''Talkartoons'' is a series of 42

animated cartoons Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

produced by

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of ...

and distributed by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

between 1929 and 1932.

History

For the Fleischer brothers, the transition to sound was relatively easy. With the new contract with

, and without the burden of Red Seal Pictures and Alfred Weiss,

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 becam ...

was free to experiment with new, bold ideas. First he changed the name of the ''Ko-Ko Song Cartunes'' series to ''

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, now ...

''. Although the ''Screen Songs'' were successful, Fleischer felt that it wasn't enough;

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

also seemed to gain a great amount of fame through his sound cartoons as well. He decided to work with his brother,

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

on a new series of cartoons where the characters did more than just simply dance to the music of the "bouncing ball". The name for the new series was to be ''Talkartoons''. When the idea was pitched to Paramount, they leaped at the opportunity. The ''Talkartoons'' started out as one-shot cartoons. The first entry in the series was '' Noah's Lark'', released on October 26, 1929. Although a Fleischer cartoon, it appeared to be patterned after the ''

Aesop's Film Fables ''Aesop's Fables'' (later renamed ''Aesop's Sound Fables'') is a series of animated short subjects, created by American cartoonist Paul Terry. Produced from 1921 to 1933, the series includes ''Closer than a Brother'' (1925), '' The Window Washe ...

'' of Paul Terry. In it, a

Farmer Al Falfa Farmer Al Falfa (also known as Farmer Alfalfa),
at

Noah Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5� ...

allows the animals of his

ark Ark or ARK may refer to: Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva'' * Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood * Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses Hebrew ''aron'' * ...

to visit

Luna Park Luna Park is a name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks. They are named after, and partly based on, the first Luna Park, which opened in 1903 during the heyday of large Coney Island parks. Luna parks are small-s ...

. When he brings them back into the ship, the weight is so heavy that it sinks. In the end, Noah chases topless mermaids throughout the ocean waters. ''Lark'' has very few gray tones, due to employing the paper-cutout animation process utilized in the ''Screen Songs'' produced during the same time and the earlier Fleischer silent works. It also included copyright-free songs, mostly utilized from old 78-rpm's. The series began to take a new direction, however, with the arrival of Max and Dave's brother,

Lou Fleischer Lou Fleischer (July 16, 1891 – November 16, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, and the brother of Max and Dave Fleischer. He was the head of the Fleischer Studios Music DepartmentDial, Donna (2000) ''Cartoons in Paradise: How the Fl ...

, whose skills in music and mathematics made a great impact at the studio. A dog named

Bimbo Bimbo is slang for a conventionally attractive, sexualized, naive, and unintelligent woman. The term was originally used in the United States as early as 1919 for an unintelligent or brutish man. As of the early 21st century, the "stereotypic ...

gradually became the featured character of the series. The first cartoon that featured Bimbo was ''

Hot Dog A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a f ...

'' (1930), the first Fleischer cartoon to be animated on cels, and thus to employ a full range of greys. New animators such as

Grim Natwick Myron "Grim" Natwick (' Nordveig; August 16, 1890 – October 7, 1990) was an American artist, animator, and film director. Natwick is best known for drawing the Fleischer Studios' most popular character, Betty Boop. Background Born in Wis ...

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 ...

, and

Rudy Zamora Joaquin Rudolfo Zamora (March 26, 1910 – July 29, 1989) was a Mexican-American animator and a prolific animation director. His credits include ''The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show'', ''The Jetsons'', ''The Smurfs'', '' The Biskitts'', ''Peanuts'', ...

began entering the Fleischer Studio, with new ideas that pushed the ''Talkartoons'' into a league of their own. Natwick especially had an off-beat style of animating that helped give the shorts more of a surreal quality. Perhaps his greatest contribution to the Talkartoons series and the Fleischer Studio was the creation of

Betty Boop Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick.Pointer (2017) She originally appeared in the ''Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleisc ...

with '' Dizzy Dishes'' in 1930. By late 1931, Betty Boop dominated the series.

Koko the Clown Koko the Clown is an animated character created by Max Fleischer. He first appeared as the main protagonist in '' Out of the Inkwell'' (1918-1929), a major animated series of the silent era. Throughout the series, he goes on many adventures with ...

was brought out of retirement from the silent days as a third character to Betty and Bimbo. By 1932, the series was at an inevitable end and instead, Betty Boop would be given her own series, with Bimbo and Koko as secondary characters.

Filmography

Dave Fleischer was the credited director on every cartoon produced by Fleischer Studios. Fleischer's actual duties were those of a

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

and creative supervisor, with the head animators doing much of the work 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 in other studios. The head animator is the first animator listed. Culhane, Shamus (1986). ''Talking Animals and Other People.'' New York: Da Capo Press. Pg. 40-41 Credited animators are therefore listed for each short. Note that many of the shorts from 1931-32 don't have their animator credits listed, as they were cut when the shorts were sold to television and had their titles replaced.

References

;Sources * Leslie Cabarga, ''The Fleischer Story'' (Da Capo Press, 1988) *

Richard Fleischer Richard O. Fleischer (; December 8, 1916 – March 25, 2006) was an American film director whose career spanned more than four decades, beginning at the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood and lasting through the American New Wave. Though h ...

, ''Out of the Inkwell: Max Fleischer and the Animation Revolution'' (University Press of Kentucky, 2005) *

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 ...

, ''Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons'' (Penguin Books, 1987) ;Notes

External links

Fleischer Sound Cartoons Filmography
* {{Fleischer Studios Film series introduced in 1929 Animated film series 1920s American animated films 1930s American animated films Fleischer Studios series and characters Television series by U.M. & M. TV Corporation American black-and-white films American animation anthology series

History

Filmography

See also

References

External links