Screen Songs

Screen Songs is the name of a series of animated cartoons produced by the Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures between 1929 and 1938. They were revived by Famous Studios in 1945 starting with the Noveltoon Old MacDonald Had a Farm.

History[]

The Screen Songs are a continuation of the earlier Fleischer series Song Car-Tunes. They are sing-along shorts featuring the famous "bouncing ball", a sort of precursor to modern karaoke videos. They often featured popular melodies of the day. The early Song Car-Tunes were among the earliest sound films, produced two years before The Jazz Singer. They were largely unknown at the time because their release was limited to the chain of 36 theaters operated by The Red Seal Pictures Company, which was equipped with the early Lee DeForest Phonofilm sound reproduction equipment. The Red Seal theater chain—formed by the Fleischers, DeForest, Edwin Miles Fadiman, and Hugo Riesenfeld -- went from the East Coast to Columbus, Ohio.

Between May 1924 and September 1926, the Fleischers released 36 Song Car-Tunes series, with 19 using the Phonofilm sound-on-film process. The films included Oh Mabel, Come Take a Trip in My Airship, Darling Nelly Gray, Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?, and By the Light of the Silvery Moon. Beginning with My Old Kentucky Home (1926), the cartoons featured the "follow the bouncing ball" gimmick, that lead the audience singing along with the film. The other 17 films in the Song Car-Tunes series were silent, designed to be shown with live music in movie theaters.

The Fleischers were ahead of the sound revolution, and just missed the actual change when Red Seal Pictures filed for bankruptcy in the fall of 1926.

Releases after Red Seal Pictures[]

The Internet Movie Database lists these Fleischer animation films as being released by Weiss Brothers-Artclass Pictures in 1926 and 1927.^[1] This suggests the Fleischers turned to Weiss Brothers to release these films -- some sound, some silent -- from the Song Car-Tunes series after the Fleischers ended their Red Seal Pictures partnership with DeForest. In 1928, a few of the silent Song Car-Tunes may have been rereleased with sound by Weiss Brothers.

For Me and My Gal (1926)
I Love to Fall Asleep (1926)
In My Harem (1926)
Just Try to Picture Me (1926)
My Sweetie (1926)
Old Pal (1926)
Alexander's Ragtime Band (1926)
The Sheik of Araby (1926)
Annie Laurie (1926)
Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning (1926)
When I Lost You (1926)
Margie (1926)
When the Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves for Alabam (1926)
Oh What a Pal Was Mary (1926)
Everybody's Doing It (1926)
Yak-A-Hula-Hick-A-Doola (1926)
My Wife's Gone to the Country (1926)
Beautiful Eyes (1926)
Finiculee Finicula (1926)
Micky (1926)
When the Angelus Was Ringing (1926)
When I Leave This World Behind (1926)
Tumbledown Shack in Athlone (1927)
The Rocky Road to Dublin (1927)
Call Me Up Some Rainy Afternoon (1927)
Oh I Wish I Was in Michigan (1927)

New contract with Paramount Pictures[]

The Fleischers signed a new contract with Paramount Pictures in late 1928. Beginning in February 1929, the song cartoons returned under a new name, Screen Songs, using the Western Electric sound-on-film process. The first was The Sidewalks of New York (East Side, West Side) released on 5 February 1929. In the 1930s, the shorts began to feature such musical guest stars as Lillian Roth, Ethel Merman, Cab Calloway, Rudy Vallee, the Mills Brothers, the Boswell Sisters, and others. The series, which eventually focused on many of the "big bands" of "The Swing Era" continued until 1938.

In 1945, Famous Studios, successors to the Fleischers, revived the Screen Songs as an all animated series in color. The earliest color Screen Song part of the Noveltoon series, "When G.I. Johnnie Come Home Again." was released on February 2, 1945.

Legal Status[]

All Fleischer and Famous Screen Songs released prior to October 1950 were sold to U.M.&M. T.V. Corp. in 1956 for television syndication. These shorts have changed hands in the decades since due to a series of corporate acquisitions involving what would eventually become the revived Republic Pictures, and the 2006 corporate split of Viacom (which became the parent of Paramount Pictures in 1994, and later acquired Republic in 1999) into two separate companies. Today the theatrical rights to the Screen Songs are once again owned by Paramount (via Republic), home video rights are owned by Republic licensee Lions Gate Home Entertainment. However, the majority of the "Screen Songs" are in the public domain, and are available on various discount public domain cartoon videos and DVDs. The Screen Songs released between October 1950 and the final release in 1951 were sold to Harvey Comics, and are now owned by Classic Media.

The only exception to the above was Let's Sing with Popeye. This particular film was purchased by Official Films in the 1950s and re-released to the home movie market. While this cartoon stars the character Popeye it is unknown if it was included in the sale of the Popeye cartoons to Associated Artists Productions. It is possible that a.a.p. was supposed to receive this film, but never did, or that they did not do anything with the film at all, since it re-used animation from the original Popeye the Sailor short released 14 July 1933. Whatever the case may be, it fell into the public domain as would be expected when its ownership is unknown. This film was released as a special feature on the first volume of Warner Bros. Popeye DVD series, but it was the same public domain print that has been in circulation. Additionally, it was never given a real general release—rather, it was shown as part of a Saturday morning matinee Popeye club—and searches in the Library of Congress Copyright Catalog turn up no results for the film, suggesting that a copyright was never registered.

Filmography[]

Fleischer and Famous Studios[]

Film	Characters / Musicians	Original release date
The Sidewalks of New York (East Side, West Side)		February 5, 1929
Yankee Doodle Boy		March 1, 1929
Old Black Joe		April 5, 1929
Ye Olde Melodies		May 3, 1929
Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built for Two)		May 31, 1929
Mother, Pin a Rose on Me		July 6, 1929
Chinatown, My Chinatown	Chinese	August 2, 1929
Dixie		August 17, 1929
Goodbye My Lady Love		August 31, 1929
My Pony Boy		September 13, 1929
Smiles	Male Vocal Quartet	September 27, 1929
Oh You Beautiful Doll	Tommy Cat	October 14, 1929
After the Ball	Charles K. Harris	November 8, 1929
Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet	Animal Quartet	November 22, 1929
I've Got Rings on My Fingers	Irish Traffic Cop	December 17, 1929
Bedelia	Bimbo	January 3, 1930
In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree	Bears	January 18, 1930
I'm Afraid to Come Home in the Dark	Bimbo	February 1, 1930
The Prisoner's Song	Prisoners	March 1, 1930
I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles	Mice	March 15, 1930
La Paloma	Dog	April 12, 1930
Yes, We Have No Bananas		April 26, 1930
Come Take a Trip in My Airship	Kitty	April 26, 1930
In the Good Old Summertime	Cats	June 6, 1930
A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight	Drunken Mice	August 1, 1930
The Glow Worm		August 23, 1930
The Stein Song	Hot Dog Vendor	September 6, 1930
Strike Up the Band (Here Comes a Sailor)		September 27, 1930
My Gal Sal	Chubby Dog	October 18, 1930
Mariutch	Bimbo	November 15, 1930
On a Sunday Afternoon	Dog Woman	November 29, 1930
Row, Row, Row	Bad Dog	December 20, 1930
Please Go 'Way and Let Me Sleep	Sheriff	January 10, 1931
By the Beautiful Sea	Mouse	January 24, 1931
I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now	White Boy Cat	February 14, 1931
I'd Climb the Highest Mountain	Boy Dog	March 7, 1931
Somebody Stole My Gal	Boy Dog	March 20, 1931
Any Little Girl That's a Nice Little Girl	Tommy Cat and Betty Boop prototype	April 18, 1931
Alexander's Ragtime Band	Dog	May 9, 1931
And the Green Grass Grew All Around	Boy Fly 1931	May 30
My Wife's Gone to the Country	Bimbo and (briefly) Betty Boop	May 31, 1931
That Old Gang of Mine	Lady Alley Cat	July 11, 1931
Betty Co-ed	Rudy Vallee and Betty Boop prototype	August 1, 1931
Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean	Gallagher and Shean	August 29, 1931
You're Driving Me Crazy	Jungle Animals	September 19, 1931
Little Annie Rooney		October 10, 1931
Kitty from Kansas City	Rudy Vallee and Betty Boop	October 31
By the Light of the Silvery Moon	Eddie Cantor	November 14, 1931
My Baby Just Cares for Me	Eddie Cantor	December 5, 1931
Russian Lullaby	Arthur Tracy	December 26, 1931
Sweet Jennie Lee	Jean Harlow	January 9, 1932
Show Me the Way to Go Home	Eddie Cantor	January 30, 1932
When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob-Bob-Bobbin' Along	Joan Crawford	February 19, 1932
Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie	The Round Towners Quartet, Betty Boop	March 4, 1932
Just One More Chance	Betty Boop	April 1, 1932
Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning	Les Reis and Artie Dunn, Betty Boop	April 22, 1932
Shine On Harvest Moon	Alice Joy	May 6, 1932
Let Me Call You Sweetheart	Ethel Merman and Betty Boop	May 20, 1932
I Ain't Got Nobody	The Mills Brothers	June 17, 1932
You Try Somebody Else	Ethel Merman and Betty Boop	July 29, 1932
Rudy Vallee Melodies	Rudy Vallee and Betty Boop	August 5, 1932
Down Among the Sugar Cane	Lillian Roth	August 26, 1932
Just a Gigolo	Irene Bordoni and Betty Boop	September 9, 1932
School Days	Gus Edwards	September 30, 1932
Romantic Melodies	Arthur Tracy and Betty Boop	October 21, 1932
When It's Sleepy Time Down South	The Boswell Sisters	November 11, 1932
Sing a Song	James Melton	December 2, 1932
Time on My Hands	Ethel Merman and Betty Boop	December 23, 1932
Dinah	Mills Brothers	January 13, 1933
Ain't She Sweet?	Lillian Roth	February 3, 1933
Reaching for the Moon	Arthur Tracy	February 23, 1933
Aloha Oe	Royal Samoans	March 17, 1933
Popular Melodies	Arthur Jarrett and Betty Boop	April 7, 1933
The Peanut Vendor	Armida	April 28, 1933
Song Shopping	Ethel Merman and Johnny Green	May 19
Boilesk	The Watson Sisters	June 9, 1933
Sing, Sisters, Sing	Three X Sisters	June 3, 1933
Down by the Old Mill Stream	The Eton Boys	July 21, 1933
Stoopnocracy	Stoopnagle and Budd	August 18, 1933
When Yuba Plays the Rumba on the Tuba	The Mills Brothers	September 15, 1933
Boo Boo Theme Song	Funnyboners	October 13, 1933
I Like Mountain Music	The Eton Boys	November 10, 1933
Sing, Babies, Sing	Baby Rose Marie	December 15, 1933
Keeps Rainin' All The Time	Gertrude Niesen	January 12, 1934
Let's All Sing Like the Birdies Sing	Les Reis and Artie Dunn	February 9, 1934
Tune Up and Sing	Lanny Ross	March 9, 1934
Lazy Bones	Borrah Minnevitch and His Harmonica Rascals	April 13, 1934
This Little Piggie Went to Market	Singin' Sam	May 25, 1934
She Reminds Me of You	The Eton Boys	June 22, 1934
Love Thy Neighbor	Mary Small	July 20, 1934
Let's Sing with Popeye	Popeye (Billy Costello)	Produced for Saturday morning matinee "Popeye Club" Later re-released by Official Films in the 1950s
I Wished on the Moon	Abe Lyman and his Orchestra	September 20, 1935
It's Easy to Remember	Richard Himber and his Orchestra	November 29, 1935
No Other One	Hal Kemp and His Orchestra / Skinnay Ennis	January 24, 1936
I Feel Like a Feather in the Breeze	Jack Denny and his Orchestra	March 27, 1936
I Don't Want to Make History	Vincent Lopez and his Orchestra	May 22, 1936
The Hills of Wyomin	The Westerners / Curt Massey	July 31, 1936
I Can't Escape From You	Billie Bailey / Joe Reichman and His Orchestra	September 25, 1936
Talking Through My Heart	Dick Stabile and his Orchestra	November 27, 1936
Never Should Have Told You	Nat Brandwynne and His Orchestra	January 29, 1937
Twilight on the Trail	The Westerners / Louise Massey	March 26, 1937
Please Keep Me in Your Dreams	Barbara Blake / Henry King and his Orchestra	May 28, 1937
You Came to My Rescue	Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra	July 30, 1937
Whispers in the Dark	June Robbins / Gus Arnheim and his Orchestra	September 24, 1937
Magic on Broadway	Jay Freeman	November 26, 1937
You Took the Words Right Out of My Heart		January 28, 1938
Thanks for the Memory		March 25, 1938
You Leave Me Breathless		May 27, 1938
Beside a Moonlit Stream	Eddie Cantor	July 29, 1938
The Circus Comes to Clown	Circus	December 26, 1947
Base Brawl	Tommy Tortoise	January 23, 1948
Little Brown Jug	Animals	February 20, 1948
The Golden State		March 12, 1948
Winter Draws On	Buzzy	March 19, 1948
Sing or Swim	Animals	June 16, 1948
Camp Town Races	Farm Animals	July 30, 1948
The Lone Star State	Cowboys	August 20, 1948
Readin', Ritin' and Rhythematic		October 22, 1948
The Funshine State		January 7, 1949
The Emerald Isle	Lephechauns	February 25, 1949
Comin' Round the Mountain	Hillbilly Cats	March 11, 1949
The Stork Market	Storks	April 8, 1949
Spring Song	Flowers	June 3, 1949
The Ski's the Limit		June 24, 1949
Toys Will Be Toys	Toys	July 15, 1949
Farm Foolery	Farm Animals	August 5, 1949
Our Funny Finny Friends	Fish	August 26, 1949
Marriage Wows	Bertha	September 16, 1949
The Big Flame-Up	Tim Turtle	September 30, 1949
Strolling Thru the Park		November 4, 1949
The Big Drip	Buzzy the Crow	November 25, 1949
Snow Foolin'	Animals	December 16, 1949
Blue Hawaii	Hawaiians	January 13, 1950
Detouring Thru Maine		February 17, 1950
Short'nin' Bread	Bakery	March 24, 1950
Win, Place and Showboat	Elephant	April 28, 1950
Jingle Jangle Jungle	Ubangis	May 19, 1950
Heap Hep Injuns	Indians	June 30, 1950
Gobs of Fun	Herman the Mouse	July 28, 1950
Helter Swelter	Animals	August 25, 1950
Boos in the Nite	Ghosts	September 22, 1950
Fiesta Time	Mexicans	October 20, 1950
Fresh Yeggs	Wolfie	November 17, 1950
Tweet Music	Birds	February 9, 1951
Drippy Mississippi		April 13, 1951
Miners Forty Niners	Gold Miners	May 18, 1951
Sing Again of Michigan	Buzzy the Crow	June 29, 1951

References[]

↑ IMDB entry

Leslie Cabarga, The Fleischer Story (Da Capo Press, 1988)
Leonard Maltin, Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons (Penguin Books, 1980, revised edition 1987)