The above is from the December 30th, 1942 issue of Paramount Sales News. As you well know, I’ve been reprinting the [near] entirety of the exhibitor newsletter’s content related to the Fleischer Studio on Jerry Beck’s Cartoon Research for some time now. The good news is the content is only just about half used now. The custom-made cartoons went well into the Famous Studios era, dying off unceremoniously in 1945.
That was around the time Paramount actively lost interest in its animated product and when the quality of the Famous cartoons began to slip in earnest (after a brief upswing compared to the last few years of cartoons made under the Fleischer namesake). I’m looking forward to telling the whole fascinating, morbid story in my next book project on New York studio animation. Keep watching this site for updates.
Well, 1942-43 was the high-point for the nephews — all of their cartoons were funny enough to overcome their general annoyingness (and it is interesting that the studio dropped them for over half a decade after the first color Popeye short, so even the staff in late 1943 knew a little could go a long way, at a time when Famous was still making good cartoons. They show up again just about the time the decline of Famous’ product becomes obvious to everyone, and the series is struggling for fresh ideas).
Happy New Year, TK. Sorry we didn’t link-up in WNY – looks like your FB page is kaput. ANOTHER animation history book? Three words: THE. DISNEY. VERSION.
Hey, Craig, sorry we didn’t meet up, too. I had to put the kabosh on FB (for now) because I shudder to think of how many hours I’ve wasted there…
The joke’s on US! It was great meeting you. See you in March…