Famous Studios (renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956) was the first animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized control of the aforementioned studio after the departure of its founders, Max and

Dave Fleischer Dave Fleischer (; July 14, 1894 – June 25, 1979) was an American film director and producer, best known as a co-owner of Fleischer Studios with his older brother Max Fleischer. He was a native of New York City. Biography Fleischer was the ...

, in 1942.Maltin, Leonard (1980, rev. 1987). ''Of Mice and Magic''. New York: Plume. Pg. 311 The studio's productions included three series started by the Fleischers—''

Popeye the Sailor Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Superman'', and ''

Screen Songs ''Screen Songs'', formerly known as KoKo Song Car-Tunes, are a series of animated cartoons produced at the Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures between 1929 and 1938. Paramount brought back the sing-along cartoons in 1945, n ...

''—as well as '' Little Audrey'', ''

Little Lulu ''Little Lulu'' is a comic strip created in 1935 by American author Marjorie Henderson Buell. The character, Lulu Moppet, debuted in ''The Saturday Evening Post'' on February 23, 1935, in a single panel, appearing as a flower girl at a wedding ...

'', ''

Casper the Friendly Ghost Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a pleasant, personable and translucent ghost, but often criticized by his three wicked uncles, the Ghostly Trio. The ...

'', ''Honey Halfwitch'', '' Herman and Katnip'', '' Baby Huey'', and the anthology '' Noveltoons'' series. The ''Famous'' name was previously used by

Famous Players Film Company The Famous Players Film Company was a film company founded in 1912 by Adolph Zukor in partnership with the Frohman brothers, powerful New York City theatre impresario. History Discussions to form the company were held at The Lambs, a famous th ...

, one of several companies which in 1912 became Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, the company which founded Paramount Pictures. Paramount's music publishing branch, which held the rights to all of the original music in the Fleischer/Famous cartoons, was named Famous Music, and a movie theater chain in Canada owned by Paramount was called Famous Players. The library of Famous Studios cartoons is currently divided between three separate film studios (via various subsidiaries): Paramount Pictures (which owns both the pre-October 1950 and post-March 1962 cartoons),

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

and DreamWorks Animation through

DreamWorks Classics Classic Media, LLC, doing business as DreamWorks Classics, is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, which is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures and a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was founded as Classic Media ...

aka Classic Media, LLC. (which owns the cartoons made between October 1950 and March 1962 under

Harvey Entertainment Harvey Films (also known as Harvey Entertainment, The Harvey Entertainment Company or simply Harvey) is the production arm of comic book publisher Harvey Comics. It was a family business formed in the 1940s and was founded in 1957. In the early 1 ...

) and

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

through

Turner Entertainment Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...

and

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

(which owns the entirety of both the ''Superman'' and ''Popeye'' cartoons).

History

Fleischer Studios dissolution

Fleischer Studios was a successful animation studio responsible for producing cartoon shorts starring characters such as Betty Boop and

Popeye the Sailor Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, Florida in 1938, following

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

problems and the start of production on its first feature film, '' Gulliver's Travels'' (1939). While ''Gulliver'' was a success, the expense of the move and increased overhead costs created finance problems for the Fleischer Studios. The studio depended upon advances and loans from its distributor, Paramount Pictures, in order to continue production on its short subjects and to begin work on a second feature, ''

Mr. Bug Goes to Town ''Mr. Bug Goes to Town'' (also known as ''Hoppity Goes to Town'' and ''Bugville'') is a 1941 American animated Technicolor feature film produced by Fleischer Studios, previewed by Paramount Pictures on December 5, 1941, and released in California ...

''.Barrier, Michael (1999). ''Hollywood Cartoons''. New York: Oxford University Press. Pgs. 303–305. . Compounding the problems the studio was facing was the fact that the studio's co-founders, brothers

Max Fleischer Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 25, 1972) was an American animator, inventor, film director and producer, and studio founder and owner. Born in Kraków, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became ...

and

, were becoming increasingly estranged, and by this time were no longer speaking to each other due to personal and professional disputes. On May 25, 1941, Paramount assumed full ownership of Fleischer Studios, and required the Fleischer brothers to submit signed letters of resignation, to be used at Paramount's discretion. Following the unsuccessful release of ''Mr. Bug'' in December 1941, Max Fleischer, no longer able to cooperate with Dave, sent Paramount a telegram expressing such. Paramount responded by producing the letters of resignation, severing the Fleischer brothers from control of their studio. Paramount renamed the studio Famous Studios. Although they had ownership of the company, it remained a separate entity. Three top Fleischer employees were promoted to run the animation studio: business manager Sam Buchwald, storyboard artist

Isadore Sparber Isadore Sparber (March 7, 1906 - August 29, 1958) was an American storyboard artist A storyboard artist (sometimes called a story artist or visualizer) creates storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions. Work A storyboard ar ...

, and Max Fleischer's son-in-law, head animator Seymour Kneitel. Buchwald assumed Max Fleischer's place as executive producer, while Sparber and Kneitel shared Dave Fleischer's former responsibilities as supervising producers and credited directors. A third animation director, Dan Gordon, remained only briefly before being fired shortly after the move to New York. Although the Fleischers left the studio at the end of 1941, Famous Studios was not officially incorporated until May 25, 1942, after Paramount's contract with Fleischer Studios had formally run its course. The first Famous Studios cartoon was the Popeye cartoon '' You're a Sap, Mr. Jap'', released on August 7, 1942.

Early years

Shortly after the takeover, Paramount began plans to move a significantly downsized Famous Studios back to New York, a move completed early in 1943. Virtually all of the Famous staff, including voice artist/storyman

Jack Mercer Winfield B. Mercer (January 31, 1910 – December 7, 1984), professionally known as Jack Mercer, was a prolific American voice actor, animator and TV screenwriter. He is best known as the voice of cartoon characters Popeye the Sailor Man and F ...

, storyman Carl Meyer, voice artist

Mae Questel Mae Questel (born Mae Kwestel, September 13, 1908 – January 4, 1998) was an American actress. She was best known for providing the voices for the animated characters Betty Boop (from 1931) and Olive Oyl (from 1933). She began in vaudeville, ...

, and animators such as

Myron Waldman Myron Waldman (April 23, 1908 – February 4, 2006) was an American animator, best known for his work at Fleischer Studios. Early life Waldman was born in Brooklyn, New York on April 23, 1908. He was a graduate of the Pratt Institute, where ...

David Tendlar David Benjamin Tendlar (August 8, 1909 – September 9, 1993) was an American animator, best known for his work with Fleischer Studios and its successor, Famous Studios. Tendlar was born in Dayton, Ohio on August 8, 1909. He joined Fleis ...

, Thomas Johnson, Nicholas Tafuri, and Al Eugster, were holdovers from the Fleischer era. These artists remained with Famous/Paramount for much of the studio's existence. As at Fleischer, the head animators carried out the tasks that were assigned to

animation director An animation director is either the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or television, and animated segment for a live action film or television show, or the animator in charge of co ...

s at other studios, while the credited directors—Kneitel, Sparber, Gordon, and Disney/Terrytoons veteran

Bill Tytla Volodymyr Peter "Bill" Tytla (October 25, 1904 - December 30, 1968) was a Ukrainian-American animator known for his work in Walt Disney Animation Studios, Paramount's Famous Studios, and Terrytoons. In his Disney career, Tytla is particularly ...

—acted more as supervisors.

Sammy Timberg Samuel Timberg (May 21, 1903 – August 26, 1992) was an American musician and composer for the stage, film studios, and television. Biography Timberg was born in New York City to a Jewish family originating in Austria, youngest son of Israel and ...

served as musical director until he was succeeded in 1944 by

Winston Sharples Winston Singleton Sharples (March 1, 1909 – April 3, 1978) was an American composer known for his work with animated short subjects, especially those created by the animation department at Paramount Pictures. In his 35-year career, Sharples s ...

, who formerly worked with the

Van Beuren Studios The Van Beuren Corporation was a New York City-based animation studio that produced theatrical cartoons as well as live-action short-subjects from the 1920s to 1936. History In 1920, the Keith-Albee organization formed Fables Pictures for the ...

. Continuing series from the Fleischer period included ''Popeye the Sailor'' and '' Superman'', both licensed from popular comics characters. The expensive ''Superman'' cartoons, having lost their novelty value with exhibitors, ended production in 1943, a year after Famous' inception. They were replaced by a series starring '' Saturday Evening Post'' comic strip character ''

''. Also in 1943, Famous began producing the formerly black-and-white ''Popeye'' cartoons in

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

, and began a new series of one-shot cartoons under the umbrella title '' Noveltoons'' (similar in respects to the ''

Color Classics ''Color Classics'' are a series of animated short films produced by Fleischer Studios for Paramount Pictures from 1934 to 1941 as a competitor to Walt Disney's ''Silly Symphonies''. As the name implies, all of the shorts were made in color fo ...

'' series from Fleischer Studios, and also the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series from

).Maltin, Leonard (1980, rev. 1987). Pg. 312 The ''Noveltoons'' series introduced several popular characters such as '' Herman and Katnip'', '' Baby Huey'' and ''

''. ''Casper'' was created by writer Seymour Reit and Famous animator

Joe Oriolo Joseph Oriolo (February 21, 1913 – December 25, 1985) was an American cartoon animator, writer, director and producer, known as the co-creator of Casper the Friendly Ghost and the creator of the ''Felix the Cat'' TV series. He provided the vo ...

in the late 1930s as a children's book manuscript, and was sold to Famous during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. It became the studio's most successful wholly owned property.Maltin, Leonard (1980, rev. 1987). Pg. 313 – 316 In 1947, Paramount decided to stop paying ''Little Lulu'' creator Marge licensing royalties, and created another "mischievous girl" character, '' Little Audrey'', as a replacement. That same year Famous resurrected an old Fleischer series, ''

'', introducing a new series of musical cartoons featuring a " bouncing ball" sing-along. In 1951, the Screen Songs became "Kartune Musical Shorts," which ended in 1953 after Max Fleischer claimed ownership of the "bouncing ball" trademark. Only two more musical cartoons were released (as one-shot Noveltoons): 1954's ''Candy Cabaret'' and 1963's ''Hobo's Holiday''. Although the studio still carried much of the staff from the previous regime, animation fans and historians note that its films soon diverged from the previous style. Many of them, including animation historian and film critic

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...

, derided the company style for being highly formulaic and largely oriented toward a children's audience, with none of the artistic ambition or sophistication that the management under the Fleischer brothers strove for.

Later period and sales of cartoon libraries

Sam Buchwald died of a heart attack in 1951.Maltin, Leonard (1980, rev. 1988). Pg. 316–319 Seymour Kneitel and Isadore Sparber became the production heads of the studio shortly afterward, and Dave Tendlar was promoted to director in 1953. The mid and late-1950s brought a number of significant changes for Famous Studios. In 1955, Paramount sold most of its 1942–1950 shorts and cartoons, except for the ''Popeye'' and ''Superman'' shorts, to U.M. & M. TV Corporation for

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

distribution. The ''Popeye'' cartoons were acquired by

Associated Artists Productions Associated Artists Productions, Inc. (a.a.p.) later known as United Artists Associated was an American distributor of theatrical feature films and subjects for television. Associated Artists Productions was the copyright owner of the ''Popey ...

, and the ''Superman'' cartoons had already reverted to Superman's owners National Comics after the studio's film rights to the character had expired. On October 1, 1956, Famous Studios was downsized and reorganized. Paramount assumed full control of the studio, integrating it as a division named Paramount Cartoon Studios. Around the same time, Isadore Sparber was fired, leaving Seymour Kneitel alone in charge of the studio. In addition, because of studio budget cuts, the animation quality of the shorts began to drop sharply; by 1959 everything that the studio was turning out began to look bizarrely cheap and limited. Paramount also ceased using

by this time in favor for cheaper color processes. The last Famous Studios short to use Technicolor was ''Katnip's Big Day'', the finale of the '' Herman and Katnip'' cartoon series. Despite the studio submitting some of their shorts for

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

consideration, none received a nomination. Paramount sold its remaining cartoon film library and the rights to its established characters to

Harvey Comics Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by A ...

in 1959; however, the final theatrical cartoon to have any of their established characters already acquired by Harvey Comics since was ''Turtle Scoop'' featuring Tommy Tortoise and Moe Hare (both uncredited and redrawn) in 1961. Paramount's attempts at creating replacement characters, among them ''Jeepers and Creepers'' and ''The Cat'', proved unsuccessful. Nonetheless, television animation production outsourced from

King Features King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial ...

and

Harvey Films Harvey Films (also known as Harvey Entertainment, The Harvey Entertainment Company or simply Harvey) is the production arm of comic book publisher Harvey Comics. It was a family business formed in the 1940s and was founded in 1957. In the early ...

brought the company additional income. Ironically, these arrangements had Paramount working on new television cartoons starring Casper, whom they had originally created, and Popeye and Little Lulu, characters they had previously licensed for theatrical cartoons. In the case of King Features' ''Popeye'' and ''King Features Trilogy'' TV cartoons, Paramount was one of several animation studios, among them Jack Kinney Productions and

Rembrandt Films Rembrandt Films is a Czech production company founded by American film producer William L. Snyder in 1949. It began as an importer of films from Europe and expanded into animated film production. Gene Deitch directed for the company both his own f ...

, to which King Features subcontracted production. The first of only two all-new ''Little Lulu'' cartoons after the character's 13-year hiatus off-screen, ''Alvin's Solo Flight'', was released as part of the ''Noveltoons'' series in 1961, while twelve of the ''King Features Trilogy'' cartoons, starring characters such as Krazy Kat, Little Lulu,

Beetle Bailey ''Beetle Bailey'' is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Mort Walker, published since September 4, 1950. It is set on a fictional United States Army post. In the years just before Walker's death in 2018 (at age 94), it was among the old ...

, and

Snuffy Smith ''Barney Google and Snuffy Smith'', originally ''Take Barney Google, F'rinstance'', is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Billy DeBeck. Since its debut on June 17, 1919, the strip has gained a large international readership, appearin ...

, were released theatrically by Paramount in 1962 under the title ''Comic Kings''. Seymour Kneitel died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in 1964, and Paramount brought in comic book veteran

Howard Post Howard "Howie" Post (November 2, 1926 – May 21, 2010) Alternate source: "'Dropouts' cartoonist Howard Post dies in NJ at 83", Associated Press via ''The Washington Post'', May 24, 2010 was an American animator, cartoonist, and comic strip and ...

to run the cartoon studio.Maltin, Leonard (1980, rev. 1988). Pg. 319–321 Under Post's supervision, Paramount began new cartoon series and characters such as ''Swifty and Shorty'' and ''Honey Halfwitch'' (the latter having originated from the ''

Modern Madcaps ''Modern Madcaps'' is an animated film series produced by Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios animation division between the years 1958 and 1967. The series featured assorted characters that later became part of the Harvey Comics Harvey Comic ...

'' series in the 1965 short ''Poor Little Witch Girl''), and allowed comic strip artist Jack Mendelsohn to direct two well-received cartoons based upon children's imaginations and drawing styles: ''The Story of George Washington'' and ''A Leak in the Dike'' (both 1965). However, Post left the studio due to internal conflicts with the Paramount staff. His replacement was

Shamus Culhane James H. "Shamus" Culhane (November 12, 1908 – February 2, 1996) was an American animator, film director, and film producer. He is best known for his work in the Golden age of American animation. Career Shamus Culhane worked for a number of ...

, a veteran of the Fleischer Studios. Culhane completed a few films that Post started and then ignored the rule book and made films that were very different from the previous regime. In 1966, the studio subcontracted ''

The Mighty Thor Thor Odinson is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is based on the Norse mythological god of the same name, the Asgardian god of thunder whose enchanted hammer Mjolnir enables him ...

'' cartoons from

Grantray-Lawrence Animation Grantray-Lawrence Animation was an animation studio active from 1954 to 1968 and founded by Grant Simmons, Ray Patterson (hence "Grant-Ray"), and Robert L. Lawrence. This animation company produced commercials and low-budget animated television ...

, producers of the animated television series ''

The Marvel Super Heroes ''The Marvel Super Heroes'' is an American animated television series starring five comic book superheroes from Marvel Comics. The first TV series based on Marvel characters, it debuted in broadcast syndication, syndication on United States, U.S. ...

''. In 1967, Culhane directed another short based upon children's art, ''My Daddy, the Astronaut'', which became Paramount's first film to be shown at an animation festival.Maltin, Leonard (1980, rev. 1988). Pg. 321–322 However, when Paramount's board of directors rejected a proposal to produce episodes for a second Grantray-Lawrence series, '' Spider-Man'', Culhane quit the studio, and was succeeded by former

Terrytoons Terrytoons was an American animation studio in New Rochelle, New York, that produced animated cartoons for theatrical release from 1929 to 1973 (and briefly returned between 1987 and 1996 for television in name only). Terrytoons was founded by ...

animator

Ralph Bakshi Ralph Bakshi (born October 29, 1938) is an American animator and filmmaker. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatric ...

in mid-1967. Although Bakshi quickly put several experimental shorts into production, by the winter of 1968, Paramount's new owners,

Gulf+Western Gulf and Western Industries, Inc. (stylized as Gulf+Western) was an American conglomerate. Originally, the company focused on manufacturing and resource extraction. Beginning in 1966, and continuing throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the company ...

, had begun the process of shutting down the animation studio, a task completed in December. The last cartoon from Paramount Cartoon Studios,
Mouse Trek
', the finale of the ''Fractured Fables'' series, premiered on December 31, 1967.

Legacy

Despite the reputation of the studio in recent years, their shorts have since gained a cult following on both public domain home media and in animation circles. The 1961 short ''Abner the Baseball'' is displayed at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Ownership and licensing

Throughout the 1950s, most of the major Hollywood studios, severely underestimating the value of their back-catalog, sold off their film libraries to various television companies. In the case of Paramount, throughout the decade, they sold off the Famous Studios library to various different TV syndication companies resulting in multiple studios owning different cartoons. In 1956, Paramount sold the pre-October 1950 cartoons (from both Famous and Fleischer Studios) to U.M. & M. TV Corporation, which was later bought out by

National Telefilm Associates National Telefilm Associates (NTA) was an audio-visual marketing company primarily concerned with the syndication of American film libraries to television, including the Republic Pictures film library. It was successful enough on cable television ...

shortly afterward. In the 1980s, NTA changed its name to Republic Pictures. After a brief period of ownership by

Spelling Entertainment Spelling is a set of conventions that regulate the way of using graphemes (writing system) to represent a language in its written form. In other words, spelling is the rendering of speech sound (phoneme) into writing (grapheme). Spelling is one ...

in 1994, Republic Pictures was purchased by Paramount's parent company Viacom in 1996, placing the shorts back in Paramount's control (Republic Pictures was renamed Melange Pictures LLC. in 2013). Due to poor attention to then-required copyright renewals over the decades, many of these cartoons are now in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

. This deal did not, however, include the ''Popeye'' or ''Superman'' cartoons. The entirety of the Fleischer/Famous Studios ''Popeye'' cartoons from 1933 to 1957 was sold to

, who had also purchased much of the

back catalog. The assets of a.a.p were in turn purchased by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...

in 1958. In 1981, United Artists merged with

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

. In 1986,

Ted Turner Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he fo ...

Turner Broadcasting System Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...

attempted to acquire MGM, but due to debt concerns, Turner was forced to sell the company back to its original owners. However, Turner kept most of the pre-1986 MGM library as well as few portions of the United Artists library, including the a.a.p. library, and formed his own holding company

to manage the rights. In 1996, Turner Broadcasting merged with

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

. Since then, Warner Bros. controls the rights to ''Popeye'' cartoons via its Turner Entertainment division. The rights to the ''Superman'' cartoons reverted to National Comics after Paramount's deal expired. While the cartoons themselves are now in the

after their original copyrights were not renewed, the ancillary rights are still owned by DC Comics. In 1962, Paramount sold off the Famous Studios cartoons made between October 1950 and March 1962, as well as the rights to all original characters created by Famous Studios (Casper, Baby Huey, Herman and Katnip, Little Audrey, etc.) to

who created Harvey Entertainment to handle the rights and rebranded the cartoons as ''Harveytoons''. In 2001, Harvey Comics was purchased by the holding company

Classic Media Classic Media, LLC, doing business as DreamWorks Classics, is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, which is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures and a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was founded as Classic Media ...

. In 2012, Classic Media was purchased by DreamWorks Animation (and briefly renamed the company DreamWorks Classics) who now retains ownership of the cartoons. In 2016, DreamWorks Animation was purchased by Comcast's

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primaril ...

, with

assuming the distribution of the cartoons on behalf of DreamWorks. Paramount continues to own the rights to the cartoons made after March 1962.

Home media

As of 2021, there has been no official release of the Paramount-owned Famous Studios library. Many of the cartoons are in the public domain and widely available (albeit usually in poor quality) in several low budget DVDs and Blu-Rays sold in supermarkets and department stores. In 2012, Thunderbean Animation restored and released a collection of public domain ''Noveltoons'' on DVD entitled ''Noveltoons Original Classics''. In 2008,

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...

released '' Popeye the Sailor: 1941–1943, Volume 3'', the third volume of a series of Popeye DVDs. It contained all the black & white Famous Studios ''Popeye'' cartoons alongside the last of the Fleischer shorts. In 2018,

Warner Archive The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

released '' Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s, Volume 1'' which continued where the previous set left off and contained the first 14 Technicolor Famous Studio cartoons from 1943 to 1945. Warner Archive continued the collection with '' Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s, Volume 2'' and '' Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s, Volume 3'' officially collecting all the Popeye cartoons from the 1940s. The remaining Famous Studios Popeye cartoons from the 1950s have yet to be released. During the 1990s, Harvey Entertainment produced, ''The Harveytoons Show'' that collected most of the Harvey owned Famous cartoons, first aired in syndication with the series being consulted by animation historian

Jerry Beck Jerry Beck (born February 9, 1955, in New York City) is an American animation historian, author, blogger, and video producer. Beck wrote or edited several books on classic American animation and classic characters, including '' The 50 Greates ...

. In 2006, Classic Media released 52 of the show's 78 episodes on a four-disc DVD set titled ''Harvey Toons – The Complete Collection''. In 2011,

Vivendi Entertainment Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment (formerly known as Vivendi Entertainment, Vivendi Visual Entertainment and Visual Entertainment) is an independent film, television, DVD and digital distribution company operating in the United States and Canada. It is ...

and Classic Media released all Herman and Katnip cartoons on a single disc DVD set titled ''Herman and Katnip: The Complete Collection''. Also in 2011, Shout! Factory under licence from Classic Media released 61 of 78 Casper cartoons from The Harveytoons Show on a three-disc DVD set titled ''Casper the Friendly Ghost: The Complete Collection''. On November 2, 2021,

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...

released all of the Harvey-owned Famous Studios cartoons on a 3-disc DVD boxset titled ''The Best of the Harveytoons Show''.

Filmography

Theatrical short subjects series

* ''

Popeye the Sailor Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.Fleischer Studios) * '' Superman'' (1942–1943; inherited from Fleischer Studios) * '' Noveltoons'' (1943–1967) * ''

'' (1943–1948, 1961–1962) * ''

'' (1947–1951; originally produced by Fleischer Studios) * '' Little Audrey'' (1948-1958) * '' Baby Huey'' (1950-1959) * ''

'' (1950–1959) * '' Kartunes'' (1951–1953) * '' Herman and Katnip'' (1952–1959) * ''

'' (1958–1967) * ''Jeepers and Creepers'' (1960; part of the Modern Madcap series) * ''The Cat'' (1960–1961; part of the Modern Madcap series) * ''Abner the Baseball'' (1961; two-reeler special) * ''Comic Kings'' (1962–1963) * ''Swifty and Shorty'' (1964–1965) * ''Honey Halfwitch'' (1965–1967) * ''

Nudnik ''Nudnik'' was a Czechoslovak/Czech animated film series directed by Gene Deitch, produced by William Lawrence Snyder, and distributed by Paramount Studios. Twelve shorts were released during 1965 and 1967. The character's tagline is "Whatever ...

'' (1965–1967) (produced by Gene Deitch in Czechoslovakia) * ''Merry Makers'' (1967) * ''GoGo Toons'' (1967) * ''Fractured Fables'' (1967)

Television series

* Segments of ''

Felix the Cat Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer during the silent film era. An anthropomorphic black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, he was one of the most recognized cartoon characte ...

'' (1958–1962; outsourced from Joe Oriolo Productions and Trans-Lux) * ''

Matty's Funday Funnies ''Matty's Funday Funnies'' is a 1959—1961 American animated anthology television series. Broadcast history The original ''Matty's Funday Funnies'' was broadcast from 1959 to 1961 by American Broadcasting Company, scheduled during Sunday after ...

'' (1959–1962 episodes only) * Segments of ''

Popeye the Sailor Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.King Features Trilogy'' (1961–1965; outsourced from King Features) ** Twelve of the Paramount-produced shorts in this series were released theatrically in 1962 under the title ''Comic Kings''. * ''

The New Casper Cartoon Show ''The New Casper Cartoon Show'' is a 1963-1970 animated television series that appeared on ABC's Saturday morning schedule, based on the Harvey Comics cartoon character Casper the Friendly Ghost. Casper's co-stars included his friends from the ...

'' (1963–1964, produced for

) * ''

'' segments of ''

'' (1966; outsourced from

)

Industrial shorts

* ''Electronics At Work'' (1943) * ''It's CSP for Me'' (1950)

References

External links

*
Paramount and Famous Studios at Cartoon Research

{{Authority control American companies established in 1942 American companies disestablished in 1967 American animation studios Defunct companies based in Florida Paramount Pictures Mass media companies established in 1942 Mass media companies disestablished in 1967 Companies based in New York (state) Defunct companies based in New York (state) 1942 establishments in Florida 1967 disestablishments in New York (state) Companies based in Miami