{"id":252926,"date":"2025-05-23T01:11:35","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T01:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/animation\/what-are-your-best-year-in-cartoons\/"},"modified":"2025-05-23T01:11:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T01:11:35","slug":"what-are-your-best-year-in-cartoons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=252926","title":{"rendered":"What Are YOUR \u201cBest Year In Cartoons?\u201d |"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t \t\"\"<\/p>\n

As you\u2019re reading this, I\u2019ll be in Columbus, Ohio at the Columbus Moving Picture Show<\/a> \u2014 Thunderbean has a table here. But I\u2019d come here, table or not. It\u2019s a great little convention with collectors and film enthusiasts. with lots of films all shown in 16mm, and a dealer\u2019s room that serves as a good place for conversations as much as outside the \u2018theatre\u2019 room. There used to be shows all over, but they\u2019re few and far between now\u2014 but happily this one still exists. If you\u2019re in the area over the weekend and love these sorts of events, come on by!<\/p>\n

And \u2014 this week\u2019s topic: What are your best \u201cyears\u201d in cartoons?<\/p>\n

I thought it would be interesting to see what people\u2019s favorite years are in animated films. Knowing the crown here, I\u2019m sure there will be a lot of overlap in terms of people\u2019s favorites. After chatting with our host, Mr.Jerry Beck, I thought it might be fun for both Jerry and I to list some of \u2018Our\u2019 favorite years to kick off the post \u2014 then let you folks take over.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Here are a few of my favorite years, and why:<\/p>\n

1937<\/strong>
After teaching animation history for a bunch of years, I\u2019ve found that 1933 to 1937 hold such an important place in the history of character animation, with The Old Mill<\/em> as a good milemarker, reaching a new type of American animated short. It\u2019s also the year Snow White<\/em> was completed of course. Warner Brothers cartoons started to come into much sharper focus in their humor and direction as well. Porky\u2019s Duck Hunt, Porky\u2019s Garden<\/em> and Porky\u2019s Railroad<\/em> are some of my favorites for interesting direction and great gags. Columbia\u2019s Let\u2019s Go<\/em> also gets a mention here \u2014 it\u2019s such a bridge between the old and new styles about to emerge.<\/p>\n

1951<\/strong>
This year is a favorite of mine because of one film: Rooty Toot Toot<\/em>. It\u2019s an unlikely watershed moment in the history of animated shorts, and I think a nearly perfect film. The reason the year is important is that so much influence comes from this short \u2014 mainly, at first, influencing design at UPA and commercials, then lot in the late 50s in TV and commercial animation. Seeing this film and year as revolutionizing cartoons would be wrong though- influential, not a turn in what cartoons looked like or story work. I think it still remains unique in so many ways.<\/p>\n

Ok\u2014 Jerry \u2014 YOUR turn \u2014 and, make sure to put YOUR<\/em> years in the comments.<\/p>\n

\n

Jerry here<\/u>:<\/strong> Okay Steve \u2013 I\u2019ll take you up on this challenge. <\/p>\n

My problem is that I can find a lot to admire in almost any year between 1928-1958. But if I narrow it down to two\u2026 I think I\u2019d pick\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>1941<\/strong>
What a year. Every studio strikes gold. Look at what came out: The first two Fleischer Superman<\/em> cartoons, the Raggedy Ann and Andy<\/em> two reeler, and the feature length Mr. Bug<\/em>; Over at Disney you got the drunk Mickey\u2019s The Little Whirlwind<\/em> and The Nifty Nineties<\/em>. The Goofy \u201cHow To\u201d films begin with The Art of Skiing<\/em> and The Art of Self Defense<\/em> (not to mention How To Ride A Horse<\/em>); my favorite Disney feature Dumbo<\/em> \u2013 and a personal fave, the entire feature, The Reluctant Dragon<\/em>; At Warners they\u2019ve finally established their trademark humor \u2013 and nail the personality of Bugs Bunny \u2013 in such classics as Wabbit Twouble, Hollywood Steps Out, Rhapsody In Rivets, The Heckling Hare, Tortoise Beats Hare, Joe Glow The Firefly,<\/em> and so many more. At MGM Tom and Jerry gain their footing in The Night Before Christmas<\/em> and The Midnight Snack<\/em>. Barney Bear in the magnificent The Flying Bear<\/em>, Rudy Ising\u2019s Dance Of The Weed<\/em>, Hugh Harman\u2019s The Little Mole<\/em>. Even the low-budget studios come through with some of their best. Tashlin\u2019s at Screen Gems introducing The Fox & the Crow (in The Fox and The Grapes<\/em>), while Scrappy says goodbye in The Little Theater<\/em>; at Lantz, a new series commences with Woody Woodpecker<\/em>; and even Paul Terry\u2019s films hit a new height in production quality. Cartoons like What Happens at Night, Good Old Irish Tunes<\/em>, and The Bird Tower<\/em> have better than Terry average character animation, Mississippi Swing<\/em><\/a> is particularly lively (unfortunate racial stereotypes keep this one from public view). 1941 \u2013 everyone is operating on all cylinders. A great year. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>1957<\/strong>
If I had to pick another outstanding year \u2013 I would go to the other end of the spectrum: 1957. UPA had fully entrenched the look of animation. There was a sophistication to the art \u2013 and it permeated every studio. Let\u2019s start at the bottom: Terrytoons is in the midst of the Gene Deitch takeover with Topsy TV<\/em>, Gaston Le Crayon and Clint Clobber introduced in CinemaScope. And Flebus<\/em>. Paramount\u2019s shorts are particularly handsome: look at the backgrounds (and angular character designs) in Spooking About Africa, Fishing Tackler, Ghost Of Honor, Jolly The Clown, Boo Bop<\/em>. Even Lantz released some outstanding cartoons: The Bongo Punch, The Plumber of Seville, Goofy Gardner<\/em> to name but a few. At Warners you have What\u2019s Opera Doc?, Birds Anonymous, The Three Little Bops<\/em>. Need I say more? I will: Ali Baba Bunny, Boyhood Daze, Greedy For Tweety<\/em> and Show Biz Bugs<\/em> \u2013 classics all. UPA has some great Magoo\u2019s, and MGM\u2019s scope Tom and Jerry\u2019s (and the Mike Lah Droopy\u2019s)\u2026 all-in-all, a very good year for all the studios.<\/p>\n

As Steve asked\u2026 it\u2019s YOUR turn. What was animation\u2019s best \u201cgolden age\u201d year \u2013 in your opinion? <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As you\u2019re reading this, I\u2019ll be in Columbus, Ohio at the Columbus Moving Picture Show \u2014 Thunderbean has a table here. But I\u2019d come here, table or not. It\u2019s a great little convention with collectors and film enthusiasts. with lots of films all shown in 16mm, and a dealer\u2019s room that serves as a good […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":106739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12035],"tags":[26156,629],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-252926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animation","tag-cartoons","tag-year"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Are YOUR \u201cBest Year In Cartoons?\u201d | - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=252926\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Are YOUR \u201cBest Year In Cartoons?\u201d | - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As you\u2019re reading this, I\u2019ll be in Columbus, Ohio at the Columbus Moving Picture Show \u2014 Thunderbean has a table here. 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