By popular demand (?!?) A Screen Song! Think of this post as seeing a really good showing of old 16mm cartoons at someone’s house in Brooklyn, sitting on a bed with four other cartoony people surrounded by cats and stacks of old Village Voices. We just happen to be watching a Famous Studios Screen Song, in-between an IB Tech Looney Tune and a Kodachrome Puppetoon.
But first— some Thunderbean news!
We’ve been attempting to send a bunch of things at the same time that are finally going out. There’s seven special discs sending at the same time, including the special 2024 sneak preview set. Becky and Dave have been doing their best to get all this stuff dubbed and sent, and I’ve finally given them everything they need to get everything out the door. So, look for a shipping notice if you’ve ordered things! More are headed that way in the next month or so.
After a major hard drive crash, we’re limping back to full power on the Rainbow Parade 2 set and still doing some finishing touches on the otherwise complete Mid Century Modern 3. The Iwerks Comi-Colors have started to get combined from the negatives, and it’s so much fun to see. We’ll be sharing as we get closer to finishing volume 1. The most exciting thing for me is getting to pull new materials for upcoming projects, especially things I’ve never seen before. There’s one project that I can’t wait to get all the way to finish if I can manage, but I ain’t talking about it!
And— today’s cartoon!!
You know, I think, out of context, standing alone, the Famous Studio’s Screen Songs are pretty entertaining; that’s the way audiences saw them back in the 1940s and 50s. The problem is seeing a bunch back-to-back; ten (or more) of them in a row. The ones that have a spot gag format (like this one) I think are some of the most entertaining.
In context to other Famous Studios cartoons, The Lone Star State (1948) is pretty standard fare. It’s enjoyable enough, and having a print with good color definitely helps a lot. The background painting is especially nice in this particular cartoon, and the character design seems a little less Famous-standard. I’m guessing it was still designed by Dave Tendlar, who gets faux-director credit here as lead animator. It is a beautifully animated short, and the bouncing ball sequence is especially cute (one of my favorites of any of them).
The 16mm Kodachrome print we scanned is especially nice color-wise. I wish all prints of Famous Stuff were this good, even without the full Paramount titles it’s pretty.
Have a good week all!
