I recently encountered Jerry Beck at Film Forum here in New York City; on the day we met, he was presenting a program of Fleischer studio oddities, a program that was a good deal of fun, and had a few pleasant surprises in it.
In the course of our pre-show conversation, he invited me to watch and review a recent Blu-Ray release, “Famous Studios Champion Collection,” put out by Cartoon Logic.
This was of great interest to me, since I grew up in coastal Connecticut, in an area where picking up the Boston and New York televisions station that habitually broadcast Classic-era cartoons was tricky, especially in those pre-CATV days. My limited experience with Famous Studios’ cartoons thus came largely from public domain VHS tapes and DVDs, and those familiar with those kinds of collections can only imagine the visual quality of what was on offer.
So as not to bury the lede too much, I will come out and say this: the “Champion Collection” is warmly recommended as something animation buffs should have, either to fill in gaps in cartoons not previously seen, or to re-watch cartoons in a fashion much closer to how they would have been presented in theaters, originally.
At Left: A mangled title card for “Sheep Shape,” showing the kind of thing one sees on public domain collections.
At Right: The title card beautifully restored on this set.
Counting bonus cartoons (on which more, later), there are 20 cartoons on one disc in the collection, together with commentary tracks for all of the cartoons, as well as some miscellaneous audio and graphic production items. The cartoons themselves cover a roughly seven-year period, with cartoons bearing release dates from late 1943 to early 1950.
The collection thus covers the formative years of Famous Studios, the successor to the Fleischer studio, which had been based in Miami at the time Paramount Pictures assumed control over the Fleischer studio in early 1942. Barrier notes that by the first quarter of 1943, Famous was in the process of moving back to New York City, where the Fleischer studio had been founded, and where it had operated until moving to Florida in the late 1930s. Thus, the first cartoon in the collection, No Mutton Fer Nuttin’, represents some of the first work completed at the studio in its changed location.
This was a time period when the studio not only had to meet the challenge of the Walt Disney studio, but had to meet the challenge of the cartoon studio at MGM and that at Schlesinger/Warner Bros., both of which had emerged as trend-setters in animation, and in story-writing, from the early 1940s on. In particular, Famous had to meet the challenge thrown down by other studios with the creation of continuing characters, such as Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and so forth.
Famous’ attempt to meet these challenges forms the heart of the Champion Collection. We get a mix of the different sub-series that Famous offered, mostly under the “Noveltoons” rubric, which comprise:
• Blackie the lamb and Wolfie, in No Mutton Fer Nuttin’, A Lamb in a Jam, Sheep Shape and Much Ado About Mutton
• Casper the Friendly Ghost, in The Friendly Ghost, There’s Good Boos To-Night, and A Haunting We Will Go
• Herman the Mouse and Henry, in The Henpecked Rooster and Sudden Fried Chicken
• Little Lulu, in Bargain Counter Attack and A Bout With a Trout
• Little Audrey, in Butterscotch and Soda
• Baby Huey, in Quack-a-Doodle Doo
• The revived Screen Songs sub-series, with Readin’, ‘Ritin’ and Rhythmetic and Our Funny Finny Friends
• Raggedy Ann, in Suddenly, It’s Spring!
• Herman the Mouse alone in Campus Capers
• Buzzy the Funny Crow in Cat O’ Nine Ails (in a print without a soundtrack, but with storyboard and script material interpolated)
• A miscellaneous cartoon in Hep Cat Symphony, and lastly
• Spree for All, in the only known (black and white) print of a Snuffy Smith cartoon Famous produced
As you can see, there’s quite a mix of sub-series on offer, and the collection was evidently put together with an eye toward presenting a good-cross section of the non-Popeye, Noveltoons shorts made by Famous in this time period.
The value in this collection lies primarily in the quality of the prints presented. Original negative materials have been used where possible, though in a few cases, such materials were not available, and sources such as a 35mm nitrate print had to be used. The end result is eye-opening, especially for those familiar with the discolored, washed-out or butchered prints of these cartoons that had been available in public domain collections.
In particular, as can be seen in a number of segments in Suddenly, It’s Spring! or in the credits sequence to The Friendly Ghost, the beauty of the background artwork comes out, with some very appealing and soft colors. In addition, using the original negative materials, or otherwise high-quality materials, allows the animation to be seen clearly, and much better appreciated. A Lamb in a Jam, in my view, is a cartoon that benefits greatly from this treatment. Cartoons that heavily rely on characters being cute and appealing, such as There’s Good Boos To-Night or A Haunting We Will Go now can show these cute characters to full effect, most notably with Ferdie the Fox in the first-named cartoon. The dream sequence in Butterscotch and Soda, where Little Audrey is stuck in a nightmarish candy-land, pops now that one can see it as originally intended.
A good example of attractive backgrounds now being readily visible. From “The Friendly Ghost.”
For comparison purposes, an Ansco print of the same scene, owned by Steve Stanchfield.
The fact that original materials were used also helps with certain of the cartoons that use music heavily, such as A Bout With a Trout or, again, Suddenly, It’s Spring! One thing that did strike me, in listening to the music on this collection, is the surprising fact that even though Famous had access to a significant musical library, musical underlying of gags, in the Carl Stalling/Scott Bradley sense, was rarely if ever used. The only instance that struck me (and which was not mentioned in the commentary) was the use of “Dream Lover,” which had originally been written for the 1929 Paramount musical The Love Parade, and which does work in Stalling fashion – if you happen to recognize the song.
The secondary value to this collection comprises the commentary tracks; there’s one for each short, and in general, I thought the comments were intelligent and fair. It does help that the son of animator Myron Waldman is one of the commenters, bringing a personal angle to the exercise. Mike Kazeleh, Will Friedwald, Jerry Beck, Bob Jaques and Thad Komorowski all provide worthwhile background information regarding the operation of the studio, inclusive of the fact that the death of executive Sam Buchwald in the early 1950s may have had a negative effect on the quality of the cartoons.
Is there a negative to the set? Well, the commenters don’t shy away from the fact that Famous did have a tendency to re-use plot ideas (as all of the Hollywood cartoon studios did). There’s also the fact that in some cases, the timing of the gags means they don’t land with the same force as a similar idea might have in the units of Avery, Jones or Freleng. Hep Cat Symphony has some interesting animation, and in a few spots some quite appealing jazzy music (a feature also of Much Ado About Mutton), but the same script in the hands of an Avery, Jones or Freleng could have had much sharper impact.
The two Screen Songs cartoons do look attractive, but are somewhat forgettable in the gags, which is a flaw the entire sub-series had. In particular, it struck me that Our Funny Finny Friends was nearly a decade behind Tex Avery’s Fresh Fish, done during his Warner Bros. days. Campus Capers is also something of a weak entry. The Blackie/Wolfie cartoons do attempt, at various times, to capture the same sort of energy as the Bugs Bunny cartoons at Warner Bros., as well as the Wolf/Red cartoons at MGM (especially in Sheep Shape), and while they are pretty good cartoons, and certainly far ahead of the product that, say, Screen Gems was putting out for Columbia at this time, nevertheless, there is a derivative air that’s noticeable.
I’ve known a few cartoon fans to grind their teeth (metaphorically, and possibly literally) when confronted by Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoons, but There’s Good Boos To-Night, with its well-known and simultaneously macabre and heart-tugging ending, is probably rescued by the fact that it can now be seen in pristine condition, the quality of the animation being that good. You need to see a cute character to appreciate it. Frank Gallop’s narration is also pleasant to hear.
Spree for All, the Snuffy Smith cartoon, is probably the biggest misfire on the set. As the commentary notes with commendable honesty, a large chunk of the gags are simply generic hillbilly gags (again, a decade behind Avery, who had done A Feud There Was years before), and outside of the usage of a few of Snuffy’s stock phrases, Billy DeBeck’s creation really doesn’t come through.
But by no means let any of these story or gag failings deter you. One now has a chance to encounter these cartoons on a much fairer level than before, and (as noted with other historical cartoon sets), welcoming these cartoons encourages the future release of even more cartoon sets like this one.
The producers (and Paramount) should be commended for giving these cartoons fresh life.
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