Joys and Glooms (1921)

Year Published: 1921

Creator: Thomas E. Powers

Description:

Thomas E. Powers (1870-1937) was one of the most popular cartoonists of the early 20th Century. Beloved by U.S. presidents for his editorial cartoons, he was one of the earliest to draw a color newspaper comic strip. One of the trademarks of his print cartoons was the appearance of several little elves, seen along the borders and on the sides of the panels, labeled "Joys" and "Glooms." "Glooms" were dour imps with black beards, and the round-shaped "Joys" always wore happy grins. If optimism was in order, "Joy" chased "Gloom," and vice versa. The shorts based on Powers' comics were just as innovative as his print panels. This film, "Her Minute" (1921), proves that over eighty years later, some habits and attitudes never change. Animator John Terry (Paul's brother) makes creative use of the screen by dividing it into sections and using black screens that provide humorous commentary or indicate the characters' inner feelings to the audience. The "Joys and Glooms" were a regular component in Hearst's International Newsreel, distributed to theaters in the 1920s by Universal Pictures.

Preservation note:
Both subjects were preserved in the early 1980s from nitrate prints which remain in good, if today more shrunken, condition. UCLA has preserved two additional "Indoor Sports" subjects; this is the only one of the three that is a relatively complete subject, with main and end titles intact. For its more recent preservation efforts, UCLA frequently restores missing title cards by copying them from other sources, when a title is generic, or re-creating them to a semblance of what they should have looked like originally.

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

Complete Record: Thomas E. Powers (1870-1937) was one of the most popular cartoonists of the early 20th Century. Beloved by U.S. presidents for his editorial cartoons, he was one of the earliest to draw a color newspaper comic strip. One of the trademarks of his print cartoons was the appearance of several little elves, seen along the borders and on the sides of the panels, labeled "Joys" and "Glooms." "Glooms" were dour imps with black beards, and the round-shaped "Joys" always wore happy grins. If optimism was in order, "Joy" chased "Gloom," and vice versa. The shorts based on Powers' comics were just as innovative as his print panels. This film, "Her Minute" (1921), proves that over eighty years later, some habits and attitudes never change. Animator John Terry (Paul's brother) makes creative use of the screen by dividing it into sections and using black screens that provide humorous commentary or indicate the characters' inner feelings to the audience. The "Joys and Glooms" were a regular component in Hearst's International Newsreel, distributed to theaters in the 1920s by Universal Pictures. Preservation note: Both subjects were preserved in the early 1980s from nitrate prints which remain in good, if today more shrunken, condition. UCLA has preserved two additional "Indoor Sports" subjects; this is the only one of the three that is a relatively complete subject, with main and end titles intact. For its more recent preservation efforts, UCLA frequently restores missing title cards by copying them from other sources, when a title is generic, or re-creating them to a semblance of what they should have looked like originally. Music © Michael D. Mortilla (BMI); MIDILifeCrisis.com.