Nelson
KrAzY KaT has been found
I am proud to announce that the TTTTP/Toon Zone "Star Of The Month" is back after a three month hiatus and I know many of you was wondering if the Star will ever return and it has come back for all you classic cartoon lovers.This month will be in a series of "Special Editions" of my monthly star tribute and I wanted to start 2003 with a bang and a series that is well documented all this month.
When you think of Max Fleischer, you think of all the wonderful cartoons he produced along with his brother, Dave Fleischer who directed all of the cartoons from the 1910s straight into the 1940s.The New York City based cartoon studio brought some of the most famous creations in the history of the animated short.Characters such as, Koko The Clown, The Screen Songs, Bimbo, Betty Boop, Popeye The Sailor and Superman that still after seventy years, these cartoon characters still have made a lasting impact with modern day viewers.Out of all the Fleischer series that really doens't get the attention as their cartoon counterparts, is a thearical series that set the standard for the sound era in animated cartoons and this month long salute will get the royal treatment for the month of Feburary.Ladies & Gentlemen and toon lovers alike, I present to all of you.......
Max Fleischer's......THE "TALKARTOONS"
Max Fleischer's animated series, the "Talkartoons" was breakthrough series and set the standard for sound in animated cartoons.With memorable films and famous characters this was cleary(in terms of sound use) was the best sound cartoon series produced in the early days of sound.So please allow me to take everyone back in time to see how this historical series(and characters) was created over 74 years ago.
Back in 1927, when audiences was captured by the first feature length sound film, "The Jazz Singer" (1927) it was clear the the silent film era was almost history.When all the major Hollywood studios converted into sound by 1929, it was a make or break for all the famous actors and actresses, some passed the test and some didn't as manf of the silent film holderovers saw their career go down the tubes with the arrival of sound.On the other hand, Cartoons, were completly different when sound took over.Sound was the great savior of the animated cartoon, the new techinolgy gave animators to create better stories, develope likeable characters with strong personalities and of course, better animation.Several of the silent cartoon stars had made the successful jump into sound, such as, Koko The Clown, Oswald The Lucky Rabbit, Krazy Kat, Farmer Al Falfa and many other series that soon followed.
Max Fleischer was a legend in the fields of animation, who always stayed at the top of his game and once sound was the rule, Max met that challenge head on and suceeded.Fleischer and sound does not date back to 1929, but as way back to 1924.During this time, Max wanted to produce a new novelty in his cartoons, so he team up with a man by the name of Dr.Lee DeForest who created a system that would feature a soundtrack on both sides of the film.DeForest actually started producing "all talking" films dating back to 1919 with his new sound on film process.By that time moviegoers didn't really know how to react to these films and they were not all that thrilled either, as they perfered silents over sound.Fleischer contacted DeForest to help create sound cartoons, complete with music, effects and most importantly, actual talking dialog.So in 1924, work began on what is considered to be the "very first" all sound cartoon short and it was Fleischer's famous "Bouncing Ball" series otherwise known as "The Screen Songs".Once the first of this new process film was released to theaters, many people didn't take notice that these cartoons were talking.One reason that this process didn't make a splash was for the fact the theater owners didn't want to spend the money for wiring their theaters for the arrival of sound.So the series was a downfall for both Fleischer and DeForest, but more on DeForest.If only Deforest heavily promoted his patented sound on film process to all of the major studios, the there could have been a chance that sound would have been around a lot longer, before the 1927 release of "The Jazz Singer".It is clearly that Fleischer was the first animator to make sound cartoons and not Walt Disney, but if it was perfect timing, then that honor would have to go to Disney and not Max.
Fast foward five years later, with the smash hit of Disney's legendary landmark sound film"Steamboat Willie", in 1928 and soon there after most of the animated studios started producing sound cartoons.Fleischer was always up for a challenge and decided in the spring of 1929 to start work on a new cartoon series, that would feature the great usages of sound and came up with the name for the series, "THE TALKARTOONS".What should be noted, is that the "Talkartoons" was acutally Fleischer's popular silent series,"The Inkwell Imps", only the name of that series changed for the Fleischer's initial entrance in sound.Work began on the first "Talkartoon" short in the spring, so in order to stay competive with his rivals, Fleischer wanted to make this sound series completly different from the other sound series from the other studios and that was with direct dialog from the screen characters themselves.There is many ways you can look at the situtation in two ways...First off , some animators really didn't know how to add dialog and actual lip movement to the characters, second in order to save money, other animators would rely on just a peppy muscial score and sound effects to cover up the silent product.Fleischer was different, he wanted the main focus of his new series to centered around actual talking dialog on top of the music and sound effects.
The first "Talkartoon" release was "Noah's Lark" and was released just three days after the major stock market crash in 1929.The Talkartoons" was one the biggest promoted animated series that year.Billed as "Actual Talking Pictures" by Paramount Pictures and movie owners.This was Max Fleischer very first theatrical produced series into the sound arena and a new era of sound cartoons was launched.....
NEXT CHAPTER:
Noah's Lark will be examined as well as early Talkartoons shorts and the arival of Bimbo.So keep it right here toon heads as this month long tribute to the Talkartoons continues.
I would personally like to dedicate this month salute to my good friends, Jerry Beck and Pietro S.
And my most important dedication to famed legnedary film pioneer...MAX FLEISCHER
When you think of Max Fleischer, you think of all the wonderful cartoons he produced along with his brother, Dave Fleischer who directed all of the cartoons from the 1910s straight into the 1940s.The New York City based cartoon studio brought some of the most famous creations in the history of the animated short.Characters such as, Koko The Clown, The Screen Songs, Bimbo, Betty Boop, Popeye The Sailor and Superman that still after seventy years, these cartoon characters still have made a lasting impact with modern day viewers.Out of all the Fleischer series that really doens't get the attention as their cartoon counterparts, is a thearical series that set the standard for the sound era in animated cartoons and this month long salute will get the royal treatment for the month of Feburary.Ladies & Gentlemen and toon lovers alike, I present to all of you.......
Max Fleischer's......THE "TALKARTOONS"
Max Fleischer's animated series, the "Talkartoons" was breakthrough series and set the standard for sound in animated cartoons.With memorable films and famous characters this was cleary(in terms of sound use) was the best sound cartoon series produced in the early days of sound.So please allow me to take everyone back in time to see how this historical series(and characters) was created over 74 years ago.
Back in 1927, when audiences was captured by the first feature length sound film, "The Jazz Singer" (1927) it was clear the the silent film era was almost history.When all the major Hollywood studios converted into sound by 1929, it was a make or break for all the famous actors and actresses, some passed the test and some didn't as manf of the silent film holderovers saw their career go down the tubes with the arrival of sound.On the other hand, Cartoons, were completly different when sound took over.Sound was the great savior of the animated cartoon, the new techinolgy gave animators to create better stories, develope likeable characters with strong personalities and of course, better animation.Several of the silent cartoon stars had made the successful jump into sound, such as, Koko The Clown, Oswald The Lucky Rabbit, Krazy Kat, Farmer Al Falfa and many other series that soon followed.
Max Fleischer was a legend in the fields of animation, who always stayed at the top of his game and once sound was the rule, Max met that challenge head on and suceeded.Fleischer and sound does not date back to 1929, but as way back to 1924.During this time, Max wanted to produce a new novelty in his cartoons, so he team up with a man by the name of Dr.Lee DeForest who created a system that would feature a soundtrack on both sides of the film.DeForest actually started producing "all talking" films dating back to 1919 with his new sound on film process.By that time moviegoers didn't really know how to react to these films and they were not all that thrilled either, as they perfered silents over sound.Fleischer contacted DeForest to help create sound cartoons, complete with music, effects and most importantly, actual talking dialog.So in 1924, work began on what is considered to be the "very first" all sound cartoon short and it was Fleischer's famous "Bouncing Ball" series otherwise known as "The Screen Songs".Once the first of this new process film was released to theaters, many people didn't take notice that these cartoons were talking.One reason that this process didn't make a splash was for the fact the theater owners didn't want to spend the money for wiring their theaters for the arrival of sound.So the series was a downfall for both Fleischer and DeForest, but more on DeForest.If only Deforest heavily promoted his patented sound on film process to all of the major studios, the there could have been a chance that sound would have been around a lot longer, before the 1927 release of "The Jazz Singer".It is clearly that Fleischer was the first animator to make sound cartoons and not Walt Disney, but if it was perfect timing, then that honor would have to go to Disney and not Max.
Fast foward five years later, with the smash hit of Disney's legendary landmark sound film"Steamboat Willie", in 1928 and soon there after most of the animated studios started producing sound cartoons.Fleischer was always up for a challenge and decided in the spring of 1929 to start work on a new cartoon series, that would feature the great usages of sound and came up with the name for the series, "THE TALKARTOONS".What should be noted, is that the "Talkartoons" was acutally Fleischer's popular silent series,"The Inkwell Imps", only the name of that series changed for the Fleischer's initial entrance in sound.Work began on the first "Talkartoon" short in the spring, so in order to stay competive with his rivals, Fleischer wanted to make this sound series completly different from the other sound series from the other studios and that was with direct dialog from the screen characters themselves.There is many ways you can look at the situtation in two ways...First off , some animators really didn't know how to add dialog and actual lip movement to the characters, second in order to save money, other animators would rely on just a peppy muscial score and sound effects to cover up the silent product.Fleischer was different, he wanted the main focus of his new series to centered around actual talking dialog on top of the music and sound effects.
The first "Talkartoon" release was "Noah's Lark" and was released just three days after the major stock market crash in 1929.The Talkartoons" was one the biggest promoted animated series that year.Billed as "Actual Talking Pictures" by Paramount Pictures and movie owners.This was Max Fleischer very first theatrical produced series into the sound arena and a new era of sound cartoons was launched.....
NEXT CHAPTER:
Noah's Lark will be examined as well as early Talkartoons shorts and the arival of Bimbo.So keep it right here toon heads as this month long tribute to the Talkartoons continues.
I would personally like to dedicate this month salute to my good friends, Jerry Beck and Pietro S.
And my most important dedication to famed legnedary film pioneer...MAX FLEISCHER
