History of Animation 1931 - 1940
1931
World News
• The Empire State Building is built.
• British scientists produce "The Atom Smasher"
• Crime Lord, Al Capone is sent to jail for 11 years for tax evasion.
• Abstract Art

Inventions
• 1st stereo recordings

Animation News
• Grim Natwick begins working at Disney Studio
• Swiss designer Albert Hurted goes to work for Disney
• Walt Disney gets a court injunction against Van Beuren, prohibiting the studio from "employing, using or displaying the pictoral representation of 'Mickey Mouse' or any variation thereof". Van Beuren's cartoon "A Close Call" uses a boy and girl mouse that closely resembled Mickey and Minnie.
• Harmon and Ising, working for Warner Bros. begin the "Merrie Melodies" series
• Dick Huemer creates "Scrappy" cartoons for Columbia Pictures.

Comics
Chester Gould's comic strip "Dick Tracy" make it's debut in The Detroit Free Press.

Birthdays
• Ernest Pintoff (producer, animator) born in Watertown, Connecticut.
• Yugo Serikawa (Serikawa Yugo) (director) born in Tokyo.
• Ram Mohan (director) is born. (India)
• James Dean, Actor
• Mikhail Gorbachev, Russian President


Deaths
• Thomas Edison, inventor dies at age 84.

Movies
• Universal horror classic “Dracula” premiers starring Bela Lugosi. Producer Tod Browning originally cast Lon Chaney for the part but had to choose Lugosi after Chaney's death.
• Boris Karloff stars in "Frankenstein".

Animated Feature Film
• “Peludópolis” Quirino Cristiani /Cristiani. (Argentina)

Notable Cartoons
• “Lady, Play Your Mandolin”, Rudolph Ising /Harman-Ising. first Merrie Melodies series (1931-present)
• “Silly Scandals”, Dave Fleischer /Fleischer. first named Betty Boop series (1931-1938)
• “Yelp Wanted”, Dick Huemer /Mintz. first Scrappy series (1931-1940)
• “Wot A Night”, John Foster and George Stallings /Van Beuren. first Tom and Jerry series (1931-1933) (not the famous cat and mouse duo by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera)
• “Mickey's Orphans”, Burt Gillett /Disney.

Europe
• "Black and White", Ivan Ivanov-Vano /Mezhrabpom-Rus. (Soviet Union)
• “Sora mo Momataro” ("Momotaro in the Sky"), Yasuji Murata /Yokohama Cinema Kyokai.



1932
World News
• 1st Olympic Games
• Lindbergh baby is kidnapped.
• Hitler begins his rise to power in Germany.
• The "Drive-In Movie Theater" is patented.

Animation News
• 1st year Oscars are awarded for animated short cartoons at the Academy Awards.
• Art Babbitt leaves Terrytoons to work for Disney.
• Donald Graham begins giving his first art drawing classes at the Disney studio on Nov. 15th.
• Gyula Macskássy and John Halas found a studio to make advertising in Budapest. (Hungary)
• The Sociedad Espanola de Dibujos Animados (SEDA) is founded in Spain. The founders include Joaquin Xuadaro, Ricardo Garcia K-Hito, and Antonio Got.
• The Philips radio company hires George Pal to create a puppet animation studio in Einhover. (Netherlands)
• Masaoka Film Production founded by Kenzo Masaoka in Kitano, Kyoto.


Comics
• Martha Orr's "Apple Mary" comic strip debuts.

Birthdays
Casey Kasem (Kemal Amin Kasem) (voice actor) born in Detroit, Michigan.

Deaths
• Raoul Barre, 51 yrs old (1874 - 1932)
• Kodak inventor George Eastman commits suicide


Movies
• Johnny Weismuller stars in "Tarzan".

Animated Feature Film
• “Vlastelin byta” ("Master of Existence"), Alexander Ptushko. (Soviet Union) (puppet animation)

Notable Cartoons
United States
• “Minnie the Moocher” Fleischer
• 1st appearance of Goofy in “Mickey’s Revue”.
• “It's Got Me Again”, Rudolf Ising /Harman-Ising.
• “The Athlete”,Walter Lantz /Universal. first Pooch the Pup series (1932-1933)

Europe
• “L'Idee” ("The Idea"), Berthold Bartosch. (France)
• "Look at the Root", B. Antonovski. (Soviet Union)
• "Midnight", George Pal /Pal. (Netherlands) (puppet animation) first Puppetoon series
• “Serenata”, Jose Lopez Rubio. (Spain)
• “La vampiresa morros de fresa”, Ricardo Garcia K-Hito. (Spain)

Academy Award
• Disney’s “Flowers and Trees” (Ub Iwerks animator) (1st Disney color cartoon using Technicolor)



1933
World News
• Adolph Hitler becomes dictator of Germany
• 1st concentration camp built near Dachau, Germany to hold arrested Communist agitators.
• President Roosevelt gives his "The only thing to fear, is fear itself" speech.
• Nazis enforce a ban on Jewish Merchants.
• Book burning in Germany.
• Hitler dissolves the Greman parliment and breaks up all trade unions.
• President Roosevelt passes the National Recovery Act (N.R.A.)
• Hitler begins his "Aryan Purification" by sterilizing the weak. This includes: anyone considered an idiot, schizophrenics, people suffering from depression, epilepsy, deafness or blindness.
• Parents in Germany who do not adhere to the Nazi program for the education of their children may lose them. Adolf Hitler warns, "We shall rear them as needful for the Fatherland."
• Prohibition ends. The United States gets drunk.
• South Dakota gets hit by a massive dust storm bringing on a devastating drought.
• The Lone Ranger debuts on Detroit's WXYZ radio station.

Inventions
• "Monopoly" is trademarked by businessman Charles Darrow.

Animation News
• Having just left Warner Bros., Harmon and Ising do a short stint of two 'Cubby' cartoons for Van Beuren just before joining MGM.
• Hugh Harmon and Rudolf Ising leave Warner Bros. and move to MGM, taking Bosko with them. MGM gives them double the budget they were getting at Warners. The produce the Happy Harmonies series.
• Ub Iwerks develops the "Willie Whopper" series for MGM
• Iwerks also produces the "Comicolor Cartoon" series but MGM chooses not to distribute them. Pat Powers releases the films independantly.
• A Georgia theater owner complains about the "smut in cartoons" and how "parents frequently object to the filth that is put into them, without helping the comedy".
• The Fleischers aquire the rights to Popeye the Sailor. They put him in a Betty Boop cartoon titled, "Popeye the Sailor" to test his appeal. The response is so strong that he begins his own series in Sept.
• The Lone Ranger debuts on radio
• Max Fleisher promotes Lillian Friedman to be the first female animator in U.S. animation.

• Sullivan studio closes after Pat Sullivan dies.
• Columbia Pictures acquires partial ownership of the Mintz studio which is renamed as Screen Gems
.• 1st “Alley Oop” comic strip
• Wan Lai-ming, Wan Guchan, and Wan Chaochen create an animation studio for the Mingshin film company. (China)

• The first Mickey Mouse watches are sold for $2.75.

Comics
• Milton Caniff's "Dickie Dare" comic strip debuts
• V.T. Hamlin's caveman comic strip "Alley Opp" debuts.
• "Funnies on Parade", a collection of reprinted newspaper strips were used as a promotional give away for Proctor & Gamble. It is reputed to be the very first comic book.
• Blondie Boopadoop marries Dagwood Bumstead in Chick Young's comic strip "Blondie".

Birthdays
• Richard Williams, animator (1933 - )
• Dom DeLuise (voice actor) born in Brooklyn, New York.
• Bruno Bozzetto (director, producer) born in Milan. (Italy)
• Tatsuo Yoshida (Yoshida Tatsuo) (producer, character designer, director) born in Kyoto.

Deaths
• Pat Sullivan, the producer of Felix the Cat dies of alcoholism, pnuemonia and despair over
the alleged suicide of his wife.

Movies
• “King Kong” premiers, Stop motion animation of King Kong character.
• "The Invisible Man" starring Claude Rains.
• "Little Women" starring Katherine Hepburn.
• "The Private Life of Henry VIII" starring Charles Laughton
• The film "42nd Street", an elaborate musical with dance numbers choreographed by Busby Berkeley premiers.

Notable Cartoons
United States
• “Popeye The Sailor” a Betty Boop cartoon with the first appearance of Popeye. Ostensibly a Betty Boop cartoon, this actually featured Popeye. The Popeye the Sailor series continued from Fleischer Studios, then Famous Studios until 1957. Later Popeye series have been created by other studios. Popeye has had more individual episodes than any other American animated character.
• “Egghead Rides Again” 1st Egghead cartoon Warner Bros.
• “The Old Man of the Mountain” featuring Betty Boop and Cab Calloway Fleischer
• “Building a Building”, David Hand /Disney.
“Snow White”, Dave Fleischer /Fleischer.
• “The Banker's Daughter”, Paul Terry and Frank Moser /Terrytoons. first Fanny Zilch series (1933) first appearance of Oil Can Harry
• “Confidence”, Walter Lantz and Bill Nolan /Universal.
• “Cubby's Nut Factory”, Mannie Davis /Van Beuren. first Cubby the Bear series (1933-1934)
• “The Fatal Note”, George Stallings /Van Beuren. first Little King series (1933-1934)
• “Play Ball”, Ub Iwerks /Iwerks. first Willie Whopper series (1933-1934)
• “Buddy's Day Out”, Tom Palmer /Schlesinger. first Buddy series (1933-1935)
• “Jack and the Beanstalk”, Ub Iwerks /Iwerks. first Comicolor Cartoon (1933-1936)
• “Merry Old Soul”, Walter Lantz /Universal.

South America
• “Macaco feto, macaco bonito” ("Ugly Ape, Pretty Ape"), Joao Stamato and Luiz Seel. (Brazil)

Canada
• “Sailors of the Guard”, Bryant Fryer. (Canada) (silhouette animation)
• “The Wizard of Oz“, Ted Eshbaugh /Musicolor Fantasies. (Canada)

Europe
• “Carmen”, Lotte Reiniger. (Germany) (silhouette animation)
• “Un drama en la costa”, Joaquin Xuadaro. (Spain)
• “Experimental Animation”, Len Lye. (Great Britain) (puppet animation)
• “Fetiche Mascotte” ("The Mascot"), Ladislas Starewicz. (France) (puppet animation, some live action)
• “France bonne humeur” ("France in a Good Humour"), André Rigal. (France) series included in the France-Actualité newsreel
• “Muratta Greift Ein” ("Muratta Gets in the Act"), Oskar Fischinger. (Germany)
• “La novia de Juan Simon”, Jose Martinez Romano. (Spain)
• “Une nuit sur le mont chauve” ("Night on Bald Mountain"), Alexandre Alexeieff and Claire Parker. (France) (pin screen animation) (Alexeieff created a device (pin screen) to simulate etching. It consisted of a screen that held in place an array of pins. The varying height of the pins controlled how much light they reflected. The resulting image could then be photographed.)
• “El rata primero”, Ricardo Garcia K-Hito. (Spain)
• "Tale of a White Calf", Lev Atamanov and V. Sutsev /Mezhrabpomfilm. (Soviet Union)

Orient
• “Chikara to Onna no Yononaka” ("Strength, Women, and the Ways of the World"), Kenzo Masaoka /Masaoka. (first Japanese sound cartoon)
• “Entotsuya Pero” ("Chimney Sweep Pero"), Yoshitsuga Tanaka /Kyoto Doei.
• “Ugoki Ekori no Takehiki” ("The Fox Versus the Racoon"), Ikuo Oishi /P.C.L.
• “Osaru no Taigyo” ("The Monkey's Big Catch"), Yasuji Murata.

Academy Award
• Disney’s “Three Little Pigs” (1st real character development)



1934
World News
• Salvidor Dali shows his works in New York
• Outlaws, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are shot to death in police ambush.
• Outlaw, John Dillinger, "Public Enemy #1" shot dead outside Chicago movie theater (don't know which movie he was watching).
• Outlaw, Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd shot dead.
• Outlaw, George "Baby Face" Nelson shot dead.

Animation News
• Frank Tashlin (while working for Ub Iwerks) debuts a comic strip in the L.A. Times named “Van Boring”, named after his former employer Amadee Van Beuren.
• Steve Bosustow (later a co-founder of UPA) is hired by Ub Iwerks studio as an animator.
• Ub Iwerks builds a multiplane camera from the cannibalized parts of the back end of a Chevrolet, predating Disney's multiplane camera by about 3 years.
• Bill Tytla leaves Terrytoons to work for Disney
• Norm Ferguson, who had worked for Terry during the 1920's leaves to work for Disney
• Terrytoons moves his studio to New Rochelle, New York.
• In response to the public outcry against verbal and visual indecency in Hollywood films, a new "Production Code" is adopted that dictates morals and mores in American films, including cartoons. The Fleischer studio is the hardest hit and sex-pot character Betty Boop undergoes substantial revisions both visually as well as story content.
• Fleischer launches his Color Classics series in an effort to imitate Disney's Silly Symphonies.
• Van Beuren produces a short lived series of Amos 'n' Andy cartoons based on the popular radio comedians. The final cartoons are much less popular than the radio show and the series is dumped.
• Van Beuren hires Joe Barbera, Pete Burness and several other new animators.
• Burt Gillett, director of Disney's "Three Little Pigs" is hired by Van Beuren.
• Mintz starts the 'Color Rhapsodies' series in answer to the 'Silly Symphonies' and 'Merry Melodies'
• Mary Blair married to Lee Blair, the brother of Preston Blair.

• Walt Disney presents his animators with an outline for "Snow White".

Comics
• Will Gould's comic strip "Red Barry" debuts. .
• Milton Caniff begins "Terry and The Pirates" Strip.
• Al Capp's comic strip "Lil' Abner" debuts.
• Alex Raymond's comic strips "Flash Gordon", "Jungle Jim", and "Secret Agent X-9" (written by Dashiell Hammmett) all debut.
• "The Buck Rogers in The 25th Century" live action movie seriel debuts starring John Dille Jr. (Buck Rogers).
• Dell begins Famous Funnies # 1 the first retail comic book, reprinting old newspaper strips. More Info.
• Lee Falk & Phil Davis's comic strip "Mandrake The Magician" debut.

Birthdays
• Jan Svankmajer, Czech animator is born (1934 - )
• Josef Nepp, Hungarian animator is born (Snow White 1983, Five Minutes of Murder 1966)
• Manfreo Manfredi, Italian animator is born (title designs for:The Genius of the Cinema:Orson Welles 1984)


Deaths
• July 26 - Winsor McCay dies of a massive cerebral hemorrage
• Marie Cuie, Physicist dies at age 67.

Animated Feature Films
• "The Tale of a Priest and His Servant Balda", Mikhail Tsekhanovsky. (Soviet Union)
• "Tale of Tsar Durandai", Ivan Ivanov-Vano, Valentina Brumberg, and Zinaida Brumberg /Mezhrabpomfilm. (Soviet Union)

Notable Cartoons
United States
• 1st Donald Duck cartoon “The Wise Little Hen”
• Mintz's 1st Color Rhapsodies cartoon, "Holidayland" receives an Oscar nomination.
• “The Rasslin' Match”, George Stallings /Van Beuren. first Amos 'n' Andy series (1934)
• “Grandfather's Clock”, Burt Gillett /Van Beuren. first Toddle Tales series (1934-1935)
• “Pastry Town Wedding”, Burt Gillett and Ted Eshbaugh /Van Beuren. first Rainbow Parade series (1934-1936)
• “Poor Cinderella”, Dave Fleischer /Fleischer. first Color Classics series (1934-1940) Contains the first use of the Stereoscopic process invented by technician John Burks under the direction of Max Fleischer. It allowed for the combination of animation with a live minature set (composed of drawn objects) to create more realistic background effects.
• “Discontented Canary”, Rudolph Ising /Harman-Ising. first Happy Harmonies series (1934-1938)
• “The Headless Horseman”, Ub Iwerks /Iwerks. Contains the first use of a multiplane camera invented by Iwerks. The camera could photograph several layers of background cels that were several inches apart, giving the final result a more realistic three-dimensional appearance.
• “Jolly Little Elves” Walter Lantz /Universal. first Walter Lantz Cartune Special (1934-1961)
• “Holiday Land”, Art Davis (animator) /Screen Gems. first Color Rhapsodies series (1934-1949)

Europe
• “Treasure Island “, Brian White /Raycol Films. (Great Britain)
• “The Eternal Triangle”, Dennis Connolly /Champion Pictures. (Great Britain)
• “Das gestohlene Herz” ("The Stolen Heart"), Lotte Reiniger. (Germany) (silhouette animation)
• “La Joie de vivre” ("Joy of Life"), Anthony Gross. (France)
• "Sleeping Beauty", George Pal /Pal. (Netherlands) (puppet animation)

Orient
• “Genroku Koi Moyou: Sankichi To Otoyo” ("Love in the Genroku Era"), Mitsuyo Oze /Nihon Manga Film Kenkuyo.
• “Norakuro Gocho”, Yasuji Murata /Yokohama Cinema Kyokai.
• “Tahchan no Kaitei Ryokou” ("Tahchan's Trip to the Bottom of the Sea"), Kenzo Masaoka /Masaoka.
• “Tsukinomiya no Oojosama” ("Princess of the Moon Palace"), Yasuji Murata /Yokohama Cinema Kyokai.

India
• "On A Moonlit Night" R. C. Boral. (India) (first Indian sound cartoon)

Academy Award
• Disney's "The Tortoise and the Hare"



1935
World News
• Outlaw, "Ma" Barker and her 35 year old son are shot dead by police.
• Dust storm sweeps across Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming and Oklahoma causing widespread crop losses.
• Social Security enacted.
• Italian troops under Mussolini, invade Ethiopia.
• 1st DC-3 airplanes carry 21 passengers.
• On Feb 1st, the BBC announces that it will launch the world's 1st public television service later this year. Germany beats them to it by airing on March 22nd.

Inventions
• Polyethylene is invented.
• Artificial heart is invented by Alex Carrel and Charles Lindbergh.
• The world's 1st canned beer - "Krueger" goes on sale in Richmond, Virginia.

• Kodachrome film is invented
• Radar is patented.

Animation News
• Universal president, Carl Laemmle, who asked Lantz to set up the animation studio for Univesal retires. The studio decides to clean house and shuts down the animation studio. Lantz scrapes together $28,000.00 and opens his own studio, using Universal as his distributor.
• 20th Century Fox and Educational Pictures Inc. the distruibutors of Terrytoon cartoons receive complaints about the poor quality of their cartoons which Paul Terry ignores.
• Ub Iwerks lays off several of his staff in an effort to cut studio costs. Animator Grim Natwick moves to disney and Shamus Culhane moves to New York to work for the Van Beuren studio.
• Anglia Films founded by Anson Dyer. (Great Britain)
• Soyuzmultifilm studio founded in Moscow. (Soviet Union)


Comics
• Charles Addams begins doing gag cartoons for The New Yorker Magazine.
• Bill Holman's comic Strip "Smokey Stover" makes first appearances in The Chicago Tribune.
• Major Malcalm Wheeler Nicholson publishes "New Fun Comics", the first comic book to feature original materiel.

Birthdays
• Isao Takahata (Takahata Isao) (director, producer, animator, writer) born in Ise-shi, Mieken
• Burney Mattinson, animator, storyman is born
• Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll


Deaths
• Col. T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) dies in motercycle accident.

Movies
• "Bride of Frankenstein"
• Erroll Flynn in "Captain Blood"

Animated Feature film
• “Novyi Guliver” ("The New Gulliver"), Alexander Ptushko /Mosfilm. (Soviet Union) (puppet animation, live action)

.
Notable Cartoons
United States
• Disney’s “The Band Concert” the first color Mickey cartoon.
• “Mickey’s Kangaroo” the last Disney short in black and white
• Disney’s “Who Killed Cock Robin?” The Mae West impersonation was considered by the
artists a breakthroughin personality animation.
• “The Tortoise and the Hare”, Wilfred Jackson /Disney. Academy Award: Best Short Subjects, Cartoons
• “The Calico Dragon”, Rudolph Ising /Harman-Ising.
• “For Better For Worser”, Dave Fleischer /Fleischer.
• 1st appearance of Porky Pig in “I Haven’t Got A Hat”
• “The Fire Alarm”, Jack King /Schlesinger. first Porky Pig series (1935-1965)

Europe
• “Sam and His Musket”, Anson Dyer /Anglia. (Great Britain) first Old Sam series
• “Buffalo Full”, Martinez Romano and Menda. (Spain)
• “A Colour Box”, Len Lye /General Post Office. (Great Britain)
• “Komposition in Blau” ("Composition in Blue"), Oskar Fischinger. (Germany)

• “Tajemství lucerny” ("The Lantern's Secret"), Karel Dodal. (Czechoslovakia) (puppet animation)

Asia
• “Ban Dan Umeon: Bakemono Taiji no Maki”, Yoshitaro Kataoka /Nihon Manga Film Kenkuyo.
• "The Camel's Dance", Wan Lai-ming, Wan Guchan, and Wan Chaochen /Mingshin. (China
first Chinese sound cartoon

India
• “Lafanga Longoor”. (India)

Academy Award
• Disney's "Three Orpan Kittens"



1936
World News
• Franklin Roosevelt re-elected for second term.
• American Jesse Owens wins 4 gold medals in the Berlin Olympics.
• German troops invade Rhineland.
• Spanish Civil War begins (1936 - 1939)
• King Edward VIII of England abdicates his throne to marry a divorcee.
• Edgar Bergen and his dummy, Charlie McCarty debut on Rudy Vallee's radio show. Despite the incongruity of a ventriloquist act on radio, they became a hit and had their own show for more than 20 years.

Inventions
• Vladimir Zworykin and George Morton demonstrate an electron tube that is sensitive to ultraviolet and infared rays. The device represented an important step in the development of television.
• The 1st Volkswagen automobile is produced in Germany
• the Magnetophone is 1st true magnetic tape recorder

Animation News
• Tex Avery moves from Lantz to Warner Bros. as a director
• German Expressionist animator Oscar Fischinger flees Germany for the U.S.
• Ub Iwerks is forced to close his studio. Music director Carl Stalling and writer Ben Hardaway move to Warner Bros. Iwerks starts a new company to make commercial and educational animation, Cartoon Films Limited.
• Educational Pictures drops Terrytoons due to the lack of quality in their productions. Frank Moser, Terry's partner sells his half of the company to Terry, who one week later, signs a new two year contract with Educational Pictures after making a major commitment to upgrade the quality of his film productions.
• Leon Schlesinger bails out Iwerks by subcontracting him to do a short-lived British-financed series called "Gran' Pop"
• Van Beuren tries to get Otto Messmer to direct.
.• Disney leaves distributor, United Arists and makes a deal with RKO
• RKO, the distributor of the Felix the Cat cartoons dumps Van Beuren studio.
• Van Beuren completes it's final production run for RKO and the studio shuts down.
• Burt Gillett moves from Van Beuren back to Disney

• Sergei Prokoviev’s “Peter and the Wolf” is first performed


Comics
• Lee Falk & Ray Moore create "The Phantom" comic strip.
• King Features Syndicate releases "King Comics", a comic book featuring reprints from some of their syndicated strips. A trend quickly follows as United Features Syndicate produces "Tip Top Comics", Tribune Syndicate releases "Popular Comics", and NEA Syndicate comes out with "The Funnies".
• The "Flash Gordon" live action movie seriel debuts starring Buster Crabb (Flash Gordon), Jean Rogers (Dale Arden), Charles Middleton (Ming The Merciless), and Frank Shannon (Dr. Zarkov). several more Flash Gordon seriels would follow.
• Ka-Zar makes his first appearance in the "Ka-Zar The Great" pulp magazine.

Birthdays
• Glenn Vilppu, animator and teacher is born
• Jim Henson, puppeteer is born (1936 - 1990)
• Renzo Kinoshita, Japanese animator is born
• Gary Owens (Gary Altman) (voice actor, Roger Ramjet) born in Mitchell, South Dakota.
• Nedeljko Dragic (director) born in Paklenica. (Yugoslavia)
• Masako Nozawa (Nozawa Masako, Tsukada Masako) (voice actress) born in Tokyo.
• Bhimsain (director) is born in Multan. (India)
• Nedeljko Dragic, Yugoslavian animator is born


Deaths
• Author, Rudyard Kipling dies at age 70. He wrote "Jungle Book" and "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi"

Movies
• Republic Pictures formed
• Chaplin stars in "Modern Times".

Animated feature Films
• “Les Adventure di Pinocchio” ("The Adventures of Pinocchio"), Raul Verdini /Cartoni Animati Italiani Roma. (Italy)
• "The Argonauts", Vladimir Mudgiri. (Soviet Union)

Notable Cartoons
United States
• “Felix the Cat and the Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs”, Burt Gillett /Van Beuren. first Felix the Cat series (1936)
• “Down the Gasoline Trail”, Jam Handy. Early animation produced by the Jam Handy firm. The firm specializes in commercial and educational films. Most of their production is live action.
• “The Old Mill Pond", Hugh Harman /Harman-Ising.
• “Thru the Mirror", David Hand /Disney.
• “Shanghaied Shipmates", Jack King /Schlesinger.
• “I Love to Singa", Fred Avery /Schlesinger.
• “The Country Cousin", David Hand /Disney. Academy Award: Best Short Subjects, Cartoons
• “Turkey Dinner", Walter Lantz /Lantz. first Meany, Miny, and Moe series (1936-1937)
• “Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor", Dave Fleischer /Fleischer.
• “Snow White” short with Betty Boop Fleischer

Europe
• “The Birth of the Robot”, Len Lye /Shell-Mex Films. (Great Britain) (puppet animation)
• “Carmen”, Anson Dyer /Anglia. (Great Britain)
• “Graf Habenichts”, Kurt Stordel. (Germany)
• “Hra bnbunek” ("The Play of Bubbles") 0, Karel Dodal and Hermina Tyrlova. (Czechoslovakia) (puppet animation)

Africa
• “Mafish faida” ("Nothing to Do"), Hershel Frenkel, Salomon Frenkel, and David Frenkel. (Egypt) first Mish-Mish series (1936-1947)

Asia
• “Chinkoro Heihei Tamatebako” ("Chinkoro's Precious Box"), Noburo Ofuji /Chiyogami Eigasha.
• “Izakaya no Ichiya” ("A Night At the Pub"), Yasuji Murata /Yokohama Cinema Kyokai.

Academy Award
• Disney's "The Country Cousin"



1937
World News
• The Hindenburg dirigible explodes while attempting to moore in Lakehurst, N.J.
• Amelia Earhart lost at sea on round-world trip.
• Adolf Hitler holds the Nuremburg rally in Germany.
• Japanese sink U.S. ships.

Inventions
• Nylon is patented.
• The canned "mystery meat" is named: "Spam".

Animation News
• Fleischer artists go on the first cartoonists’ strike. 5 months later the first union contract in animation was signed
• Concerned about the cost of their films, MGM decides to form their own cartoon studio
• MGM stops distributing Harman-Ising cartoons.
• MGM offers Friz Freleng a job directing "The Captain and the Kids" at double his salary at Warner Bros.
• MGM offers jobs to several Terrytoon animators and story artists. Many of them leave, including Joe Barbera.
• After the mass exodus from Terrytoons, animators, Connie Rasinski and Eddie Donnelly, who stayed are promoted to directors
• Iwerks moves his studio from Beverly Hills to SantaMonica Blvd. and contracts with Charles Mintz to do a series of cartoons for Columbia.
• The studio owned by Mingshin destroyed by the Japanese invasion of China.

Comics
• Dectective Comics # 1 debuts featuring "Dr. Occult" created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
• The first western comic, "Western Picture Stories", is released.
• Burne Hogarth replaces Harold Foster as cartoonist for "Tarzan".
• Harold Foster leaves the "Tarzan" comic strip to create his own strip "Prince Valiant" for King Features.
• Charles Addams' "Addams Family" gag cartoons debut in the pages of The New Yorker Magazine.
• Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel) publishes his first children's book "To Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street".
• "The Shadow" live action series of movie seriels debuts starring Rod La Rocque (The Shadow). later Shadows in the series would be played by Kane Richman, and Victor Jory.
• "Fu Manchu" appears on the cover of Detective Comics # 1.

Birthdays
• Don Bluth, animator is born (1937 - )
• Lorenzo Music (voice actor, "Garfield", writer) born in Brooklyn, New York.

Deaths
• Amadee Van Beuren, 57 years old, studio owner of a heart attack (1879 - 1937)
• Sex goddess, Jean Harlow dies at age 26

Movies
• Marx Bros. star in "A Day At The Races"
• "Lost Horizon" by Frank Capra

Animated Feature Films
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” a Walt Disney production
• “Le Roman de Renard” ("The Story of the Fox"), Ladislaw Starevitch /Starevitch. (France)
(puppet animation) This film was made during 1929-1930. Its initial distribution was in Germany. It was not distributed in France until 1941.
• “Die sieben Raben” ("The Seven Ravens"), Ferdinand and Hermann Diehl. (Germany)
(puppet animation)

Notable Cartoons
United States
• “Egghead Rides Again”, Tex Avery /Schlesinger. first appearance of Egghead, the character was later turned into Elmer Fudd
• “Pluto's Quin Puplets”, Ben Sharpsteen /Disney. first Pluto series (1937-1951)
• “The Villain Still Pursued Her”, Connie Rasinski /Terrytoons. first Oil Can Harry series (1937)
• “Educated Fish”, Dave Fleischer /Fleischer.
• “The Old Mill”, Wilfred Jackson /Disney. contains the first use of Disney's multiplane camera
Academy Award: Best Short Subjects, Cartoons
• “The Little Match Girl” nominated for an Oscar, Mintz.
• “Popeye Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves”, Dave Fleischer /Fleischer.
(drawn animation)
• “Donald's Ostrich”, Jack King /Disney. first Donald Duck series (1937-1961)
• “A Coach for Cinderella”, Jam Handy.
• “The Worm Turns”, Ben Sharpsteen /Disney.
• “Picador Porky”, Tex Avery /Schlesinger. first appearance of Mel Blanc as a voice artist at Schlesinger
• “Porky's Duck Hunt”, Tex Avery /Schlesinger. first appearance of Daffy Duck

Central America
• “Napoléon, el faraón de los sinsabores”, Ñico Luhrsen and Lucio Carranza. (Cuba)

South America
• “Julian Centella” series, Juan Oliva. (Argentina) distributed as part of the Sucesos Argentinos ("Events in Argentina") newsreel

Europe
• “Trade Tattoo”, Len Lye /General Post Office Film Unit. (Great Britain)
• “Money A Pickle”, Norman McLaren /General Post Office. (Great Britain)

Academy Award
• Disney’s “The Old Mill” 1st use of Disney's Multiplane camera



1938
World News
• U.S. census shows nearly 8 million people are jobless
• Hitler invades and takes over Austria
• English Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain meets with Adolf Hitler. They sign an agreement that all differences will be
settled by consultation rather than war.
• Actor, Orson Welles terrifies the nation with his realistic radio show broadcast of "War Of The Worlds"
• Kate Smith sings, "God Bless America" for the first time (originally written in 1918 by Irving Berlin)

Inventions
• Russian born inventor Vladimir Kosma Zwoykin patents 2 revolutionary devices that lead to modern television. One, theKinescope (also known as the Cathode-Ray Reciever) is still in use today in T.V. and computer monitors. The 2nd was theIconoscope, a Cathode-Ray Transmitter, which was used in all T.V. cameras up until 1988.
• Chester Carlson demonstrates what he calls "Xerography" which lead to the modern day photocopier.

Animation News
• Max Fleischer announces he is moving his studio from New York to Miami to do “Gulliver’s Travels”
• Fleischer hires Disney animators, Grim Natwick, Shamus Culhane, and Al Eugster to work on Gulliver.
• Cartoonist Milt Gross is hired by MGM and produces 2 cartoons. Fred Quimby is shocked by the finished product and firesGross.
• Terrytoons bow to commercial pressure and start to produce their films in color for the first time.
• Harman-Ising Pictures finally closes after sporadic operations for over a year.
• Juan Oliva founds Compana Argentina de Dibujos Animados. (Argentina)
• Hispano Grafic Films established in Barcelona. (Spain)

Comics
• The first in a series of live action "Blondie" movies debuts starring Penny Singleton (Blondie) and Arthur Lake (Dagwood).
• In Italy Benito Mussolini bans publication of American comic strips in his country, with the exception of "Micky Mouse".
• "The Shadow" makes his comic strip debut drawn by Vernon Greene.
• Leo O' Melia's "Fu Manchu" strip is reprinted in Detective Comics starting with issue # 18, the issue bears a "Fu Manchu" cover by Creig Flessel.
• Alfred Andriola's "Charlie Chan" strip debuts.
• Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster introduce "SuperMan" in Action Comics # 1
• Fran Striker's "Lone Ranger" becomes a comic illustrated by Charles Flanders and written by Ed Kressey.

Birthdays
• Ralph Bakshi, animator is born (1938 - )
• Bruno Bozzetto, animator is born (1938 - )
• Comic book character "Superman" 1st published

Deaths
• Emile Cohl dies. He has been living in poverty in a flat without electricity, and dies of burns received when a candle ignited his beard. He was on his way to the French premier of Disney’s Snow White.
• Constantine Stanislavski, Russian actor and theatre director, developer of "Method Acting", dies at age 75

Movies
• Miami's 1st Drive-In movie theater opens. The Drive-In craze would reach it's peak in 1963 when 3502 theaters were in operation across the U.S.
• Erroll Flynn in "Robin Hood"
• Spencer Tracy in "Boy's Town"
• Bogart & Cagney in "Angels With Dirty Faces"

Television
• “Willie the Worm", Chad Grothkopf /National Broadcasting Cormpany. cartoon created for experimental television broadcasts

Notable Cartoons
United States
• “Cleaning House” Robert Allen /MGM. first Captain and the Kids series from MGM (1938-1939)
• “Gandy the Goose”, John Foster /Terrytoons. first Gandy Goose series (1938-1955)
• “Porky's Hare Hunt”, Ben Hardaway /Schlesinger. first appearance of Bugs Bunny (unnamed in this appearance, developed later by other Schlesinger personnel who wanted to use Bug's (Hardaway) bunny)
• “Hunky and Spunky”, Dave Fleischer /Fleischer. first appearance of Hunky and Spunky
• “Cheese Nappers”, Alex Lovy /Lantz. first Baby Face Mouse series
• “Good Scouts”, Jack King /Disney.
• “Pete Rolem and His Cousin”, Joseph Losey /Loucks & Norling. (puppet animation)
• “Porky in Wackyland”, Bob Clampett /Schlesinger.
• “A Feud There Was”, Tex Avery /Schlesinger. first appearance of Elmer Fudd
• “The Brave Little Tailor”, Burt Gillett /Disney.
• “Ferdinand the Bull”, Dick Rickard /Disney. first Walt Disney Special series (1938 to present)
Academy Award: Best Short Subjects, Cartoons
• “The Night Watchman”, Charles M. Jones /Schlesinger. first Sniffles series (1938-1945)
• “Mother Goose Goes Hollywood”, Wilfred Jackson /Disney.
• Popeye cartoon “With the Jeep” intorduces Eugene the Jeep. The character gave it’s name to the army’s new General Purpose Vehicle - G.P. or Jeep

South America
• “El Mono relojero” (The Monkey Watchmaker), Quirino Cristiani /Cristiani. (Argentina)
• “Aventuras de Virgolino” ("The Adventures of Virgolino"), Luiz Sa. (Brazil) first Virgolino series (1938-1939)
• “Desplumando avestruces” ("Plucking Ostriches"), Juan Oliva /Compana Argentina. (Argentina)

Europe
• “Barbe-Bleue” ("Bluebeard"), Jean Painlevé and René Bertrand. (France) (clay animation)
• “Music Man”, John Halas and Joy Batchelor /British Animated. (Great Britain)
• “Kot v sapogakh ("Cat in Boots", "Puss 'n Boots"), Valentina and Zinaida Brumberg /Soyuzmultfilm. (Soviet Union)
• “Love on the Wing”, Norman Mclaren /GPO Film. (Great Britain)
• “Malen'kii muk”, Olga Khodataeva /Soyuzmultfilm. (Soviet Union)
• “Philips Broadcast of 1938 ("The Big Broadcast"), George Pal /Pal. (Netherlands) (puppet animation)
• “The Race of the Rabbit and the Hedgehog", Ferdinand and Hermann Diehl. (Germany) (puppet animation)
• “South Sea Sweethearts”, George Pal /Pal. (Netherlands) (puppet animation)
• “Tri musketera” ("The Three Musketeers"), Ivan Ivanov-Vano /Soyuzmultfilm. (Soviet Union)
• “Zurnal politsatiry N.1” ("Journal for Political Satire No. 1"), Ivan Ivanov-Vano and Alexander Ivanov /Soyuzmultfilm.

Africa
• “Aziza and Youness in El Sheik Barakat's Book", Antoine Selim Ibrahim. (Egypt)

Academy Award
• Disney's "Ferdinand the Bull"



1939
World News
• The atom is split for the first time, releasing 200 million volts
• Hitler invades Czecholslovakia
• Russia and Germany sign a non-agression treaty
• Germany invades Poland and devides country with Russia
• Britian and France declare war on Germany

Inventions
• Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard design the Audio Oscillator An audio oscillator is an instrument that generates one pure tone or frequency at a time. Through the years, HP oscillators were used to design, produce and maintain telephones, stereos, radios and other audio equipment.

Animation News
• Frank Tashlin is hired by Walt Disney. He spends two fruitless years and left so angry he wrote a children’s book “The Bear that Wasn’t” about his experiences.
• Friz Freleng is hired back to Warner Bros.
• Fleischers produce the last Betty Boop cartoon.
• Charles Mintz is relieved of his studio duties due to poor health and Columbia takes over the studio.
• NBC begins broadcasting commercial television
• Joop Geesink and Marten Toonder found the Geesink-Toonder Studios. Geesink and most of the staff came from the George Pal studio. (Netherlands)

Comics
• Wonder Comics # 1 sparks the comic industry's first copywright lawsuit. The lawsuit succefully stopped publication on the WIll Eisner created "Superman" clone, "Wonder Man".
• Bob Kane and Bill Finger introduce "Batman" in Detective Comics # 27.
• Publisher Martin Goodman introduces Marvel Comics # 1 featuring the first appearances of "The Sub-Mariner" by Bill Everett and "The Human Torch" by Carl Burgos, as well as the the first comic book appearance by Timely's old pulp character Ka-zar The Savege."
• "The Orininal Sandman" makes his comic book debut in New York Worlds Fair Comics # 1.
• "Sub-Mariner" by Bill Everett is Craeted for a promotional comic Motion Picture Comics. The book is never distributed.
• Young cartoonists Siegel and Schuster sell their character “Superman” to D.C. comics for $130.00
• Superman #1 becomes the first comic book dedicated to a single character.

Birthdays
• Jean-Francois Laguionie, French animator is born (The Girl and the Cellist 1965 won the Annecy Grad Prix)
• Shingo Araki (Araki Shingo) (animator, character designer, layout artist, storyboard artist) born in Aichi.

Deaths
• George Melies, the father of motion picture special effects, dies selling chocolates in a Paris railroad station.
• Sigmund Freud dies at age 83


Movies
• John Wayne in "Stagecoach"
• "Wizard Of Oz"
• "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington"
• "Gone With The Wind"

Literature
• John Steinbeck writes, "The Grapes Of Wrath"

Animated Feature films
• “Gulliver's Travels (f), Dave Fleischer /Fleischer.
• “Skazka o glupom myshonke” ("The Silly Little Mouse"), Mikhail Tsekhanovsky /Lenfilm. (Soviet Union)
• “Solotoj, Klujutschik” ("The Little Gold Key"), Alexander Ptushko /Soyuzmultifilm. (Soviet Union) (puppet animation, live action)

Notable Cartoons
United States
• “Jitterbug Follies”, Milt Gross /MGM. first of two Count Screwloose cartoons
• “Goofy and Wilbur”, Dick Huemer /Disney. first Goofy series (1939-1965)
• “The Ugly Duckling”, Jack Cutting /Disney. Academy Award: Best Short Subjects, Cartoons
• “Popeye the Sailor Meets Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp”, Dave Fleischer /Fleischer.
• “The Bear That Couldn't Sleep”, Rudolph Ising /MGM. first Barney Bear series (1939-1954)
• “The Pointer”, Clyde Geronimi /Disney.
• “Stubborn Mule”, Burt Gillett /Lantz. first Li'l Eightball series (1939)
• “Detouring America”, Tex Avery /Schlesinger.
• “Life Begins for Andy Panda”, Alex Lovy /Lantz. first Andy Panda series (1939-1949).
• “Charm Bracelet”, Harry Love and Allen Rose /Screen Gems. first Phantasy Cartoon series (1939-1948)
• “The Little Lost Sheep”, Allen Rose, Harry Love and Louie Lilly /Screen Gems. first Fables series (1939-1942)
• “The Orphan Duck”, Connie Rasinski /Terrytoons. first Dinky Duck series (1939-1957)
• “Peace on Earth”, Hugh Harman /MGM.

Europe
• “Spook Sport”, Mary Ellen Bute and Norman McLaren.
• “Don Juan y Dona Ines”, Martinez Romano and Menda. (Spain)
• “The H.P.O.”, Lotte Reiniger /GPO Film Unit. (Great Britain) (silhouette animation)
• “The Obedient Flame”, Norman McLaren /Science Films. (drawn animation, some live action)
• “Paper People Land”, Cyril Jenkins /Jenkins. (Great Britain) (cutout animation)
• “Die Stadtmaus und die Feldmaus” ("The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse"), Ferdinand Diehl, Hermann Diehl, and Paul Diehl. (Germany) (puppet animation)
• “Swinging the Lambeth Walk”, Len Lye /Realist Films. (Great Britain) (direct-on-film animation)
• “Tanz der Farben” ("Dance of the Colors"), Hans Fischinger. (Germany)

Asia
• “Benkei tai Ushiwaka” ("Benkei versus Ushiwaka"), Kenzo Masaoka /Nihon Doga Kenkyujo.
• “Kachikachi Yama” ("The Hare Gets Revenge Over the Raccoon"), Kon Ichikawa /Jo.

Academy Award
• Disney’s “The Ugly Duckling” (the last Silly Symphony)



1940
World News
• Germany invades Scandinavia
• Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Britian
• Germans launch "Blitzkreig" and take over Belgium and Holland
• Allied troops are evacuated from Dunkirk as Germans advance
• German Troops parade through Paris
• German planes fly over London
• British planes counter attack in Berlin
• U.S. draft begins
• Germans bomb the Vatican, missing St. Paul's Cathedral - the Great Dome
• First "Jeep" is released
• Prehistoric art is found near Montignac in Dordogne, France - the "Grotte de Lascaux"

Movie News
• Orson Welles begins filming "Citizen Kane". In 1998 it ranked #1 on the "Top 100 Greatest Movies" list.

Animation News
• Will Eisner’s “The Spirit” comic book premiers
• Ub Iwerks closes his animation studio for good and moves back to Disney to devote himself to technical experimentation (earning 2 Academy Awards for his efforts).
• I. Klein, Disney storyman moves to Terrytoons. (see 1942)
• Fleischers produce a short lived series of "Stone Age Cartoons" which predates the Flintstones by 20 years.
• Fleischers begin production on their second feature film "Mr. Bug Goes To Town"
• John Halas and Joy Batchelor found the Halas & Batchelor Animation Studio. (Great Britain)
• “Alejandro Fernandez de la Reguera founds Dibsono Films. (Spain)
• Bill Larkins founds the Larkins studio. (Great Britain)

Comics
• "Lex Luthor" debuts as "Superman's" greatest foe in Action Comics # 23.
• Dale Messicks's "Brenda Starr" comic strip debuts in The Chicago Tribune.
• Joe Simon and Jack Kirby work together for the first time in Blue Bolt # 2.
• Walt Disney's Comics and Stories # 1 debuts.
• Planet Comics # 1 becomes the first comic to deal specifically with Science Fiction.
• "The Spectre" By Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily debuts in More Fun Comics #52
• "The Justice Society Of America" is introduced in All-Star Comics # 3.
• Buster Crabb stars in a "Buck Rogers" live action movie seriel.
• Martha Orr's "Apple Mary" comic strip is renamed "Mary Worth" by new creative team Allen Saunders & Dale Conners.
• Will Eisner's "Spirit Section" begin distribution in Newspapers around The Country.
• Batman # 1 introduces "The Joker" (created by Jerry Robinson) and "Catwoman".
• "Batman's" sidekick "Robin" debuts in Detective Comics # 38.
• Flash Comics # 1 introduces Gardener Fox's "Flash", "Hawkman", and "Johnny Thunder".
• Fawcett Publication's "Captian Marvel" (Created by C.C. Beck and William Parker) is introduced in Whiz Comics # 2.
• Martin Nodell and Bill Finger introduce "The Original Green Lantern" in All-American Comics # 16.

Deaths
• Charles Mintz, studio owner. 44 years old (1896 - 1940)
• Philip Nowlan, creator of "Buck Rogers" comic strip dies at age 52
• Earl Hurd (inventor, animator, director, writer) dies in Los Angeles, California.
• F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of "The Great Gatsby" dies

• Artist, Paul Klee dies at age 61

Birthdays
• Terry Gilliam, animator Monty Python is born (1940 - )
• René Auberjonois (René Murat Auberjonois) (voice actor) born in New York, New York.
• Ippei Kuri (Kuri Ippei, Toyoharu Yoshida, Yoshida Toyoharu) (producer, director) born in Tokyo.
• Gisaburo Sugii (Sugii Gisaburo) (director, animator, writer) born.
• Paul Driessen (director, animator) born in Nijmegen. (Netherlands)
• Co Hoedeman (director, animator) born. (Netherlands)

Movies
• Henry Fonda stars in "The Grapes of Wrath"
• Charles Chaplin in, "The Great Dictator"
• Tyrone Power in "The Mark Of Zorro"

Animation Movies
“Pinocchio” a Walt Disney production
“Fantasia” a Walt Disney production

Notable Cartoons
United States
• “Puss Gets the Boot", William Hanna and Joseph Barbera /MGM. first appearance of the characters who shortly became Tom and Jerry (1940-1967 from MGM)
• “The Milky Way", Rudolph Ising /MGM. Academy Award: Best Short Subjects, Cartoons
• “A Wild Hare", Tex Avery /Schlesinger. first named Bugs Bunny series (1940-1964)
• “The Dandy Lion", Dave Fleisher /Fleisher. first Animated Antics series (1940-1941)
• “King for a Day", Dave Fleischer /Fleischer. first Gabby series (1940-1941)
• “Prehistoric Porky", Robert Clampett /Schlesinger.
• “Knock, Knock", Walter Lantz /Lantz. first Andy Panda series; first appearance of Woody Woodpecker
• “A Busy Day", Ub Ibwerks /Cartoons Films Limited. first Gran' Pop Monkey series (1940)

Europe
• “Tarantella", Mary Ellen Bute.
• “Run Adolf Run", Joe Noble /Pathe.
• “Adolf's Busy Day", Lance White /Lance White Productions. (Great Britain)
• “Musical Poster No.1", Len Lye /Crown Film Unit. (Great Britain) (direct-on-film animation)
• “El diablo oportuno", Salvador Mestres /Hispano Grafic Films. (Spain)
• “La isla magica", Salvador Mestres /Hispano Grafic Films. (Spain) first Juanito Milhombres series
• “SOS Doctor Marabu", Eric Diban Ferran /Dibsono. (Spain)
• “Der Strenfried" ("The Troublemaker"), Hans Held. (Germany)
• “Train Trouble", John Halas and Joy Batchelor /Halas & Batchelor. (Great Britain)
• “The Washing On the Siegfried Line", Kimberley. (Great Britain) first Follow Me Sing-Song Series

Asia
• “Karita Boushi" ("Borrowed Hat"), Kenzo Masaoka.
• “Kintaro Taiiku Nikki" ("Kintaro's Physical Education Diary"), Hiromasa Suzuki /Hiromasa Manga Eiga.

South America
• “La caza del puma" ("Hunting the Puma"), Juan Oliva /Compana Argentina. (Argentina)
• Compana Argentina goes out of business. (Argentina)

Africa
• “Dokdok", Antoine Selim Ibrahim. (Egypt)

Australia
• “Bertie the Airplane", Eric Porter /Porter. (Australia)


Academy Award
• MGM's "Milky Way" wins the Academy Award, breaking Disney's 8 year monopoly.
• "Gone With The Wind" nearly sweeps the live action Oscars.





1941 - 1950

Timeline Index

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