Puppetoons
Puppetoons is a series of animated puppet
History
The Puppetoons series of animated puppet films were made in Europe in the 1930s and in the United States in the 1940s. The series began when
Pal arrived in the U.S. in 1940, and produced more than 40 Puppetoons for Paramount Pictures between 1941 and 1947.[1]
Seven Puppetoons received
The series ended due to rising production costs which had increased from US$18,000 per short in 1939 (equivalent to $394,278 in 2023) to almost US$50,000 following World War II (equivalent to $781,229 in 2023).[citation needed] Paramount Pictures—Pal's distributor—objected to the cost. Per their suggestion, Pal went to produce sequences for feature films.[3] In 1956, the Puppetoons as well as most of Paramount's shorts, were sold to television distributor U.M. & M. TV Corporation. National Telefilm Associates bought out U.M. & M. and continued to syndicate them in the 1950s and 1960s as "Madcap Models".
Pal also used the Puppetoon name and the general Puppetoon technique for miniature puppet characters in some of his live-action feature films, including
Technique
Puppetoon films used replacement
Jasper
Some controversy exists in modern times, as the black character, Jasper, star of several Puppetoons in the 1940s is considered a stereotype today. The Jasper series of shorts relied on a small, consistent cast. The titular character was a playful
A 1947 article in Ebony pointed out that George Pal was a European and not raised on racial prejudice: "To him there is nothing abusive about a Negro boy who likes to eat watermelons or gets scared when he goes past a haunted house". The article, though, pointed that this depiction touched on the stereotypes of Negroes being childish, eating nothing but molasses and watermelons, and being afraid of their own shadows.[3]
Jasper's full name is Jasper Jefferson Lincoln Washington Hawkins.[5]
At one point, Jasper's popularity was on par with Mickey Mouse's and Donald Duck's.[6]
Legacy and preservation
In 1987, film producer-director-archivist Arnold Leibovit, a friend of George Pal, collected several Puppetoons and released them theatrically and to video as The Puppetoon Movie reintroducing them to contemporary audiences. A feature-length documentary on the life and films of George Pal followed. In 2020, The Puppetoon Movie Volume 2 was released on Blu-ray and DVD, featuring 17 shorts not included on any of the Puppetoon Movie releases and The Ship of the Ether.[7]
The Academy Film Archive preserved several of the Puppetoons in 2009, including Jasper and the Beanstalk, John Henry and the Inky Poo, and Rhythm In the Ranks.[8]
Filmography
European shorts
1932
- Midnight
1934
- Radio Röhren (Valve) Revolution, a hand-drawn cel-animation[9] advertising short for Philips[10]
- The Ship of the Ether
- A Fairy Tale About a Melancholic King
1935
- The Magic Atlas
- World's Greatest Show
- In Lamp Light Land
- Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves
1936
- Ether Symphony
- Charlie's World Cruise
- On Parade!
1937
- What Ho, She Bumps (March 11, 1937)
- The Reddingsbrigade (a.k.a. Rescue Brigade) (May 11, 1937)
- Philips Broadcast of 1938 (October 20, 1937)
1938
- South Seas Sweethearts (April 21, 1938)
- The Ballet of Red Radio Valves (June 5, 1938)
- Sky Pirates (August 7, 1938)
- How An Advertising Poster Came About (October 16, 1938)
1939
- Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
- The Sleeping Beauty
- Love on the Range
- Philips Cavalcade (a.k.a. Cavalcade of Music)
- The Queen Was In The Parlour
1940
- Friend in Need
- The Good Bear and The Bad Bear
- The Old Woman Who Lived in A Shoe
American shorts
1940
- Western Daze
- Dipsy Gypsy
1941
- Hoola Boola
- The Gay Knighties
- Rhythm in the Ranks
- The Sky Princess
1942
- Jasper and the Watermelons
- Mr. Strauss Takes a Walk
- Tulips Shall Grow
- Jasper and the Haunted House
1943
- Jasper and the Choo-Choo
- Bravo, Mr. Strauss
- The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins
- Jasper's Music Lesson
- The Truck That Flew
- The Little Broadcast
- Jasper Goes Fishing
- Goodnight Rusty
1944
- Package for Jasper
- A Hatful of Dreams
- Say Ah, Jasper
- Jasper Goes Hunting
- And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street
- Jasper's Paradise
- Two-Gun Rusty
1945
- Jasper's Booby Traps
- Hotlip Jasper
- Jasper Tell
- Jasper's Minstrels
- Jasper's Close Shave
- Jasper and the Beanstalk
- My Man Jasper
1946
- Jasper's Derby
- Jasper in a Jam
- Olio for Jasper
- Together in the Weather
- John Henry and the Inky-Poo
- Wilbur the Lion
1947
- Shoe Shine Jasper
- Date with Duke (featuring Duke Ellington)[11] - October 31, 1947
- Rhapsody in Wood (featuring Woody Herman)
- Tubby the Tuba
- Romeow and Julicat (shown in the film Variety Girl)
1948
- Sweet Pacific
1971
- The Tool Box (broadcast on Curiosity Shop) - September 2, 1971
Cancelled projects
- Sinbad
- Three Little Princes[12][13][14]
- Gulliver's Travels
- Casey Jones
- Davy Crockett
- Johnny Appleseed
See also
Sources
- Cripps, Thomas (1993), Making Movies Black: The Hollywood Message Movie from World War II to the Civil Rights Era, ISBN 978-0-19-536034-9
- Cohen, Karl F. (2004), "Racism and Resistance: Stereotypes in Animation", Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in America, ISBN 978-0786420322
References
- ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ AMPAS Animated Short Film Oscar archives
- ^ a b c d Cohen (2004), p. 58
- ^ Cripps (1993), p. 230
- ^ Christopher P. Lehman (December 1, 2018). "Jasper and the Puppetoons - Part 3". CR. Archived from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
- ^ "Hollywood Film Shop". Vidette-Messenger of Porter County. Valparaiso: United Press. 13 April 1944. p. 4. Archived from the original on 2021-08-18. (login needed)
- ^ "'The Puppetoon Movie Volume 2' Now Available on Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack". AWN. December 1, 2020. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
- ^ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive. Archived from the original on 2016-08-13. Retrieved 2016-08-04.
- ^ Beck, Jerry (9 September 2015). "American Cinematheque Celebrates George Pal's Puppetoons; Filmation's He-Man". IndieWire. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- ^ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
- ISBN 978-0810832503.
- ^ "Arnold Leibovit Facebook Post, May 12, 2018". Facebook. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
- ^ Virginia McPherson (25 October 1945). "Hollywood". Chico Record. Chico. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2021-08-18. (login needed)
- ^ "Ellen Drew Named For Film Comedy". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn. 13 April 1946. p. 14. Archived from the original on 2021-08-18. (login needed)
External links
- Puppetoons at Internet Animation Database
- "The George Pal Site". Animation World Network.
- "George Pal's Puppetoons". Don Markstein's Toonopedia.