Talkartoons
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Talkartoons is the name of a series of 42 animated cartoons produced by the Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures between 1929 and 1932.
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[edit] History
For the Fleischer brothers, the transition to sound was relatively easy. With the new contract with Paramount Pictures, and without the burden of Red Seal Pictures and Alfred Weiss, Max Fleischer was free to experiment with new, bold ideas. First he changed the name of the Ko-Ko Song Cartunes series to Screen Songs. Although the Screen Songs were successful, Fleischer felt that it wasn't enough. He decided to work with his brother, Dave on a new series of cartoons where the characters did more than just simply dance to the music of the "bouncing ball". The name for the new series was to be Talkartoons. When the idea was pitched to Paramount, they leaped at the opportunity.
The Talkartoons started out as one-shot cartoons (with the exception of Accordion Joe featuring Fitz the Dog of the earlier Inkwell Imps). The first entry in the series was Noah's Lark, released on October 25, 1929. Although a Fleischer cartoon, it appeared to be patterned after the Aesop's Film Fables of Paul Terry. In it, a Farmer Al Falfa-esque Noah allows the animals of his arc to visit Luna Park. When he brings them back into the ship, the weight is so heavy that it sinks. In the end, Noah chases topless mermaids throughout the ocean waters. Lark has very few gray tones, very much like the Screen Songs produced during the same time and the earlier Fleischer silent works. It also included copyright-free songs, mostly utilized from old 78-rpm's.
The series began to take a new direction, however, with the arrival of Max and Dave's brother, Lou Fleischer, whose skills in music and mathematics made a great impact the studio. Fitz evolved into a character named Bimbo, named so for his foolishness. The first cartoon that featured Bimbo was Hot Dog (1930), the first entry in the series and the first Fleischer cartoon to use a full-range of greys. New animators such as Grim Natwick, Shamus Culhane, and Rudy Zamora began entering the Fleischer Studio, with new ideas that pushed the Talkartoons into a league of their own. Natwick especially had an off-beat style of animating that helped give the shorts more of a surreal quality. Perhaps his greatest contribution to the Talkartoons series and the Fleischer Studio was the creation of Betty Boop with Dizzy Dishes in 1930.
By late-1931, Betty Boop dominated the series. Koko the Clown was brought out of retirement from the silent days as a third character to Betty and Bimbo. By 1932, the series was at an inevitable end and instead, Betty Boop would be given her own series, with Bimbo and Koko as secondary characters.
[edit] Filmography
[edit] 1929-30
| Film | Characters | Original release date |
|---|---|---|
| Noah's Lark | One-shot | October 25, 1929 |
| Accordion Joe | Fitz the Dog | December 12 |
| Marriage Wows | One-shot | January 8, 1930 |
| Radio Riot | One-shot | February 13 |
| Hot Dog | Bimbo | March 29 |
| Fire Bugs | Bimbo | May 9 |
| Wise Flies | One-shot | July 18 |
| Dizzy Dishes | Bimbo and Betty Boop | August 9 |
| Barnacle Bill | Bimbo and Betty Boop | August 31 |
| Swing You Sinners! | Bimbo | September 24 |
| The Grand Uproar | Bimbo | October 3 |
| Sky Scraping | Bimbo | November 1 |
| Up To Mars | Bimbo | November 20 |
| Mysterious Mose | Bimbo and Betty Boop | December 26 |
[edit] 1931
| Film | Characters | Original release date |
|---|---|---|
| The Ace of Spades | Bimbo | January 16, 1931 |
| Tree Saps | Bimbo | February 3 |
| Teacher's Pest | Bimbo | February 7 |
| The Cow's Husband | Bimbo | March 13 |
| The Bum Bandit | Bimbo and Betty Boop | April 3 |
| The Male Man | Bimbo | April 24 |
| Twenty Legs Under the Sea | Bimbo | May 5 |
| Silly Scandals | Bimbo and Betty Boop | May 23 |
| The Herring Murder Case | Bimbo and Koko the Clown | June 26 |
| Bimbo's Initiation | Bimbo and Betty Boop | July 24 |
| Bimbo's Express | Bimbo and Betty Boop | August 22 |
| Minding the Baby | Bimbo and Betty Boop | September 26 |
| In the Shade of the Old Apple Sauce | Bimbo | October 16 |
| Mask-A-Raid | Bimbo and Betty Boop | November 7 |
| Jack and the Beanstalk | Bimbo and Betty Boop | November 21 |
| Dizzy Red Riding Hood | Bimbo and Betty Boop | December 12 |
[edit] 1932
| Film | Characters | Original release date |
|---|---|---|
| Any Rags? | Betty Boop, Bimbo and Koko | January 2, 1932 |
| Boop-Oop-a-Doop | Betty Boop, Bimbo and Koko | January 16 |
| The Robot | Bimbo | February 5 |
| Minnie the Moocher | Betty Boop and Bimbo | February 26 |
| Swim Or Sink (S.O.S.) | Betty Boop, Bimbo and Koko | March 11 |
| Crazy Town | Betty Boop, Bimbo and Koko | March 25 |
| The Dancing Fool | Betty Boop, Bimbo and Koko | April 8 |
| Chess-Nuts | Betty Boop, Bimbo and Koko | April 13 |
| A-Hunting We Will Go | Betty Boop, Bimbo and Koko | April 29 |
| Hide and Seek | Bimbo | May 26 |
| Admission Free | Betty Boop, Bimbo and Koko | June 10 |
| The Betty Boop Limited | Betty Boop, Bimbo and Koko | July 1 |
[edit] References
- Cabarga, Leslie (1988): The Fleischer Story. Da Capo Press.
- Fleischer, Richard (2005): Out of the Inkwell: Max Fleisher and the Animation Revloution. University Press of Kentucky.
- Maltin, Leonard (1987): Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. Penguin Books.
