History Creator / VanBeurenStudios

* FollowTheLeader: This was Van Beuren's greatest weakness as a studio; while their animation was as off the wall as you could get, their cartoons were very derivative of what other studios were doing, and they were clearly handicapped by their inability to create unique characters. Many of their early 30's cartoons take their surreal cues straight from their next door rival Fleischer Studios; "The Farmerette" even has an obvious BettyBoop stand in, even voiced by one of her actresses, Bonnie Poe. One of their sound fables, "Panicky Pup", is an obvious knockoff of Fleischer's [[WesternAnimation/SwingYouSinners "Swing, You Sinners!"]] Their Tom and Jerry is a flaccid attempt at a ComicStrip/MuttAndJeff-esque duo, and their Milton Mouse and Cubby Bear, as well as their interpretation of WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat, are obvious MickeyMouse knockoffs. Their Toddle Tale and some of their Rainbow Parade cartoons ride off the coat of Disney's SillySymphonies series.

* ChannelHop: Of the pre-Tv variety; Felix was previously made by the Pat Sullivan studio and distributed by at least five different companies (Paramount, Winkler, Educational, First National and Copley Pictures). By 1936, Van Beuren licensed the character for their studio, and for that brief period they were distributed by RKO pictures.

* AnimationBump / ArtEvolution: By the late 1933 to 1934 period, the studios animation was considerably improving over their earlier shorts. As early as "Sinister Stuff", the characters become noticeably less flat and more rounded and appealing. Then Burt Gillett got to the studio, and the animation improved even more.

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 studios cartoons are public domain, the bulk of this studio's sound output is available on DVD for viewing.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQGN0UwuJxw The Sunshine Makers]]-Jan 11, RP, Gillett, Ted Eshbaugh Runner-Up on [[{{The50GreatestCartoons}} Jerry Beck's 50 Greatest Cartoons]] list.

[[IThoughtItMeant Not to be]] [[NamesTheSame confused with]] THOSE [[TheMostPopularGirlsInSchool Van Burens!]], and DEFINITELY not to be confused with Martin Van Buren.

** [[WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat Felix the Cat]] (1936) While Felix 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.

[[IThoughtItMeant Not to be]] [[NamesTheSame confused with]] THOSE [[TheMostPopularGirlsInSchool Van Burens!]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obr8qB8DHFk Neptune Nonsense]]--March 20, RP, Gil, Palm, starring FelixTheCat.
* WesternAnimation/BoldKingCole--May 29, RP, Gillett, starring FelixTheCat.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isbzfRh4za8 Bold King Cole]]--May 29, RP, Gillett, starring FelixTheCat.

** [[FelixTheCat Felix the Cat]] (1936) While Felix 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.

* Toddle Tales (1934); A RogerRabbitEffect-based series of cartoons made by Burt Gillett to help beef up the quality of Van Beuren's product. It lasted three shorts.

* Aesop's Fables, AKA "Aesop's Film Fables" (1920-1933) inherited from the Fables Studio, which was formerly run by Paul Terry. Originally a long running silent cartoon series, it became a series of sound cartoons which introduced one of the earliest sound cartoons, "Dinnertime", which notably predates Disney's SteamboatWillie by a month. The sound era of the series lasted around 120 shorts, including its sub-series. Paul Terry's Farmer Al Falfa was also a recurring star of the silent shorts, even appearing in a few of the early sound films before Terry, who had left to found [[TerryToons his own studio]], wrangled back the rights to the character.

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

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Grs4j3sFfm4 Panicky Pup]]-feb 24, Tom and Jerry--Foster, Bailey. Notably similar to FleischerStudio's [[WesternAnimation/SwingYouSinners "Swing, You Sinners!"]]

* FollowTheLeader: This was Van Beuren's greatest weakness as a studio; while their animation was as off the wall as you could get, their cartoons were very derivative of what other studios were doing, and they were clearly handicapped by their inability to create unique characters. Many of their early 30's cartoons take their surreal cues straight from their next door rival FleischerStudios; "The Farmerette" even has an obvious BettyBoop stand in, even voiced by one of her actresses, Bonnie Poe. One of their sound fables, "Panicky Pup", is an obvious knockoff of Fleischer's [[WesternAnimation/SwingYouSinners "Swing, You Sinners!"]] Their Tom and Jerry is a flaccid attempt at a ComicStrip/MuttAndJeff-esque duo, and their Milton Mouse and Cubby Bear, as well as their interpretation of WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat, are obvious MickeyMouse knockoffs. Their Toddle Tale and some of their Rainbow Parade cartoons ride off the coat of Disney's SillySymphonies series.

* SissyVillain: The Lepodopterist from "Molly Moo Cow and the Butterflies".

* WilliamTelling: In "A Royal Good Time", the King has his servants place apples on their heads, which he perfectly shoots off with his rifle as he moves along.
* TheWildWest: The setting of "Hot Tamale", The Gay Gaucho", "In the Bag" and "Redskin Blues".

* InNameOnly: Only the earliest Aesop's Fables cartoons were loose adaptations of the [[AesopsFables actual Fables]]; later entries usually revolved around cats, mice, and the disgruntled Farmer Al Falfa.

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 [[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 SillySymphonies clones, also starring licensed characters like "Toonerville Folks" and "WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat".

* EverythingsNuttierWithSquirrels: The ending of "In the Bag"; Tom got his money bag swapped out with walnuts, and when he opens the bag in the forest and finds out he's been duped, a bunch of squirrels swarm him!

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

** In the Harman-Ising Cubby Bear shorts, Cubby looks, moves and acts very similar to Harman-Ising's own BoskoTheTalkInkKid.

* Rainbow Parade (1934-1936); A series of color cartoons that lasted 26 shorts, and includes four sub-series and several oneshot cartoons. More than a few of them are obvious attempts to ride the coat tails of Disney's SillySymphonies.

** 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 [[BoskoTheTalkInkKid Bosko cartoons]] they made.

* TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation

* MsFanservice / PettingZooPerson: The MaeWest horse from "Galloping Fanny", and the Mae West duck in "Mild Cargo".

* TheSilentAgeOfAnimation: The earlier Aesop's Fables shorts.

* WhyDoYouKeepChangingJobs: Despite his Farmer moniker, Al Falfa has held different jobs throughout his shorts, such as running a deli (I.e. Dinnertime) or being a local cop (I.e. Day at the Park).

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esQYjZ0p4CQ Hook and ladder Hokum]]--(AKA Fire Fire)--April 28Tom and Jerry, Stallings, Tish Tash (AKA FrankTashlin)

* ThickLineAnimation: The general art style of the studio uses this.