Kartunes is a series of 12 theatrical short subjects produced by Famous Studios and released by Paramount Pictures from 1951 to 1953.[1] These were identical in format to the studio's previous Screen Songs cartoons. The first half of each subject had various blackout gags related to the premise of the film, and the second half invited the audience to sing along "with the bouncing ball" as song lyrics were shown on the screen. The opening theme of each cartoon was "Sing a Song of Sixpence".
After Paramount Pictures lost the rights to the Screen Songs name, and the term "Bouncing Ball" couldn't be used anymore, the series became known as Kartunes. Even though the series ended in 1953, Famous quietly made two more "bouncing ball" shorts, Candy Cabaret (released in 1954) and Hobo's Holiday (released in 1963), as part of the Noveltoons series.
Filmography
| Film | Theme | Song | Director | Story | Animation | Scenics | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vegetable Vaudeville | Vegetables | "Yes! We Have No Bananas" | I. Sparber | Larz Bourne | Myron Waldman Nick Tafuri | Robert Little | November 9, 1951 |
| Snooze Reel | Newsreels | "I Got Spurs that Jingle Jangle Jingle" | Seymour Kneitel | Joe Stultz | Al Eugster Wm. B. Pattengill | Robert Owen | December 28, 1951 |
| Off We Glow | Insects | "The Glow-Worm" | "align="center" rowspan="2"|I. Sparber | Larz Bourne Tex Henson | Dave Tendlar Tom Golden | Robert Little | February 29, 1952 |
| Fun at the Fair | Amusement Park | "Wait 'Till the Sun Shines, Nellie" | Larz Bourne | Al Eugster Wm. B. Pattengill | Robert Owen | May 9, 1952 | |
| Dizzy Dinosaurs | Prehistory | "Sweet Adeline" | Seymour Kneitel | I. Klein | Myron Waldman Gordon Whittier | "align="center" rowspan="2"|Robert Little | July 4, 1952 |
| Gag and Baggage | Trains | "I've Been Working on the Railroad" | I. Sparber | Larz Bourne | Dave Tendlar Tom Golden | August 8, 1952 | |
| Forest Fantasy | Night | "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" | Seymour Kneitel | I. Klein | Myron Waldman Larry Silverman | Anton Loeb | November 14, 1952 |
| Hysterical History | US History | "Yankee Doodle Boy" | I. Sparber | Irving Spector | Al Eugster George Germanetti | Robert Owen | January 23, 1953 |
| Philharmaniacs | Orchestra | "Alexander's Ragtime Band" | "align="center" rowspan="2"|Seymour Kneitel | I. Klein | Tom Johnson John Gentilella | Jack Henegan | April 3, 1953 |
| Aero-Nutics | Airplanes | "Come Josephine in My Flying Machine" | Irving Spector | Al Eugster George Germanetti | Robert Owen | May 8, 1953 | |
| Invention Convention | Applied Science | "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" | "align="center" rowspan="2"|I. Sparber | I. Klein | Al Eugster Wm. B. Pattengill | Anton Loeb | June 10, 1953 |
| No Place Like Rome | Italy | "Oh Ma-Ma (The Butcher Boy)" | Irving Spector | Al Eugster George Germanetti | Jack Henegan | July 31, 1953 |
Note: Hysterical History is the only Kartunes short in the public domain.
Note 2: Dizzy Dinosaurs and Forest Fantasy are the only Kartune films which featuring Inchy the Worm.
TV distribution
The cartoons were later sold to TV distribution by Harvey Films to replace the original titles with the Harvey reissued ones, later being syndicated by Worldvision Enterprises. Currently, the Harvey reissued cartoons are distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution through its DreamWorks Animation subsidiary and their DreamWorks Classics unit.
References
- ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 97. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.