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''Color Classics'' are a series of
animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...
short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...
s produced by
Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () was 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 in 1942, the parent company and the distri ...
for
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
from 1934 to 1941 as a competitor to
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 develop ...
's '' Silly Symphonies''. As the name implies, all of the shorts were made in
color Color (or colour in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though co ...
format, with the first entry of the series, '' Poor Cinderella'' (1934), being the first color cartoon produced by the Fleischer studio. There were 36 shorts produced in this series.


History

The first ''Color Classic'' was photographed with the Two-Color, two strip
Cinecolor Cinecolor was an early subtractive color-model two-color motion picture process that was based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor system of the late 1920s and the 1930s. It was developed by William T. Crispinel an ...
process. The rest of the 1934 and 1935 cartoons were filmed in Two-Color
Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...
, because the Disney studio had an exclusive agreement with Technicolor that prevented other studios from using the Three-Color process. That exclusive contract expired during September 1935, and the 1936 ''Color Classic'' cartoon '' Somewhere in Dreamland'' (1936) became the first Fleischer cartoon produced in Three-Color Technicolor.Maltin, Leonard. ''Of Mice and Magic'', p. 114 The first cartoon in the series, '' Poor Cinderella'', featured Betty Boop (with red hair and
turquoise Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone for millennia due to its hue. The robi ...
eyes); future shorts usually did not have familiar or recurring characters. Many of the ''Color Classics'' entries make prominent use of
Max Fleischer Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 11, 1972) was an American animator and studio owner. Born in Kraków, in Austrian Poland, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became a pioneer in the development ...
's Stereoptical process, a device which allowed animation cels to be photographed against actual 3 dimensional background sets instead of the traditional paintings. ''Poor Cinderella'', ''Somewhere in Dreamland'', and '' Christmas Comes But Once a Year'' all make prominent use of the technique. Disney's competing apparatus, the
multiplane camera The multiplane camera is a motion-picture camera that was used in the traditional animation process that moves a number of pieces of artwork past the camera at various speeds and at various distances from one another. This creates a sense of pa ...
, would not be completed until 1937, three years after the Stereoptical Process's first use. The ''Color Classics'' series ended in 1941 with ''Vitamin Hay'', featuring characters Hunky and Spunky. A similar series would be started by Fleischer's successor
Famous Studios 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 established as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized contr ...
during 1943, with the name '' Noveltoons''.


Later statuses

During 1955, Paramount sold all rights to the ''Color Classics'' cartoons to television distributor U.M. & M. TV Corporation. U.M. & M. altered the original beginning credits sequences for some of the shorts, to remove all references to the names "Paramount Pictures" and "Technicolor", and to add their own Copyright notices. Before the re-titling could be finished, U.M. & M. was bought by National Telefilm Associates (NTA). Instead of re-filming the openings, NTA obscured the references to the Paramount and Technicolor names by placing black bars over the original title cards and Copyright notices. Only a few ''Color Classics'' had their title cards redone by U.M. & M., among them ''Poor Cinderella'' (re-filmed in black and white to match the other '' Betty Boop'' shorts), ''Greedy Humpty Dumpty'', ''Play Safe'', ''Christmas Comes But Once a Year'', ''Bunny Mooning'', ''Little Lambkins'', and ''Vitamin Hay''. NTA distributed the ''Color Classics'' to television, yet allowed the Copyrights on all of the shorts to lapse except ''The Tears of an Onion''. Many
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
video distributors have released television prints of ''Color Classics'' shorts for Home Video. The UCLA Film and Television Archive has, through the assistance of
Republic Pictures Republic Pictures is currently an acquisition-only label owned by Paramount Pictures. Its history dates back to Republic Pictures Corporation, an American film studio that originally operated from 1935 to 1967, based in Los Angeles, California ...
(successor company to U.M. & M. and NTA), retained original theatrical copies of all of the shorts, which have periodically been shown in revival movie houses and by Cable Television. Ironically, original distributor Paramount has, through their 1999 acquisition of Republic, regained ownership of the ''Color Classics'', including the original elements. Olive Films (current licensee for Republic, and which currently has home video rights) has, to date, not announced any plans to release the ''Color Classics'' officially to DVD or Blu-Ray. During 2003, animation archivist
Jerry Beck Jerry Beck (born February 9, 1955) is an American animation historian, author, blogger (person), blogger, and video producer. Beck wrote or edited several books on classic American animation and classic characters, including ''Looney Tunes and ...
conceived a definitive DVD box set of all the ''Color Classics'', excluding ''The Tears of an Onion'', and tried to enlist Republic Pictures' help in releasing this set. After being refused, Kit Parker Films (in association with VCI Entertainment) offered to provide the best available 35mm and 16mm prints of the ''Color Classics'' from Parker's archives to create the box set ''Somewhere in Dreamland: The Max Fleischer Color Classics''. These "interim restored versions" contain digitally recreated Paramount titles; the U.M. & M.-modified prints had to have their title cards as well as their Animator Credits recreated. ''The Tears of an Onion'' was not included in the set, as it remains Copyrighted by Republic successor Melange Pictures. In 2021, after decades of being shown in altered, worn, and "beet-red" prints, the Fleischer estate (in co-operation with Paramount Pictures) launched an initiative to formally restore the entire classic animation library from the surviving original negatives, beginning with ''Somewhere In Dreamland'', which has had its restored World Premiere on the
MeTV MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television progra ...
network in December of said year as part of the '' Toon In With Me'' Christmas special, presented uncut with its original front-and-end Paramount titles.


Filmography

Many of the cartoons do not have recurring characters, but ''Poor Cinderella'' featured Betty Boop, while ''Christmas Comes But Once a Year'' featured Grampy and Tommy Cod. Towards the end, Hunky and Spunky were featured characters. All cartoons released during 1934 and 1935 were produced in Two-Color
Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...
, except for ''Poor Cinderella'' which was produced in
Cinecolor Cinecolor was an early subtractive color-model two-color motion picture process that was based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor system of the late 1920s and the 1930s. It was developed by William T. Crispinel an ...
. All shorts from 1936 and onward were produced in Three-Color Technicolor.


See also

* '' Phantasies'' * '' Noveltoons'' * '' Modern Madcaps'' * '' Animated Antics'' * '' ComiColor Cartoons'' * '' Happy Harmonies'' * ''
Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animated comedy short film series distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was part of the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise and featured many of the same characters. Originally running from August 2, 1931, to Septem ...
'' * '' Rainbow Parade'' * '' Silly Symphonies'' * '' Swing Symphony'' * '' Puppetoons'' * '' Color Rhapsody''


References

;General * Barrier, Michael (1999). ''Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . * Maltin, Leonard (1980, rev. 1987). ''Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons''. Penguin Books. .


External links

{{Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios short films Television series by U.M. & M. TV Corporation Film series introduced in 1934 American animation anthology series Paramount Pictures short films Animated film series Anthology film series Paramount Pictures animated films Paramount Pictures franchises Lists of Paramount Pictures films Paramount Pictures