Talkartoons

Talkartoons is the name of a series of 42 animated cartoons produced by the Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures between 1929 and 1932.

History
For the Fleischer brothers, the transition to sound was relatively easy. With the new contract with Paramount Pictures, and without the burden of Red Seal Pictures and Alfred Weiss, Max Fleischer was free to experiment with new, bold ideas. First he changed the name of the Ko-Ko Song Cartunes series to Screen Songs. Although the Screen Songs were successful, Fleischer felt that it wasn't enough; Walt Disney also seemed to gain a great amount of fame through his sound cartoons as well. He decided to work with his brother, Dave on a new series of cartoons where the characters did more than just simply dance to the music of the "bouncing ball". The name for the new series was to be Talkartoons. When the idea was pitched to Paramount, they leaped at the opportunity.

The Talkartoons started out as one-shot cartoons. The first entry in the series was Noah's Lark, released on October 25, 1929. Although a Fleischer cartoon, it appeared to be patterned after the Aesop's Film Fables of Paul Terry. In it, a Farmer Al Falfa-esque Noah allows the animals of his ark to visit Luna Park. When he brings them back into the ship, the weight is so heavy that it sinks. In the end, Noah chases topless mermaids throughout the ocean waters. Lark has very few gray tones, very much like the Screen Songs produced during the same time and the earlier Fleischer silent works. It also included copyright-free songs, mostly utilized from old 78-rpm's.

The series began to take a new direction, however, with the arrival of Max and Dave's brother, Lou Fleischer, whose skills in music and mathematics made a great impact the studio. Fitz evolved into a character named Bimbo, named so for his foolishness. The first cartoon that featured Bimbo was Hot Dog (1930), the first Fleischer cartoon to use a full range of greys. New animators such as Grim Natwick, Shamus Culhane, and Rudy Zamora began entering the Fleischer Studio, with new ideas that pushed the Talkartoons into a league of their own. Natwick especially had an off-beat style of animating that helped give the shorts more of a surreal quality. Perhaps his greatest contribution to the Talkartoons series and the Fleischer Studio was the creation of Betty Boop with Dizzy Dishes in 1930.

By late-1931, Betty Boop dominated the series. Koko the Clown was brought out of retirement from the silent days as a third character to Betty and Bimbo. By 1932, the series was at an inevitable end and instead, Betty Boop would be given her own series, with Bimbo and Koko as secondary characters.

Filmography
Dave Fleischer was the credited director on every cartoon produced by Fleischer Studios. Fleischer's actual duties were those of a film producer and creative supervisor, with the head animators doing much of the work assigned to animation directors in other studios. The head animator is the first animator listed. Credited animators are therefore listed for each short. Note that many of the shorts from 1931-32 don't have their animator credits listed, as they were cut when the shorts were sold to television and had their titles replaced.

{| class="wikitable" margin:auto;"
 * colspan=5 align=center bgcolor=#DDDDDD|
 * colspan=5 align=center bgcolor=#DDDDDD|

1929-1930
!width="30"|# !width="150"|Film !width="100"|Original release date !width="110"|Credited animators !width="500"|Notes Grim Natwick Ted Sears Ted Sears Seymour Kneitel Ted Sears Al Eugster Willard Bowsky Jimmie Culhane Ted Sears
 * 1
 * Noah's Lark
 * October 25, 1929
 * No animators credited.
 * First entry in the Talkartoons series.
 * First entry of the 1929-30 film season.
 * 2
 * Marriage Wows
 * January 8, 1930
 * No animators credited
 * UCLA has nitrate elements on this title, therefore is not a lost cartoon.
 * Working title: Wedding Belles
 * 3
 * Radio Riot
 * February 13, 1930
 * No animators credited
 * The bedtime story broadcast at the end was written by E.Y. Harburg.
 * 4
 * Hot Dog
 * March 29, 1930
 * No animators credited
 * First appearance of Bimbo.
 * First Fleischer cartoon to feature gray tones.
 * First Fleischer cartoon to be scored by Lou Fleischer.
 * 5
 * Fire Bugs
 * May 9, 1930
 * Ted Sears
 * First appearance of Bimbo.
 * First Fleischer cartoon to feature gray tones.
 * First Fleischer cartoon to be scored by Lou Fleischer.
 * 5
 * Fire Bugs
 * May 9, 1930
 * Ted Sears
 * May 9, 1930
 * Ted Sears
 * First Fleischer cartoon to credit animators.
 * 6
 * Wise Flies
 * July 18, 1930
 * Willard Bowsky
 * July 18, 1930
 * Willard Bowsky
 * Final entry of the 1929-30 film season.
 * Uncredited animator: Grim Natwick
 * 7
 * Dizzy Dishes
 * August 9, 1930
 * Grim Natwick
 * August 9, 1930
 * Grim Natwick
 * First appearance of who would later evolve into Betty Boop.
 * First appearance of a new title card design that would remain through the series run.
 * First entry of the 1930-31 film season.
 * Officially released on Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Volume 2
 * 8
 * Barnacle Bill
 * August 31, 1930
 * Rudy Zamora
 * August 31, 1930
 * Rudy Zamora
 * Uncredited animator: Grim Natwick
 * 9
 * Swing You Sinners!
 * September 24, 1930
 * Willard Bowsky
 * September 24, 1930
 * Willard Bowsky
 * Includes caricature of Yiddish comedian Monroe Silver
 * 10
 * Grand Uproar
 * October 3, 1930
 * Seymour Kneitel
 * October 3, 1930
 * Seymour Kneitel
 * 11
 * Sky Scraping
 * November 1, 1930
 * Ted Sears
 * November 1, 1930
 * Ted Sears
 * First time Bimbo is named.
 * 12
 * Up to Mars
 * November 20, 1930
 * Rudy Zamora
 * November 20, 1930
 * Rudy Zamora
 * 13
 * Accordion Joe
 * December 12, 1930
 * Unknown
 * UCLA possesses nitrate, safety, and video elements on this title, therefore is not a lost cartoon.
 * Some sources incorrectly label this as a 1929 release.
 * 14
 * Mysterious Mose
 * December 26, 1930
 * Willard Bowsky
 * 14
 * Mysterious Mose
 * December 26, 1930
 * Willard Bowsky
 * colspan=5 align=center bgcolor=#DDDDDD|
 * colspan=5 align=center bgcolor=#DDDDDD|
 * colspan=5 align=center bgcolor=#DDDDDD|

1931
!width="30"|# !width="150"|Film !width="100"|Original release date !width="110"|Credited animators !width="500"|Notes Al Eugster Seymour Kneitel R. Eggeman Al Eugster Seymour Kneitel Tom Bonfiglio
 * 15
 * Ace of Spades
 * January 16
 * Rudy Zamora
 * Rudy Zamora
 * 16
 * Tree Saps
 * February 3
 * Unknown
 * 17
 * Teacher's Pest
 * February 7
 * Grim Natwick
 * 17
 * Teacher's Pest
 * February 7
 * Grim Natwick
 * 18
 * The Cow's Husband
 * March 13
 * Jimmie Culhane
 * March 13
 * Jimmie Culhane
 * The bull's dance was rotoscoped.
 * 19
 * The Bum Bandit
 * April 3
 * Willard Bowsky
 * April 3
 * Willard Bowsky
 * First time Betty Boop is seen with her slender physique.
 * 20
 * The Male Man
 * April 24
 * Ted Sears
 * April 24
 * Ted Sears
 * 21
 * Twenty Legs Under the Sea
 * May 5
 * Willard Bowsky
 * May 5
 * Willard Bowsky
 * 22
 * Silly Scandals
 * May 23
 * Unknown
 * First time Betty Boop is named.
 * Possibly the first Talkartoon to put the director and animator credits on a separate title card.
 * 23
 * The Herring Murder Case
 * June 26
 * Unknown
 * First time Bimbo is animated in his most familiar design.
 * First sound cartoon appearance of Koko the Clown.
 * 24
 * Bimbo's Initiation
 * July 24
 * Unknown
 * Placed at #37 on the in the book The 50 Greatest Cartoons.
 * Final entry of the 1930-31 film season.
 * Officially released on Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Volume 2
 * 25
 * Bimbo's Express
 * August 22
 * Unknown
 * First entry of the 1931-32 film season.
 * 26
 * Minding the Baby
 * September 9
 * Unknown
 * 27
 * In the Shade of the Old Apple Sauce
 * October 16
 * Unknown
 * Currently a lost cartoon.
 * 28
 * Mask-A-Raid
 * November 7
 * Unknown
 * First time Betty is depicted as a human, with her dog ears replaced by hoop earrings.
 * 29
 * Jack and the Beanstalk
 * November 21
 * Unknown
 * Final time Betty Boop is depicted as a dog.
 * 30
 * Dizzy Red Riding Hood
 * December 12
 * Unknown
 * colspan=5 align=center bgcolor=#DDDDDD|
 * Mask-A-Raid
 * November 7
 * Unknown
 * First time Betty is depicted as a human, with her dog ears replaced by hoop earrings.
 * 29
 * Jack and the Beanstalk
 * November 21
 * Unknown
 * Final time Betty Boop is depicted as a dog.
 * 30
 * Dizzy Red Riding Hood
 * December 12
 * Unknown
 * colspan=5 align=center bgcolor=#DDDDDD|
 * Dizzy Red Riding Hood
 * December 12
 * Unknown
 * colspan=5 align=center bgcolor=#DDDDDD|
 * colspan=5 align=center bgcolor=#DDDDDD|

1932
!width="30"|# !width="150"|Film !width="100"|Original release date !width="110"|Credited animators !width="500"|Notes Thomas Bonfiglio Ralph Somerville Bernard Wolf David Tendlar Bernard Wolf William Henning Rudolph Eggeman Rudolph Eggeman Thomas Bonfiglio
 * 31
 * Any Rags?
 * January 2
 * Willard Bowsky
 * Willard Bowsky
 * Current prints exist with original titles.
 * 32
 * Boop-Oop-a-Doop
 * January 16
 * Unknown
 * First appearance of the song "Sweet Betty", which would become the theme song for the Betty Boop series.
 * Officially released on Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Volume 2
 * 33
 * The Robot
 * February 5
 * Unknown
 * 34
 * Minnie the Moocher
 * March 11
 * Willard Bowsky
 * 34
 * Minnie the Moocher
 * March 11
 * Willard Bowsky
 * March 11
 * Willard Bowsky
 * Music performed by Cab Calloway and his orchestra. This short contains the earliest known footage of him and his orchestra performing.
 * The walrus' dancing is rotoscoped from footage of Calloway himself.
 * A version with original titles is known to exist on 1980s video compilations.
 * Named #20 in the book The 50 Greatest Cartoons.
 * Officially released on Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Volume 3
 * 35
 * Swim or Sink
 * March 11
 * Seymour Knitel
 * March 11
 * Seymour Knitel
 * The original title cards probably animated the short's title. As a result of this, television prints rename it S.O.S..
 * 36
 * Crazy Town
 * March 25
 * James H. Culhane
 * March 25
 * James H. Culhane
 * Contains special live-action title cards.
 * Betty's dance is rotoscoped.
 * 37
 * The Dancing Fool
 * April 8
 * Seymour Kneitel
 * April 8
 * Seymour Kneitel
 * 38
 * Chess-Nuts
 * April 13
 * James H. Culhane
 * April 13
 * James H. Culhane
 * Officially released on Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Volume 1
 * 39
 * A Hunting We Will Go
 * April 29
 * Alfred Eugster
 * April 29
 * Alfred Eugster
 * 40
 * Hide and Seek
 * May 26
 * Roland Crandall
 * 41
 * Admission Free
 * June 10
 * Thomas Johnson
 * 41
 * Admission Free
 * June 10
 * Thomas Johnson
 * 42
 * The Betty Boop Limited
 * July 1
 * Willard Bowsky
 * July 1
 * Willard Bowsky
 * Final entry for the 1931-32 film season.
 * Final entry in the Talkartoons series.
 * Officially released on Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Volume 2
 * }
 * }
 * }