Ballerina Bunny

Bugs uses ballerina moves to deal with a penguin-hungry bum in a railway box car in “8 Ball Bunny.”



The animation in the short is by Ken Harris, Lloyd Vaughan, Ben Washam, Emery Hawkins and Phil Monroe.

Recipe Time With Jack and Mary

Jack Benny liked Chinese food, claimed a newspaper article way-back-when and we posted some recipes in it. Another newspaper came up with some Benny recipes as well, though I don’t think the comedian actually tried them.

This column was written by Bessie M. Gant of the Pittsburgh Courier, published May 25, 1946. As you can see, it has a capsuled history of Jack’s career, no doubt supplied by his manager or ad agency, before going into a few recipes.

There’s a reference in the column to the movie “Always Leave Them Laughing.” For some reason, Jack never starred in it and it was made into a fictional vehicle for Milton Berle.

Jack Benny, Ace Comedian, Like Seafood of All Kinds
Dear Readers:
We know you have wondered for lo these many months way I haven't given you the history of one, Jack Benny, who has been responsible for so many laughter each Sunday night at seven. A veritable romance of the American tradition is the story of the former Benjamin Kubelsky which brought an eight-year-old boy before the public for the first time as a violinist.
Jack's father was an immigrant from Russia who hid under a load of bottles to escape to the promised land of America. Settling in Waukegan, he married and became the proud father of a son and daughter.
The violin lessons Jack took when he was a youngster were eventually. to launch him on the road to fame. At seventeen Jack went into vaudeville, teaming with a girl. Still later, en route to big-time vaudeville, he teamed up with a pianist, Lyman Woods and toured the country, ending up with a coveted engagement at the Palladium in London.
JOINS NAVY
During the first world war, Jack Benny joined the Navy, and when he returned to the stage, he dropped his violin playing for the role of comedian. From thence on, his violin was to be the butt of some of the gayest jokes on the Benny repertoire.
Jack Benny began his radio career in 1932, and gradually he has built up his air "family" into a famous team in which each person is a distinctive personality and a star. Jack Benny's "Mary Livingstone" is, of course, his wife, who was written into the script early in the broadcasts as a wide-eyed fan from Plainfield, N. J. Persuaded to read the part, "Mary" was born and with her infectious laugh, is an integral part of the Sunday show.
Frank Parker, Don Bestor, Kenny Baker, Dennis Day, Harry Stevens [sic] have all had their day on Benny's program, with Dennis returning recently to the air from a stint in the Navy.
In 1935 [sic], the highlight of the season was the appearance of one, Rochester Van Jones (Eddie Anderson) on the program. Since then, the gravel voiced comedian has helped keep the Benny program in the top-notch brackets of entertainment.
Phil Harris, the curly haired band leader, is another reason for the popularity of the Benny show.
PUBLIC LIKES “FALL” GUY
Early in his career, Jack Benny discovered that the public likes the fall guy . . . the character who is cheap . . . the man who wears a toupee . . . the guy who gets into trouble that plague the ordinary man. He has capitalized on it and it has built his program high in air ratings.
Jack owns his time on the air, an asset no other performer possesses.
His next film, "Always Leave Them Laughing," has been subtitled "The Life of Jack Benny."
Favorite foods of this king of comedians is seafood, so this week I give you a trio of delicious recipes created especially for Jack Benny.
ALLEN, BENNY CROQUETTES
Flake crab meat and mix with just enough jellied mayonnaise to hold the meat together. Season to taste and chill. Roll into croquette style. Roll the croquettes in finely chopped hard cooked eggs. Place on plates and garnish with tiny tomato slices and watercress. Serve with melba toast or crackers.
LOBSTER SALAD A LA BENNY
2 cups cut up lobster
3 hard boiled eggs
1 tart apple chopped with juice of half lemon added
1/2 cup chopped blanched almonds.
1 cup chopped celery
Season to taste
Mayonnaise
Add mayonnaise to lobster mixture, mix thoroughly and chill. Serve on bed of shredded lettuce.
MARY LIVINGSTONE FISH MOUSSE
To one cup of finely chopped white fish add one pint of very thick cream, season to taste and fold into mixture four stiffly beaten egg whites. Put into buttered ring and set in pan of hot water, cook in moderate oven until set. Turn out on platter and serve with black olive sauce.

Cartoons of 1951, Part One

If you review the world of theatrical animation in 1951, you’ll probably be struck by how ho-hum and status quo it was. The major studios were churning out the same old stuff they’d been making for at least 10 years—Famous Studios had Popeye, MGM had Tom and Jerry, Warners had Bugs Bunny, Lantz had Woody Woodpecker. No wonder critics went ga-ga over UPA. It copped the Oscar that year for “Gerald McBoing Boing,” which looked, sounded and felt different than yet another Donald Duck short. Gerald, more than anything, sparked the raves the studio received in the popular press over the next couple of years.

As for Mr. D. Duck, Mr. W. Disney realised by 1951 that something had to be done to shore up his shorts, even though his priorities were a) features and b) live-action documentary shorts. He decided (and I never doubt Disney was the final arbiter of stuff like this) to pair off his characters with female interests, perhaps thinking more adult plots could result. Meanwhile, he was astute enough to realise television was not his competition and could result in big, big, big profits, but also astute enough to realise 1951 was not the right time for it. Elsewhere, genial Uncle Walt’s legal department was attempting to bully Lou Bunin’s Alice in Wonderland off screens.

Television was still primitive when it came to animation in the first half of 1951. A barely moving series called “TeleComics” became “NBC Comics.” The best and most creative animation was in commercials—the spots were getting favourable reviews in the trade press; many were fully animated by old Hollywood cartoon artists.

MGM came in for criticism, but not because of “violence” (that came in the ‘60s) or “racism” (today’s carp by some). The studio saved money by releasing shorts made by the John Sutherland studio for Harding College, funded by the Sloan Foundation. They were unabashed pro-capitalism propaganda shorts. One finally struck someone as politically biased against the Truman administration. The ensuing flap may have been the reason MGM released only one more Sutherland short afterwards.

Here are cartoon industry stories from the pages of Variety, mostly from the weekly edition as the dailies are not on-line. Weekly tended to republish or rework the main Daily stories anyway.

January 3, 1951
Stakes Title Claims To 7 G&S Operettas
United Productions of America, an animated cartoon producer, has staked claim to titles of some seven Gilbert & Sullivan works with the Motion Picture Assn. of America's Title Registration Bureau.
By making the move, the company evidently is trying to get in on the ground floor inasmuch as G. & S. are now in the public domain in the U. S. While UPA is considering placing some of the G. & S. operettas before the camera, company veepee Edward L. Gershman said in New York last week, actual production will have to wait on completion of a number of James Thurber stories the firm recently acquired for filming. He described the tag registration as merely a step of an "exploratory nature."
Present plans, according to Gershman, call for the operettas to be made as principally cartoon features although some live sequences would be contained in the footage. As filed with the MPAA's bureau the titles include "H.M.S. Pinafore," "Iolanthe," "Patience," "Pirates of Penzance," "Ruddigore," "Trial by Jury," and "Yeoman of the Guard."

January 4, 1951
German Cartoonist To Study UPA Techniques
Hubert Schonger, head of Schonger Films of U. S.-occupied Berlin, arrived yesterday for a week's confabs with United Productions of America. Schonger's outfit produces cartoon pix.
He'll study United's production techniques during his stay.

Daggett At UPA
Charles Daggett has been set as publicity director for United Productions of America, commercial cartoon studio in Burbank.

January 5, 1951
MGM Releasing Four Shorts Next Month
Metro will release four short subjects during February. Quartet includes Pete Smith's "Sky Skiers," James A. FitzPatrick's "Voice of Venice" and two cartoons, "Cock a Doodle Dog" and "Million Dollar Cat."

Out of The Horn’s Mouth
Walter Lantz today starts scoring his latest Woody Woodpecker cartoon, "Sleep Happy." Short is second on producer's new series for UI release.

January 10, 1951
Karloff as Narrator
William L. Snyder, who holds U. S. distribution rights to "The Emperor's Nightingale," Czech-made feature cartoon, this week inked Boris Karloff as narrator for the film. Phyllis McGinley. New Yorker mag staffer, previously had written the commentary. Color picture was done by Czech puppeteer Jiri Trnka, and achieves the effect of a pantomime set to music.

Obituaries
SAM BUCHWALD
Sam Buchwald, 41, general manager of Famous Studios, producer of Paramount cartoons, died Monday night (8) of a heart attack in N. Y. Pennsylvania station. Funeral services will be held this morning (Wed.) at Riverside Memorial Chapel. He is survived by his wife, Rose, and two daughters.
Born in California, Buchwald's first industry job was with Paramount's music department at its Long Island studio. He later joined Max Fleischer, Paramount cartoon producer, and when the Fleischer organization was dissolved, Buchwald formed Famous Studios with Seymour Kneitel and Isadore Sparber.

January 17, 1951
Sideline Revenue Nets Disney 717G Vs. 94G Red in'49
Sideline activities of Walt Disney Productions, including cartoon character merchandising, comic strips and music, has provided a hefty assist in bo[o]sting the firm to the strongest financial position in its history. Climbing significantly, Disney drew: gross income of $1,921,649 from the non-film sources In the past fiscal year, as compared with $1,289,966 in 1949, and $1,190,456 in 1948.
Disney outfit reported net profit of $717,542 for the year, which ended last Sept. 30, vs. a loss of $93,899 in the preceding year, importance of the merchandising tie-ins and allied endeavors was the financial breakdown, which showed the income from this segment of the Disney operation substantially topped the $1,351,577 in gross short subjects income. Producer's share of feature rentals amounted to $4,020,623, bringing total gross income for the past year to $7,293,849.
$5,685,055 Gross
Gross revenue for the previous year was listed at $2,916,887 in feature rentals, $1,478,202 from shorts and $1,289,966 from merchandising, for a total of $5,685,055.
Drop in shorts revenue was due to delivery of Only 18 subjects in the past year, as against 20 in the previous year, it was said.
Reflecting Disney's solid financial condition, net working capital increased from $4,617,543 in 1949 to $5,247,6751 in 1950. This was accompanied by a reduction of $2,001,285 in current bank loans and $42,730 in outstanding debentures.
Primarily responsible for the fiscal improvement was "Cinderella," which is expected to reach close to $4,250,000 in overall distribution take1. Pic has proved Disney's biggest grosser since "Snow White."
Producer paid regular quarterly dividends of 37 1/2c per share on the preferred stock during the year. Net earnings were equal to $1.06 per share on the 652,840 shares of common outstanding.
Buy Back Preferred
Meanwhile, however, firm's board of directors has authorized redemption of all the preferred issue at the redemption price of $25 per share plus any accrued dividends. Disney's upcoming features include "Alice in Wonderland,"
which is set for release by RKO next fall, and "Robin Hood," due in 1952. Latter pic will be produced in partnership with RKO this summer in England, on the same 50-50 basis as the two jointly made "Treasure Island."
Such production abroad, of course, constitutes a means of putting to use blocked funds. Lensing of "Island" last year had the effect of cutting Disney's total frozen revenue abroad to approximately $480,000 at current trading rates of exchange. This compares with $450,000 a year ago.

King's Par Cartoon Tie
King Features Syndicate has tied up with Famous Studios, producers of Paramount cartoons, for the commercial exploitation of Par's cartoon characters. King will promote the pen-and-inkers with material such as dolls, comic books, etc.
Par cartoon characters include Popeye, Little Audrey, Herman the Mouse, Huey the Duck and Casper the Friendly Ghost.

Television Chatter
Station Distributors, Inc., indie film distrib outfit, bought rights to 30 westerns and six features formerly controlled by WPIX, which it plans to combine in a package with the Charlie Chaplin comedies and cartoons it now controls...

January 24, 1951
N.Y. CARTOONISTS ASK 25% SALARY BOOST
New York unit of Screen Cartoonists Guild is asking a 25% wage boost in its new contract. Present pact expires Feb. 24. Negotiations were halted with death of Sam Buchwald, head of Famous Studios, producers of Paramount cartoons, but will be resumed next week. Buchwald died Jan. 9.
Hollywood chapter of SCG recently negotiated new agreement with Coast producers, calling for increases of $2 to $5 a week in certain categories. Understood eastern producers offered higher margin of increase, but offer was turned down.

January 31, 1951
Disney Execs Map Big 'Alice' Bally
With their sights adjusted on an extensive ad-pub campaign, execs of Walt Disney Productions and RKO met in New York yesterday (Tues.) to study and review pre-release ballyhoo on "Alice in Wonderland." Produced by Disney, the all-cartoon Technicolor feature is scheduled for RKO distribution next fall. Presided over by Disney worldwide salesmanager William B. Levy, the meet was the third in a series of such conclaves which are aimed at digesting ideas submitted by Disney and RKO sales and ad-pub department members. Every possible medium of promotion is expected to be utilized to acquaint the filmgoing public with "Alice."
National advertising was particularly stressed. In view of the success of the Disney Christmas TV show, "One Hour in Wonderland," it was indicated that radio and TV will be heavily used. Series of AM and TV spot and air trailers are projected while special recordings to plug the "Alice" music will be grooved to disk jockeys.
Mag advertising campaign, which got underway in the Jan. 22 issue of Life, reportedly will exceed all prior Disney ad efforts. Drive will extend through the next six months, with color pages and spreads in the most important media. Ambitious merchandising plans call for more than 100 Disney-licensed firms to manufacture scores of "Alice" products.
With 10 tunes in the "Alice" score to be plugged, the music campaign is slated to start in March. Virtually all recording companies are said to have waxed the numbers on a total of 46 individual records and three albums to date. Reprints of the Lewis Carroll classic as well as a flock of comic books will also spread the "Alice" legend.
Aside from Levy, some 17 other Disney staffers attended the session, including Card Walker, ad manager; O. B. Johnston, veepee in charge of character merchandise; Paul Pease, treasurer; Jack Cutting, foreign production manager from Paris; Leo Samuels, assistant to Levy, and Charles L. Levy, eastern pub director, among others. RKO contingent of four reps was headed by advertising director S. Barret McCormick.

B'casting Industry Aids Brotherhood Week Fete With Kits, Cartoons, Copy
Broadcasting industry is marking Brotherhood Week (Feb. 18-25) with the aid of AM and TV kits prepared by the National Conference of Christians and Jews and with two vidpic animated cartoons produced by the American Jewish Committee.
NCCJ radio kit, wrapped up by a committee headed by ABC prexy Robert E. Kintner with the aid of Ted Cott, WNBC (N. Y.) manager, and Dorothy Lewis, of UN Radio, includes copy for live spots and a disk with transcribed spots by personalities such as Groucho Marx, Edgar Bergen, Jackie Robinson, Lionel Barrymore, Jack Benny, Loretta Young and Gordon MacRae. It also includes a list of tunes and disks on the brotherhood theme which local stations can use, and programming suggestions.
NCCJ tele committee, of which DuMont network director Mortimer W. Loewi is chairman, issued a kit containing audio and visual material for spots, suggested programs, TV film spots and a list of films on brotherhood cleared for video.
AJC has released "Sweet'n Sour" and "Three-Ring Circus," one-minute-long animated cartoons with songs by Tom Glazer. They are the first of a series written and directed by Lynne Rhodes with animation by Fred Arnot. Milton E. Krentz produced.

February 21, 1951
NEW INDIE PREPS RELIGIOSO VIDPIX
Sacramento, Feb. 20.
New production unit, Religious Film Foundation, filed incorporation papers with Dorland P. Dryer, Daniel C. Tuttle and Porter L. Barrington as directors. Company will combine animation with narration in the presentation of Biblical tales, starting with "Symphony of Life." Pictures will be aimed at church and TV distribution.

HILL & RANGE PLUGGING TUNE VIA FREE VIDPIX
Hollywood, Feb. 20.
Hill and Range Music closed a deal with United Productions of America to make a two-minute vidfilm of the firm's "Peter Cottontail" tune which will be delivered to 125 video outlets around the country. Pubbery is bearing entire $10,000 cost of scheme which provides stations with gratis footage in return for free plugs.
Firm previously pulled the same stunt on "Frosty the Snowman." Edwin H. Morris also tried it, but on purely local basis. "Cottontail" is being done in complete animation. Tune gets solo vocaling against a capella background, thus escaping AFM bite.

March 7, 1951
DISNEY USES SEX TO SPUR HIS CARTOONS
Under the spur of increasing competition from other cartoon shorts producers, Walt Disney is taking steps to hold his pre-eminence in the field. Keynote of the new campaign is sex.
Disney feels he hasn't been paying enough attention to the distaff side among his cast of pen-and-brush characters. So he is giving each of them a girl friend. Mickey Mouse will get back Minnie, who's been off the screen for a number of years.
Goofy, who's never had a romantic vis-a-vis, is acquiring a nameless hillbilly playmate whose face is forever hidden beneath a sunbonnet. Chipmunks Chip and Dale are being given support of a soubret of the species named Clarice. Donald Duck, whose heart is normally flint as far as dames go, is going to be allowed to do a little flirting with a femme bee.
And Mickey, incidentally, is getting his tail back. It's been on and off at various times during his 23-year screen career. No explanation is forthcoming, from Disney on the significance of its return.

BIRTHS
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Lundy, daughter, Glendale, Cal., March 1. Father is a cartoon director at Metro.

March 21, 1951
Metro Won’t Yank Cartoon In Farm Rap
Metro is sticking to its guns in releasing "Fresh Laid Plans," cartoon short over which has developed a political controversy. M-G distribution vice-president William F. Rodgers stated in N. Y. yesterday (Tues.) the distrib has no intention of withdrawing the one-reeler from circulation.
Recognizing the uproar which "Plans" has caused, Rodgers issued a formal press statement identifying the M-G position. He asserted: " 'Fresh Laid Plans' is fifth in this series of patriotic cartoons which we have released. It was submitted to us by Harding College as were its four predecessors, and we released it because, like the others, we believed it to be interesting and entertaining to moviegoers.
"As a matter of fact we had received such favorable comment on the other cartoons, all of which dealt with similar subjects in the public interest, that our acceptance of- 'Fresh Laid Plans' was routine."
"Plans" and other four shorts which Rodgers referred to all were produced in Hollywood by John Sutherland, for Harding. M-G serves only as the distributor, as it would with any other indie producer with whom it enters a releasing pact.
Touching off the fireworks in the "Plans" instance, however, is the fact the short has been interpreted in some quarters as treating of Government agricultural planning in satirical: fashion. Carrying this thought still further, Alfred D. Stedman, farm editor of the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press, questioned whether handling of the short might mean that a "big segment of the movie industry is going to bat to knock the Government out of agriculture," Stedman further branded "Plans" as a "one-sided editorial in pictures" and declared its purpose was to sway public opinion in a hotly-contested farm issue.
'Hits at Price System'
Editor alleged the short hits specifically at the farm production and prices system advanced by Secretary of Agriculture Charles F. Brannan, known popularly as the Brannan Plan. Also linked in the pic's production is the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation which granted funds to the college for its lensing.
Denials of the Stedman charges have been made by a spokesman for the Foundation, who said the film had neither the intent nor effect of satire, and by Sutherland. Producer said he merely tried to "point out the impossibility of planning our lives from a central authority."
Other four cartoons made by Sutherland who, incidentally, formerly was associated with Walt Disney, were: "Make Mine Freedom," dealing with free enterprise; "Meet King Joe," concerning the capital-labor relationship: "Why Play Leap Frog," focusing on prices and wages, and "Albert in Blunderland," a satire on the Russian system.
Three others now are in preparation, centering respectively on profits, taxes and inflation. M-G's pacts with Harding have been on a single-pic basis. Distrib. has made no commitments for the future, as yet.

March 28, 1951
DISNEY HAS $25,250,000 TV FUTURE, SEZ BROKER
Wedding of Walt Disney Productions and television would mean the cartoon outfit could figure on a revenue potential of up to $25,250,000 from its library of completed and amortized pix, according to Butler, Moser & Co., stockbrokers.
Financial outfit points out Disney has about 400 shorts and 15 features in the vaults. Features could be shown as serials, it's said, with each taking a full week for an entire showing, making them the equivalent of another 105 shorts.
Wall St. firm figures the cost of a color short up to as high as $50,000, thus the cost of reproducing the entire Disney lineup would run to $25,250,000. Disney's cartoons and features are rated a "natural" for TV, "and should provide substantial and continuing earning power in this medium," it's noted. In the Disney appraisal, it's also pointed up that the cartoons are "ageless" and have constant re-release value for video. This was demonstrated last Christmas Day when the 12-year-old "Snow White" was telecast.
Butler, Moser firm concludes its analysis with the observation Disney stock "is a most attractive speculation with great possibilities for sizeable capital gains."

ACLU BACKS METRO ON DISPUTED SHORT
American Civil Liberties Union this week identified itself as a Metro ally so far as the major's short subject, "Fresh Laid Plans," is concerned. Cartoon one-reeler stirred lots of controversy in the midwest where it was interpreted as a one-sided political attack on the Government's agricultural program. Patrick Murphy Malin, ACLU exec director, set forth the outfit's position in a letter to Alfred P. Stedman, farm editor of the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press, who had been among those who protested the film. Malin said while Stedman has every right to express his opinion, ACLU was "concerned over any suggestion of censorship or suppression."
Malin considered the matter on an overall industry basis, holding it "vitally important" that the motion picture is accorded the constitutional guarantees of freedom applied to other communications media. He wrote that the industry "long-ago outgrew its infant, role as mere entertainment, and came to be a powerful means of mass information and education."
John Sutherland, producer of "Plans," should be "free to express himself, and those who want to see the film, despite protests, against it, should be free to do so," Malin contended.

April 4, 1951
Winners of Academy Awards
Short Subjects (Cartoon)
"GERALD McBOING-BOING," United Productions of America. Columbia, Stephen Bosustow, executive producer.

Disney as Disk Jock On WNBC Daytimer
Walt Disney is the latest to join the ranks of disk jockeys, having signatured a deal with Ted Cott, general manager of WNBC, N. Y., for a weekly Saturday morning half-hour stanza. It preems April 28 in the 9:30 to 10 segment, giving the station a kiddie-slanted deejay block programming parlay of June Winters' "Lady in Blue," Jackie Robinson and Disney.
Cartoon impresario will do the running continuity, and intros, via transcription, on the spinning of his multiple albums.

April 18, 1951
Inside Stuff--Television
"Baseball," animated ballad-cartoon on film, has been produced for video by the American Jewish Committee and is being released cuffo. Vidpic, with guitar and song background by Tom Glazer, is third in the AJC series on the theme of the contributions made by all races and religions to America's democratic strength. Minute-long cartoon was designed particularly for screening during the baseball season.

April 25, 1951
'BOING' SINGLE-REELER EYES 100G U.S. GROSS
Making the single reeler one of the most successful on the Columbia lineup in years, Academy Award-winning "Gerald McBoing Boing" which was brought in at a cost of close to $30,000, is headed for domestic rentals of possibly close to $100,000. Example of the heavy playoff it's getting is shown in the N. Y. area, where the United Productions of America color cartoon already has been booked into four first-runs.
UPA now has tentative plans for a continuing program of animated feature production, according to Steve Bosustow, president and executive producer, and Robert Cannon, director. A budget of $600,000 is claimed to have been set for James Thurber's "Men, Women and Dogs," and results of this will determine the subsequent output of full-length pix. UPA would produce one feature annually. Company already has registered all Gilbert & Sullivan titles, which have passed into public domain.

Chatter
Fred Quimby, head of Metro's short subjects department and producer of M-G cartoons, arrives on the Mauretania today (Wed.) and hops to the Coast tomorrow. He represented the industry at the United Nations film conference in Paris.

May 2, 1951
73 Shorts for WB
Hollywood, May 1.
Warners will make a total of 73 short subjects during 1951-52, including 43 shorts and 30 cartoons.

May 16, 1951
Disney Regains Title To Old Cartoons for TV
Hollywood, May 15.
Walt Disney has regained possession of all his early cartoons, through a deal with Columbia, which released his short subjects years ago.
Disney is now in position to use his early product and characters in case of a television deal.

'Artistic Rights' Fight By Workers Slow Down Prod. on 'Ragpicker' Pic
Paris, May 8.
Artistic rights of workers hired by a producer" are becoming an increasing source of annoyance to filmmakers. Involved in the latest dispute over these "rights" is producer Andre Sarrut and his cartoon feature, "The Shepherdess and the Ragpicker." Scripter Jacques Prevert and artist Paul Grimault insisted on telling Sarrut how he should make "Shepherdess." With an eye on the cost of the venture, the producer told them how he wanted things done. The workers countered, claiming that since their artistic reputation was at stake they were the ones to decide.
When Grimault was finally fired, he and Prevert sued Sarrut and attempted to have work already completed placed in escrow via an injunction. Court refused to grant a restraining order immediately, but is scheduled to examine the matter later.
In the meantime, after three Sarrut employees were fired, work has now been resumed on the cartoon. Reportedly, $600,000 has already been sunk into the production.

May 23, 1951
Disney Not Yet Ready for TV; Studies Medium
While numerous industry observers and Wall St. investment houses have been appraising Walt Disney Productions in terms of mammoth potential revenue from television, the cartoon outfit this week made it clear it's not yet ready to make the TV plunge.
President Roy O. Disney told stockholders in a statement that the company is continuing to study the medium with the view to formulating a definite policy. But so far "no final decisions have been made and we have no definite plans and no commitments at this time," he declared.
Disney reported the study was aimed at determining possible use of the corporation's hefty library of completed features and shorts on TV. He added that experience so far "leads us to believe that television can be a most powerful selling aid for us, as well as a source of revenue. It will probably be on this premise that we enter television when we do." Reference to TV as a promotional medium was based on telecasting of clips from "Alice in Wonderland" over numerous stations last Christmas Day.
Disney also disclosed that the outfit recently began production of live-action films especially designed for video, including commercials, spot announcements and comedy and dramatic shots. He said it's too early to evaluate progress in this endeavor, or to predict its future.

Lantz Seeks Royalties On 'Woodpecker Song'
Los Angeles, May 22.
Walter Lantz filed suit in Federal Court against Leeds Music, demanding royalties on "The Woody Woodpecker Song."
Plaintiff declares he has a written agreement permitting the music company to use the name of his copyrighted cartoon character, but has not collected any royalties since 1948.

May 30, 1951
Hollywood
Don Dewar prez of Telecomics in New York with first print of new animated cartoon series made for TV. New series combines animation with straight strip cartoon methods used in company's old "NBC Comics" series.

June 8, 1951
By Any Other—
KTSL, on Monday, begins airing 13 first-run telecomics cartoon strips. The 15-minute, five-a-week juvenile-appeal show formerly aired on KNBH as "NBC Comics." First 13 strips are first run; the rest will be second run of those aired over KNBH.

June 12, 1951
Bunin's 'Alice' Beating Disney to Draw in NY

New York, June 11.—Lou Bunin's "Alice In Wonderland," made in France three years ago in association with J. Arthur Rank, finally gets American preem July 26 at the Mayfair Trans Lux 60th Street theatre here. Souvaine Selective Pictures is the distributor.
Picture, made in Ansco color, combines live action and animated puppets. Some Hollywood technical experts went abroad for the project, reportedly receiving part salary and part deferment. Preproduction releasing deal was via EagleLion, but latter distrib cancelled the pact, and picture has been offered around to other outlets for the past two years.
Bunin's "Alice" will beat Disney's cartoon feature of the same title to a NY opening by two months, and there are reports Disney will attempt to restrain showings of Bruin's picture in view of current advance exploitation and advertising being given the Disney cartoon production.

June 19, 1951
DISNEY WILL FEED NO PIX TO VIDEO
New York, June 18.—Although deluged with offers to put his old cartoon shorts and features on television, Walt Disney is not yielding and prefers to license his pictures exclusively to theatres, he stated here today. He admitted interest in video, but pointed out that TV coin could hardly match the revenue of his films, which can be re-issued periodically.
Disney will visit CBS tomorrow for his next glimpse of TV tint but it's only an inspection tour and net is offering no deal. The only current link producer has with TV is the Disney subsid, George Hurrell Prods., which makes commercial films specifically for telecasters.
The big film production problem today is costs, Disney emphasized, commenting he'd go bankrupt today if he turned out a "Fantasia," made in 1940. His costs are almost double today in comparison with 1945, and he fails to see how to cut budgets in his medium, since good artists required are scarce.

June 22, 1951
Lessing Easting to Throw a Block at Lou Bunin's 'Alice'
Gunther Lessing, veepee and legal counsel for Walt Disney Prods., planed to NY yesterday to confer with eastern attorneys of company on legal procedure to be followed to restrain showings of Lou Bunin's live-action and puppet version of "Alice in Wonderland," which was produced in France three years ago.
Bunin's film has been set for run at the Mayfair Theatre, NY, with opening slated to proceed preem of Disney's cartoon "Alice" at the nearby Criterion in August. Before heading east, Lessing declared Disney would vigorously oppose showings of the Bunin picture in all U.S. situations.

Voice of 'Alice' Talking Up the Pic
New York, June 21.—Kathy Beaumont, who dubbed the voice of Alice in Walt Disney's "Alice in Wonderland," is here from the Coast for round of radio and TV appearances to promote upcoming opening of the picture at the Criterion in August.

June 25, 1951
Jack L. Danov, Inc., has been set as merchandise rep for Warners' cartoon characters by Edward Seltzer. Denov was with Roy Rogers in similar capacity.

June 26, 1951
WITH NATIONAL RELEASE of his latest cartoon feature, "Alice in Wonderland," set for September, Walt Disney will withdraw all of his previous cartoon productions from the market until "Alice" has made its first round of theatre bookings. The producer's policy prevents exhibitors from booking his old pictures in close opposition to the current release to clear the way for latter to obtain maximum revenue and audience attention. The older cartoon features will be made available to exhibs for re-runs early in 1952.

June 29, 1951
Avery Rejoins Metro Director
Tex Avery has re joined the Metro cartoon department after a year's leave of absence due to illness.

Lions 1 Sam 0

Warren Foster puts Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam in Roman times in Roman Legion-Hare (1955).

Foster tosses in two scenes involving lions. The second has Bugs trying to get away from Sam through an underground room of sleeping lions. The drawings below tell what happened. Enjoy some of the poses.



No, I don’t know why there’s a manhole cover in ancient Rome.

Freleng was down to Art Davis, Gerry Chiniquy and Virgil Ross animating. Can’t tell you if Bob Matz, Lee Halpern or Art Leonardi were assistants at the studio at this point.

Tex's Pet Shop

Tex Avery and his writer, Heck Allen, treat us to some old puns and gags to start off Lonesome Lenny, the 1946 farewell appearance of Screwy Squirrel.

The story opens in the P.U. Pet Shop. Apparently, “P.U.” isn’t just for university names in cartoons. (To show you the budgets MGM was playing with, the birds and fish in the store window are animated. Such in an establishing shot would be deemed an unnecessary expense at other studios).



You know the rest of the gags. The dog/tree gag. In this case, the dog is stupid. (Scott Bradley plays “If I Only Had a Brain” on the soundtrack).



The spits/Spitz gag.



The multiplying rabbit gag. The camera pans past the rabbit cage then pans back for the punch-line. The rabbits here look like the ones in Avery’s great “Magical Maestro” released in 1952. (Bradley puts a snippet of “Ten Little Indians” in the background).



The Hollywood wolf gag. Wolfie seemed to find his way into a lot of Avery cartoons in the ‘40s (then was reborn in the ‘50s as a slow, Southern wolf who was the basis for Huckleberry Hound).



With the preliminaries out of the way, Avery finally gets down to business and Screwy soon appears.

Walt Clinton is now part of Avery’s usual unit of Ed Love, Preston Blair and Ray Abrams.

Fred Allen in Maine

Fred Allen griped about many things—mainly involving stupidity, hypocrisy, shallowness and broadcasting—but there were things the old grouse actually liked. He loved writing and he loved his little getaway place in Old Orchard, Maine. He enjoyed rural New Englanders, too. At least, he found them amusing, as that’s why he put Titus Moody in Allen’s Alley, played adeptly by Parker Fennelly.

Fred seems to have been writing constantly. Toward the end of his life, he wrote two books. He sent letters to all kinds of people; they were corralled after his death and published in another book. He read all kinds of newspapers and wrote letters to the editor. And, of course, he wrote and re-wrote his weekly script, though he had a team of writers who never got any air credit (for a time in the early ‘30s, NBC banned writer credits), though he’d give a generic blame to one if a gag fell flat.

Allen wrote this feature story for the Long Island Daily Press, wherein it appeared on August 29, 1936. The phoney radio feud with Jack Benny hadn’t begun, so there’s no reference to that. The Hindenburg hadn’t come collapsing in flames to the ground, so there’s a Hindenberg joke. And a Dionne Quintuplet joke, too. But the story isn’t a yuck-fest. It’s been years since I read Stephen Leacock but somehow it reminds me of his mild humour.

The photo, no doubt better looking in the actual newspaper, accompanied the tale.

My Vacation By Fred Allen
One of radio's leading comics tears himself away from vacation worries to write this stern but brave little story.
I HAVEN'T seen a microphone in 10 weeks. If somebody walked up to me here on the beach at Old Orchard, Me., and stuck a mike in my face, I'd probably slap it down, thinking it was some black-headed sea serpent.
It's been a great summer for Portland and me: Our first real vacation in four years. Last summer we went to Hollywood and I spent most of my time putting on camera paste and falling into a tub of whitewash, while Dick Powell howled. I had to get up at 7 in the morning and often carried on my clowning under the Kleigs until midnight. I got to be such a habitual early riser the milkman's horse called me by my first name.
This year, it’s been different. We’ve buried ourselves in a rambling little house a stone's throw from where the waves smacked the beach, and forgot what is jokingly called the world. We bought a little car and Portland turned pilot, making a daily trip to town for groceries and the paper.
THERE’S an angle to that car. Portland knew that as a confirmed pedestrian I have hated automobiles since the first honk made a goose of me. Therefore, she took driving lessons secretly, and got her license before we left New York.
I'm glad now she did. The car has been a great help. It's one of those sleek runabouts that make you wonder if the next step in streamlining isn't to pin back the driver's ears. Whenever we got wind that somebody was coming up to see us we'd hop in it and drive up the coast. Nice hospitable folk—I don't think.
To get down to cases, our vacation began the instant we turned over the Town Hall to Stoopnagle and Budd. We went home, threw some things into a couple of grips, grabbed a typewriter, packed three boxes of books to be shipped along, and boarded a northbound train, accompanied by Lastone, Portland's sister and my occasional typist.
The first night we ran into trouble. The house hadn't been occupied all winter and spring. As we were unpacking I heard a scuffling sort of noise and went out on the porch to investigate. We were being picketed by sand-fiddlers. They'd been using the place as a rendezvous, and we were intruding. I told them to quit crabbing. They winced, and who could blame them?
Next morning I took a walk along the beach, inwardly swearing that the very first oyster who mentioned radio was going to get shut up like a clam. I saw an old man approaching.
"Howdy," he said.
I unsnapped my fountain pen and reached out for his autograph book. He took my hand, mangled several fingers and returned it to me, just in case I wanted it.
"My name's Larkins," he said.
"Mine's Allen," I said. And then added softly, "Fred Allen."
"Glad to meet ye."

I WAITED. The man's calm was admirable. He blinked a watery blue eye at me.
"Ef’n ye need any bait, I sell the best in town," he said, and ambled off.
Somewhat shaken, I continued my walk, wondering if my sponsor had been kidding about that nationwide network. A seagull eyed me and settled on a nearby piece of driftwood. After a winter of bringing talking roosters, dogs, birds and geese to the microphone I instinctively opened conversation.
"Do you know who I am?"
The seagull blinked, studied me, cast an eye at a small fish jumping in the surf, and said nothing. I tried the question again. The gull went, caught the fish and flew away.
I returned to the cottage with one thing clear in mind. We weren't going to be bothered here.
As a matter of fact, these signs turned out to be indicative of our summer. We weren't bothered, except now and then.
THE quiet got us at first. In New York our apartment window admits the regular thunder of the Sixth Avenue L, half a block away. Careful inquiry soon revealed to us that there were no L's in Old Orchard. In fact, the only item an embarrassed Chamber of Commerce could offer in the way of noise is the booming surf—a puny thing compared with elevated trains, screeching taxi brakes and the occasional pop of Thompson guns handled by playful gangsters.
I couldn't sleep the first week. Portland finally settled the problem. Every night at bed time she tuned in those sidewalk broadcasts. Then I'd doze off, happily lulled by bus horns.
There was also the problem of having no work to do. At first I tried helping Portland and Lastone with the dishes. But they soon decided that they could get along without me. You see, I used to be a juggler.
My routine for 39 weeks in the winter had been so rigid—seven days a week— that I was helpless in the face of inactivity. I'd say: "I've got to start into the second chapter of ‘Anthony Adverse’ tomorrow."
But it was no good. I just laughed at myself—the penalty of being a comedian.
Of course, I did face a real task, if 1 had wanted to admit it. For more than two years I hadn't had time to sit back and look at what I have been doing, needed time to think about Town Hall Tonight in relation to other comedy shows, time to see whether the structure should be changed, whether there was something brand new waiting around the corner for somebody to hatch.
I had to do a lot of instructive reading, too. I was far behind in my books on humor. Benchley, Tarkington and all the rest—even though they have nothing to do with radio—could prove invaluable to an air comedian by suggesting new lines of approach, new angles of treatment.
AFTER a couple of inactive weeks I began to get under foot. Having grown a little weary of being swept out with the morning sand—only to have broom-wielding Portland say, "So sorry, dear. I didn't see you," I decided really to get busy.
But the books were in big boxes and I looked all afternoon for a hammer to open them. Later, Portland came home from a swim and found the hammer. It was under the chair I'd been sitting in.
The books finally emerged from their dust, took their places in neat rows across the living room bookcase and there was nothing to do but start in. I paced back and forth one morning and studied their jackets, Benchley's "My Ten Years in a Quandary—and How They Grew" beguiled me. I took it down.
Knuckles rapped the front door. I opened the ancient slab with misgivings. It was Mr. Larkins.
"Thought ye might like to go fishing," he said.
I looked at the book. If Benchley had been in a quandary 10 years, he could stay there another day.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s go.”
I don't remember the fish's name. He was a long, thin fellow with a mean, toothy smile. He accidentally got himself snagged on my hook while tasting of the snack I had lowered to him from the top of the ocean which at the moment went up and down in a great way.
When I went to remove him from the hook (“No, no, Mr. Larkins, I can do it myself”), he mistook my finger for another snack. He closed down like a quintuplet on a rubber nipple. Before long the digit would have gotten a nod of respect from the man who built the Hindenburg.
I LISTEN occasionally to the radio. Especially Wednesday nights. Early in the summer I had sent Stoopnagle and Budd a joke. Every Wednesday we gather around the radio and tune in on Town Hall Tonight to see if they use my joke. They never do.
Just wait until next summer. I'll take the whole program away with me. Then they'll change their slogan to "Keep Stoopnagle Out of the Poor House."
I tried various excuses after my finger got well. I dared not go fishing again, so I decided to raise a garden.
I bought seeds from the store and went out one dawn and slung them across the sand. Nothing happened. Each day I'd take a cocktail shaker full of water and sprinkle them. Finally one morning I noticed a small green shoot. Exultant, I called Portland.
"Look," I shouted, "I'm a gardener."
"That," said Portland, stooping and plucking the shoot, "is wire grass and has been here all summer."
I decided there was nothing left then but work. I went in and hunted through the catalog. Then I mailed an order to Chicago. That will give me at least two more weeks of loafing. Because even a little thing like a letter opener—and I couldn't read Benchley without cutting the pages—takes time.
So, until Oct. 7, when we return to the radio wars, Portland and I say: “Tally-ho.”

You Killed Him

Van Beuren cartoon characters in the early ‘30s were poorly and inconsistently drawn—and that’s a good thing. It adds to the odd and impossible things that take place in their cartoons.

One of my favourites is Gypped in Egypt from 1930 featuring Don and Waffles. The opening is great. Our stars are skipping along the desert sand with a weirdly-drawn camel.



They spot a little oasis. The camel tries to get some water but first his head is tied up, then he’s punched to death by Waffles.



A bizarre-looking bird drinks the water while all this is going on then flies away. The animator gives us swirling lines and flashing exclamation marks.



Then the best part. From the distance, the sphinx moves into the midground. Then his head stretches into the foreground (all in perspective) and says “You killed him.”



The sphinx fades out then swirling pyramids fade in and are double-exposed over our heroes. Is it desert madness? No! It’s a Van Beuren cartoon. (As usual, Waffles is petrified. Don couldn’t care less).



That sets up more nightmarish sequences that are, at times, poorly drawn but fun to watch (on the West Coast, heads and bodies were spherical shapes. I think the Van Beuren artists had trouble drawing a circle).

John Foster and Mannie Davis get a screen credit for “by,” while Gene Rodemich puts together another of his neat scores.