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Steamboat Willie
''Steamboat Willie'' is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was produced in black-and-white by Walt Disney Animation Studios and was released by Pat Powers (producer), Pat Powers, under the name of Celebrity Productions. The cartoon is considered the public debut of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, although both appeared months earlier in a test screening of ''Plane Crazy'' and the then unreleased ''The Gallopin' Gaucho''. ''Steamboat Willie'' is the third of Mickey's films to have been produced, but it is the first to have been Film distribution, distributed, because Disney had seen ''The Jazz Singer'' (1927) and became determined to produce one of the first fully synchronized sound cartoons. ''Steamboat Willie'' is one of the first cartoons with Sound film, synchronized sound, and one of the first cartoons to feature a fully Audio post production, post-produced soundtrack, which distinguished it from earlier sound cartoons, such as Fleis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steamboat Bill, Jr
''Steamboat Bill, Jr.'' is a 1928 Silent film, silent comedy film starring Buster Keaton. Released by United Artists, the film is the final product of Keaton's independent production team and set of gag writers. Charles Reisner directed the film, and the credited story writer was Carl Harbaugh. The film, named after Arthur Collins (singer), Arthur Collins's popular 1911 recording of the 1910 song "Steamboat Bill," also featured Ernest Torrence, Marion Byron, and Tom Lewis. The film is known for what may be Keaton's most famous film stunt: The facade of a house falls around him while he stands in the precise location of an open window to avoid being flattened. The film was not a box-office success and became the last picture Keaton made for United Artists. Keaton ended up moving to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where he made one last film in his trademark style, ''The Cameraman,'' and ''Spite Marriage,'' before his creative control was taken away by the studio. In 2016, the film was sele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gallopin' Gaucho
''The Gallopin' Gaucho'' is a 1928 American animated short film and the second short film featuring Mickey Mouse to be produced, following '' Plane Crazy'' and preceding ''Steamboat Willie''. The Disney studios completed the silent version in August 1928, but did not release it in order to work on ''Steamboat Willie''. ''The Gallopin' Gaucho'' was released, with sound, after ''Steamboat Willie'' on December 30 of the same year. Both Mickey and Minnie Mouse had already made their initial debuts with the test screening of ''Plane Crazy'' on May 15, 1928, but that film had failed to catch the attention of distributors when first produced as a silent film. ''The Gallopin' Gaucho'' was a second attempt at success by co-directors Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The latter also served as the sole animator for it. Roy O. Disney wrote down the total budget of the short in his ledger book, which ended up costing $4,249.73, which was about $720 more than the costs of ''Plane Crazys $3,528.50 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film producer, he holds the record for most Academy Awards earned (22) and nominations (59) by an individual. He was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and an Emmy Award, among other honors. Several of his films are included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress and have also been named as some of the greatest films ever by the American Film Institute. Born in Chicago in 1901, Disney developed an early interest in drawing. He took art classes as a boy and took a job as a commercial illustrator at the age of 18. He moved to California in the early 1920s and set up the Disney Brothers Studio (now the Walt Disney Company) with his brother Roy O. Disney, Roy. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Jazz Singer
''The Jazz Singer'' is a 1927 American part-talkie musical drama film directed by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first feature-length motion picture with both synchronized recorded music and lip-synchronous singing and speech (in several isolated sequences). Its release heralded the commercial ascendance of sound films and effectively marked the end of the silent film era with the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system, featuring six songs performed by Al Jolson. Based on the 1925 play of the same title by Samson Raphaelson, the plot was adapted from his short story "The Day of Atonement". The film depicts the fictional story of Jakie Rabinowitz, a young man who defies the traditions of his devout Jewish family. After singing popular tunes in a beer garden, he is punished by his father, a hazzan (cantor), prompting Jakie to run away from home. Some years later, now calling himself Jack Robin, he has become a talented jazz singer, performing in bl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The 50 Greatest Cartoons
''The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals'' is a 1994 book by animation historian Jerry Beck, with a foreword written by Chuck Jones. The book features the fifty greatest cartoons of all time, selected by a group of 1000 cartoon historians, animation professionals and film critics. The votes were culled from ballots sent to members of the Society for Animation Studies, the International Animated Film Association, one hundred animation studios, and film critics from more than one hundred periodicals. The cartoons selected include work from Disney Cartoons, Warner Bros. Cartoons, Fleischer Studios, MGM Cartoons, United Productions of America, Walter Lantz, National Film Board of Canada, Winsor McCay, Otto Messmer, Sally Cruikshank, Marv Newland, Frederic Back and various independent animators. Each selection has a plot summary, production history, and a critical analysis that examines why they were selected. The book also features comment ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently maintained a stoic, deadpan facial expression that became his trademark and earned him the nickname "The Great Stone Face". Keaton was a child vaudeville star, performing as part of his family's traveling act. As an adult, he began working with independent producer Joseph M. Schenck and filmmaker Edward F. Cline, with whom he made a series of successful two-reel comedies in the early 1920s, including ''One Week (1920 film), One Week'' (1920), ''The Playhouse (film), The Playhouse'' (1921), ''Cops (1922), Cops'' (1922), and ''The Electric House'' (1922). He then moved to feature-length films; several of them, such as ''Sherlock Jr.'' (1924), ''The General (1926 film), The General'' (1926), ''Steamboat Bill, Jr.'' (1928), and ''The Camerama ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turkey In The Straw
"Turkey in the Straw" is an American folk song that first gained popularity in the 19th century. Early versions of the song were titled "Zip Coon", which were first published around 1834 and performed in minstrel shows, with different people claiming authorship of the song. The melody of "Zip Coon" later became known as "Turkey in the Straw"; a song titled "Turkey in de Straw" with different music and lyrics was published in 1861 together with the wordless music of "Zip Coon" added at the end, and the title "Turkey in the Straw" then became linked to the tune of "Zip Coon". The song is related to a number of tunes of the 19th century and the origin of these songs has been widely debated. Links to older Irish/Scottish/English ballads have been proposed, such as "The Old Rose Tree". The song became highly popular and many variations of the song exist. It was also frequently adapted and used in popular media. Origin "Turkey in the Straw" is thought to be originally a tune from 19t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Collins (singer)
Arthur Francis Collins (February 7, 1864 – August 2, 1933) was an American baritone who was one of the pioneer recording artists, regarded in his day as "King of the Ragtime Singers". Biography Collins was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and moved with his family to Barnegat, New Jersey, around 1879 and as a teenager worked as a volunteer lifeguard on the Jersey shore, beginning an enthusiasm for sailing that became a lifelong pursuit. However, his fine baritone voice – heard in church and in local concert appearances – convinced Collins' family to send him back to Philadelphia for formal training. After concluding his studies, Collins spent some 15 years touring with various stock companies and appearing in summer opera in St. Louis. None of these ventures turned out any long term prospects for Collins, and when he married actress and singer Anna Leah Connelly in 1895, Collins swore off show business and decided to study for a career in bookkeeping. Taking occasional ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steamboat Bill
"Steamboat Bill" is a 1910 song with music by the vaudeville group The Leighton Brothers and lyrics by Ren Shields. It became one of the first hit recordings in the United States through its 1911 recording by Arthur Collins, mostly known as the music in Disney's ''Steamboat Willie'', the first released Mickey Mouse sound cartoon. Steamboat Bill also appeared in the 1928 Buster Keaton film '' Steamboat Bill, Jr.'' Content The song is an extended reference to a famed 1870 race down the Mississippi River between two steamboats, the ''Robert E. Lee'' and the '' Natchez''. It imagines a fictional steamboat, the ''Whippoorwill'', captained by "Mr. Steamboat Bill," who is determined to beat the record of the ''Robert E. Lee''. He commands his mates to use cargo as fuel if they run out of coal. In some versions of the song, either the captain or the crew is threatened with death if the boat is not fast enough. A gambler from Louisville, Kentucky (home of the Kentucky Derby) places a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinner Time (film)
''Dinner Time'' (1928) is an American animated short subject produced by Amadee J. Van Beuren, directed by Paul Terry, co-directed by John Foster, and produced at Van Beuren Studios. Josiah Zuro arranged and conducted the "synchronized" music score. The film is part of a series entitled ''Aesop's Fables'' and features the Terry creation Farmer Al Falfa who works as a butcher, fending off a group of pesky dogs. ''Dinner Time'' was one of the first publicly shown sound-on-film cartoons. It premiered at the Strand Theater New York City in August 1928 and was released by Pathé Exchange on October 14, a month before Walt Disney's sound cartoon, ''Steamboat Willie''. ''Dinner Time'' was not successful with audiences and Disney's film would be widely touted as the first synchronized sound cartoon. Commonwealth Reissue In addition to the stock music cues from Thomas J. Valentino's music library, the 1950s Commonwealth reissue of this cartoon also has a narrator and voice acto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 production of the Aesop's Film Fables cartoon series with Paul Terry, who himself owned 10 percent of the studio. Producer Amedee J. Van Beuren bought out the studio in 1928, retaining Terry and renaming the business after its new owner. Van Beuren released Terry's first sound cartoon '' Dinner Time'' (1928) (a month before Disney's ''Steamboat Willie'') through Pathé Exchange, which later became part of RKO Pictures. Terry ran the animation studio while Van Beuren focused on other parts of the business. In 1929, Terry quit to start his own Terrytoons studio and John Foster took over the animation department. Van Beuren released his films through RKO Radio Pictures. The early sound Van Beuren cartoons are almost identical to the late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
My Old Kentucky Home (1926 Film)
''My Old Kentucky Home'' is a short animation film originally released in June 1926, by Max and Dave Fleischer of Fleischer Studios as one of the Song Car-Tunes series. The series, between May 1924 and September 1926, eventually totaled 36 films, of which 19 were made with sound. This cartoon features the original lyrics of "My Old Kentucky Home" (1853) by Stephen Foster, and was recorded in the Lee de Forest Phonofilm sound-on-film system. ''My Old Kentucky Home'' appears to be the first attempt at animated dialogue in cartoon history, as an unnamed dog, an early prototype of future studio mascot Bimbo, in the film mouths the words "Follow the ball, and join in, everybody" in remarkable synchronization though the animation was somewhat limited, making sure that lip-synch was synchronized perfectly. The Fleischers had previously started the follow the bouncing ball gimmick in their Song Car-Tune ''My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean'' (released on September 15, 1925). This film c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
