European Years
In 1932, George Pal made a stop-motion animated theatrical commercial for cigarettes called Midnight. This was the first of what would become of the Puppetoons series. These shorts soon started to be made for clients such as Philips in the Netherlands and Horlick's malted milk in England. The Puppetoons were unique. Instead of being made using clay or poseable puppets, these films were made using a technique called replacement animation, which is were different carvings of the parts were replaced to create the illusion of movement.
American Years
Around 1940, Pal fled the Nazi draft and came to America to make a series of Puppetoons for Paramount Pictures. The first of these was Dipsy Gypsy in 1941. Some of these shorts kept the wholesome, gentle feel of the European Puppetoons, while others felt more like Looney Tunes in comedy. In fact, Pal even got permission from Warner Brothers to use Bugs Bunny in 1944's Jasper Goes Hunting, voiced by Mel Blanc. This was the first time in film history that a character from another studio was used in a film. Pal had many people employed who would later go on to become giants in stop-motion, including the famed Ray Harryhausen. The Puppetoons became very popular, getting toys and even a series of comic books. George Pal was the first person to adapt Dr. Seuss to cartoons, with 1943's The 500 hats of Bartholomew Cubbins and 1944's And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street. He also guest starred in the 1947 film Variety Girl, where he presented a Puppetoon entitled Romeow and Julicat.
Later Years
The Puppetoons could have gone on, but Pal wanted to move on to making feature films, such as 1950's Destination: Moon and 1958's Tom Thumb. So he produced his last Puppetoon Tubby the Tuba, in 1947. He briefly returned to making advertising films, this time for Mounds candy bars and Shell Oil, before officially closing down the studio in 1948. Unfortunately, some of these cartoons have been lost. It is unknown why, but perhaps it is because of the character Jasper. Jasper was a little black boy who starred in more than half of the Paramount Puppetoons. They haven't been shown on television since the 1970s, due to Jasper being an African-American stereotype. Some of the rarer shorts, such as 1938's South Sea Sweethearts and 1946's Together in the Weather, can be seen in The Puppetoon Movie. Other, more common shorts have turned up on cheap Public Domain VHS tapes and DVDs. A handful have been uploaded to sites like YouTube and Dailymotion, but the rest have been lost. Perhaps the rarest short is 1940's Friend in Need. It's existence is unconfirmed, yet it is listed on Wikipedia and apparently used cell animation, rather than stop-motion, according to the "official" Puppetoons website, though the website gets a lot of information wrong and the owner has apparently seen but a few of these.
Filmography
European Era
1932
- Midnight (LOST)
1934
- Radio Valve Revolution (FOUND)
- The Ship of the Ether (FOUND)
1935
- The Magic Atlas (FOUND)
- World's Greatest Show (LOST)
- In Lamp Light Land (LOST)
- Sinbad (LOST)
1936
- Vier Asse (LOST)
- Ether Symphony (FOUND)
- Aladdin and the Magic Lamp (FOUND)
- Ali Baba (FOUND)
- On Parade! (LOST)
1937
- What Ho, She Bumps (a.k.a. Captain Kidding) (FOUND)
- The Reddingsbrigade (LOST)
- The Philips Broadcast of 1938 (a.k.a. The Big Broadcast of '38) (FOUND)
1938
- South Seas Sweethearts (FOUND) (only on The Puppetoon Movie)
- The Ballet of Red Radio Valves (LOST)
- Sky Pirates (LOST)
1939
- The Sleeping Beauty (FOUND) (only on The Puppetoon Movie)
- Philips Cavalcade (a.k.a. Cavalcade of Music) (FOUND)
- Love on the Range (LOST)
1940
- Gooseberry Pie (LOST) (Existence Unconfirmed, may be confused with another found short, Jasper and the Haunted House)
- Friend in Need (FOUND)
American Era
1941
- Dipsy Gypsy (LOST)
- Hoola Boola (FOUND)
- Rhythm in the Ranks (FOUND) (only on The Puppetoon Movie Blu-Ray as a bonus feature)
- Western Daze (LOST)
- The Gay Knighties (LOST)
1942
- Tulips Shall Grow (FOUND)
- The Sky Princess (FOUND)
- Jasper and the Haunted House (FOUND)
- Jasper and the Watermelons (FOUND)
- Mr. Strauss Takes a Walk (FOUND)
1943
- Bravo, Mr. Strauss (LOST)
- The Little Broadcast (FOUND) (reuses footage from Dipsy Gypsy)
- Goodnight Rusty (LOST)
- The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins (FOUND)
- Jasper and the Choo Choo (LOST)
- Jasper Goes Fishing (LOST)
- Jasper's Music Lesson (FOUND)
- The Truck That Flew (LOST)
1944
- And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street (FOUND) (only on The Puppetoon Movie Blu-Ray as a bonus feature)
- Jasper Goes Hunting (FOUND)
- Jasper's Paradise (LOST)
- Package for Jasper (FOUND)
- Two-Gun Rusty (LOST)
- Little Black Sambo (LOST) (Existence Unconfirmed)
- Say Ah, Jasper (LOST)
1945
- A Hatful of Dreams (LOST)
- Jasper and the Beanstalk (FOUND)
- Jasper's Booby Trap (LOST)
- Jasper's Close Shave (LOST)
- Jasper's Minstrels (FOUND)
- Jasper Tell (LOST)
- Hot Lips Jasper (FOUND)
1946
- Jasper's Derby (FOUND)
- Jasper in a Jam (FOUND)
- Together in the Weather (FOUND) (only on The Puppetoon Movie and some DVDs and Videos)
- John Henry and the Inky Poo (FOUND)
- Olio for Jasper (FOUND)
1947
- Shoe Shine Jasper (FOUND)
- My Man Jasper (LOST)
- Date with Duke (FOUND)
- Wilbur the Lion (LOST)
- Rhapsody in Wood (FOUND)
- Tubby the Tuba (FOUND)
- Romeow and Julicat (Shown in the film Variety Girl) (FOUND)
1948
- Sweet Pacific (FOUND) (For Mounds)
- Various unknown films for Mounds and Shell Oil (LOST)
UPDATES
- Jasper and The Watermelons was found by user Dogpotpourri1979 on December 17, 2016.
- Ali Baba was found by user Dogpotpourri1979 on January 21, 2017 (on the YouTube channel Filmfinders).
- Most of the Puppetoons were taken down from YouTube.
- Arnold Leibovit, Director of The Puppetoon Movie, said he will realese a DVD/Blu-Ray combo of the film with many rare Puppetoon shorts as bonus features, such as World’s Greatest Show, De Reddingsbrigade, Sky Pirates, Love on the Range, and Friend in Need. The planned Kickstarter is here
- Friend in Need was found by user Dogpotpourri1979 on June 30, 2017 .
Gallery
Videos
What Ho She Bumps (a.k.a. Captain Kidding)
The Little Broadcast
Phillips Cavalcade (a.k.a. Cavalcade of Music)
ALI BABA
George Pal - Jasper and The Watermelons (1942) (RARE!)
George Pal - Radio Valve Revolution (1934) (RARE!)
Date With Duke
Rhapsody In Wood
George Pal -The Magic Atlas (1935)
Tulips Shall Grow (1942) With Orginal Titles