{"id":78802,"date":"2023-04-04T00:01:05","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T07:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/?p=78802"},"modified":"2023-04-04T09:09:42","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T16:09:42","slug":"more-from-the-herb-klynn-format-films-usc-archive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/index.php\/more-from-the-herb-klynn-format-films-usc-archive\/","title":{"rendered":"More from the Herb Klynn-Format Films USC Archive"},"content":{"rendered":"\"\"\n

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Last year, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Dino Everett, the archivist of the USC Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive<\/a>. During a tour of the film archive I, of course, asked if their were any animated films within – and Dino then led me a large cache of film elements donated to the school years ago from Herb Klynn – which seemed to be odds and ends from Herb’s studio, Format Films. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I told Dino I’ve love to see some this material scanned one of these days… and somewhat regularly, Dino has been doing just that. And he’s happy to share with it with the Cartoon Research community. Today we present a bunch of his recent scans – for your enjoyment. <\/p>\n

Mike Kazaleh is one of Klynn’s biggest fans, and the only historian with solid knowledge and insight into what exactly is on some of the reels found here. I asked him to provide some commentary on this batch – first up, this Pink Panther Show<\/em> sales reel. Clearly made in the wake of the success of the first theatrical shorts and their Oscar win. Probably commissioned by UA to be seen by executives at the big three TV networks… <\/p>\n

From Mike Kazaleh:<\/u><\/strong> “Herb Klynn and Friz Freleng were good friends, and Friz would sometimes have Herb do work for DFE. <\/p>\n

“About this film, not that Don Messick is doping the narration. The visuals: new title graphics are from Format. Pink Panther clips from the shorts Pink Pajamas, We Give Pink Stamps<\/em>, and Dial P for Pink<\/em>. They also use Pink Panther animation created by DFE for the original movie trailer – and the Shot in the Dark<\/em> opening title (Conceived and designed by DFE with the animation jobbed out to TVC in London.)<\/p>\n

\"\"“Fascinating use of “Inspector” development drawings – and a short piece of new animation of the Matzoriley Bros. <\/p>\n

“No Inspector<\/em> cartoons had been completed at this time, and his design had not been finalized yet. This would probably date the film as being from late 1964 or early 1965.<\/p>\n

“This also shows that UA\/DFE\/Mirisch had one eye on TV pretty early on. There were ultimately 34 Inspector<\/em> cartoons (other DFE\/UA shorts had 17 in each series, or one TV season’s worth.) The trailer says to look for 26 mysteries, the traditional number of shows for one season before that number was cut back to 17.<\/p>\n

“The Pink Panther Show<\/em> ultimately aired on NBC, premiering in the fall of 1969. In that first season there were two Panther<\/em> cartoons and one Inspector<\/em> cartoon.<\/p>\n

“Michael O’Connor, a writer at DFE in the mid-sixties, once told me that Friz actually wanted The Pink Panther<\/em> to have a decent theatrical run before appearing on television. Michael further said that NBC approached the studio about airing the cartoons about a year after this sales film was made. When Friz told them he wasn’t ready to air the films TV yet, NBC offered to buy a TV show to maintain a relationship with DFE until that time. The Super 6 was<\/em> the first TV show to come from this deal. The Super 6<\/em> also featured segments with a modified version of the Matzoriley Bros, as seen in The Shot in the Dark<\/em> opening, The first Inspector<\/em> cartoon, and this show promo. Michael O’Connor also said the three headed character first seen in The Shot in the Dark<\/em> opening was originally supposed to be… the Mirisch brothers!<\/p>\n

“The development drawings for P. Hornsby the Rhino cartoons were drawn by Tom Yakutis. The Rhino idea went nowhere, but the time-traveling aspect may have provided inspiration for the Captain Whammo\/Zammo segments on The Super 6 show (One episode used the General Custer motif as seen briefly in this film)”.<\/p>\n