Line #64 WesternAnimation/ComiColorCartoons


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ComiColor-JackAndTheBeanstalk_9043.jpg]]
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3	''Comi Color Cartoons'' was a short lived series of cartoons, produced by former Creator/{{Disney}} animator Creator/UbIwerks for Celebrity Pictures from [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation November 1933 to September 1936]]. The series was produced by Iwerks to compete with Creator/WaltDisney's then-smash hit ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies'' series, and to make up for the losses of ''WesternAnimation/FlipTheFrog'' and ''WesternAnimation/WillieWhopper''.
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5	While it would be easy to write off these cartoons as low budget knockoffs of Disney's lavish cartoons, closer examination of the shorts will reveal that they do have several things going for them. For starters, while Disney made his ''Symphonies'' shorts increasingly sentimental and idealistic, Ub kept a more gritty, down to earth approach to his fairy tales, as evident in shorts like "Balloon Land", "Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp" and "Dick Whittington's Cat". Ub also outright ignored Disney's push for more realistic animation, instead opting for a more stylized version of the early 30's rubberhose style that is indisputably influenced by the early works of Creator/FleischerStudios--supported by that Iwerks had at least four ex-Fleischer staffers on board: Creator/GrimNatwick (who often supervised, designed and animated for the shorts in Iwerks' steed), Berny Wolf, Creator/ShamusCulhane and Al Eugster.
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7	Although the characters were typical one-dimensional cyphers, the stories were handled in a workmanlike fashion, and the animation in some of the shorts is fairly well done--Balloon Land in particular is full of principles such as [[TheTwelvePrinciplesOfAnimation squash and stretch and overlapping action]]. And, being a Silly Symphony clone, lavish color was up front and center, with lush, sumptiously painted backgrounds in each cartoon, and the cartoons were backed up with lively scores supplied by Iwerks mainstay and future WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes composer Carl Stalling. Another standout feature of the cartoons was the occasional use of a proto-Multiplane Camera that Iwerks himself built out of parts of a junked chevrolet car, which actually precedes the completion of Disney's own Multiplane apparatus.
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9	Despite this, the series was doomed from the beginning. Unlike with Flip and Willie, Iwerks no longer had Creator/{{MGM}} to distribute the cartoons, with his boss Pat Powers having to distribute the cartoons himself. And, as expected, Iwerks shorts simply couldn't compete with Disney's own lavish shorts. After a three year stint of 25 shorts, the series folded and Ub was forced to close up shop, prompting a return to Disney in the following years.
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11	Many of these shorts have been re-released on the two ''Cartoons That Time Forgot: Ub Iwerks'' DVD sets. Thunderbean Animation is currently working on an restored Blu-Ray collection of these films, with release date TBA. Several of these shorts have slipped into the PublicDomain.
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14	[[folder:Filmography]]
15
16	!1933
17
18	* Jack and the Beanstalk (Nov. 30)
19
20	!1934
21
22	* The Little Red Hen (Feb 16)
23	* The Brave Tin Soldier (April 7)
24	* Puss in Boots (May 17)
25	* The Queen of Hearts (June 25)
26	* Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (Aug 10)
27	* The Headless Horseman (Oct 1)
28	* The Valiant Tailor (Oct 29) PublicDomain.
29	* Don Quixote (Nov 26)
30	* Jack Frost (Dec 24) PublicDomain.
31
32	!1935
33
34	* Little Black Sambo (Feb 6)
35	* The Bremen Town Musicians (March 6) PublicDomain.
36	* Old Mother Hubbard (April 3) PublicDomain.
37	* Mary's Little Lamb (May 1) PublicDomain.
38	* Summertime (June 15) PublicDomain.
39	* Sinbad the Sailor (July 30) PublicDomain.
40	* The Three Bears (Aug 30) PublicDomain.
41	* WesternAnimation/BalloonLand (Sept. 30) PublicDomain.
42	* Simple Simon (Nov 15) PublicDomain.
43	* Humpty Dumpty (Dec 30) PublicDomain.
44
45	!1936
46
47	* Ali Baba (Jan 30) PublicDomain.
48	* Tom Thumb (March 30) PublicDomain.
49	* Dick Whittington's Cat (May 30) PublicDomain.
50	* Little Boy Blue (AKA Big Bad Wolf) (July 30) PublicDomain.
51	* Happy Days (AKA Hook Line and Sinker) (Sept. 30): PublicDomain.
52	[[/folder]]
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54	----
55	!!Tropes:
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57	* AccidentalPervert: In ''Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp'', Aladdin wishes to be the same place where the princess is. This leads to him appearing in front of the princess while she's bathing, but strangely the princess not only doesn't mind, but also immediately agrees to marry him.
58	* AmazonChaser: Implied in "Humpty Dumpty". Junior is downright thrilled when Easter gets "hard boiled", and is seen encouraging her fighting from the sidelines.
59	* AnimatedAdaptation: All but a handful of the shorts are based on pre-existing stories. Only a few of them, such as ''Summertime'', ''Balloonland'' and ''Happy Days'', are original stories.
60	** ''Jack and the Beanstalk'' is based on, obviously, Literature/JackAndTheBeanstalk.
61	** ''The Little Red Hen'' is based on the traditional story ''The Little Red Hen and the Grain of Wheat'' from A Child's Book of Stories (1911).
62	** ''The Brave Tin Soldier'' is based on Hans Christian Andersen's ''Literature/TheSteadfastTinSoldier''.
63	** ''Puss is Boots'' is based on ''Literature/PussInBoots''.
64	** ''The Queen of Hearts'' is loosely based on the character and settings from ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland''.
65	** ''Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp'' is based on the story of Literature/{{Aladdin}} from the Literature/ArabianNights.
66	** ''The Headless Horseman'' is an adaptation of Creator/WashingtonIrving[='s=] ''Literature/TheLegendOfSleepyHollow''.
67	** ''The Valiant Tailor'' is based on Creator/TheBrothersGrimm story ''The Brave Little Tailor''.
68	** ''Don Quixote'' is loosely based on the Miguel De Cervantes book ''Literature/DonQuixote''.
69	** ''Jack Frost'' is inspired by the fairy tale character of the same name.
70	** ''Little Black Sambo'' is based on Helen Bannerman's ''Literature/{{The Story of Little Black Sambo}}''.
71	** ''The Brementown Musicians'' is loosely based on the German folk story ''Literature/TheBremenTownMusicians''.
72	** ''Old Mother Hubbard'' is inspired by the old English NurseryRhyme.
73	** ''Mary's Little Lamb'' is inspired by the English nursery rhyme ''Mary Had A Little Lamb''.
74	** ''Sinbad the Sailor'' is based on the story from (later editions of) the Literature/ArabianNights.
75	** ''The Three Bears'' is based on ''[[Literature/{{Goldilocks}} Goldilocks and the Three Bears]]''.
76	** ''Simple Simon'' is inspired by the NurseryRhyme of the same name.
77	** ''Humpty Dumpty'' is ''very'' loosely inspired by the Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme.
78	** ''Ali Baba'' is based on the story ''Literature/AliBabaAndTheFortyThieves'' from the Literature/ArabianNights.
79	** ''Tom Thumb'' is loosely based on the first English folklore story.
80	** ''Dick Whittingtons Cat'' is loosely based on the English folklore story ''Dick Whittington and his Cat''.
81	** ''Little Boy Blue'' is a mashup of the English Nursery Rhyme and the Big Bad Wolf from Literature/TheThreeLittlePigs.
82	* AshFace: Towards the end of "Mary's Little Lamb", the lamb is covered in soot after the teacher takes him out of a stove. As the teacher gives him a spanking, this causes a cloud of soot to form in the air and be removed from him. The lamb is no longer covered in soot, but now the teacher is covered in it.
83	* BittersweetEnding: The end of "The Brave Tin Soldier". It was also the only short to feature this, as Pat Powers was ordered to tell Iwerks to never put another sad ending into this film, according to Creator/ShamusCulhane's autobiography.
84	* CaptainErsatz: The cat characters from "Puss in Boots" are the exact same designs of the cats Creator/ShamusCulhane designed and animated for the Creator/VanBeurenStudios cartoon "Merry Kittens".
85	* ChristmasEpisode: "Jack Frost".
86	* ColorFailure:In "Little Black Sambo", the titular character turns white with fright upon encountering a tiger. Scratch that. He turns ''[[{{Pun}} caucasian]]'' with fright.
87	* DastardlyWhiplash: The Bad Egg from ''Humpty Dumpty'', dressed in a top hat and sporting a handlebar mustache.
88	* FaceDeathWithDignity: As the titular character in "The Brave Tin Soldier" is set up to be executed, he just stands there looking dignified and not even panicking.
89	* FluffyCloudHeaven: A Toy version of it appears in the end of "The Brave Tin Soldier".
90	* ForcedTransformation: Done in "Puss in Boots", as the princess is turned into a bird.
91	* LighterAndSofter: Nowhere as raunchy as the ''Flip the Frog'' or Willie Whopper cartoons Iwerks previously made, but their earthy, comedic tone still lingers in these shorts. On the other hand, compared to the competing Disney shorts, the tone of the Iwerks Comicolors tended to be more grey and goofy.
92	* LuminescentBlush: Goldilocks from this series's version of "The Three Bears". When she samples the first bowl of porridge, which is the Papa Bear's, it's so hot her face turns red in reaction and she breathes fire.
93	** The balloon boy and balloon girl at the end of "Balloon Land". Both their faces turn red after they kiss each other on the lips.
94	** The angry sun in "Summertime" gradually turns a deep shade of red, as it uses its rays and heat in an attempt to melt Jack Frost.
95	** Humpty Dumpty, Jr. from "Humpty Dumpty" blushes coyly when handling out a bouquet to Easter Egg.
96	** The lamb from "Mary's Little Lamb" blushes after entering the schoolhouse, sheepish by the students cheering him on and applauding twice; the teacher in the same short gets red-faced after realizing the back of her skirt had ridden up, revealing her spotted, shin-length, lace-trimmed bloomer. She embarrassingly grins and pulls her skirt back down in place.
97	* NeverSayDie: Humpty Dumpty Jr.'s mother says that her husband "got cracked".
98	* OhCrap: In ''Humpty Dumpty'', Humpty Dumpty Jr.'s mother reacts appropriately when she sees him sitting on a bottle. She then rushes to catch him after he loses his balance.
99	* PolkaDotPaint: In ''The Brave Tin Soldier'', the toymaker at the beginning has three tins of paint: Striped Paint, Dotted Paint and Soldier Paint. He paints the tin soldiers by applying a blob of Soldier Paint to the head of each one, and it arranges itself into the colors of the soldier's face and uniform as it runs down their bodies.
100	* PublicDomainAnimation: Some of the shorts have slipped into the public domain.
101	* SmellySkunk:
102	** In "Jack Frost", unlike the other animals, a skunk is willing to let the bear cub into his home, but the cub is less willing.
103	** In "The Three Bears", the bears chase Goldilocks into a tree. They all run out of it after discovering it is the home of a family of skunks that, just like the aforementioned bears, is conformed by father, mother and son.
104	* StealthPun: When Humpty Dumpty Jr. and his girlfriend Easter fall in a pot of boiling water, they come out with tougher personalities. In other words, they are now ''hard boiled''.
105	* StockFootage: "Mary's Little Lamb" has a brief scene where the schoolhouse desks [[AnimationBump move in perspective]], which was recycled from a previous Iwerks short, but reshot in color this time.

Context WesternAnimation / ComiColorCartoons