Nelson
12-01-2001, 09:16 PM
Here's is what I hope that will become an important traditional thread here on TTTP...
Starting on the first day of every month, I will pick a major cartoon star and to offer a brief history of the character and present my three top toon picks of the star of the month.This will help toon heads get a chance to get to know the character, the history, and the films.Bascially, I want to give fans to checkout of the major animated characters(outside WB, MGM, Parmount) from the Hollywood studios during the "Golden Age Of Animation".
So lets begin, shall we?
This month's toon star of the month, is the very first animated feline of the silver screen....
KRAZY KAT
Today, Krazy Kat is best known for the famous comic strip than his animated cartoons, largely due to the fact that the cartoons didn't really live up to the comic strip during Krazy's long apperance on the silver screen.
Lengendary Cartoonist George Herriman created the famous Kat and mouse, Ignatz in the early 1900s and became an instant hit with the American public.In 1916, the Heast-Vitagraph company brought the famous comic strip Kat & Mouse team to the silver screen at the Bray Studios in New York City.
Krazy Kat made his screen debut in the cartoon titled, "Introducing Krazy Kat And Igantz Mouse", released on Febuary.18, 1916.What is interesting is the fact the Krazy made his debut three years before Pat Sullivan brought "Felix The Cat" to the screenin 1919.The "Krazy Kat" series did have some major setbacks in bringing the famous Kat to the screen.The animators weren't really loyal to the comic strip, and by the mid-twenties Krazy Kat was a solo act on his own.The earliest shorts only lasted around three to four mintues.
In the 1920's, Herriman's supporting characters in the strip Igantz Mouse, and Offica Pup were forgotten and Krazy was the star.Another big change in the animated series from the comic strip was the fact that "Krazy" was a female, but that all changed when the NYC animators made him a male in the mid-twenties.Krazy really didn't have the "personality" that his counterpart "Felix" had, but the cartoon series did managed to be a success with moviegoers.
With the success of the first sound cartoon "STEAMBOAT WILLIE" in 1928, all of the other cartoon studios(east & west coast) followed suit.Cartoon Producer, Charles Mintz was releasing the "Krazy Kat" cartoons through Paramount Pictures, and when the decison was made that the studio would release Max Fleischer's cartoons for the sound era, Mintz took the series to Columbia Pictures in 1929.At the same time, Walt Disney was releasing his shorts through distrbiution with Columbia, and Mintz was determined to make Krazy a big star right along with Mickey Mouse.
By 1930, Krazy did not look anything like Herriman's comic strip style, as Krazy became a Mickey Mouse lookalike until 1934 when once again the animators redesinged him.The the studio did make some great "Krazy" cartoon one-reelers during the 30s and such films did focus on reality such as the 1930 short, "LAMBS WILL GAMBLE", which was about the famous Wall Street Market crash of 1929, in the cartoon, Krazy plays a stockbroker trying a way to get his finances back on track, while other brokers try to committ suicide and other brokers rake in the money.
Another excellent Depression-era cartoon was 1932's "PROSPERITY BLUES", was about what was going on in America during the 1930's.Krazy is trying to make a living selling apples and a customer slaps a smiling face on Krazy, and spreading happiness all around.What's interesting about this cartoon is that the title song is "Smile Darn Ya Smile" which was the title of the "Merrie Melodies" short of the same name a year before.During this time Krazy Kat was the main star at Columbia(since Disney left the studio after a dispute) and did manged to have a successful career in the sound era as well.
Years later, the animators decided to make a "TRUE" Krazy Kazt cartoon, the short was titleled "LIL ANJIL" , and was true to George Herriman's comic style.Ignatz Mouse and Offica Pup were brought back in this short, but it was to late, at this time movie goers couldn't understand why this Kat looked so different than other previous cartoon shorts and a few years (in 1940)later Krazy faded from the silver screen unitl 1962, when Paramount/Famous Studios released a series called "Comic Kings" and featured a new "Krazy & Ignatz" in the style of Herriman's vision, but the series failed at the box office.
Today Krazy Kat is just another forgotten cartoon character from the movie screen, but the comic strips live on.Some of the top notch animators who worked on the series was, William C.Nolan, Samus Culhane, Art Davis, Sid Marcus, Jack Carr, Ben Harrison during the entire screen history of Krazy Kat.
MY TOP 3 KARZY KAT PICKS OF THE MONTH....
The Bandmaster-1930 This is a great American muscial concert short in which Krazy play a muscial conductor in a park.Cartoon Musical director, Joe DeNat makes a wonderful score for this cartoon and it doesn't have a plot just a concert in the park on a sunny day.Krazy does chancge into some famous celebraties in this short, from Paul Whiteman, Charlie Chaplin and Ben Turpin.
BARS AND STRIPES-1931 One of my personal favorite Krazy shorts, in which musical instruments declare a major war on Krazy Kat.I have screened this cartoon to people and this is a big hit with cartoon fans today.
LIL ANJIL-1936 The only TRUE "Krazy Kat" cartoon produced by Columbia Pictures.A true George Herriman style animation short, in it the cartoon Igantz gets arrested by Offica Pup and is sent to jail and it's up to Krazy to get her love back.
This is just a wonderful cartoon and when viewing, you might notice the the voice of Offica Pup is played by voice actor, WILLIAM COSTELLO, who was the voice of Gus Gorrilla on the "Betty Boop" radio show and is best remembered for being the first voice of "Popeye the Sailor" in the Max Fleischer cartoons.
I certainly hope you enjoy my monthly tribute to Krazy and all of the other famous cartoon stars from Hollywood's past.
See Ya Next Month! :D
Starting on the first day of every month, I will pick a major cartoon star and to offer a brief history of the character and present my three top toon picks of the star of the month.This will help toon heads get a chance to get to know the character, the history, and the films.Bascially, I want to give fans to checkout of the major animated characters(outside WB, MGM, Parmount) from the Hollywood studios during the "Golden Age Of Animation".
So lets begin, shall we?
This month's toon star of the month, is the very first animated feline of the silver screen....
KRAZY KAT
Today, Krazy Kat is best known for the famous comic strip than his animated cartoons, largely due to the fact that the cartoons didn't really live up to the comic strip during Krazy's long apperance on the silver screen.
Lengendary Cartoonist George Herriman created the famous Kat and mouse, Ignatz in the early 1900s and became an instant hit with the American public.In 1916, the Heast-Vitagraph company brought the famous comic strip Kat & Mouse team to the silver screen at the Bray Studios in New York City.
Krazy Kat made his screen debut in the cartoon titled, "Introducing Krazy Kat And Igantz Mouse", released on Febuary.18, 1916.What is interesting is the fact the Krazy made his debut three years before Pat Sullivan brought "Felix The Cat" to the screenin 1919.The "Krazy Kat" series did have some major setbacks in bringing the famous Kat to the screen.The animators weren't really loyal to the comic strip, and by the mid-twenties Krazy Kat was a solo act on his own.The earliest shorts only lasted around three to four mintues.
In the 1920's, Herriman's supporting characters in the strip Igantz Mouse, and Offica Pup were forgotten and Krazy was the star.Another big change in the animated series from the comic strip was the fact that "Krazy" was a female, but that all changed when the NYC animators made him a male in the mid-twenties.Krazy really didn't have the "personality" that his counterpart "Felix" had, but the cartoon series did managed to be a success with moviegoers.
With the success of the first sound cartoon "STEAMBOAT WILLIE" in 1928, all of the other cartoon studios(east & west coast) followed suit.Cartoon Producer, Charles Mintz was releasing the "Krazy Kat" cartoons through Paramount Pictures, and when the decison was made that the studio would release Max Fleischer's cartoons for the sound era, Mintz took the series to Columbia Pictures in 1929.At the same time, Walt Disney was releasing his shorts through distrbiution with Columbia, and Mintz was determined to make Krazy a big star right along with Mickey Mouse.
By 1930, Krazy did not look anything like Herriman's comic strip style, as Krazy became a Mickey Mouse lookalike until 1934 when once again the animators redesinged him.The the studio did make some great "Krazy" cartoon one-reelers during the 30s and such films did focus on reality such as the 1930 short, "LAMBS WILL GAMBLE", which was about the famous Wall Street Market crash of 1929, in the cartoon, Krazy plays a stockbroker trying a way to get his finances back on track, while other brokers try to committ suicide and other brokers rake in the money.
Another excellent Depression-era cartoon was 1932's "PROSPERITY BLUES", was about what was going on in America during the 1930's.Krazy is trying to make a living selling apples and a customer slaps a smiling face on Krazy, and spreading happiness all around.What's interesting about this cartoon is that the title song is "Smile Darn Ya Smile" which was the title of the "Merrie Melodies" short of the same name a year before.During this time Krazy Kat was the main star at Columbia(since Disney left the studio after a dispute) and did manged to have a successful career in the sound era as well.
Years later, the animators decided to make a "TRUE" Krazy Kazt cartoon, the short was titleled "LIL ANJIL" , and was true to George Herriman's comic style.Ignatz Mouse and Offica Pup were brought back in this short, but it was to late, at this time movie goers couldn't understand why this Kat looked so different than other previous cartoon shorts and a few years (in 1940)later Krazy faded from the silver screen unitl 1962, when Paramount/Famous Studios released a series called "Comic Kings" and featured a new "Krazy & Ignatz" in the style of Herriman's vision, but the series failed at the box office.
Today Krazy Kat is just another forgotten cartoon character from the movie screen, but the comic strips live on.Some of the top notch animators who worked on the series was, William C.Nolan, Samus Culhane, Art Davis, Sid Marcus, Jack Carr, Ben Harrison during the entire screen history of Krazy Kat.
MY TOP 3 KARZY KAT PICKS OF THE MONTH....
The Bandmaster-1930 This is a great American muscial concert short in which Krazy play a muscial conductor in a park.Cartoon Musical director, Joe DeNat makes a wonderful score for this cartoon and it doesn't have a plot just a concert in the park on a sunny day.Krazy does chancge into some famous celebraties in this short, from Paul Whiteman, Charlie Chaplin and Ben Turpin.
BARS AND STRIPES-1931 One of my personal favorite Krazy shorts, in which musical instruments declare a major war on Krazy Kat.I have screened this cartoon to people and this is a big hit with cartoon fans today.
LIL ANJIL-1936 The only TRUE "Krazy Kat" cartoon produced by Columbia Pictures.A true George Herriman style animation short, in it the cartoon Igantz gets arrested by Offica Pup and is sent to jail and it's up to Krazy to get her love back.
This is just a wonderful cartoon and when viewing, you might notice the the voice of Offica Pup is played by voice actor, WILLIAM COSTELLO, who was the voice of Gus Gorrilla on the "Betty Boop" radio show and is best remembered for being the first voice of "Popeye the Sailor" in the Max Fleischer cartoons.
I certainly hope you enjoy my monthly tribute to Krazy and all of the other famous cartoon stars from Hollywood's past.
See Ya Next Month! :D