Animated Hair Cartoon (1925)

Year Published: 1925

Description:

In 1923, animation pioneer and producer Max Fleischer started a distribution company, Red Seal Pictures, for greater independence and control over his films — not to mention bigger potential profits. To do so, Fleischer needed more product than his studio normally could produce. In addition to his innovative "Out of the Inkwell" shorts with Ko-Ko the Clown, Fleischer supplemented his release schedule with the production of "Song Car-tunes" (some with sound — predating Disney by several years) and a live action comedy series, "Carrie of the Chorus." He also picked up several shorts from outside producers, including a stop-motion series called "Gems of the Screen" and a newsreel named "Film Facts." The "Animated Hair" films, featuring artwork by "Marcus" (not well-known animator Sid Marcus, but a caricaturist for the original humorous Life Magazine) were relatively easy for the studio to produce, using one artist (his hand usually seen on screen drawing the image) and the gimmick of manipulating one caricature with stop motion to create a second caricature (usually by rearranging a hair-do). For example, in this entry, playwright George Bernard Shaw becomes baseball commissioner Kenesaw M. Landis, and Charlie Chaplin morphs into Buster Keaton. Audiences were thrilled. Fifty one "Animated Hair" shorts were produced between 1924 and 1927. This entry (No. 18) was released on July 11, 1925. Red Seal ultimately did not work out for the Fleischers. In 1927, they entered into a long-term arrangement with Paramount Pictures and would go on to their greatest success.

Preservation note:
When only single prints survive of a film, generally they are well-used, and frequently the beginnings and ends of those prints exhibit heavy wear and splices, or sometimes are missing entirely. Although the nitrate print of "Animated Hair, No. 18" was in relatively nice condition and otherwise proved pretty much a straightforward preservation, the end titles were short, and so were copied multiple times and edited together to provide a semblance of what they might have looked like originally. To date, UCLA has preserved two of the "Hair" cartoons in its collection and a fragment of another; a third remains to be preserved.

Music © Michael D. Mortilla (BMI); MIDILifeCrisis.com.

Complete Record: In 1923, animation pioneer and producer Max Fleischer started a distribution company, Red Seal Pictures, for greater independence and control over his films — not to mention bigger potential profits. To do so, Fleischer needed more product than his studio normally could produce. In addition to his innovative "Out of the Inkwell" shorts with Ko-Ko the Clown, Fleischer supplemented his release schedule with the production of "Song Car-tunes" (some with sound — predating Disney by several years) and a live action comedy series, "Carrie of the Chorus." He also picked up several shorts from outside producers, including a stop-motion series called "Gems of the Screen" and a newsreel named "Film Facts." The "Animated Hair" films, featuring artwork by "Marcus" (not well-known animator Sid Marcus, but a caricaturist for the original humorous Life Magazine) were relatively easy for the studio to produce, using one artist (his hand usually seen on screen drawing the image) and the gimmick of manipulating one caricature with stop motion to create a second caricature (usually by rearranging a hair-do). For example, in this entry, playwright George Bernard Shaw becomes baseball commissioner Kenesaw M. Landis, and Charlie Chaplin morphs into Buster Keaton. Audiences were thrilled. Fifty one "Animated Hair" shorts were produced between 1924 and 1927. This entry (No. 18) was released on July 11, 1925. Red Seal ultimately did not work out for the Fleischers. In 1927, they entered into a long-term arrangement with Paramount Pictures and would go on to their greatest success. Preservation note: When only single prints survive of a film, generally they are well-used, and frequently the beginnings and ends of those prints exhibit heavy wear and splices, or sometimes are missing entirely. Although the nitrate print of "Animated Hair, No. 18" was in relatively nice condition and otherwise proved pretty much a straightforward preservation, the end titles were short, and so were copied multiple times and edited together to provide a semblance of what they might have looked like originally. To date, UCLA has preserved two of the "Hair" cartoons in its collection and a fragment of another; a third remains to be preserved. Music © Michael D. Mortilla (BMI); MIDILifeCrisis.com.