History Creator / VanBeurenStudios

* AnAesop: Ironically subverted with the Aesop's Fables shorts (which have [[SpoofAesop parody aesops]] in the silent shorts and abandoned them altogether by the sound era) but played straight in the Toddle Tales and some of the Rainbow Parade shorts. "Spinning Mice" for instance has the moral of "Leave Well Enough Alone".

* AsteroidsMonster: In "Parrotville Fire Department", one of the parrots tries to take down one of the living little flames with an axe, but this just splits them into even smaller little fires.

* BlowingaRaspberry: Milton Mouse does this to his girlfriend in the end of "Circus Capers", and it literally makes her panties fly clean off!

* TheBigDamnKiss: Milton Mouse gives this to his girlfriend in the end of "Circus Capers", and it literally makes her panties fly clean off!

* ChristmasEpisode: "Opening Night", Cubby Bear's first short. SantaClaus even cameos in the opening.

* CoolShip: Tom and Jerry's rocket ship in "The Phantom Rocket".
* CreepyCrossdresser: The robber villain of "The Phantom Rocket".

* DarkestAfrica: The jungle settings of "Darkest Africa", "Jungle Jazz", Mild Cargo" and "Plane Dumb".
* DaEditor: Walter Finchell's boss, an owl, in "A Little Bird Told Me".
* DastardlyWhiplash: The villain of "Sinister Stuff".
** The banana becomes this in "Pencil Mania".

* DinosaurDoggieBone: A trio of dogs fight over one in "Dinnertime".

* {{Expy}}: Their Tom and Jerry were just human versions of previous Van Beuren characters Waffles the Cat and Don Dog.

* ExtraExtraReadAllAboutIt: The opening of "Mild Cargo" has a goat spreading newspapers of Cubby's arrival at their jungle, while shouting the phrase.

It is also worth noting that Van Beuren Studios was located directly across the street from Creator/FleischerStudios, one of their biggest competitors. The studio

Like many non-Disney[=/=]Creator/WarnerBros cartoon studios, critics and historians generally tend to give Van Beuren the footnote treatment, writing off the cartoons as cheaply produced drivel—but this isn't quite true. For all the sloppy animation and one-note characters, there are some inspired gags here and there, as well as some very good musical scores provided with each cartoon. Despite this, many of the shorts were scattered and lost for a long time, due to their [[PublicDomainAnimation public domain status]] and lack of care. The fact that the studio's role in the HistoryOfAnimation was very minor and tangential compared to the other studios does not help. Fortunately, thanks to recent DVD collections, especially from Thunderbean, and the fact that all of the studio's cartoons are public domain, the bulk of this studio's sound output is available on DVD for viewing.

"The Van Beuren Corporation" or ''Van Beuren Studios'' (pronounced Van Burr-en), originally known as the "Fables Studio", was a cartoon studio that lasted from 1920 to 1936. It is the least known cartoon studio of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation, yet its brief history is dotted with interesting films and major animation talents.

''Van Beuren Studios'' (pronounced Van Burr-en), originally known as the "Fables Studio", was a cartoon studio that lasted from 1928 to 1936. It is the least known cartoon studio of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation, yet its brief history is dotted with interesting films and major animation talents.

It is also worth noting that Van Beuren Studios was located directly across the street from Creator/FleischerStudios, one of their biggest competitors.

If asked what Van Beuren Studios was famous for, most people today would probably look at you with a blank stare, not knowing that the little known production company also helped lead the pack when it came to classic cartoons of their time.

Van Beuren Studios was started by an upstart named Amadee J. Van Beuren. Paul Terry was also involved in the studio’s history, but later left to start his own production company, called Creator/{{Terrytoons}}. Van Beuren’s most recognized characters were called “Tom and Jerry,” but bear no relation to the [[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry cat and mouse characters]] released by MGM Studios eight years later. Their success was modest, yielding 26 cartoons in all. Aesop’s Fables, the studio’s other front runner gave rise to the now not so recognizable Cubby Bear, one of the series’ stars.

Walt Disney Studios had already made a splash with music and sound effects in their early toons, and Van Beuren promised to follow suit and do the same later on. The producers hired [[UsefulNotes/NoteworthyDisneyStaff Disney veterans]] Burt Gillett and Tom Palmer to create a new series in hopes of jump-starting the B-list studio’s reputation. The somewhat well-received series was called “Rainbow Parade”, a series of lavish WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies clones, also starring licensed characters like "Toonerville Folks" and "WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat".

Despite the studio’s mild successes during its waning years, it was forced to closed its doors when RKO Radio Pictures decided to release Walt Disney cartoons, rather than those produced by Van Beuren.

--description cited from Toonjet.

* JerkassGods: In "It's a Greek Life" the God Mercury threatens to break the centaur's neck if he doesn't fix his winged sandals. He manages to rough him up before his own shoes turn on him.

* OffModel: Pre-Gillett Van Beuren had some of the wonkiest, slap-dash animation to ever grace a Golden Age cartoon. There is ''no'' consistency in the animation in these cartoons at all.

** The Fables had its own sub-series, "Cubby Bear" (1933-1934), which ran for 16 shorts, with a 17th one being finished, but unreleased until it resurfaced on a Cubby Bear DVD collection decades later. Notably, three shorts in the series, "Gay Gaucho" (1933), "Cubby's World Flight" (1933) and the unreleased "Mischievous Mice" (1934) were outsourced to the [[Creator/HarmanAndIsing Harman-Ising]] cartoon studio, and they heavily resemble the [[WesternAnimation/BoskoTheTalkInkKid Bosko cartoons]] they made.

** The three [[Creator/HarmanAndIsing Harman-Ising]] Cubby Bear shorts ("Gay Gaucho", "Cubby's World Flight" and "Mischievous Mice") have much more polished animation than the shorts prior to "Sinister Stuff".

* StockFootage: A scene of Cubby riding a horse in "The Gay Gaucho" is reused from Creator/HarmanAndIsing's "WesternAnimation/LadyPlayYourMandolin".

* TheWildWest: The setting of "Hot Tamale", The Gay Gaucho", "In the Bag" and "Redskin Blues."

* GoingCommando: Atypical of most female cartoon characters of her time or design, the girl cat in "Silvery Moon" clearly has no bloomers on beneath her skirt.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* BalefulPolymorph: In "Spinning Mice", the evil little devils turn the wizard into a giant rabbit by spilling his own potion on him.
* BaseballEpisode: "The Ball Game".
* BearyFunny: Cubby Bear.

* HauntedCastle: The setting of "Wot a Night".

* InstitutionalApparel: The prisoners in "Jolly Good Felons" wear these.
** The robber villain in "The Phantom Rocket" wears this.

* JekyllAndHyde / SpidersAreScary: The spider villain in "Fly Frolics".

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be]] [[NamesTheSame confused with]] THOSE [[WebAnimation/TheMostPopularGirlsInSchool Van Burens]], or UsefulNotes/MartinVanBuren, or ''VideoGame/FalloutVanBuren.''

* EverythingsBetterWithCows: The "Molly Moo Cow" shorts.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YU61wvb864 The Magic Mummy]]--Feb 7--Tom and Jerry--Foster, Stallings

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: For no particular reason, a monkey happens to reside in a nearby tree in "Day at the Park", and it causes Al Fslfa a good deal of trouble.

** WesternAnimation/FelixTheCatClassic (1936) While WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat was very prominent in the silent era, the rise of sound film ultimately proved to be his downfall. However, he survived as a popular newspaper comic, and did receive a very brief three-cartoon revival via Van Beuren Studios' "Rainbow Parade" series during the 1930s, with a fourth short in the planning stages before the Van Beuren Studio abruptly went belly-up In 1936.

* [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IVEkiuHUF-8 Horse Cops]]--Oct. 12--Fables, Foster, J.J. McManus

* WesternAnimation/TheSunshineMakers-Jan 11, RP, Gillett, Ted Eshbaugh Runner-Up on [[{{The50GreatestCartoons}} Jerry Beck's 50 Greatest Cartoons]] list.

* MockyMouse: Milton Mouse is such a blatant copy of WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse that he is almost visually distinguishable from Mickey and had to be dropped when Disney threatened legal action. His short-lived replacement Cubby Bear is also flagrantly based on Mickey.

* BeeAfraid: The fate of the Lepodopterist in "Molly Moo Cow and the Butterflies", where Molly sends him tripping against a local beehive, prompting them to chase off the guy.

* TheBigDamnKiss: Milton Mouse gives this to his girlfriend in the end of "Circus Capers", and [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar it literally makes her panties fly clean off]]!

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Many of the Van Beuren cartoons predate the Hays Office, and often contain raunchy gags and sometimes questionable subject matter; in "Circus Capers", Milton Mouse's girlfriend has a sexual affair with his ringmaster boss, and when she comes back to him, he gives her a kiss that makes her underwear fly clean off!