Fox and Crow clip

[Jack]

I'm sort of surprised nobody mentioned this already, but you can watch a clip from a rare Fox and Crow cartoon. Cartoon research (http://www.cartoonresearch.com/comments.html)

I sort of liked it, from what I could tell. Too bad the cartoon is blurry, so you can't really make out facial expressions and movement (something that such cartoons depend on to get laughs). I'd like to see more, after all, you can't judge an entire studio's work from a blurry, small, short clip from one cartoon.




Jack:D

[Thad Komorowski]

I saw that clip. It was actually pretty good for me, shockingly, since most clips I view live act like a slide show and are all blurry.

-Thad:D

[Thad Komorowski]

Also, I noticed that network is playing those new Woody Woodpecker cartoons. I think I have two or three of those on tape. I'll have too look for them and post a review. The first one I saw wasn't so bad. One of them had Buzz ripping off Woody on a cheap fake vacation, which is actually Woody's house, only re-designed.

-Thad:D

[BobChief]

It wasn't too bad...for a few seconds, then it was pretty-much slide-show. But honestly, we ARE talking Singapore-to-the-US here!

[Jack]

No, it wasn't bad, it just got really blurry whenever the characters and backgrounds moved, but it does make me want to see more. The cartoon didn't really have a WB feel, it was different. Some people may not like that sort of thing, though.

I don't think CN would ever pick up the series, especially with a character named Tito as one of the main items. Judging from their treatment of Speedy, a character they completely own, CN would never pay for cartoons they can't show.



Jack:D

[Nelson]

Considering in the 19 year history (1929-1948) of the Columbia/Screen Gems cartoon studio, "The Fox And The Crow" was the studio's biggest cartoon stars, and the characters were even nominated for two Academy Awards in 1948 and 1949.Frank Tashlin created the feuding twosome in the 1941 short, "The Fox And The Grapes".Dave Fleischer also worked on the series right after the Fleischer Studios closed it's doors in 1942.

Chuck Jones has highly praised the cartoon series, for being an inspiration for the "Road Runner And Coyote" cartoons.But in today's society, no one has never heard of "The Fox And The Crow", and you can thank Columbia/Sony for NOT releasing this excellent cartoon series to the public...In my opinion, this is one of the greatest cartoon teams in animation history.

[Jack]

Is there any way to get ahold of Fox and Crow cartoons? I know there were 23 made and they were mostly directed by Bob Wickersham.


Jack:D

[Nelson]

Sadly,I don't think there is any "Fox And Crow" cartoons on video at all, but I could be wrong...If anybody has any kind of "Fox And Crow" cartoons on video, just e-mail me or Jack to let us know and maybe we can make a trade.:)

Thanks!!!

[Sveven Dvorking]

The Fox and the Crow cartoons were made in Singapore? No wonder I've never heard of them.

[Jack]

The Fox and the Crow cartoons were made in Singapore? No wonder I've never heard of them.
They were made in Hollywood or Southern California, the same place most other cartoons were made in the 1940s. Kids Central, the network that is showing the clip, is in Singapor.


Jack:D

[YPSmitGimmick]

Download the Clip (http://203.117.6.22/woof/stv12/kids/wk30/totallytooned.asf)

[lislebartman]

I just watched the "Fox & Crow" clip on Windows Media Player. the animation seems to be quite good. Why are we being denied the pleasure of seeing these films?!? WHY? WHY? WHY? :confused:

[Sveven Dvorking]

Originally posted by lislebartman
Why are we being denied the pleasure of seeing these films?!? WHY? WHY? WHY? :confused:

My guesses:
Because Cargoon Networm doesn't have rights to them?
OR
The company that does have rights to them is either not spending time to release them or thinks they can't make a profit off of them?

[Jack]

Because Cargoon Networm doesn't have rights to them?
That's part of it, but CN could easily buy the rights to air the series, like it does Rocky and Bullwinkle.

The company that does have rights to them is either not spending time to release them or thinks they can't make a profit off of them?
Columbia, with Jerry Beck, restored all the color cartoons from the Mintz and Screen Gem studios from original negatives and put them into a 65 episode TV sereis called "Totally Tooned In," European countries mostly show it, CN hasn't picked it up.

I suppose the only downside of the series is that cartoons with black steriotypes are edited, and some cartoons were renamed with new title art created (most of the negatives had had their titles replaced by reissue cards, like the Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodies were).


Jack:D

[J Lee]

Columbia, for some reason, never opted to put their cartoons into syndication, during the Golden Age of theatrical cartoons on local stations around the country (1957-1980), and since those cartoons were never in the public domain, they join the Lantz and Terrytoons B&W efforts as being the most obscure cartoons made by a major motion picture studio.

The only possible reasons I can figure out for Columbia never syndicating their cartoons were:

1.) The made-for-TV Mr. Magoos that flooded independent stations in the 1960s made have made the studio decide it couldn't get top prices for syndication rights to that character, and none of the other Columbia cartoons really connected very well with kids (though adults who don't like cartoons loved the UPA artsy efforts of the 1950s) and too many of the 1930s and early 40s shorts were in B&W;

2.) Columbia was doing such great buisiness syndicating The Three Stooges shorts to independent stations around the country they didn't want to take a chance on having a second syndicated kids package cut into their rentals for the Stooges.

I suppose there could be some legal reason why the cartoons were never put on TV, but AFAIK, I've never seen anything written about any legal wrangling over ownership of the Mintz/Screen Gems/UPA cartoons.

[Sogturtle]

Annnnd John~

Columbia had a pretty fair number (if not all) of their cartoons (b & w and color) out for 16mm rental. Some complete with opening lady and everything. Others denuded of the lady (NO I did not say a nude lady :)) and with the "Official Films" name and sliced credits. They even used to sell some for home movie use (16mm and 8mm).

[BobChief]

That clip looks a lot better, thanks Yps. I can see the points some of you have made about the 'different' look of these toons -- still, the visual look of it to me seems more D~sn~y than anything else, where-as the music might suggest Paramount/Famous...but that's jest me...:)

Point of order, J Lee: didn't Jerry say on his site once, that Columbia fumbled the original negatives to their toons, and his restorations were in fact based on reissue negs?

[J Lee]

On his Columbia Original Titles Page (http://www.cartoonresearch.com/columbia.html) Jerry does say that the negs he worked with had reissue titles, but those Screen Gems/Mintz cartoons, and certainly the UPA Columbias, should have been easily available for syndication in the 1960s and 70s, if Columbia wanted to. Outside of a very brief run on Nickelodeon in the mid-1990s, the UPA cartoons have never been shown on U.S. television and AFAIK, the Screen Gems cartoons have never been shown, period.

[David Gerstein]

Hey, guys...

>the UPA cartoons have never been shown on U.S.
>television and AFAIK, the Screen Gems cartoons
>have never been shown, period.

AFAIK, a package of some of them, in their retitled form, were syndicated to parts of at least Europe in the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. A friend of mine here in Denmark taped a few rather worn Fox and Crow copies from Danish TV.
They were pulled off the air after that, though; I'm not sure why. Maybe, and I don't know for sure, some European channels were really running them illegally in the belief that they were public domain (something that even happened with early Disney cartoons in a few countries!).

David Gerstein

[Sogturtle]

David Gerstein is quite right. A number of the Screen Gems were aired on British TV in the Seventies. I remember a whiny TV reviewer mentioning specific titles of some of them in a magazine of the day.