Screen Songs#1938

The Screen Songs are a continuation of the earlier Fleischer series Song Car-Tunes in color. They are sing-along shorts featuring the famous "bouncing ball", a sort of precursor to modern karaoke videos.{{cite web |last1=Markstein |first1=Don |website=Don Markstein's Toonopedia |accessdate=2 April 2020 |url=http://www.toonopedia.com/screensng.htm |title=Screen Songs}} They often featured popular melodies of the day. The early Song Car-Tunes were among the earliest sound films, produced two years before The Jazz Singer. They were largely unknown at the time because their release was limited to the chain of 36 theaters operated by The Red Seal Pictures Company, which was equipped with the early Lee DeForest Phonofilm sound reproduction equipment. The Red Seal theater chain—formed by the Fleischers, DeForest, Edwin Miles Fadiman, and Hugo Riesenfeld—went from the East Coast to Columbus, Ohio.

Between May 1924 and September 1926, the Fleischers released 36 Song Car-Tunes series, with 19 using the Phonofilm sound-on-film process. The films included Oh Mabel, Come Take a Trip in My Airship, Darling Nelly Gray, Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?, and By the Light of the Silvery Moon. Beginning with My Old Kentucky Home (1926), the cartoons featured the "follow the bouncing ball" gimmick, that lead the audience singing along with the film. The other 17 films in the Song Car-Tunes series were silent, designed to be shown with live music in movie theaters.

The Fleischers were ahead of the sound revolution, and just missed the actual change when Red Seal Pictures filed for bankruptcy in the fall of 1926.

In 1928, the Weiss Brothers reissued through their Artclass Pictures company and other independent distributors a number of the silent "Ko-Ko Song Car-tunes" with new animation created for the beginnings, removing the original titles and opening original footage.

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}

• For Me and My Gal (1926)
• I Love to Fall Asleep (1926)
• In My Harem (1926)
• Just Try to Picture Me (1926)
• My Sweetie (1926)
• Old Pal (1926)
• Alexander's Ragtime Band (1926)
• The Sheik of Araby (1926)
• Annie Laurie (1926)
• Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning (1926)
• When I Lost You (1926)
• Margie (1926)
• When the Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves for Alabam' (1926)
• Oh! What a Pal Was Mary (1926)
• Everybody's Doing It (1926)
• Yak-A-Hula-Hick-A-Doola (1926)
• My Wife's Gone to the Country (1926)
• My Old Kentucky Home (1926)
• Beautiful Eyes (1926)
• Finiculee Finicula (1926)
• Micky (1926)
• When the Angelus Was Ringing (1926)
• When I Leave This World Behind (1926)
• Tumbledown Shack in Athlone (1927)
• The Rocky Road to Dublin (1927)
• Call Me Up Some Rainy Afternoon (1927)
• Oh I Wish I Was in Michigan (1927)

{{div col end}}

The Fleischers signed a new contract with Paramount Pictures in late 1928. Beginning in February 1929, the song cartoons returned under a new name, Screen Songs, using the Western Electric sound-on-film process. The first was The Sidewalks of New York (East Side, West Side) released on 5 February 1929. In the 1930s, the shorts began to feature such musical guest stars as Lillian Roth, Ethel Merman, Cab Calloway, Rudy Vallée, The Mills Brothers, the Boswell Sisters, and others. The series, which eventually focused on many of the "Big Bands" of "The Swing Era" continued until 1938. In 1945, Famous Studios, successors to the Fleischers, revived the Screen Songs as an all animated series. The earliest Screen Song released as part of the Noveltoons series, When G.I. Johnny Comes Home, was released on February 2, 1945.Pointer, Ray (2016) "The Art and Inventions of Max Fleischer: American Animation Pioneer", McFarland & Co. Publishers

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

| colspan="4" align="center" bgcolor="#DDDDDD" |

|-

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Film

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Characters / Musicians

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Original release date

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Copyright status

|-

|The Sidewalks of New York

|

|February 5, 1929

|public domain

|-

|Yankee Doodle Boy

|

|March 1, 1929

|public domain

|-

|Old Black Joe

|

|April 5, 1929

|public domain

|-

|Ye Olde Melodies

|

|May 3, 1929

|public domain

|-

|Daisy Bell

|

|May 31, 1929

|public domain

|-

|Mother, Pin a Rose on Me

|

|July 6, 1929

|public domain

|-

|Dixie

|

|August 17, 1929

|public domain

|-

|Chinatown, My Chinatown

|One-shot Chinese characters

|August 29, 1929

|public domain

|-

|Goodbye My Lady Love

|

|August 31, 1929

|public domain

|-

|My Pony Boy

|

|September 13, 1929

|public domain

|-

|Smiles

|One-shot human quartet

|September 27, 1929

|public domain

|-

|Oh, You Beautiful Doll

|Tommy and Mariah Cat

|October 14, 1929

|public domain

|-

|After the Ball

|Charles K. Harris and Fitz the dog (called fido in this short)

|November 8, 1929

|public domain

|-

|Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet

|One-shot animal characters

|November 22, 1929

|public domain

|-

|I've Got Rings on My Fingers

|One-shot black cannibal characters and (human) Irish cop

|December 17, 1929

|public domain

|-

| colspan=4 align=center bgcolor=#DDDDDD|

|-

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Film

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Characters / Musicians

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Animation

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Original release date

|-

|Bedelia

|One-shot dog characters

|

|January 3, 1930

|-

|In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree

|One-shot bear characters

|

|January 18, 1930

|-

|I'm Afraid to Come Home in the Dark

|

|

|January 30, 1930

|-

|The Prisoner's Song

|One-shot prisoners

|

|March 1, 1930

|-

|I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles

|One-shot mouse characters

|

|March 15, 1930

|-

|La Paloma

|Bimbo

|

|April 12, 1930

|-

|Yes! We Have No Bananas

|One-shot animal characters

|

|April 26, 1930

|-

|Come Take a Trip in My Airship

|Mariah Cat (here called "Kitty")

|

|April 26, 1930

|-

|In the Good Old Summer Time

|One-shot animal characters

|

|June 6, 1930

|-

|A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight

|One-shot mouse characters

|Seymour Kneitel

|August 1, 1930

|-

|The Glow-Worm

|Special bilingual entry
Song sung first in German, then in English.

|Rudy Zamora

|August 23, 1930

|-

|The Stein Song

|One-shot animal characters

|Rudy Zamora
Shamus Culhane

|September 6, 1930

|-

|Strike Up the Band

|One-shot dog sailors

|Al Eugster

|September 27, 1930

|-

|My Gal Sal

|Bimbo

|Willard Bowsky
Rudolph Eggeman

|October 18, 1930

|-

|Mariutch

|Bimbo (in Italian lead role)

|Grim Natwick
George Cannata

|November 15, 1930

|-

|On a Sunday Afternoon

|One-shot dog characters and (briefly) Bimbo

|Rudy Zamora
Shamus Culhane

|November 29, 1930

|-

|Row, Row, Row

|Bimbo (in villainous lead role) and Betty Boop prototype

|Seymour Kneitel
Rudolph Eggeman

|December 20, 1930

|-

| colspan=4 align=center bgcolor=#DDDDDD|

|-

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Film

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Characters / Musicians

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Animation

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Original release date

|-

|Please Go 'Way and Let Me Sleep

|Bimbo and (briefly) Betty Boop prototype

|Grim Natwick
George Cannata

|January 10, 1931

|-

|By the Beautiful Sea

|One-shot mouse characters

|Willard Bowsky
Reuben Timinsky (later Reuben Timmins)

|January 24, 1931

|-

|I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now

|Tommy and Mariah Cat

|Al Eugster
George Cannata

|February 14, 1931

|-

|I'd Climb the Highest Mountain

|Bimbo

|Seymour Kneitel
Reuben Timinsky

|March 7, 1931

|-

|Somebody Stole My Gal

|Bimbo

|George Cannata
Reuben Timinsky

|March 20, 1931

|-

|Any Little Girl That's a Nice Little Girl

|Tommy Cat and Betty Boop prototype

|Seymour Kneitel

|April 18, 1931

|-

|Alexander's Ragtime Band

|Bimbo

|Rudy Zamora
Shamus Culhane

|May 9, 1931

|-

|And the Green Grass Grew All Around

|One-shot bug characters

|

|May 30, 1931

|-

|My Wife's Gone to the Country

|Bimbo and (briefly) Betty Boop

|

|May 31, 1931

|-

|That Old Gang of Mine

|Mariah and (briefly) Tommy Cat

|

|July 11, 1931

|-

|Betty Co-ed

|Rudy Vallée, Betty Boop prototype

|

|August 1, 1931

|-

|Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean

|Gallagher and Shean

|Al Eugster

|August 29, 1931

|-

|You're Driving Me Crazy

|Harriet Lee, vocalist (Radio Queen of 1931-32)
Snooks and his Memphis Ramblers

|

|September 19, 1931

|-

|Little Annie Rooney

|Bimbo (in "Joe" role of song)

|Seymour Kneitel

Bernard Wolf

|October 10, 1931

|-

|Kitty from Kansas City

|Rudy Vallée, Betty Boop

|

|October 31, 1931

|-

|By the Light of the Silvery Moon

|Bimbo and (briefly) Betty Boop

|Seymour Kneitel
Myron Waldman

|November 14, 1931

|-

|My Baby Just Cares for Me

|Eddie Cantor, Bimbo (monkeylike design)

|

|December 5, 1931

|-

|Russian Lullaby

|Arthur Tracy, Aloysius

|

|December 26, 1931

|-

| colspan=4 align=center bgcolor=#DDDDDD|

|-

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Film

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Characters / Musicians

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Animation

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Original release date

|-

|Sweet Jennie Lee

|One-shot animal characters

|

|January 9, 1932

|-

|Show Me the Way to Go Home

|One-shot animal characters

|

|January 30, 1932

|-

|When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along

|One-shot bird characters

|

|February 19, 1932

|-

|Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie

|The Round Towners Quartet, Betty Boop and Bimbo

|Seymour Kneitel
Myron Waldman

|March 4, 1932

|-

|Just One More Chance

|Art Jarrett, Betty Boop

|Shamus Culhane

Dave Tendlar

|April 1, 1932

|-

|Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning

|Les Reis and Artie Dunn, Betty Boop

|Seymour Kneitel

Bernard Wolf

|April 22, 1932

|-

|Shine On Harvest Moon

|Alice Joy, one-shot animal characters

|Shamus Culhane

Reuben Timinsky

|May 6, 1932

|-

|Let Me Call You Sweetheart

|Ethel Merman, Betty Boop

|Shamus Culhane

Dave Tendlar

|May 20, 1932

|-

|I Ain't Got Nobody

|The Mills Brothers, one-shot animal characters

|Willard Bowsky

Tom Bonfiglio

|June 17, 1932

|-

|You Try Somebody Else

|Ethel Merman, Betty Boop

|

|July 29, 1932

|-

|Rudy Vallée Melodies

|Rudy Vallée, Betty Boop

|

|August 5, 1932

|-

|Down Among the Sugar Cane

|Lillian Roth, one-shot animal characters

|Shamus Culhane

William Henning

|August 26, 1932

|-

|Just a Gigolo

|Irene Bordoni, Betty Boop

|Shamus Culhane

Reuben Timinsky

|September 9, 1932

|-

|School Days

|Gus Edwards, one-shot animal characters

|William Henning

Dave Tendlar

|September 30, 1932

|-

|Romantic Melodies

|Arthur Tracy, Betty Boop and Bimbo

|Seymour Kneitel
Bernie Wolf

|October 21, 1932

|-

|Sleepy Time Down South

|The Boswell Sisters, one-shot animal characters

|Seymour Kneitel
Bernie Wolf

|November 11, 1932

|-

|Sing a Song

|James Melton, one-shot animal characters

|Seymour Kneitel
Myron Waldman

|December 2, 1932

|-

|Time on My Hands

|Ethel Merman, Betty Boop

|Willard Bowsky
Thomas Goodson

|December 23, 1932

|-

| colspan=4 align=center bgcolor=#DDDDDD|

|-

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Film

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Characters / Musicians

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Animation

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Original release date

|-

|Dinah

|The Mills Brothers, one-shot animal characters

|Dave Tendlar
William Henning

|January 13, 1933

|-

|Ain't She Sweet?

|Lillian Roth, Tommy and Mariah Cat

|Seymour Kneitel
Tom Johnson

|February 3, 1933

|-

|Reaching for the Moon

|Arthur Tracy, one-shot space alien characters

|Willard Bowsky
Ugo D'Orsi

|February 23, 1933

|-

|Aloha Oe

|Royal Samoans, one-shot jungle animal characters

|Bernie Wolf
Dave Tendlar

|March 17, 1933

|-

|Popular Melodies

|Art Jarrett

|Willard Bowsky
Myron Waldman

|April 7, 1933

|-

|The Peanut Vendor

|Armida, one-shot animal characters

|Seymour Kneitel
Tom Johnson

|April 28, 1933

|-

|Song Shopping

|Ethel Merman and Johnny Green, one-shot animal characters

|Willard Bowsky
Dave Tendlar

|May 19, 1933

|-

|Boilesk

|The Watson Sisters, one-shot animal characters

|Willard Bowsky
Myron Waldman

|June 9, 1933

|-

|Sing, Sisters, Sing

|Three X Sisters, one-shot animal characters

||Bernie Wolf
Dave Tendlar

|June 3, 1933

|-

|Down by the Old Mill Stream

|The Eton Boys, one-shot animal characters

||Willard Bowsky
William Sturm

|July 21, 1933

|-

|Stoopnocracy

|Stoopnagle and Budd, one-shot animal characters

|Seymour Kneitel
William Henning

|August 18, 1933

|-

|When Yuba Plays the Rumba on the Tuba

|The Mills Brothers

|Bernie Wolf
Tom Johnson

|September 15, 1933

|-

|Boo Boo Theme Song

|The Funnyboners

|Willard Bowsky
Myron Waldman

|October 13, 1933

|-

|I Like Mountain Music

|The Eton Boys

|Willard Bowsky
Myron Waldman

|November 10, 1933

|-

|Sing, Babies, Sing

|Baby Rose Marie

|Seymour Kneitel
Dave Tendlar

|December 15, 1933

|-

| colspan=4 align=center bgcolor=#DDDDDD|

|-

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Film

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Characters / Musicians

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Animation

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Original release date

|-

|Keeps Rainin' All the Time

|Gertrude Niesen

|Seymour Kneitel
William Henning

|January 12, 1934

|-

|Let's All Sing Like the Birdies Sing

|Les Reis and Artie Dunn, one-shot cat and bird characters

|Myron Waldman
Tom Johnson

|February 9, 1934

|-

|Tune Up and Sing

|Lanny Ross

|Willard Bowsky
Dave Tendlar

|March 9, 1934

|-

|Lazy Bones

|Borrah Minnevitch and His Harmonica Rascals

|Willard Bowsky
Dave Tendlar

|April 13, 1934

|-

|This Little Piggie Went to Market

|Singin' Sam

|Hicks Lokey
Paul Fennell

|May 25, 1934

|-

|She Reminds Me of You

|The Eton Boys

|Willard Bowsky
William Sturm

|June 22, 1934

|-

|Love Thy Neighbor

|Mary Small

|Myron Waldman
Edward Nolan

|July 20, 1934

|-

|Let's Sing with Popeye

|Billy Costello

|Seymour Kneitel
Roland Crandall (archival)

|Produced for Saturday morning matinee "Popeye Club".

|-

| colspan=4 align=center bgcolor=#DDDDDD|

|-

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Film

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Characters / Musicians

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Animation

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Original release date

|-

|I Wished on the Moon

|Abe Lyman and his Orchestra, Wiffle Piffle

|Tom Johnson

|September 20, 1935

|-

|It's Easy to Remember

|Richard Himber and his Orchestra (vocal by Stuart Allen)

|Tom Johnson

|November 29, 1935

|-

| colspan=4 align=center bgcolor=#DDDDDD|

|-

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Film

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Characters / Musicians

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Animation

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Original release date

|-

|No Other One

|Hal Kemp and His Orchestra (vocal by Skinnay Ennis), Wiffle Piffle

|Tom Johnson

|January 24, 1936

|-

|I Feel Like a Feather in the Breeze

|Jack Denny and his Orchestra, Wiffle Piffle

|Tom Johnson
Harold Walker

|March 27, 1936

|-

|I Don't Want to Make History

|Vincent Lopez and his Orchestra (vocal by Johnny Morris), Wiffle Piffle

|Tom Johnson
Harold Walker

|May 22, 1936

|-

|The Hills of Wyomin

|The Westerners / Curt Massey

|Tom Johnson
Harold Walker

|July 31, 1936

|-

|I Can't Escape from You

|Joe Reichman and His Orchestra (vocal by Billie Bailey)

|Tom Johnson
David Hoffman

|September 25, 1936

|-

|Talking Through My Heart

|Dick Stabile and his Orchestra, Wiffle Piffle

|Tom Johnson
Harold Walker

|November 27, 1936

|-

| colspan=4 align=center bgcolor=#DDDDDD|

|-

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Film

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Characters / Musicians

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Animation

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Original release date

|-

|Never Should Have Told You

|Nat Brandwynne and His Orchestra, Wiffle Piffle

|Roland Crandall

|January 29, 1937

|-

|Twilight on the Trail

|The Westerners / Louise Massey

|Roland Crandall

|March 26, 1937

|-

|Please Keep Me in Your Dreams

|Henry King (musician) and his Orchestra (vocal by Barbara Blake)

|Roland Crandall

|May 28, 1937

|-

|You Came to My Rescue

|Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra

|Roland Crandall

|July 30, 1937

|-

|Whispers in the Dark

|Gus Arnheim and his Orchestra (vocal by June Robbins)

|Roland Crandall

|September 24, 1937

|-

|Magic on Broadway

|Jay Freeman and his Orchestra

|Roland Crandall

|November 26, 1937

|-

| colspan=4 align=center bgcolor=#DDDDDD|

|-

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Film

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Characters / Musicians

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Animation

! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Original release date

|-

|You Took the Words Right Out of My Heart

|Jerry Blaine and his Streamline Rhythm Orchestra (vocal by Phyllis Kenny)

|Roland Crandall

|January 28, 1938

|-

|Thanks for the Memory

|Bert Block and his Orchestra

|Roland Crandall

|March 25, 1938

|-

|You Leave Me Breathless

|Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra (vocal by Bob Eberly)

|Roland Crandall

|May 27, 1938

|-

|Beside a Moonlit Stream

|Frank Dailey and his Orchestra

|Roland Crandall

|July 29, 1938

|}

{{blockquote|"Start your day with a song and sing the whole day through. Even while you're busy working, do just like the birdies do! Though the day may be long, you never will go wrong. Off-key, on-key, any old key, just start your day with a song!"|author=Opening to the Famous Studios Screen Song shorts.}}

For all the shorts, the musical arrangements were made by Winston Sharples.

• Bouncing ball (music)
• The Golden Age of American animation
• Kartunes

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://toonopedia.com/screensng.htm Screen Songs] at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. [https://archive.today/20240528033403/https://www.webcitation.org/6pKsHKEPJ?url=http://toonopedia.com/screensng.htm Archived] from the original on March 29, 2017.

• Leslie Cabarga, The Fleischer Story (Da Capo Press, 1988)
• Leonard Maltin, Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons (Penguin Books, 1980, revised edition 1987)

{{Fleischer Studios}}

{{Famous Studios}}

Category:Film series introduced in 1929

Category:Fleischer Studios short films

Category:Famous Studios series and characters

Category:Television series by U.M. & M. TV Corporation

Category:Animated film series

Category:Sing-along