Masters of Animation: 1930s Cultural Interlude

Oddly enough, the last post I've done for my Evaluating Disney/Masters of Animation series was in the middle of January; since then, I've written nothing. I plan to get to Evaluating Disney: 1938 this week, and then something must be said about Leon Schlesinger and Warner Bros. Animation (at the very least, a summation of the 1930s; I've not seene every Warners cartoon, and I'm not sure I can get to each and every one in the same way as Disney's to give a year by year examination).

For now, just for the hell of it, I want to make a brief overview of what's going on here in the 1930s, as Walt Disney was changing the face of pop culture and film, and even animation itself. Here's the world of the Great Depression in terms of pop culture.

In 1931, abstract art began to get noticed. The Atom Smasher was built in Britain; America put up the Empire State Building and put away Al Capone. Stereo recordings were just beginning. Chester Gould's Dick Tracy began its so-far endless run in the newspapers, debuting in the Detroit Free Press. James Dean was born; so was Mikhail Gorbachev. Thomas Edison, considered by many the inventor of the movie camera, died at the age of 84. Argentina produces an animated feature, Peludopolis. Flip the Frog, Betty Boop, and Merrie Melodies all premiere.

In 1932, we had the Olympics, the advent of the Drive-In Theater, the rise to power of Hitler, and the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. The Academy Award for Animated Shorts come into existence. Casey Kasem (among other things, the future cartoon voice of Robin, the Boy Wonder) is born. Animation giant Raoul Barre dies; George Eastman, the inventor of Kodak, commits suicide. The Soviet Union sees an animated feature, Master of Existence, using puppet animation. Goofy appears in his first Disney cartoon. George Pal makes his first Puppetoon movie. Disney's Flowers and Trees wins an Oscar.

In 1933, Hitler declares himself dictator of Germany and puts up his first concentration camp at Dachau. President Roosevelt declares the only thing to fear is fear itself and passes the National Recovery Act. Detroit's WXYZ radio station premieres The Lone Ranger and Alley Oop appears in the comics. Charles Darrow trademarks the board game Monopoly. Popeye the Sailor begins for the Fleischers; Ub Iwerks debuts Willie Whopper and the Comicolor Cartoon series. Lillian Friedman becomes the first woman animator to work at an American studio (Fleischer). The first Mickey Mouse watches appear (priced $2.75). The great animator Richard Williams is born. Pat Sullivan, the producer of Felix the Cat, dies. King Kong premieres. Disney's Three Little Pigs wins an Oscar.

In 1934, Salvador Dali has a showing in New York; he will call Disney a great surrealist. Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are killed by police officers, as are John Dillinger, Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, and George "Baby Face" Nelson. Ub Iwerks builds the multiplane camera three years before Disney does (he builds it out of Chevrolet parts). Bill Tytla and Norm Ferguson begin work at Disney. The Hays Code takes effect in Hollywood; Fleischer struggles to redesign Betty Boop and launches the Color Classics series; Charles Mintz launches Color Rhapsodies; Burt Gillett leaves Disney to attempt to revitalize Van Beuren Studios. Of the many new comic strips making their debut, Milt Canniff has Terry and the Pirates, Will Gould has Red Barry, Lee Falk has Mandrake the Magician, and Alex Raymond has Flash Gordon, Jungle Jim, and Secret Agent X-9 (written by Dashiel Hammett) all at once. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century debuts. Comic books begin with Dell's Famous Funnies #1, a reprint series. Legendary Czech animator Jan Svankmajer is born. Legendary American animator Winsor McCay dies; so does Marie Curie. There are two animated features in the USSR: The Tale of a Priest and His Servant Balda and The Tale of Tsar Durandai. Donald Duck makes his first appearance, Van Beuren begins the Rainbow Parade series, and Harman-Ising begin the Happy Harmonies series. On a Moonlit Night is the first sound cartoon produced in India. Disney's The Tortoise and the Hare wins an Oscar.

In 1935, Ma Barker is killed by police, the Dust Bowl sweeps across America, Social Security is enacted, the DC-3 airplane goes into service, Germany and Britain begin televised public broadcasting, and Mussolini invades Ethiopia. Polyethylene, the artificial heart, Kodachrome, and RADAR (it used to be an acronym) are invented. Krueger is the world's first canned beer. Universal Pictures shuts down their animation studio, forcing Walter Lantz to go independent. Charles Addams begins his New Yorker cartoons, which include the Addams Family. New Fun Comics is the first comic book to feature original material. Isao Takahata, the director of My Neighbors the Yamadas, is born; so is Elvis Presley. T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia) dies in a motorcycle accident. The Soviet Union puts out another animated feature, The New Gulliver. Disney switches to color completely. Porky Pig makes his first appearance in I Haven't Got a Hat. Disney's Three Orphan Kittens wins an Oscar (despite its obvious inferiority to The Band Concert).

In 1936, Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals at the Olympics and President Roosevelt got re-elected. Germany invades the Rhineland and the Spanish Civil War begins. King Edward VIII abdicates to marry Wallis Simpson. Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy debut on the radio. Germany begins to produce Volkswagen cars. The Magnetophone begins the era of magnetic tape recorders. Tex Avery becomes a director for Warner Bros. They are joined by Carl Stalling and Ben "Bugs" Hardaway, who have left Ub Iwerks, who was forced to close his doors. Oscar Fischinger, an expressionist and one of the true experimental animators, flees Germany for the US. Disney leaves United Artists for RKO (who dumps Van Beuren, which is forced to shut down). Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf is performed for the first time. Flash Gordon becomes a movie serial. Lee Flak's The Phantom debuts in the comics, Ka-Zar the Great appears in a pulp magazine. Jim Henson is born; Rudyard Kipling dies. Republic Pictures is formed. The USSR has another animated feature, The Argonauts, and Italy has one, too: The Adventures of Pinocchio. Disney's The Country Cousin wins an Oscar. Go figure.

In 1937, the Hindenburg explodes in New Jersey, Amelia Earhart is never heard from again, and Adolf Hitler holds the Nuremberg rallies. Nylon is patented and Spam is named. The first cartoonists' strike is held by Fleischer artists. MGM drops Harman-Ising to form their own animation studio (they hire away many Terrytoons artists and attempt to hire Friz Freleng away from Warners at double his salary). Detective Comics #1 debuts Dr. Occult, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Burne Hogarth replaces Hal Foster on the Tarzan comic strip; Foster has left to create Prince Valiant. Dr. Seuss publishes his first book, And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street. Don Bluth and Lorenzo Music are born; Jean Harlow dies at age 26. Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first American animated feature; also debuting this year are two more features, The Romance of Reynard (France) and The Seven Ravens (Germany). Mel Blanc begins his long life of work at Warner Bros., and Daffy Duck debuts in Porky's Duck Hunt. Disney's The Old Mill wins an Oscar.

In 1938, US unemployment is 8 million. Hitler conquers Austria; Britain's PM Neville Chamberlain chooses to appease him for "peace in our time." Orson Welles terrifies Americans who are too stupid to check other radio channels for verification with The War of the Worlds. Irving Berlin's "God Bless America," written in 1918, is performed for the first time. Vladimir Kosma Zwoykin patents the Cathode-Ray Receiver and the Cathode-Ray Transmitter. Chester Carlson demonstrates Xerography. Harman-Ising closes; Terrytoons finally bow to the public desire for color cartoons. Siegel and Shuster's Superman debuts in Action Comics #1. Ralph Bakshi is born. The US Army debuts the General Purpose Vehicle, or G.P.--as in, "jeep." Disney's Ferdinand the Bull wins an Oscar.

In 1939, the atom is split for the first time. World War II begins; Hitler signs a non-aggression pact with the USSR, then invades Poland and Czechoslovakia. Bill Hewlett and Davd Packard invent the Audio Oscillator. NBC begins to broadcast television. Will Eisner's Wonder Comics #1 sparks a lawsuit over the Superman copyright, which Siegel and Shuster have sold to DC Comics for $130; Superman Comics #1 becomes the first comic book devoted to a single character. Bob Kane and Bill Finger's Batman debuts in Detective Comics #27. Martin Goodman publishes Marvel Comics #1, which introduces the Human Torch, Namor the Submariner, and the first comic book appearance of Ka-Zar the Savage. The Sandman first appears in New York World's Fair Comics #1. The father of motion picture special effects, the great Georges Meilies, dies destitute in Paris while selling chocolates in a rail station. Sigmund Freud also dies. John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, the Great American Novel, is published. The Soviet Union releases another two animated features, The Silly Little Mouse and The Little Gold Key; the Fleischers release Gulliver's Travels. Goofy gets his own cartoon series. Disney's The Ugly Duckling wins an Oscar.

In 1940, Hitler was very busy: he invaded Scandinavia, used the blitzkrieg manuever to save time and materials conquering Belgium and Holland, took a surrendering Paris, flew over London, and bombed the Vatican, just missing St. Paul's. Churchill became PM of Britain and began the counterattack. The US draft begins. The prehistoric Lascaux cave paintings are discovered. Will Eisner returns to comics with The Spirit. Ub Iwerks returns to Disney. Lex Luthor is introduced in Action Comics #23; the Joker and Catwoman are introduced in Batman #1; Robin the Boy Wonder is introduced in Detective Comics #38. Brenda Starr makes her debut in the Chicago Tribune. Joe Simon and Jack Kirby begin working together on comics. The Justice Society of America (my personal favorite superhero team of all time) debuts in All-Star Comics #3; the Spectre first appears in More Fun Comics #52, while the Flash, Johnny Thunder, and Hawkman make their first appearances in Flash Comcis #1, and the Green Lantern first appears in All-American Comics #16. Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #1 appears. Buck Rogers becomes a movie serial. The comic strip Apple Mary, which debuted a few years ago, is retitled Mary Worth. Captain Marvel enters the world in Whiz Comics #2 (there is no number one). Charles Mintz and Earl Hurd die; so does F. Scott Fitzgerald. Terry Gilliam is born. Disney releases two animated features, Pinocchio and Fantasia. Tom and Jerry first appear in Puss Gets the Boot; Woody Woodpecker first appears in the Andy Panda cartoon Knock, Knock. Gone with the Wind is released to massive success. MGM's The Milky Way, directed by Rudolph Ising, becomes the first non-Disney cartoon to win the Oscar.

And there we are; placed in some perspective. Should I do this again? I think I'm going to go back and do the previous couple of decades...