Aesop’s Fables Studio
Filed under: studio, 1920s, Aesop's Fables, Amadee J. Van Beuren, Paul Terry, Silent, U.S.A., Van Beuren Corporation, Walt Disney, 1920
"Aesop's Fables Studio was a small animation studio. Aesop's Fables Studio was founded by Paul Terry in 1920 with financial support from the Keith-Albee vaudeville team in order to produce a series of animated shorts called Aesop’s Film Fables. The..."
Aesop’s Fables: Summertime
Filed under: animation, 1920s, Aesop's Fables, Anime, John Foster, U.S.A., Van Beuren Corporation, 1929
Producer(s): Amedee J. Van Beuren Paul Terry
Release Date: 13/10/1929
"This animated short is comprised of three separate scenes featuring various animals. Scene one: The squirrel enjoys listening to the music played by frog and monkey. However, the owl dislikes the monkey-frog duet. Scene two: On a heated day, a ..."
Ann “Little” Rothschild
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, Betty Boop, Betty Boop series, Dave Fleischer, Early Sound, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, Max Fleischer, U.S.A., Actor, Voice Actor
"Ann L. Rothschild, better known as Little Ann Little, started in show business in 1925 as a part of the Greenwich Village Follies. In the early 1930s, she auditioned for the part of a new cartoon character at Fleischer Studios. Impressed by her high-..."
Bea Benaderet
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Bugs Bunny, Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, U.S.A., Warner Bros., Actor, Voice Actor
"Born in New York City to a Turkish-Sephardic tobacconist and an Irish-American woman, Bea Benaderet made a name for herself in the first half of the twentieth century displaying her vocal and comedic talents in animation, radio, television, and film...."
Bedtime
Filed under: animation, 1920s, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, Koko the Clown, Silent, U.S.A., 1923
Producer(s): Max Fleischer Alfred Weiss
Release Date: 01/12/1923
"Max Fleischer leaves his creation Koko the Clown stranded on a mountain top so he can get some sleep. Koko gets off the mountain and searches for Fleischer, terrorizing New York (he's grown in size at this point) in the process. The very interesting ..."
Ben “Bugs” Hardaway
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, U.S.A., Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney, Warner Bros., Animator, Storyboard Artist, Voice Actor
"Ben Hardaway was an American storyboard artist, voice actor, animator and gagman during the Golden Age of American animation. Supplying the voice of Woody Woodpecker in many cartoon shorts, Hardaway was the man who gave "Bugs Bunny" his iconic name. "
Burt Gillett
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, Felix the Cat, Mickey Mouse, Rainbow Parade, Silly Symphonies, Technicolor, Ub Iwerks, Van Beuren Corporation, Walt Disney, Walt Disney Studios, Walter Lantz Productions, Animation Supervisor, Animator, Director
"Burt Gillett was one of the first novice animators to come to Walt Disney Studios and work alongside Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. He took a number of important directorial positions at the studio, directing a few of Disney's most important early animat..."
Dave Fleischer
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Dave Fleischer, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, U.S.A., Director
"First generation American Jew who grew up in Manhattan. His father had emigrated from Austria in the late 1880’s. He and his brother, Max, distributed their Out of the Inkwell Series by themselves in mid-1921. Sometime in 1922 they signed with dist..."
Dinner Time
Filed under: animation, 1920s, Early Sound, Pathe, U.S.A., Van Beuren Corporation, 1928
Producer(s): Paul Terry
Release Date: 17/12/1928 (copyright date, possibly not release date)
"An early example of sound animation. In it, animals square off against each other and then join forces against a Butcher (Farmer Alfalfa)."
Émile (Eugène Jean Louis) Courtet
Filed under: people, 1890s, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, Early Sound, France, Pixilation, U.S.A., World War 1 ( WW1 ), Animator, Artist, Background Artist, Cartoonist, Director, Writer
"Émile Cohl was an important early independent cartoonist and animator, who was a caricaturist in the "Incoherent Movement" and has often been called "The Father of the Animated Cartoon.""
Felix Goes to Hollywood
Filed under: animation, 1920s, Pat Sullivan Cartoons, 1923
Producer(s): Pat Sullivan
Release Date: 15/07/1923
"Felix the Cat wants to travel to Hollywood but has no money. The owner of a failing shoe store promises Felix $500 if he can help bring in new business. Felix brings in new business but the owner doesn't give him any money. Felix finds a way to get t..."
Felix the Cat – Felix the Ghost-Breaker
Filed under: animation, 1920s, Felix the Cat, Pat Sullivan Cartoons, U.S.A., 1923
Producer(s): Patrick (Pat) Sullivan
Release Date: 01/01/1923
"Felix (the cat) is trying to sleep in a graveyard, but a ghost keeps waking him up. The ghost escapes to a nearby farm and terrorizes the old farmer. When Felix chases after the ghost, suspecting something fishy is going on, he helps the farmer as a ..."
Hell’s Bells
Filed under: animation, 1920s, Silly Symphonies, U.S.A., Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney, Walt Disney Studios, 1929
Producer(s): Walt Disney
Release Date: 30/10/1929
"In this Silly Symphony, we are introduced to the many creatures of Hell. Satan sits while creatures entertain him and feed him firemilk. When Satan tries to feed a little demon to his hound Cerberus, it runs away and kicks him off the cliff of Hell."
International Film Service
Filed under: studio, 1910s, 1920s, Krazy Kat, Silent, U.S.A., 1915
"A subsidiary of William Randolph Hearst's International News Service, IFS was created to translate popular comic strips of the day into cartoons, making them into "living comic strips", and intended to boost paper sales. Following the successes of hi..."
Interplanetary Revolution
Filed under: animation, 1920s, Cultural Industries, Russia, Stop Motion, 1924
Release Date: 08/18/1924
"Comrade Kominterov undertakes an intergalactic mission to defeat the capitalists and fascists of Mars, and beyond, in this experimental parody of Aelita (Protazanov, 1924)."
Jam Handy Organization
Filed under: studio, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Color, Commercials, Early Sound, Educational films, Max Fleischer, Propaganda, Silent, Technicolor, Training films, U.S.A., World War 1 ( WW1 ), World War 2 ( WW2 ), 1914
"Jam Handy Organization was founded by Jam Handy just before the First World War. The company produced educational, advertising, and training films. During the First and Second World Wars, Jam Handy Organization animated and produced training and inst..."
Kenzō Masaoka
Filed under: people, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, Anime, Early Sound, Japan, Toei Animation Studio, Actor, Animator, Director, Producer, Special Effects Animator
"Masaoka was one of the first Japanese animators, who also trained and guided artists who would move on to become the next generation of animators. Masaoka is credited with creating the earliest anime using cel animation and recorded sound. He has als..."
Ko-Ko Trains ‘Em
Filed under: animation, 1920s, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, Koko the Clown, Silent, U.S.A., 1925
Producer(s): Max Fleischer Alfred Weiss
Release Date: 09/05/1925
"Ko-Ko becomes jealous of Max's attention to his young ward and her dog, and tries to create a circus by training animals, then fleas."
Laugh-O-Gram Studio
Filed under: studio, 1920s, Silent, U.S.A., Walt Disney, 1922
"Walt Disney incorporated Laugh-O-Gram Films, Inc. in May 1922. He set up a studio on the second floor of the McConahy Building at Thirty-first and Forest in New York City. As Paul Terry had used Aesop's Fables for the basis of his cartoons, Disney us..."
Lillian Friedman Astor
Filed under: people, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, Early Sound, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, Max Fleischer, U.S.A., Animator
"Lilian Friedman Astor was the first American female studio animator and worked at Fleischer studios."
Margaret Mintz nee Winkler
Filed under: people, 1910s, 1920s, Oswald, Pat Sullivan Cartoons, Universal Studios, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Animator, Producer
"A crucial figure in the history of the American animation industry, Margaret Winkler was the first woman to produce and distribute animated films, including early works of the Dave and
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio
Filed under: studio, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, Barney Bear, Bill Hanna, Bosko, Droopy, Hanna-Barbera Studios, Joe Barbera, Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios, Tom and Jerry, U.S.A., Ub Iwerks, 1929
"Active from 1929 to 1957, MGM produced some of the most well-known and well-liked cartoons syndicated all over the world, featuring characters such as Barney Bear, Droopy, and the now-iconic Tom and Jerry. MGM's first foray into animation was thr..."
Nikolai Khodataev
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, Propaganda, Russia, Stop Motion, Animator, Artist, Writer
"Born in the village of Konstantinovsk in 1892, the son of a wealthy tsarist official, Nikolai Khodataev took painting lessons in his youth, eventually enrolling in the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, at the age of twenty. In ..."
Oswald – All Wet
Filed under: animation, 1920s, Oswald, Silent, U.S.A., Universal Studios, 1927
Producer(s): Charles Mintz George Winkler
Release Date: 31/10/1927
"Oswald has a hotdog stand that is plagued by mice. He closes the stand to pursue Fanny romantically. After Fanny rejects Oswald's advances, he bribes a lifeguard to let him take over in order that Oswald can impress Fanny. After Fanny notices Oswald ..."
Ōten Shimokawa
Filed under: people, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, Anime, Japan, Silent, Animator, Cartoonist, Illustrator
"Ōten Shimokawa was one of the pioneers of Japanese animation, who is believed to have produced the very first “true” anime film.Shimokawa was born in Maiyakojima Prefecture in 1892, though moved to Tokyo when we was 9. He began his working life..."
Otto Messmer
Filed under: people, 1910s, 1920s, Early Sound, Felix the Cat, Noveltoons, Pat Sullivan Cartoons, Silent, U.S.A.
"Messmer was a legendary American cartoonist and animator, who was best know as the creator of Felix the Cat, who is considered the first major cartoon star."
Out of the Inkwell Films/Fleischer Studios
Filed under: studio, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, Betty Boop, Betty Boop series, Color, Early Sound, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, Koko the Clown, Musical, Paramount Pictures, Popeye, Rotoscope, Silent, Superman, Technicolor, U.S.A., 1921
"Out of the Inkwell Films, renamed Fleischer Studios in 1929, was founded by brothers- Dave and Max Fleischer, in 1921. The Fleischers' studio was one of the most influential and successful animation studios in the silent era as well as in the Golden ..."
Pat Sullivan
Filed under: people, 1910s, 1920s, Felix the Cat, Pat Sullivan Cartoons, Silent, U.K., U.S.A., Animator, Producer
"Pat Sullivan was born in 1885 as Patrick Peter O’Sullivan in a working-class suburb of Darlinghurst, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Pat is best known for producing the Felix the Cat cartoons. There has been controversy surrounding who crea..."
Patrick Anthony (Pat) Powers
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, Early Sound, Iwerks Studio, Mickey Mouse, Silly Symphonies, Technicolor, U.S.A., Ub Iwerks, Universal Studios, Walt Disney, Walt Disney Studios, Businessman, President, Producer, Studio Head
"Pat Powers was an influential American businessman who was involved with the film and animation developments inAmericaduring the first part of the twentieth century. His most important development being the work of Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, who he b..."
Seymour Kneitel
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Baby Huey, Betty Boop, Betty Boop series, Bray Productions, Casper the Ghost, Color, Dave Fleischer, Herman and Katnip, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, Isadore Sparber, Koko the Clown, Max Fleischer, Noveltoons, Paramount Pictures, Popeye, Sam Buchwald, Seymour Kneitel, Superman, U.S.A., Animation Supervisor, Animator, Director, Executive Producer, Studio Head
"Seymour Kneitel was an early American animator, most well known for his work with Fleischer Studios. After the studio closed, he headed its successor, Famous Studios."
Sterling Holloway
Filed under: people, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, U.S.A., Walt Disney, Walt Disney Studios, Winnie the Pooh, Actor, Voice Actor
"Born in Cedartown, Georgia to a grocer, Sterling Holloway's acting career began in his teens, when he enrolled in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, where his classmates included Spencer Tracy and Pat O'Brien. After graduation, h..."
Terrytoons
Filed under: studio, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Casper the Ghost, Color, Early Sound, Paul Terry, Terrytoons Animated Shorts, U.S.A., 1929
"Paul Terry opened his own animation studio, called Terrytoons, in 1929. Paul Terry is known in the animation industry for producing his cartoons quickly, and for resisting improvements. Terry’s goal was to produce cartoons at the lowest cost po..."
The Cartoon Factory
Filed under: animation, 1920s, Inkwell / Fleischer Studios, U.S.A., 1924
Producer(s): Max Fleischer Alfred Weiss
Release Date: 21/02/1924
""KoKo the Clown and a live-action Max Fleischer. Max has invented a new, electric, drawing device. He uses this to finish the drawing and then, with a somewhat maniacal grin on his face, he turns the device on poor, hapless KoKo.""
The Skeleton Dance
Filed under: animation, 1920s, Silly Symphonies, U.S.A., Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney, Walt Disney Studios, 1929
Producer(s): Walt Disney
Release Date: 22/08/1929
"As we hear the chimes at midnight and bats flutter from a belfry; as a hound howls at the full moon and black cats brawl on the tombstones; Through the gloom, white skeletons pass, Running and leaping in their shrouds!"
Van Beuren Studios
Filed under: studio, 1920s, 1930s, Amadee J. Van Beuren, Color, Early Sound, Felix the Cat, Racial representation, Rainbow Parade, Tom and Jerry, Tom and Jerry, U.S.A., 1929
"Van Beuren Studios was an animation studio in the 1930s. After Paul Terry left Aesop's Fables Studio, due to a disagreement over sound with his partner, Amadee J. Van Beuren, Van Beuren reorganized the studio, prepared it for the production of soun..."
Walt Disney Studio
Filed under: studio, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, Silly Symphonies, U.S.A., Ub Iwerks, Walt Disney, Walt Disney Studios, 1923
"Walt Disney's Studio first found its headquarters in Burbank, California. A personal winner of of twenty Academy Awards within his lifetime, with a total of 63 total nominations, as well as 4 Special or Honorary Oscars, Disney is remembered as an ico..."