Happy harmonies
Happy Harmonies (German: happy harmonies ) is a series of animated short films published by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer between 1934 and 1938 . These cartoons were produced by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising , who with these films built on their earlier successes with Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies and wanted to emulate Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies . The 36 films were made entirely in color and, with the exception of Bosko , who appeared in nine of the Happy Harmonies films, without recurring characters. Two films in this series, In the Land of the Stuffed Animals and The Old Mill Pond , were nominated for an Oscar in the category “ Best Animated Short Film ”.
history
At the beginning of the 1930s, the film company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) did not operate its own animation studio, but acted as a distributor of the films produced by Ub Iwerks . Films with Flip the Frog were released from 1930 to 1933, followed by Flip by the less popular Willie Whopper. Disappointed with the latest films, MGM ended its contract with Iwerks in 1934. MGM then signed a lucrative contract with the animated film producers Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, who worked for Warner Bros. until 1933 and developed the cartoon series Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies , which allowed them a high budget to produce high-quality films.
Harman and Ising worked together as producers at Warner Bros., but directed separately and each had their own teams. The first production for MGM was Ising's short film The Discontented Canary , which was completed in June 1934 and released in theaters in September. Starting with Harman-Ising's second film, The Old Pioneer , the cartoons were released under the title Happy Harmonies . As with Harman's and Ising's productions at Warner, the name of the film series alluded to the extremely successful Disney series Silly Symphonies . Disney's films with their “winning characters” and “inventive stories” were also imitated stylistically.
Despite the much more generous budget compared to the Looney Tunes, animations from the older Harman and Ising films were often re- used for the early Happy Harmonies films. Harman even reactivated the character Bosko for some of his films , who was the main character in Looney Tunes at Warner, but whose exploitation rights were still owned by Harman-Ising. From the beginning, the Happy Harmonies films were shot in color, initially in the two-color process by Technicolor , since Disney held the exclusive rights to use the three-color process until September 1935. Starting with The Old Plantation , Harman and Ising were also able to use the three-color process, which offered a wider range of colors. In connection with the improved color scheme, the films were made more natural, so at the end of 1935 Bosko appeared for the first time in the film Run, Sheep, Run with a realistic human figure.
Over the years, the Happy Harmonies films became more complex and of higher quality, which ultimately led to two Oscar nominations. In 1936 Rudolf Isings was nominated in In the Land of Cuddly Toys, followed a year later by Hugh Harman's The Old Mill Pond . Both times, however, a Disney film prevailed at the Oscar awards. MGM viewed the increased production costs with suspicion, especially Harman had problems with his production style to adhere to the contractual agreements. The film company finally terminated the contract with Harman-Ising in February 1937. With the publication of The Little Bantamweight in March 1938, the Happy Harmonies series ran out at MGM.
After the separation of Harman and Ising, MGM set up its own animation studio, which should take over the production of cartoons. Fred Quimby became the director of the studio, and William Hanna , a former employee of Harmans, and Friz Freleng , who had been poached by Warner, were hired as directors . After the cartoon series The Captain and the Kids, conceived as the successor to the Happy Harmonies , turned out to be a flop, Harman and Ising were brought back to MGM in autumn 1938. However, they did not continue the Happy Harmonies series , but developed new films and characters. In 1939 Rudolf Ising succeeded in establishing a new cartoon series with Barney Bär , but the MGM animation department only celebrated its greatest successes after the renewed and final departure of Harman and Ising at the beginning of the 1940s with Tom and Jerry and the films by Tex Avery .
Filmography
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literature
- Michael Barrier: Hollywood Cartoons. American Animation in its Golden Age . Oxford University Press, New York 2003, ISBN 978-0-19-516729-0
Web links
- Happy Harmonies in the Big Cartoon Database
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael Barrier: Hollywood Cartoons , p. 167.
- ↑ Barry Putterman: A Short Critical History of Warner Bros. Cartoons . In: Kevin S. Sandler (Ed.): Reading the Rabbit: Explorations in Warner Bros. Animation . Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick 1998, ISBN 0-8135-2537-3 , p. 30.
- ^ Leonard Maltin: Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons . Plume Books, New York 1980, ISBN 0-452-25993-2 , p. 281.
- ↑ Jeff lenburg: Who's Who in Animated Cartoons . Applause Theater & Cinema Books, New York 2006, ISBN 978-1-55783-671-7 , p. 154.
- ↑ Michael Barrier: Hollywood Cartoons , p. 191.
- ↑ Michael Barrier: Hollywood Cartoons , p. 192.
- ↑ Michael Barrier: Hollywood Cartoons , pp. 287–289.