The Golden Age of Hollywood animation

The Golden Age of Hollywood Animation (or more appropriately The Golden Age of American Animation) is a period in American animation history that began with the advent of sound cartoons in 1928 and lasted into the 1960s when theatrical animated shorts slowly began losing to the new medium of television animation. Many of the most memorable characters emerged from this period including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Popeye, Betty Boop, Woody Woodpecker, Tom and Jerry, and Mr. Magoo.

The 1950s, 1960s and the end of the Golden Age

However, all of this activity among the major studios caused them to turn a blind eye to still another development taking place. A former Disney animator named John Hubley had left Walt's nest during the animator's strike, and he founded a newer, smaller animation studio in order to pursue his own vision: trying out newer, more abstract and experimental styles of animation. Hubley and his colleagfues set out to form a new studio called United Productions of America or UPA. Artistically, UPA used a style of animation that has come to be known as limited animation. The first short from the newly-formed studio was Hell-Bent for Election (directed by Warners veteran Chuck Jones), a cartoon made for the re-election campaign of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Although this new film was a success, it did not break the boundaries that Hubley and his staffers had hoped. It wan't until the second short, Bob Cannon's Brotherhood of Man, tht the studio began producing shorts so aggressively stylized in contrast the films of the other studios. Cannon's film even preached a message that, at the time, was looked down upon ? racial tolerance.

Related Topics:
John Hubley - United Productions of America - Limited animation - Hell-Bent for Election - Chuck Jones - Franklin D. Roosevelt - Brotherhood of Man

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UPA eventually found a home for itself at Columbia Pictures and earned itself two Academy Award nominations during its first two years of production. From there, the UPA animators began producing a series of cartoons that immediately stood out among the crowded field of mirror-image, copycat cartoons of the other studios. The success of UPA's Mr. Magoo series made all of the other studios sit up and take notice, and when the UPA short Gerald McBoing-Boing won the Oscar, the effect on Hollywood was immediate and electrifying. The UPA style was markedly different from everything else being seen on movie screens, and audiences responded to the change that UPA offered from the repetition of usual cat-mouse battles.

Related Topics:
Academy Award - Mr. Magoo - Gerald McBoing-Boing

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By 1953, UPA had gained great influence among the industry. The Hollywood cartoon studios gradually moved away from the lush, realistic detail of the 1940s to a more simplistic, less realistic style of animation. By this time, even Disney was attempting to mimic UPA. 1953's Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom in particular was an experiment in stylization that followed in the footsteps of the newly-formed studio.

Related Topics:
1953 - 1940s - Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom

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Prior to the UPA revolution, both the Warner Bros. and MGM cartoon studios were at the peak of their creativity during the early 1950s. In particular, the cartoons of Chuck Jones at Warner Bros. reached a peak that has rarely been equalled in the entire history of animation. While Jones did produce a number of mediocre-quality cartoons (that were occasionally cruel and violent), much of his output of the 1950s consisted of one classic cartoon after another, with such unforgettable titles the highly popular Road Runner series, the "Bugs Bunny vs. Daffy Duck" cartoons, and the great classics Duck Amuck, What's Opera, Doc?, Rabbit of Seville, Feed the Kitty, and many others. Duck Amuck and What's Opera, Doc? are considered "culturally significant" by the United States government, and thus have been added to the U.S. National Film Registry.

Related Topics:
Warner Bros. - MGM - 1950s - Chuck Jones - Road Runner - Bugs Bunny - Daffy Duck - Duck Amuck - What's Opera, Doc? - Rabbit of Seville - United States - National Film Registry

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The MGM cartoons of the 1950s also continued the award-winning streak that began in the 1940s. The Tom and Jerry series won two more Oscars for the studio, and Tex Avery's legendary stint continued up until the studio closed its cartoon division in 1955. MGM closed its cartoon unit because of high production costs; the cartoons had literally become too expensive to continue to make.

Related Topics:
MGM - 1940s - Tom and Jerry - Oscar - Tex Avery - 1955

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The Paramount cartoon series did not fare as well, however. The Famous Studios cartoons saw a rapid decline in quality in the later half of the 1940s after World War II ended, and the cartoons became more dependent on formulas and violence. The 1950s saw the introduction of Casper the Friendly Ghost and Herman and Katnip, while even the Popeye the Sailor series lost much of its creativity and originality. The Paramount cartoons sank to the level of theater time-fillers, and by the time the 1960s began they were largely forgettable.

Related Topics:
Paramount - World War II - Casper the Friendly Ghost - Herman and Katnip - Popeye the Sailor - 1960s

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Disney's animated feature films continued to draw in large crowds through the 1950s. After a series of feature films in the late 1940s that were essentially series of short cartoons strung together, the studio saw a return to the successful formula of adapting fairy tales and children's stories to animation. Disney produced a number of classic films in the 1950s, including Lady and the Tramp, Peter Pan, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty, though even Disney found it impossible to reproduce the stunning realism of Fantasia and Pinocchio.

Related Topics:
1950s - 1940s - Lady and the Tramp - Peter Pan - One Hundred and One Dalmatians - Cinderella - Sleeping Beauty - Fantasia - Pinocchio

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By the 1960s, the industry began to shift again. The medium of television was beginning to gain more momentum. At the head of this change were the duo William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the creators of Tom and Jerry. The new Hanna-Barbera studio utilized the limited animation style UPA pioneered as an artistic form. Except now, it was being used largely to shortcut budgets. With television's growing popularity, there began a decline in moviegoing. The Golden Age was over and the state of American animation was changed forever.

Related Topics:
1960s - Television - William Hanna - Joseph Barbera - Limited animation

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