The 1948-49 Season of cartoon short subjects from Columbia Pictures consisted of just eight new cartoons. Among them some of the worst the Screen Gems studio ever produced. But also among the eight were a few real gems, the first offerings from the game changing UPA studio. This was the transitional year. Columbia had closed their Screen Gems studio (formerly Charles Mintz’s studio) in November 1946, after years of operating in the red.

Luckily, Columbia had over two years of cartoons in the backlog – enabling the studio to release a steady stream through their 1946-47 and 1947-48 season. Color cartoons were still in high demand in movie theaters throughout the 1940s and 1950s – especially as television invaded the media landscape – and the movie studios and exhibitors teamed up to fight off the new technology. Columbia still needed cartoons – but perhaps produced at a lower cost. Enter UPA.

Columbia made a deal with UPA for four cartoons to test the waters – three Fox & Crow and one “whatever they wanted”, a miscellaneous cartoon for a new series to be called “Jolly Frolics”. Combined with the last five Screen Gems shorts, those first three from UPA gave Columbia a respectable eight subjects. (If you think that was a small release slate – just check Walter Lantz’ output for United Artists that same season (48-49): a measly five Woody Woodpecker/Andy Panda subjects).

For Columbia, this season became a win-win. Three Fox and Crow – including one of the best ever, an Oscar nominee, The Magic Fluke – and another that was a real hit with the public: Ragtime Bear, featuring the first appearance of Mr. Magoo.

What a mixed bag. Those last Screen Gems films – despite the crew of cast-off Warner Bros/Lantz/Disney personnel, including an uncredited Bob Clampett – were poor by any measure. Let’s take a look at that season – in the order of their release – the year that introduced UPA to the general public and changed animation forever.

PICKLED PUSS (September)

What’s funnier than a drunken cat? Nothing – certainly nothing in this cartoon – not even a drunken cat (or a “pickled puss”). The final Columbia cartoon from ex-Disney animator Howard Swift – who went on to create an independent shop that did everything from animating Superman (in the Columbia serials) to pioneering TV commercials. I’m sure this looked hilarious in the story boards; the animation is sufficient – it has the “look” of an average Hollywood cartoon of the era – but it’s just plain unfunny.

LO, THE POOR BUFFAL (November)

Buffalo Billingsly (cross Yosemite Sam with Foghorn Leghorn) hunts a forlorn Buffalo and a Native American. Alex Lovy was a capable director – but it takes team to make a cartoon, and the team at Columbia just didn’t have the incentive – or sense of humor. Sometimes I watch these late Columbia cartoons, squint my eyes, and try to figure out what they thought was going to get laughs here… They don’t have a vocal talent like Mel Blanc, they don’t have the music of Carl Stalling or Scott Bradley (or Winston Sharples, for that matter). Weak.

ROBIN HOODLUM (December)

The first UPA entertainment theatrical short… and what a beauty it is. They threw out the Fox & Crow playbook (if there ever was one) and just have them play Robin Hood. There’s a story that animators from Chuck Jones unit did scenes when the production fell behind. All and all a vast improvement over Screen Gems shorts.

COO-COO BIRD DOG (February)

Have I mentioned how much I do not like the voice work of Cal Howard and Jack Mather in these later Screen Gems cartoons? Here’s a cartoon that has “should be directed by Art Davis” written all over it… but it was directed by his old partner Sid Marcus. This may be the best of the Screen Gems bunch here today… but that’s not saying much.

All of these cartoons are now telecast regularly on MeTV Toons – please watch the channel and spread the word.

Here’s the first Magoo… and by now there was no turning back. Columbia would have the hottest cartoons of the decade – and with this, the rest is history.

RAGTIME BEAR (September)

These last five Screen Gems cartoons do not portend or predict what could have been if the Screen Gems studio were to continue. It was somewhat a lost cause. Their ending allowed UPA to flourish and animation became a better place.

CAT-TASTROPHY (June)

…and this might be one of the worst Fox & Crow shorts ever. I can’t get past the Fox’s stupid voice.

GRAPE NUTTY (April)

MAGIC FLUKE (March)

Back to UPA and this one is quite perfect. Might be my second most favorite John Hubley UPA short (after Rooty Toot Toot).

The Scrappy cartoons have always been a favorite of mine, and maybe always will be-but, in the past,the collectors of 16mm cartoons I was often chatting with would often here a less-than-favorable review of them – saying “The Krazy Kats are better”. While I *had* a lot of Krazy Kats, I usually wouldn’t pursue them in the same way I would the Scrappys, so I ended up with a lot of Scrappys and only a handful of Krazys comparatively over the years. That isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy them. They were just in a category somewhere below the Scrappys, and when I found some for sale, the Scrappy I didn’t have would be bought first.

Now, all these years later, I’m way, way less likely to focus on collecting film and more about restoring things from film. There’s just too much to do, but I do think, possibly, at some point, I’ll still want to get more Krazys than I have currently.

Of course, The Columbia Krazy Kat isn’t really Krazy Kat at all, at least not in the sense of the brilliant comic strip. The Columbia Krazys are their own entity, bearing more a resemblance to every other studio’s cute 30s characters and the expected population of animals. I have to admit I really like most anything with that formula, so, in that way, the early ones are great. This one, Ritzy Hotel (1932) has all the elements of the best of the series – great animation, funny gags and a happy Joe DeNat score. What could be better?

Ben Harrison and Manny Gould were exclusively helming the direction of the series from 1926, when Mitnz’s studio was in New York, moved to the west coast into the beginning of the sound era though 1933, then continuing to direct some of the cartoons along with the Color Rhapsodies series. It was a popular enough series through those early 30s years, then really began to lose steam in the mid-30s as so many cartoon series do.

I’ve been really enjoying reading your thoughts on these cartoons, and the information each person brings as well. I can’t wait until the end of the school year and the current giant pile of restoration and Blu-ray stuff I’m sorting through to be a little less overwhelming so I can spend a little time writing a little more too!

This week’s print is from Tommy Stathes’ collection- he was kind enough to lend. It’s sadly warping a little here and there, but still a good watch. Thanks Tommy, and have a good week all!

Happy Thursday!

First, at Thunderbean:
Things are humming as we get out a bunch of the special discs and Mid Century Modern 2, now back in stock. We’ve put up the titles we’re sending this week in case anyone missed them as well. I had a chance over this last week to get out to New York and scan a bunch of things. I was also able to visit my friend and collaborator Tommy Stathes, who was nice enough to lend this week’s cartoons and many more. Thanks Tommy!

Now, onto this week’s film:

Maybe Columbia’s Mutt ’N Bones is the closest any studio got to making a Pluto cartoon besides Disney. In this WW2 outing, a dog dreams of being the “king of the bones” but wakes to none. In his local newspaper (“The Hard Times”) he reads about a bone drive to support the war, then spends the rest of the film competing with a Bulldog to bring bones to the bone drive, looking for a bigger one than he already has.

Compared to Disney’s Pluto, Columbia’s dog here is a little more worldly. He completely understands what he reads in the paper, and, like Tom and Jerry, seems to lead a human life even while living like a dog. It’s nice to see such an altruistic animal supporting the war at the expense of the thing he’d like most in the world.

Columbia cartoons from this period tend to be really dialogue heavy, often at the expense of much action. Mutt N’ Bones is refreshing in that it’s a visual gag cartoon without dialogue. While clearly taking cues from both Disney and Tom and Jerry cartoons, it still holds its own. There’s lots and lots of personality poses in the fun animation along the way, and plenty of gags- and while it’s far from the finest entertainment you’ll have this year, it’s enjoyable in the way it’s enjoyable to read the funny papers, and after all, that’s what it was designed to be.

Have a good week everyone!