The Van Beuren Cartoon Producution Company worked at RKO in the period from 1928 to 1936. Looking at their products so far I am amazed at how well drawn they are, but how dull the effect is. The work of the Disney studio, of Fleischner, of the Warner Looney Tunes under Chuck Jones or Tex Avory, or the MGM cartoons under Hanna Barbera and Avory were far better in terms of having a personality that transcended the work. The Fleischner and Van Beuren cartoons are equally well drawn, and both deal with a popular comic strip ("Thimble Theater"/"Popeye" for the former, and Fontaine Fox's "Toonerville Trolley") in the latter case, but the former are far more entertaining. In fact, Fleischner was able to do wonders with Koko, Bimbo, and Betty Boop (and later Superman). Van Beuren always lacked snap.
I don't know enough about the background of the Van Beuren unit. For all the dismissal of Columbia Studios or of Republic Studios as the weakest among the major film studios, RKO was the first one to really have serious financial problems leading to bankruptcy - and to eventual collapse. It cut loose the cartoon unit in 1936, and Van Beuren found no secondary home to resettle in.
Fox's "Toonerville Trolley" was a product of it's age that does not really translate too well in 2007. Except for San Francisco, Boston, and Buffalo, most major U.S. Cities lack trolley lines. New York City (especially Brooklyn) has toyed with restoring trolleys to some sections of the city - but we have a super-elaborate subway. So does Washington, D.C. In fact Boston and Buffalo's "trolley lines" are partly subway lines as well. A genuine trolley has tracks out in the street, that can be crossed by pedestrians by foot when the trolley is not coming down. But most trolleys like that were done away with in the 1950s (about the same time the comic strip ended in 1955), as cities found more use for cars, trucks, and buses. The best recalled ones are in San Francisco, and (oddly enough) New Orleans - the latter not having active street cars today, but having a famous play set in the city called A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, after an actual area of the city.
Fox's trolley was supposed to be a ramshackle affair that was run by elder "Skipper" (a bearded, bald old coot) who frequently needed his housekeeper (wife?) Katinka (a very heavy and hearty middle age woman) to assist him in a variety of problems that were preventing his trolley from working properly. Here it was that the Skipper is trying to get the trolley to meet the train for the first time in weeks. But he has problems with a cow (who pushes the trolley off the tracks), and with getting the trolley as it goes up a hill (the passengers have to get out and push it - and they are left behind as it picks up speed), and with bull. The bull attacks the trolley after Katinka paints it red!
The animation is passably good, and it has the charm of dealing with a by-gone era's transportation situations. But the comic strip was faster and more to the point. The cartoons tend to drag a bit, as situations develop to be solved by Katinka and the Skipper. The cartoon (and it's two sequels) are worth watching, but one wonders if the series would have lasted as long as Popeye did (or Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, or Tom and Jerry did for that matter).
I don't know enough about the background of the Van Beuren unit. For all the dismissal of Columbia Studios or of Republic Studios as the weakest among the major film studios, RKO was the first one to really have serious financial problems leading to bankruptcy - and to eventual collapse. It cut loose the cartoon unit in 1936, and Van Beuren found no secondary home to resettle in.
Fox's "Toonerville Trolley" was a product of it's age that does not really translate too well in 2007. Except for San Francisco, Boston, and Buffalo, most major U.S. Cities lack trolley lines. New York City (especially Brooklyn) has toyed with restoring trolleys to some sections of the city - but we have a super-elaborate subway. So does Washington, D.C. In fact Boston and Buffalo's "trolley lines" are partly subway lines as well. A genuine trolley has tracks out in the street, that can be crossed by pedestrians by foot when the trolley is not coming down. But most trolleys like that were done away with in the 1950s (about the same time the comic strip ended in 1955), as cities found more use for cars, trucks, and buses. The best recalled ones are in San Francisco, and (oddly enough) New Orleans - the latter not having active street cars today, but having a famous play set in the city called A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, after an actual area of the city.
Fox's trolley was supposed to be a ramshackle affair that was run by elder "Skipper" (a bearded, bald old coot) who frequently needed his housekeeper (wife?) Katinka (a very heavy and hearty middle age woman) to assist him in a variety of problems that were preventing his trolley from working properly. Here it was that the Skipper is trying to get the trolley to meet the train for the first time in weeks. But he has problems with a cow (who pushes the trolley off the tracks), and with getting the trolley as it goes up a hill (the passengers have to get out and push it - and they are left behind as it picks up speed), and with bull. The bull attacks the trolley after Katinka paints it red!
The animation is passably good, and it has the charm of dealing with a by-gone era's transportation situations. But the comic strip was faster and more to the point. The cartoons tend to drag a bit, as situations develop to be solved by Katinka and the Skipper. The cartoon (and it's two sequels) are worth watching, but one wonders if the series would have lasted as long as Popeye did (or Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, or Tom and Jerry did for that matter).
