Search the Community

Tom and Jerry show is a classic unforgettable TV show! I'll be reviewing Hanna and Barbera's Tom and Jerry, Gene Deitch's, and Chuck Jone's. For this review, I'll include a non spoiler review and a spoiler one! Non spoiler review: Animation: The animation in Hanna and Barbera's Tom and Jerry show was spectacular! I loved the classic feel of Tom and Jerry even though it had a "foggy" texture. I loved how the characters could take different shapes and colors! I loved how the animation changed slightly in some episodes. Gene Deitch's version of the Tom and Jerry show had the worst animation. Almost everything looked awful and poorly designed with some exceptions. Chuck Jone's Tom and Jerry's animation was the best. It was high-quality with beautiful colors and shades. The characters and backgrounds had very neatly shaped forms. Cinematography: The cinematography in the Tom and Jerry show was good. I loved how in many episodes, the camera was at a perfect angle. The camera wasn't too far away or too close. It was at mid-range where you could see the background and characters. It made you feel they were constantly at war with each other. I think we rarely (if ever) got a close-up or wider camera shot. The cinematography was fairly consistent in all of the Tom and Jerry versions. Story: The plot in the Tom and Jerry show is extremely simple revolving around a cat chasing a mouse. Nonetheless, the Tom and Jerry show amazingly managed to add a ton of creativity to the story! Tom and Jerry could be exciting and suspenseful due to its unpredictability! The anticipation of what you knew was going to happen filled you with dread. When other characters were introduced, the Tom and Jerry show became more interesting as Tom had to try different approaches to catch Jerry! I loved how the pacing of Tom and Jerry was chaotic. Sometimes, characters moved at a slow pace. Other times, they moved very fast only to stop completely and move at a slow or medium pace. I disliked how Tom and Jerry talked sometimes. It didn't feel like they would authentically talk. It feels like they were forced to because the creators couldn't think of nonverbal ways of expressing themselves. Gene Deitch's Tom and Jerry stayed true to the original to some degree while adding a new interpretation to the show. Tom's owner was really disturbing! He was brutal and sadistic. He made the show more dreadful to watch! Chuck Jone's version of the Tom and Jerry show was probably the weakest of them all. Some episodes were good and funny but they didn't have the same energy as the original. I love Chuck Jone's other works such as Looney Tunes but I didn't think he was suitable for Tom and Jerry. His version of Tom and Jerry felt more like Looney Tunes. Chuck Jones' specialty is Looney Tunes. I felt Tom and Jerry didn't have strong nonverbal communication in Chuck's version compared to previous versions. The pacing of Tom and Jerry in Chuck Jones' version felt too consistent compared to the original. Chuck's version didn't feel as chaotic as the original Tom and Jerry show. Soundtrack: I loved the swing jazz in the original Tom and Jerry show! What makes Tom and Jerry special is the music. Though the Tom and Jerry show had little to no dialogue, you can feel the characters talking to you through the mostly instrumental music. It's the music that expresses the characters' excitement, curiosity, sadness, joy, etc. It shows you what they're doing. The music makes the characters look like heroes. The music constantly shifted from style to style. It could be melodic and full of energy only to abruptly stop then play at a slower tempo. The Tom and Jerry soundtrack had no set structure. It felt chaotic and improvised which brought the show to life! Gene Deitch's version was close to the original Tom and Jerry's soundtrack. Chuck Jones' version was good but the soundtrack was too predictable at times. For example, music with the same pace and rhythm plays for several episodes during chase scenes. Theme: The overall theme of the Tom and Jerry show is life is chaotic. Tom and Jerry appeal to me so much because there are technically no heroes or villains. Tom and Jerry both have heroic and villainous traits. Both have the same goals but different means of achieving them. Jerry might be small but he's intelligent. Tom might be big but he's not as intelligent as Jerry. They might be friends one day but enemies the next. Life's not what it seems. Overall, I felt Hanna and Barbera's Tom and Jerry was a classic masterpiece! Tom and Jerry show is a must-have collection, especially for fans of animated cartoons! If you want to read more, check my blog post! http://artfromthehumansoul.blogspot.com/2022/09/tom-and-jerry-show-review.html

I have decided to go back and watch/re-watch all of Disney's animated and live action movies in order by release year (except for Disney Channel Original Movies & straight-to-video sequels), so I thought I would go ahead and start a thread in case anyone is interested and wants to see my reviews and trivia as I progress. If anyone wants to contribute to this, feel free. I'm mainly just doing this, because I think it could be interesting to maybe 1 or 2 people on this site lol. *Addendum: Will be doing the movies from 1937-2017. Since Disney keeps releasing new movies left and right, and will continue to do so, I thought it prudent to set a stopping point. *

Here is a list of all the Cartoon Alley broadcasts I recorded when they first aired. Enjoy! - Yancey ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cartoon Alley - 001 (Hollywood Spoofs) 01 - Intro - Coo Coo Nut Grove 02 - Coo Coo Nut Grove (1936) 03 - Intro - Malibu Beach Party 04 - Malibu Beach Party (1940) 05 - Intro - Hollywood Steps Out 06 - Hollywood Steps Out (1941) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 001 Cartoon Alley - 002 (Christmas 01) 01 - Intro - The Pup's Christmas 02 - The Pup's Christmas (1936) 03 - Intro - Peace On Earth 04 - Peace On Earth (1939) 05 - Intro - The Night Before Christmas 06 - The Night Before Christmas (1941) - Tom And Jerry 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 002 Cartoon Alley - 003 (1940's) 01 - Intro - The Blitz Wolf 02 - The Blitz Wolf (1942) 03 - Intro - Life With Feathers 04 - Life With Feathers (1945) 05 - Intro - Hatch Up Your Troubles 06 - Hatch Up Your Troubles (1949) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 003 Cartoon Alley - 004 (Tom and Jerry - Full Frame) 01 - Intro - Professor Tom 02 - Professor Tom (1948) 03 - Intro - Old Rockin' Chair Tom 04 - Old Rockin' Chair Tom (1947) 05 - Intro - Cat Concerto, The 06 - Cat Concerto, The (1946) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 004 Cartoon Alley - 005 (Tex Avery 01) 01 - Intro - Red Hot Riding Hood 02 - Red Hot Riding Hood (1943) 03 - Intro - Batty Baseball 04 - Batty Baseball (1944) 05 - Intro - Swingshift Cinderella 06 - Swingshift Cinderella (1945) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 005 Cartoon Alley - 006 (Early Color From Warner) 01 - Intro - Honeymoon Hotel 02 - Honeymoon Hotel (1934) 03 - Intro - Beauty and The Beast 04 - Beauty and The Beast (1934) 05 - Intro - I Haven't Got A Hat 06 - I Haven't Got A Hat (1935) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 006 Cartoon Alley - 007 (Captain and the Kids) 01 - Intro - Cleaning House 02 - Cleaning House (1938) 03 - Intro - Petunia National Park 04 - Petunia National Park (1939) 05 - Intro - Mama's New Hat 06 - Mama's New Hat (1939) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 007 Cartoon Alley - 008 (Popeye 01) 01 - Intro - Adventures Of Popeye 02 - Adventures Of Popeye (1935) 03 - Intro - Anvil Chorus Girl 04 - Anvil Chorus Girl, The (1944) 05 - Intro - Abusement Park 06 - Abusement Park (1947) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 008 Cartoon Alley - 009 (Gaumont British - 1) 01 - Intro - Patypus, The 02 - Patypus, The (1948) 03 - Intro - Cuckoo, The 04 - Cuckoo, The (1948) 05 - Intro - Lion, The 06 - Lion, The (1948) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 009 Cartoon Alley - 010 (Gaumont British - 2) 01 - Intro - Ostrich, The 02 - Ostrich, The (1949) 03 - Intro - It's A Lovely Day 04 - It's A Lovely Day (1949) 05 - Intro - House Cat, The 06 - House Cat, The (1949) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 010 Cartoon Alley - 011 (Gaumont British - 3) 01 - Intro - Ginger Nutt's Bee Bother 02 - Ginger Nutt's Bee Bother (1949) 03 - Intro - Ginger Nutt's Christmas Circus 04 - Ginger Nutt's Christmas Circus (1949) 05 - Intro - Ginger Nutt's Forest Dragon 06 - Ginger Nutt's Forest Dragon (1950) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 011 Cartoon Alley - 012 (Happy Harmonies 01) 01 - Intro - Discontented Canary, The 02 - Discontented Canary, The (1934) - Harman - Ising 03 - Intro - Old Pioneer, The 04 - Old Pioneer, The (1934) - Harman - Ising 05 - Intro - Tale Of The Vienna Woods 06 - Tale Of The Vienna Woods (1934) - Harman - Ising 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 012 Cartoon Alley - 013 (Sniffles) 01 - Intro - Naughty But Mice 02 - Naughty But Mice (1939) 03 - Intro - Little Brother Rat 04 - Little Brother Rat (1939) 05 - Intro - Sniffles And The Bookworm 06 - Sniffles And The Bookworm (1939) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 013 Cartoon Alley - 014 (Droopy Dog 01) 01 - Intro - Dumb Hounded 02 - Dumb Hounded (1943) 03 - Intro - Shooting Of Dan McGoo 04 - Shooting Of Dan McGoo (1945) 05 - Intro - Wild And Woolfy 06 - Wild And Woolfy (1945) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 014 Cartoon Alley - 015 (Tweety Bird) 01 - Intro - A Tale Of Two Kitties 02 - A Tale Of Two Kitties (1942) 03 - Intro - Birdy And The Beast 04 - Birdy And The Beast (1944) 05 - Intro - A Gruesome Twosome 06 - A Gruesome Twosome (1945) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 015 Cartoon Alley - 016 (Widescreen) 01 - Intro - Millionaire Droopy 02 - Millionaire Droopy (1956) 03 - Intro - Cat's Meow, The 04 - Cat's Meow, The (1957) 05 - Intro - Tops With Pops 06 - Tops With Pops (1957) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 016 Cartoon Alley - 017 (Peter Lorre) 01 - Intro - Horton Hatches The Egg 02 - Horton Hatches The Egg (1942) 03 - Intro - Hare-Raising Hare 04 - Hare-Raising Hare (1946) 05 - Intro - Birth Of A Notion 06 - Birth Of A Notion (1947) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 017 Cartoon Alley - 018 (Barney Bear) 01 - Intro - Bear That Couldn't Sleep, The 02 - Bear That Couldn't Sleep, The (1939) 03 - Intro - Fishing Bear, The 04 - Fishing Bear, The (1940) 05 - Intro - Heir Bear 06 - Heir Bear (1953) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 018 Cartoon Alley - 019 (Elmer Fudd) 01 - Intro - Elmer's Candid Camera 02 - Elmer's Candid Camera (1940) 03 - Intro - Confederate Honey 04 - Confederate Honey (1940) 05 - Intro - Hardship Of Miles Standish, The 06 - Hardship Of Miles Standish, The (1940) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 019 Cartoon Alley - 020 (Benny Burro) 01 - Intro - Little Gravel Voice 02 - Little Gravel Voice (1942) 03 - Intro - Prospecting Bear, The 04 - Prospecting Bear, The (1941) 05 - Intro - Half-Pint Palomino 06 - Half-Pint Palomino (1953) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 020 Cartoon Alley - 021 (Character Debuts) 01 - Intro - Walky Talky Hawky 02 - Walky Talky Hawky (1946) 03 - Intro - Goffy Gophers, The 04 - Goffy Gophers, The (1947) 05 - Intro - Haredevil Hare 06 - Haredevil Hare (1948) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 021 Cartoon Alley - 022 (Popeye 02) 01 - Intro - Baby Wants A Bottleship 02 - Baby Wants A Bottleship (1942) 03 - Intro - Balmy Swami, A 04 - Balmy Swami, A (1949) 05 - Intro - Beaus Will Be Beaus 06 - Beaus Will Be Beaus (1955) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 022 Cartoon Alley - 023 (Two Curious Pups) 01 - Intro - Dog Gone Modern 02 - Dog Gone Modern (1938) 03 - Intro - Curious Puppy, The 04 - Curious Puppy, The (1939) 05 - Intro - Snowtime For Comedy 06 - Snowtime For Comedy (1941) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 023 Cartoon Alley - 024 (Christmas 02) 01 - Intro - Shanty Where Santa Clause Lives, The 02 - Shanty Where Santa Clause Lives, The (1933) 03 - Intro - Bedtime For Sniffles 04 - Bedtime For Sniffles (1940) 05 - Intro - Good Will To Men 06 - Good Will To Men (1955) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 024 Cartoon Alley - 025 (Nursery Rhymes) 01 - Intro - Little Red Walking Hood 02 - Little Red Walking Hood (1937) 03 - Intro - Bear's Tale, The 04 - Bear's Tale, The (1940) 05 - Intro - Trial Of Mr Wolf, The 06 - Trial Of Mr Wolf, The (1941) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 025 Cartoon Alley - 026 (Homer The Flea) 01 - Intro - Homeless Flea, The 02 - Homeless Flea, The (1940) 03 - Intro - What Price Fleadom 04 - What Price Fleadom (1948) 05 - Intro - Cat That Hated People, The 06 - Cat That Hated People, The (1948) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 026 Cartoon Alley - 027 (3 Classic Warner Cartoons) 01 - Intro - I've Got to Sing a Torch Song 02 - I've Got to Sing a Torch Song (1933) 03 - Intro - Pettin' in the Park (1934) 04 - Pettin' in the Park (1934) 05 - Intro - Gold Diggers of '49 (1935) 06 - Gold Diggers of '49 (1935) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 027 Cartoon Alley - 028 (Tex Avery 02) 01 - Intro - Lucky Ducky 02 - Lucky Ducky (1948) 03 - Intro - Bad Luck **** 04 - Bad Luck **** (1949) 05 - Intro - Symphony in Slang 06 - Symphony in Slang (1951) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 028 Cartoon Alley - 029 (Hubie and Bertie) 01 - Intro - Aristo-Cat, The 02 - Aristo-Cat, The (1943) 03 - Intro - Roughly Squeaking 04 - Roughly Squeaking (1946) 05 - Intro - House Hunting Mice (1948) 06 - House Hunting Mice (1948) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 029 Cartoon Alley - 030 (Popeye 03) 01 - Intro - Can You Take It 02 - Can You Take It (1934) 03 - Intro - Child Psykolojiky 04 - Child Psykolojiky (1941) 05 - Intro - Car-azy Drivers 06 - Car-azy Drivers (1954) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 030 Cartoon Alley - 031 (3 Characters) 01 - Intro - Egghead Rides Again 02 - Egghead Rides Again (1937) 03 - Intro - Bashful Buzzard, The 04 - Bashful Buzzard, The (1945) 05 - Intro - Boulevardier from the Bronx 06 - Boulevardier from the Bronx (1936) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 031 Cartoon Alley - 032 (Tom and Jerry - Widescreen) 01 - Intro - Mucho Mouse 02 - Mucho Mouse (1957) 03 - Intro - Tom's Photo Finish 04 - Tom's Photo Finish (1957) 05 - Intro - Royal Cat Nap (1958) 06 - Royal Cat Nap (1958) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 032 Cartoon Alley - 033 (Droopy Dog 02) 01 - Intro - Blackboard Jumble 02 - Blackboard Jumble (1957) 03 - Intro - One Droopy Knight 04 - One Droopy Knight (1957) 05 - Intro - Sheep Wrecked 06 - Sheep Wrecked (1958) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 033 Cartoon Alley - 034 (Conrad The Cat) 01 - Intro - Bird Came COD, The 02 - Bird Came COD, The (1942) 03 - Intro - Porky's Cafe 04 - Porky's Cafe (1942) 05 - Intro - Conrad The Sailor 06 - Conrad The Sailor (1942) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 034 Cartoon Alley - 035 (George And Junior) 01 - Intro - Henpecked Hoboes 02 - Henpecked Hoboes (1946) 03 - Intro - Hound Hunters 04 - Hound Hunters (1947) 05 - Intro - Half-Pint Pygmy 06 - Half-Pint Pygmy (1948) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 035 Cartoon Alley - 036 (Bugs Bunny) 01 - Intro - Wild Hare, The 02 - Wild Hare, The (1940) 03 - Intro - Elmer's Pet Rabbit 04 - Elmer's Pet Rabbit (1941) 05 - Intro - Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt 06 - Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt (1941) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 036 Cartoon Alley - 037 (Spike) 01 - Intro - Counterfeit Cat, The 02 - Counterfeit Cat, The (1949) 03 - Intro - Ventriloquist Cat 04 - Ventriloquist Cat (1950) 05 - Intro - Garden Gopher 06 - Garden Gopher (1950) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 037 Cartoon Alley - 038 (Bugs Bunny - Cecil Turtle) 01 - Intro - Tortoise Beats Hare 02 - Tortoise Beats Hare (1941) 03 - Intro - Tortoise Wins By a Hare 04 - Tortoise Wins By a Hare (1943) 05 - Intro - Rabbit Transit 06 - Rabbit Transit (1947) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 038 Cartoon Alley - 039 (Happy Harmonies 02) 01 - Intro - When The Cat's Away 02 - When The Cat's Away (1935) 03 - Intro - Lost Chick, The 04 - Lost Chick, The (1935) 05 - Intro - Calico Dragon, The 06 - Calico Dragon, The (1935) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 039 Cartoon Alley - 040 (Porky Pig) 01 - Intro - Porky's Picnic 02 - Porky's Picnic (1939) 03 - Intro - Porky's Baseball Broadcast 04 - Porky's Baseball Broadcast (1940) 05 - Intro - Porky's Snooze Reel 06 - Porky's Snooze Reel (1941) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 040 Cartoon Alley - 041 (Bing Crosby) 01 - Intro - Let it Be Me 02 - Let it Be Me (1936) 03 - Intro - Bingo Crosbyana 04 - Bingo Crosbyana (1936) 05 - Intro - Woods Are Full of Cuckoos, The 06 - Woods Are Full of Cuckoos (1937) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 041 Cartoon Alley - 042 (Christmas 03) 01 - Intro - Toyland Broadcast 02 - Toyland Broadcast (1934) 03 - Intro - Alias St Nick 04 - Alias St Nick (1935) 05 - Intro - Captain's Christmas 06 - Captain's Christmas (1938) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 042 Cartoon Alley - 043 (Goopy Geer) 01 - Intro - Goopy Geer 02 - Goopy Geer (1932) 03 - Intro - Moonlight For Two 04 - Moonlight For Two (1932) 05 - Intro - Queen Was In the Parlor, The 06 - Queen Was In the Parlor, The (1932) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 043 Cartoon Alley - 044 (Bear Family) 01 - Intro - Goldilocks and the Three Bears 02 - Goldilocks and the Three Bears (1939) 03 - Intro - Rainy Day, A 04 - Rainy Day, A (1940) 05 - Intro - Papa Gets The Bird 06 - Papa Gets The Bird (1940) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 044 Cartoon Alley - 045 (Beans) 01 - Intro - Fire Alarm, The 02 - Fire Alarm, The (1935) 03 - Intro - Phantom Ship, The 04 - Phantom Ship, The (1936) 05 - Intro - Boom Boom 06 - Boom Boom (1936) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 045 Cartoon Alley - 046 (Screwy Squirrel) 01 - Intro - Screwball Squirrel 02 - Screwball Squirrel (1944) 03 - Intro - Screwy Truant, The 04 - Screwy Truant, The (1945) 05 - Intro - Lonesome Lenny 06 - Lonesome Lenny (1946) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 046 Cartoon Alley - 047 (Adolph Hitler) 01 - Intro - Daffy-The Commando 02 - Daffy-The Commando (1943) 03 - Intro - Russian Rhapsody 04 - Russian Rhapsody (1944) 05 - Intro - Herr Meets Hare 06 - Herr Meets Hare (1945) 07 - Wrap-Up - Cartoon Alley 047

These threads that I create are quite silly and I mostly do them to satisfy myself. There is a little part of me that hopes that others who are rekindled in their memories can come forward and contribute more information. There are still many movies, often short in running time, that I would love to see before my final voyage into the hereafter. Although the three companies I profile here don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world, some of their best product has managed to survive under the umbrella company that now encompasses them and some of their contemporaries: https://phoenixlearninggroup.com/ I am also taking a detour from the usual topic of “shorts” to chronicle some of the educational 16mm films and VHS product of a major network, the Columbia Broadcasting System. CBS owned two of these companies for a decade and a half. Bailey Films, Film Associates of California and Phoenix Films were among the many educational film companies that flourished during the Golden Age of 16mm, a format that started tentatively in the 1920s with the pioneering Eastman Kodak Teaching Films and Electrical Research Products Inc. (later taken over by Encyclopædia Britannica) as an economic alternative to 35mm. By World War II, the number of these rivaled the other, more theatrical, kind as the smaller cameras and projectors became firmly established for travelogues, documentaries, school and military how-to reels. The demand for school films in particular escalated in the late 1950s after the Soviets launched Sputnik and the Eisenhower administration started pumping more tax dollars into the public schools in order to keep up, much of it trickling down into visual media. The Golden Age crested for roughly three decades until VHS, cable TV and the internet took over. However, even as late as 1996, companies like these were still providing material for schools, libraries and businesses in both video and motion picture film, primarily because the latter benefited from a much sharper image than its murky flop-in-the-machine counterpart. (Not to mention, actual films often outlast tapes and anything digital, as many of us avid DVD collectors discover when our favorite movies unexpectedly stop playing after several years for no explainable reason.) The oldest of the trio discussed on this thread was Bailey Films, beginning as Bailey Film Services with Al Bailey in charge in 1938. Its headquarters were in sunny Hollywood, first located on Cosmo Street and later De Longpre Ave. The earliest films were released both with soundtracks and without since many schools still had silent projectors at that time; thus, surviving films of this period may have rather limited appeal today. However one prominent contributor, travelogue maker Guy D. Haselton, was making good use of color Kodachrome early on with a scenic series on national parks. By the early fifties, Bailey Films' specialty had become the art subject reel, particularly the step-by-step process covering everything from printmaking to puppets. Noteworthy during this period were Wayne Thiebaud's in-depth studies of museum paintings and sculpture. (Wayne turns 99 this year.) Although the company's artistic side only casually embraced the fine art of animation, Bailey was nonetheless a key backer of a young Ray Harryhausen during those formative stop-motion years before and between Mighty Joe Young and The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. Headquartered over on Santa Monica Blvd, also in the Los Angeles area, was Film Associates of California. Launched in the spring of 1954 by Irwin Braun and Paul Burnford, the latter was already a documentary veteran working with Paul Rotha and John Grierson in England and, later, MGM's short subject department (Crime Does Not Pay, Pete Smith, etc.) before launching his own independent company distributing through Bailey Films and Encyclopædia Britannica in the beginning. As the key director of most Film Associates' titles during that first decade, great care went into selecting subjects that would appeal to the widest range of ages possible. One typical title, Prehistoric Animals Of The Tar Pits: The Story Of Rancho La Brea, may only be available online currently in its black & white version (although color prints also exist) but it hasn't aged much in its educational value after over six decades. Burnford split from Braun by 1963 but would continue distributing some of his independent productions through Film Associates. Three years later, “FA” (as known by the logo displayed on film) was taken over by CBS, the leading TV network that needed an additional 16mm outlet for its many educational TV shows. (They had already been tapping McGraw-Hill and Young America Films during the previous decade and would continue to do so with the former, along with others like Carousel Films.) CBS also soon took over Bailey Films, minus Al who retired, and merged the two as Bailey-Film Associates or “BFA” by early 1969. For a while, Irwin Braun and his wife remained in charge with limited interference from the corporation in power. Renamed BFA Educational Media in 1971, expansion included a new bigger building in Santa Monica proper and newer contributors in charge of in-house production and product sales. Lloyd Otterman succeeded the Brauns after their departure in 1975 and George Holland headed the company past CBS's sale of it to Phoenix Films. Of the many filmmakers working for BFA, three who started pre-CBS were quite prolific in output. Norman Bean handled a wide range of nature subjects in his A First Film and Backyard Science series with a keen eye on how to maintain an average 6 year old's attention span. While he was certainly not the first to feature close-ups of insects and plant growth, his work was among the most watched in schools during the 1970s especially. Not that many present day 50-70 year olds who were kids back then would recognize his and his then wife Marjorie's names today. Wayne Mitchell started in the 1950s as a travelogue maker and made his last film in 2009 at the age of 83 before officially retiring. He displayed a strong interest in those local customs getting lost with all of the new technology and international mass-culture. At one point, he lamented on the increasing number of snow-mobiles invading Eskimo territory during his own life time. Perhaps the most colorful of the bunch was Bernard Wilets, one of those versatile Pisceans who easily fluctuated between topics totally unrelated to each other. His all-inclusive Discovering Music series is a must-see series; one such title, Discovering American Folk Music, manages to get Irish and Scottish ballads from centuries ago, black gospel, raw blues and late sixties psychedelic rock & roll all covered in a mere 21 minutes! He also handled push-button debates like school bus segregation in The Bill Of Rights In Action: De Facto Segregation which may seem a trifle dated now... or not? Even today, racial differences are no small issue. More importantly, he provided some of the most creative talk-fests to invade the classroom since Frank Baxter educated the royal court of the Planet Q in the classic Bell Science specials. One can't help but chuckle over the very premise of Man And The State: Marx And Rockefeller which transports the ghosts of two polarizing figures in history, Karl Marx and John D. Rockefeller, to a futuristic society resembling Logan's Run so that these folks of the future can have some laughs watching them argue it out. After leaving BFA right around the time of its merge with Phoenix Films, Wilets joined Barr Films (covered here: http://forums.tcm.com/topic/114972-a-shortie-checklist-an-assortment-of-culinary-delights/ ) which reissued his earlier titles with only slight modifications in the opening credits and got him to make more of them, including the very eighties retro Grant And Lee On The Civil War, set on a silly game show called “Risk Your Reputation”. As Geoff Alexander covered in Academic Films for The Classroom (McFarland & Co., 2010), Wilets had a very special arrangement with the Screen Actors' Guild and was able to tap many familiar faces from television and the bigger screens provided he forgo screen credits. This is absolutely maddening to us movie geeks who recognize the faces but can't find any listed names. Granted, I am pretty certain that a 10-year old Jason Bateman is displaying his trademark smirk in The Veldt, one of the quirky Ray Bradbury adaptations he produced but didn't direct, despite the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) not including it in Jason's filmography. Phoenix Films was the third party to become part of this growing family, which became Phoenix-BFA Films & Video in 1981 (later the Phoenix Learning Group) after CBS sold its interests. Launched just eight years earlier by Heinz Gelles (formally of McGraw-Hill) and Barbara Bryant (of Films Incorporated) along with Leo Dratfield, Phoenix Films began mostly as a distribution company. Soon that groovy animated bird in its on-screen logo was accompanying personal in-house productions as well. The 1970s was a very rich decade for experimental film making with many controversial stories being tried out that Hollywood and major TV companies would consider taboo even today, such as a story about a dying woman harassed by hospital staff in The Detour and gender-role questioning in William's Doll. Barbara Bryant herself later contributed to some highly innovative adaptations of children books along with Gary Templeton for a sub-company Evergreen Productions. Phoenix handled a higher number of hour to two hour features than BFA, which tended to keep most of its non-TV product under a half hour in length. Among the major titles were Helen Hayes: Portrait Of An American Actress (Nathan Kroll, 1973), Antonia: A Portrait Of A Woman (Judy Collins & Jill Godmilow, 1974), Rivers Of Sand (Robert Gardner, 1974), The Shadow Catcher (T.C. McLuhan, 1974), Grass Roots: Rural Communes In The U.S.A. (Luciano Martinengo and Thomas Wahlberg, 1975), Earth People (James Rich, 1975), Buenos Dias, Compañeras = Women In Cuba (Aviva Slesin, 1975), The Hollow (George T. Nierenberg, 1975), Potters Of Hebron (Robert Haber, 1976), Paul Robeson: The Tallest Tree In Our Forest (Gil Noble, 1977), Twyla Tharp: Making Television Dance (Don Mischer, 1977), One Of Kind (Harry Winer, 1977), Gatemouth Brown And Gate's Express (Carl Colby, 1977), The Jerusalem Peace (Mark Banjamin, 1977), Zerda's Children (Jorge Prelorán, 1978), Kid Thomas And The Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Clifton Chenier (Carl Colby, 1978), In Dark Places: Remembering the Holocaust (Gina Blumenfeld, 1978), Deep Hearts (Robert Gardner, 1979), Martha Clarke: Light & Dark (Joyve Chopra, 1980), With God On Our Side (Alexander von Wetter, 1981) and Children Of The Holocaust (Jack Eisner & Roman Kent, 1983). Most longer productions post-BFA merge tended to be direct-to-video projects, such as How Will I Survive? (Kathleen Kelley Reardon & Johanna Demetrakas, 1993), a study on women coping with breast cancer. Both Phoenix and BFA offered a very international menu to the 16mm market and I could easily double the lists below to include the many, many foreign imports that were often dubbed in English and non-narrative films that required no translations. Yet space restraints here and the fact that they were only Phoenix and BFA in U.S. distribution kept my oversize appetite in check. Among a selection worth mentioning: Han Van Gelder's Adventures In Perception (Netherlands, 1969), Ulrich Schweizer's Katutura (Switzerland, 1971), Kostas Chronopoulos, Simon Louvish & Jorge Tsoucarossa's Greece Of Christian Greeks (Greece, 1972), Charles & Martina Huguenot van der Linden's This Tiny World (Netherlands, 1972), A Pretty Kettle Of Fish (France, 1973), Ronald Bijisma's Brainwash (Netherlands, 1973), Michel Lang's Carole, I Love You (France, 1973), Gilbert Dassonville's Abyss (France, 1973), George Sluizer's The Raft (Netherlands, 1973), George R. Sluizer & Bert van Munster's Letters, Three Days Respite and Zeca (Netherlands, all released in the U.S. in 1974), El Páramo de Cumanday (Colombia, Gabriela Samper & Ray Witlin, 1977), Clay Kelton's Mateo and Unlikely Star (Costa Rica, 1979), Said Manafi's Timghriwin: Mass Marriage Of Berbers (Austria, 1986), Fernand Berenguer's A Double Souffle (France, 1986) and Frédéric Fougea's “Lord Of The Animals” series (France, 1989-1996). The National Film Board of Canada, Film Australia and Gakushū Kenkyūsha with Japan's Gakken Films also provided plenty of material between the 1970s and '90s. In terms of animation, Phoenix again had the edge over BFA in backing several U.S. independents such as John Canemaker. Yet a large portion of the cartoons came from overseas, particularly Czechoslovakia's Bratri v triku which was responsible for Zdeněk Miler's durable pantomime character The Little Mole. Later cartoons offered through Phoenix-BFA Films & Video frequently came from Canadian and British television: Perennial Pictures' Mirthworms (1984), Neil Innes Raggy Dolls (broadcast with Yorkshire Television, 1986-1994) and Marina Productions' Little Miss and Mister Men (French-UK co-productions, 1995-1997). In May 1997, the re-organized Phoenix Learning Group Inc. acquired the bulk of Coronet Film's backlog, which I and others spent a long time updating at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Coronet_Films so that we don't need to exhaust our pretty little heads here. Other acquisitions included some of Centron's catalog (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centron_Corporation ) and roughly half of the Learning Corporation of America (covered here: http://forums.tcm.com/topic/114972-a-shortie-checklist-an-assortment-of-culinary-delights/ , but I added their animated cartoons below since many online are worth investigating). Today all of the new material for schools is made exclusively online or for DVD, so I am cutting off around the year 2003 here with just a few final entries to such long running series as Backyard Science. I should also add that Phoenix-BFA distributed a series by Aames Teleproductions that covered “how to use” lectures on early Microsoft programs of 1991-1994, which I don't get into below like I do a few other select direct-to-video efforts; teaching about computers in the VHS and film format can be quite challenging but Phoenix-BFA was always up for it. As usual, this alphabetic list is not complete, so feel free to private message me with additions. Apart from the three companies mentioned above, I also included King Screen Productions and Kaw Valley Films. The latter often distributed through Coronet, which Phoenix later acquired, while the former released mostly through BFA, although I include the independently distributed and Oscar winning The Redwoods.

Charles Urban was a giant in early cinema and a most fascinating character, an ambitious and forward thinking American tycoon who enjoyed his biggest success on the other side of the Atlantic. Then he returned to his home country during the last year of The Great War, but competition with Hollywood was too great and his fortunes collapsed in a few years. Sadly, so many of his films have been lost over time even though material that he financed got recycled in films made by other companies. Fortunately his stock has been on the rise in recent years, with one researcher working more devotedly than others since the 1990s in bringing the attention he deserves. Luke McKernan published a biography on him in 2013: Charles Urban, Pioneering the Non-Fiction Film in Britain and America, 1897 – 1925. According to his website at http://www.charlesurban.com/, we are told the following: “No complete list of all the films that he produced exists, and it would be an almost impossible task to construct one, as he re-edited and re-used his film material so frequently.” Not that I won't try with a small... small “starter” sampling. No, these lists won't be complete. Further more, I am focusing exclusively on the post-1903 period instead of his years with the Warwick Trading Company (which operated with and without him between 1898 and 1915), although I might tackle them on a future date. You folks know that I can't resist the temptation. Born April 14, 1867 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Charles Urban got started in the movie business when marketing Thomas Edison's Kinetoscopes in Detroit, Michigan in 1895. He moved to the United Kingdom while working with Maguire & Baucus, agents of Edison, before becoming a part of the Warwick Trading Company three years later where he held a top position until February 1903. When he left to start up his own company, he ignited a lawsuit with Warwick by taking some top personnel with him, including Alfred Darling, Thomas Grant, George Albert Smith, John “Jack” Avery as a key co-executive and camera operator and Alice Rosenthal, sister of one of Urban's top cameramen Joseph, as a top salesperson. It didn't take long for the Charles Urban Trading Company to ape his former company as a leader of scenic “factuals” shot as far from the British Isles as one could get. These Urban-Bioscope Expeditions traipsed through Borneo, the Swiss Alps, the major destinations of Europe and “darkest” Africa. In addition to all of the pretty scenery, there was no shying away from the human thirst for violence and warfare, even having cameramen Joe Rosenthal and George Rogers tackle the Russo-Japanese War from both sides. The official 1903 and '06 film catalogs are quite a feast for the eyes, offering more for British movie goers than even National Geographic offered American magazine subscribers in its early years: https://archive.org/details/weputworldbefore00unse http://www.cinematheque.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/Expo/Gustave_Doret/Catalogue_Urban_1906.pdf Nickelodeon attendees were also introduced to worlds that weren't so much far away but hard to see with their limited eye sight. F. Martin Duncan made several series featuring amoeba, hydras, bacteria, close-ups of insects, circulation of blood and anything else of interest that required special microscopic lens. By 1908, F. Percy Smith was added to the fold, along with a new sub-company Kineto, with his landmark frame-by-frame time lapse photography of flowers blooming and close-ups of spiders and insects in action. Smith later would work with British Instructional (which I profiled on a separate thread here) and was among the first to document Mother Nature in color as well... Ah, yes, color... or shall I spell it colour? Urban certainly deserves credit as one of the great financial backers in this arena. While still with the Warwick Trading Company, he supported Edward Raymond Turner. He patented a system with Frederick Marshall Lee that involved three filters (red, yellow and blue) attached to a camera that exposed different images on consecutive frames of one black and white film roll. A few film clips survive today that were taken before Turner's untimely death in 1903, resurrected from obscurity by the National Media Museum in 2012: Because this first system was rather cumbersome, Urban had George Albert Smith (famous for such landmark novelties as The Haunted Castle and Grandma's Reading Glass) simplify the process to just two filters, making the results less “colorful” but more practical. (Leon Gaumont, however, would return to Turner's three filter concept with his excellent, but still troublesome, Chronochrome system a full decade later.) The black & white film was exposed with a disc of rotating filters, then shown with a specialized projector with matching filters to present it for the screen. In July 1906, his first experiments were made of Smith's children in Southwick, Brighton. By early 1909, a new name was established for this process, Kinemacolor, along with a new Urban-controlled company, Natural Color Kinematograph. Because each second frame was exposed differently than the frame proceeding it, fast movement of people jumping and horses galloping sometimes created a double-image effect. Over time, the cameramen got around some of this by having much action coming towards the camera and decreasing the amount of side viewed action. The film also had to be projected faster than most other films at 1/32 a second. Some of these issues were fixed later in the U.S. by the competing Prizmacolor and Technicolor companies, which followed the “bi-pack” route of exposing two rolls of film at once, thanks to a special glassware involving two filters, then having the rolls combined as one with special dyes on each side so they can be used in standard 24 frames per second projectors without filters. Urban himself also kept tinkering in later years, even after Kinemacolor ran its course, with his top engineer Henry Joy on another system called “Kinekrom” that almost, but not quite, solved the problems. Like Cinerama in the fifties and IMAX decades later, early Kinemacolor often involved special theaters and special ticket prices, with its biggest showcase being the glamorous Scala Theatre on Charlotte Street, London. Like the later widescreen spectaculars, these films held the same appeal of presenting far away places in a format unlike any other travelogue at the time; top cameraman John Mackenzie even published a book in 1910 called Rambles In Many Lands. Aside from England and France, major countries presented for the first time in color without tints or stenciling included Belgium, Holland, Germany, the United States, Canada, Italy, Algeria, the Balkans, Egypt, India, Spain, Canary Islands, Greece, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Japan. Essentially the Urban team was achieving the same goal in motion pictures that Albert Kahn's team did with Lumière Autochrome still photography in Les Archives de la Planète, a collection that survives more complete today. A few separate Kinemacolor companies were established outside of England such as Kinemacolor de France, Luca Comerio operating in Italy and Kinemacolor of America (profiled later on this thread), but the Japanese probably enjoyed the most success with it: Toyo Shokai, renamed Tennenshaku Katsudoshashin Kabushiki Kaisha, maintained a steady output of kabuki play adaptations and scenics through 1917. King Edward VII was the first royal to be filmed both alive and in funeral procession by the Kinemacolor cameras. Then Smith and Urban's team went all out documenting the coronation of George V, followed by his visit to India in 1911-12 titled With Our King And Queen Through India (a.k.a. The Dunbar At Delhi). This and the Kinemacolor of America's Making Of The Panama Canal are sometimes listed as the world's first feature length films in color, but were viewed at the time as presentations of individual short subjects. Not to be outdone, France's President Poincaré became a subject more than once and Kinemacolor of America made sure two presidents in office, Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson, were also documented in color. Both the U.S. and U.K. companies covered ex-president Teddy Roosevelt. While educational films garnished Urban much of his critical prestige, it was obvious that the business of movies had to bring in the cash with plenty of fictionalized comedy, drama and adventure. These were done both in black & white and Kinemacolor, probably half of the latter productions being shot in Nice, France which boasted better sunshine than the British Isles. In addition, Urban also set up Société Générale des Cinématographes Éclipse in Paris to increase his entertainment output. Eventually this company broke off as its own independent operation, becoming the fourth largest film company in France before long. Among the more interesting films done in England were directed by Walter R. Booth as part of a then popular “trick” fantasy genre, similar to what George Méliès had been doing earlier. His 1912 part live-action / part stop-motion collaboration with F. Martin Thornton and Edgar Rogers, In Gollywog Land, boasts what may be the earliest animation in color, unless one counts Winsor McCay's hand-tinted Little Nemo of the previous year. (I do include cartoons in this thread for a change.) Another leading director, filming in both countries, was Rotterdam-born Theo Bouwmeester (sometimes listed as Frenkel, his original name, or Bouwmeester-Frenkel, the name I use here). He played Napoleon in Kinemacolor's first fictional production, Checkmated (1910), and later supervised the first western in the process, Fate, set in Texas but filmed in Sussex. The first official color feature (or the first not to be a documentary at least) was F. Martin Thorton's The World, The Flesh And The Devil, a rather torrid melodrama that the critics weren't kind to when it opened at the Holborn Empire on April 9, 1914. There was just one more follow-up feature that summer, Little Lord Fauntleroy. Urban's ambitious move into all-color features was halted due to some court battles involving the competing Biocolour headed by William Friese-Greene, who accused Urban for being monopolistic over color processes. Although Biocolour ultimately was a failure financially (and Gaumont's more competitive system stayed mostly in France), Urban still had to liquidize the Natural Color Kinematograph and re-organize as a new company, Colorfilms Ltd., dropping the key word “natural” on account of all of the bad press Kinemacolor received for its hardly natural two-spectrum system. Adding to the decline in Kinemacolor was a souring relationship between Urban and George Smith, who hardly spoke to each other until the 1930s. The war soon took up a huge chunk of Urban's activities, along with providing much needed subject matter for movie screens. He was appointed to chairman of the British Topical Committee for War Films in 1915, but ran into some controversy the following year when he negotiated with William Randolph Hearst for a U.S. distribution deal; Hearst being sympathetic to Germany while his country was still neutral did not go well with the British press at the time. Two key features Britain Prepared (How Britain Prepared) (December 1915) and The Battle Of The Somme (August 1916) nonetheless did well on both sides of the Atlantic. The former featured some rare Kinemacolor sequences of battle, another Urban first. The second strictly black and white film still holds up as an outstanding documentation with stellar camerawork by J.B. McDowell and Geoffrey Malins that has been recycled in many movies, TV shows and YouTube since. His gradual move of operations to the United States began with his take over of David Horseley's Centaur Film Corporation in Bayonne, New Jersey in March 1917, followed eight months later by the formation of Kineto Company of America at 71 West 23rd Street in New York City to produce a newsreel series called the “Official War Review”. By the autumn of 1918, he had pretty much phased out his British operations and stayed put in America, settling by 1920 with a Stanford White designed building in Irvington, New York and consolidating his companies under Urban Motion Picture Industries, Inc. Unfortunately many of his big ambitions for the American market didn't pan out well, perhaps because he was too ahead of his time. Among his most interesting novelties involving co-engineer Harry Joy (co-developed with Theodore Brown) was the Spirograph, a disc-formatted projector aimed at bringing movies into homes and schools for personal use, a fore-runner to the “home entertainment” explosion of later decades, first with 16mm and 8mm and then VHS and laserdisc by the '80s. Yet it all seemed way too early for 1920. Had his Kinekrom system been successful, many of his Kinemacolor films would have enjoyed a longer shelf life as reissues in later years, but there were still technical issues involved. On the plus side, he boasted a spectacular library of material that, along with some newly filmed footage done in America, got used extensively in several series: “Urban Movie Chats”, “Wonders of the World”, “Kineto Reviews”, “Urban Popular Classics” and “Great American Authors”, the last edited by future Traveltalks guru James FitzPatrick. All of these shorts were part of an ambitious program called “The Encyclopedia of Knowledge”, a “thousand-reel” attempt to provide a motion picture counterpart to every library's reference book section. (He also had some involvement in George McLeod Baynes' earliest “Kinograms”, a newsreel that outlasted all of Urban's own series.) Two somewhat successful features were added in 1921: The Four Seasons, supervised by leading New York zoological celebrity Raymond Ditmars and previewed February 18th, and Permanent Peace, released in November to coincide with the Washington Naval Peace Conference. One later Urban production was a real curio that is likely impossible to view today, if not lost. Evolution: From The Birth Of The Planets To The Age Of Man was supervised by Ditmars with plenty of his own personal animal footage along with some stop-motion dinosaurs by Willis O'Brien (likely lifted from his earlier short The Ghost Of Slumber Mountain). It was first shown at All Angels Episcopal Church in Manhattan, December 1922, despite Ditmars' blatant preference for Darwin over Genesis. Of course, the national publicity over the Scopes' “Monkey Trial” in Tennessee prompted a re-edit and reissue involving Edward J. Foyles of the American Museum of Natural History and the animation team of Max and David Fleischer, whose co-owned Red Seal also handled distribution. By the time this second version was released in July 1925, Urban was forced to close shop. According to July 1924 reports in Film Daily, his “$10, 500, 000 corporation” had been petitioned for bankruptcy. There was a second, but short-lived, rebooting of the company later by investor C.M. Bortman. Max Fleischer's team once again got recruited to edit material for a new and short-lived “Urban Searchlights” series (one of which is posted on this thread). By 1929, Urban was mostly retired and back in England. He lost his second wife, Ada, in 1937; she herself had contributed both financially and as a key supervisor for the company since they married in 1910. Charles passed away on August 29, 1942 while still writing his memoirs. Meanwhile, a large chunk of the Urban library fell through the cracks of court-battled ownership and much valuable source material was either recycled for its chemical components or lost/discarded by accident. This is sad when one considers Urban's motto for many years as “Putting the world before you”, which he pretty much did long before we had cable TV and the internet. What we have today to remember him by are crumbs of a once spectacular film empire. **** Urban backed many critter reels. The BFI site labels this one The Porcupine- A Prickly Subject, but it could be Animal Drolleries (Kineto 1915, minus the parrot), one of the Animal World Series (1916) or just a hodgepodge of several titles. What is nice about these compilation reels is that they preserve so much valuable footage lost in their original state. The bunny and girl shot may go back a good dozen years or so. The otter, badger and jerboa all appeared in their own longer starring roles in previous years, the otter's 1912 performance is also uploaded on this thread.

So there was one stop motion animation that I once see on TCM and it really got stuck in my mind since then, but I really couldn't identify what was the name of that animation. All I remember is that the animation starts with the boots of a misterious guy and red paint dripping on his boots from the brush that he's holding , that guy being dressed like a criminal or something, with a long coat, then shows him standing in the middle of the street looking at the window of a guy who lives in a big building with only one window, that one being the window of his apartment.His apartment is empty, and he has only a bed, a clock on the wall (and a table I guess, I don't remember to well).I remember that the misterious guy was trying to kill the one that lives in the apartament trough some ridiculous ways. I can't remember anything else, and that's all that I can relate, but if someone has any idea how this stop motion animation is called , please let me know and thank you.

Figured that we needed a thread for classic theatrical cartoons already available online. Obviously the lifespan of anything on YouTube is temporary so some of these videos may need replaced later. Feel free to contribute more. I will try my best to provide as much information on these. Covered this one already here: http://forums.tcm.com/topic/36026-russian-soviet-films/?tab=comments#comment-1618034 Lev i Byk (The Lion And The Ox) Soviet Union: Soyuzmultfilm Fyodor Khitruk Released December 1983 and August 1984 (Ottawa International Film Festival) What I find most interesting is that acacia tree shown at the end resembling some sort of nuclear mushroom cloud. The lion and the ox seem to represent rival nations enjoying an uneasy peace and the jackal “trouble” instigating it. 1983 was a key year in the Cold War and the overall uneasiness on both sides was also reflected on American TV with The Day After.