL GO<\/p><\/div>The Mite Makes Rite
\nHectore’s Hectic Life
\nThe Old Shell Game
\nThe Little Cut Up
\nHep Cat Symphony
\nThe Lost Dream<\/em> (Little Audrey)
\nLittle Red School Mouse
\nA-Haunting We Will Go<\/em> (Casper)
\nA Mutt In A Rut
\nCampus Capers<\/em> (Herman)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The ten Noveltoons<\/em> created for the 1948-49 season stuck mainly to an assortment of original characters – with only three returning favorites (Audrey, Casper and Herman). Tytla’s “Mite” is a Tom Thumb riff, his “Hector” is a “hen-pecked” house dog, his “Campus Capers” gives Herman a chance to graduate into his series, establishing the template for years to come. <\/p>\n

Kneitel\/Tendlar’s “Old Shell Game” brings Wolfie back against a snapping turtle; their “Hep Cat Symphony” is a musical forerunner to the forthcoming Herman and Katnip scenarios – here without a “Herman” or a “Katnip”<\/p>\n

Sparber\/Waldman’s “Little Cut Up” is a musical based on the idea of a 6-year old George Washington chopping down cherry trees. Sparber\/Johnson’s “Little Red School Mouse” is another cat and house opus – the well worn plot of a young mouse unaware of his adversary (a cat) but outwitting him at every turn (Teacher’s Pest<\/em> (1950) and several Baby Huey entries would soon go over the same territory); Sparber\/Tendlar’s “Mutt In A Rut” (featuring “Dogface”) begins as retread of Bugs Bunny’s Hare Force<\/em> (1944) with a “Dog Heaven” dream sequence that may have inspired Don Bluth! <\/p>\n

Popeye 1948-49<\/strong>
\nSnow Place Like Home
\nRobin Hood Winked
\nSymphony In Spinach
\nPopeye’s Premiere
\nLumber Jack And Jill
\nHot Air Aces
\nA Balmy Swami
\nTar With A Star<\/em><\/p>\n

Kneitel\/Sparber and Tytla took Popeye to a variety of locales and time periods this season: The North Pole, The old west, Sherwood Forest, a Hollywood premiere and a lumber camp among others. Plots were reworked, remade or inspired by previous cartoons such as The Spinach Overture, Axe Me Another, The Hyp-nut-tist, A Dream Walking<\/em> and, of course, one cartoon was a cheater – Popeye’s Premiere<\/em> reusing much footage from Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp<\/em> (1939).<\/p>\n

\"A

A model sheet for “Robin Hoodwinked”<\/p><\/div>\n

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Sales Department<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The annual round up in the trades did not bode well for Famous Studios this year – with public opinion leaning towards Warner Bros. cartoons, MGM and Disney. Popeye continues to be mentioned by virtue of his star status. In fact, the more we look at it, Popeye was the raison d’\u00eatre<\/em> for Famous Studios existence. <\/p>\n\"showmans48-1\"<\/a>\"showmans48-2\"<\/a>\"boxoffice48\"<\/a>\"MP-Herald58\"<\/a>\n