99-415: The Screen Gems Network ( SGN ) was an American afternoon television program which ran in syndication from September 20, 1999, to September 9, 2002, launched by Columbia TriStar Television Distribution and produced by Evolution Media . The concept for the program was announced on January 11, 1999 and it began airing on September 20, 1999; for the block's first season, only half-hour sitcoms were part of
198-490: A 2013 throwback-style Mickey Mouse cartoon, Get a Horse! While only 19 of 26 cartoons were previously known to have survived, a couple of Oswald's lost cartoons were found in the 2010s. In 2015, the British Film Institute 's National Archives were found to hold his Sleigh Bells (1928) footage. The BFI and Walt Disney Animation Studios worked to restore the short. Long-term Disney animator David Bossert wrote
297-402: A SG-affiliated production company to produce his own projects with that company. The most notable of these productions was Police Story , an NBC police crime drama. In 1973, Allan Blye and Chris Bearde via Blye-Bearde Productions signed an independent production agreement with Screen Gems to develop their own projects. Also that year, Harry Ackerman, who was vice president of production left
396-461: A Service Station at Disney's California Adventure (near the entrance) that only sells exclusive "Oswald The Lucky Rabbit" merchandise including Oswald ears, hats (baseball caps), shirts, t-shirts, plates, coats, cups, mugs, plush toys, key-chains, and much more. The Oswald character showed up at the parks in Florida and California on the day Disney reacquired Oswald, but made no further appearances at
495-474: A better place for forgotten characters, especially his "bunny children" and his wife Ortensia. Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two is a video game that was released on November 18, 2012. Unlike the previous game, Epic Mickey 2 features full voiced cut-scenes with Frank Welker (Welker had also provided Oswald's vocal effects and the Shadow Blot in the previous game) as Oswald's first voice actor in an Oswald
594-573: A book, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons which was released in 2017. A Japanese man, Yasushi Watanabe, read the book and discovered that he had a missing 1928 Oswald cartoon, Neck & Neck , since he was a teenager. A series centered on Oswald was in development with the project announced in 2019 for a potential release on Disney+ . Disney Television Animation veteran Matt Danner revealed that
693-407: A drawing". Not only were gags used, but his humor differed in terms of what he used to make people laugh. He presented physical humor , used situations to his advantage and presented situational humor in general and frustration comedy best shown in the cartoon The Mechanical Cow . He would use animal limbs to solve problems and even use his own limbs as props and gags. He could be squished as if he
792-525: A film production that specializes in genre films, mainly horror. Screen Gems is a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA). When producer Pat Sullivan came to Harry Warner to sign a contract with him on his and Otto Messmer 's series Felix the Cat , he declined and instead told his soon-to-be former secretary Margaret J. Winkler that she should form her own company and take control of
891-502: A forest together with other anthropomorphized toys. These included Toby Bear, Maggie Lou the wooden doll, Hi-Yah Wahoo the turtle-faced Indian, and Woody Woodpecker —depicted as a mechanical doll filled with nuts and bolts (hence his "nutty" behavior). In 1944, with the addition of writer John Stanley , the stuffed animal motif was dropped, as were Maggie Lou, Woody, and Wahoo. Oswald and Toby became flesh and blood characters living as roommates in "Lantzville". Initially drawn by Dan Gormley,
990-518: A half-hour dramatic anthology concept to the Ford Motor Company which became Ford Theatre , which was one of the first times a major Hollywood movie studio had produced content for television. They also produced seven episodes of the first season of Cavalcade of America . The name "Screen Gems," at the time, was used to hide the fact that the film studio was entering television production and distribution. Many film studios saw television as
1089-499: A hick"—marched "one half-block north" on Broadway to MGM to visit Fred Quimby . During this period, Walt and Lillian attended the premier of the Oswald short Rival Romeos , which debuted at the Colony on 53rd and Broadway. In February 1928, Disney traveled to New York City in hopes of negotiating a more profitable contract with his producer Charles Mintz. As economic problems were apparent at
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#17328586735261188-614: A home for "forgotten" Disney characters, including Oswald, who rules over the environment. Oswald fashioned Wasteland after Disneyland, although it is darker and distorted. He implements his likeness into areas Mickey Mouse normally appears, such as the iconic Partners statue with Walt Disney and other imagery throughout the town. Oswald was the first cartoon character to be "forgotten" and eventually lose his relevance, now inhabiting Wasteland. Oswald also dislikes Mickey for stealing his popularity that he felt he deserved. Despite his resentment, Oswald tries to maintain peace and make Wasteland
1287-613: A level of success comparable to Walt Disney Productions , Warner Bros. Cartoons , and the MGM Cartoon Studio . The studio's purpose was assumed by an outside producer, United Productions of America (UPA), whose cartoons, including Gerald McBoing-Boing and the Mr. Magoo series, were major critical and commercial successes. Following UPA, a deal with Hanna-Barbera was made in 1957, which lasted until 1967. In 1999, Columbia TriStar International Television produced Totally Tooned In -
1386-573: A limited edition grayscale plush toy appeared shortly after the DVD set's release. The Disney Store also began to introduce Oswald into its merchandise lines, starting with a canvas print and Christmas ornament that became available in Fall 2007. A standard-issue color plush toy matching Oswald's appearance in Epic Mickey appeared in late 2010. This was followed by an ongoing roll-out of clothing and other products at
1485-1054: A line of products developed by Disney and Givenchy . Restored public domain versions of the shorts Trolley Troubles and All Wet (both 1927) were released on Disney+ in September 2023. Shortly after the rabbit starred in his black-and-white animated silent shorts between 1927 and 1928, he sold merchandise for Universal: a chocolate-covered marshmallow candy bar, a stencil set, and a pin-backed button. In 2004 and 2005, Oswald products became popular in Japan and were primarily made available as prizes in UFO catchers and as official merchandise in Universal Studios Japan , manufactured by Taito and/or Medicom, these products included puppets, inflatable dolls, keyrings, and watches. Oswald made his first Disneyland appearance at Tokyo Disneyland on March 31, 2010, as an Easter float. As of October 2017, Oswald has
1584-432: A new cartoon in secret, starring a new character which would soon become the most successful cartoon character in film history and later became the foundation of a global entertainment empire. The first Mickey Mouse cartoon to be filmed was Plane Crazy in the summer of 1928, but it was produced as a silent and held back from release. The first Mickey Mouse film with a synchronized soundtrack, Steamboat Willie , reached
1683-468: A new character similar in appearance to Oswald as a replacement: Mickey Mouse , who went on to become one of the most famous cartoon characters in the world. In 2003, Buena Vista Games pitched a concept for an Oswald-themed video game to then-Disney President and future-CEO Bob Iger , who became committed to acquiring the rights to Oswald. In 2006, The Walt Disney Company acquired the trademark of Oswald (with NBCUniversal effectively trading Oswald for
1782-485: A new rabbit character that he could sell to Universal, because there were too many cat characters ( Krazy Kat , Felix the Cat, etc.). After Oswald was created, Winkler signed a contract with Universal on March 4 the same year, which would guarantee 26 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons. Work on both the character and series began soon after Disney moved his studio to Hyperion Avenue. The Universal studio heads rejected
1881-726: A non-exclusive agreement with the studio for joint distribution of its TV productions. Even though none of Greenway's shows went to SG, Greenway immediately struck out a deal with rival television producer 20th Century-Fox Television in 1964. In 1963, Screen Gens entered music publishing with the purchase of Don Kirshner 's Aldon Music with Kirshner named head of the Columbia-Screen-Gems music division. Four years later, he departed Screen Gems after coming into conflict with The Monkees over their desire to play on their records. Lester Sill replaced Kirshner , and remained head of music publishing until 1985. Screen Gems-Columbia Music
1980-656: A package of Universal Pictures horror films (later shifted to MCA TV ), which was enormously successful in reviving that genre. From 1958 to 1974, under President John H. Mitchell and Vice President of Production Harry Ackerman , Screen Gems delivered TV shows and sitcoms: Dennis the Menace , The Donna Reed Show , Hazel , Here Come the Brides , Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , Gidget , Bewitched , I Dream of Jeannie , The Flying Nun , The Monkees , The Girl with Something Extra and The Partridge Family . It
2079-458: A peg for gags. Instead, his stated intention was "to make Oswald peculiarly and typically OSWALD". In 1927, because of cost and technical restrictions, Disney and his chief animator Ub Iwerks ended their work on the Alice Comedies and Julius the Cat . Around the same time, Charles Mintz got word that Universal Pictures wanted to get into the cartoon business, so he told Disney to create
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#17328586735262178-642: A resource base of 58,000 episodes of 350 television series from the 1950s to 1980s, included were shows created by Columbia Pictures Television, Tandem Productions , and ELP Communications . The announcer of the program was Billy West , who was tapped by CTTD to be the announcer for the program on August 11, 1999. Programs were creatively grouped for theme weeks such as "Love is in the Air", "Pilots", "Best Music Videos" and "Before They Were Stars". Holiday based theme weeks include promotions for Halloween , Christmas , Mother's Day and Father's Day , among others. The block
2277-585: A result, in funding its acquisitions, 18% of Screen Gems' shares was spun off from Columbia and it became a publicly-traded company on the NYSE until 1968. Screen Gems also provided technical assistance and partial control of a private television station in Venezuela , Canal 11 Televisión , which existed from 1966 to 1968. In 1963, William Dozier, who was one of the top Screen Gems employees, and senior vice president of production left to start out Greenway Productions, with
2376-634: A revived TriStar Television on February 21, 1994 to form Columbia TriStar Television . The name "Screen Gems" was also utilized for a syndicated hour-long program for classic television called Screen Gems Network that first aired in 1999 and ran until 2002. The television division is presently known as (and as a name-only unit of) Sony Pictures Television . Television programs produced and/or syndicated by Screen Gems: Note: (*)= Currently owned by Turner Entertainment Co. and Warner Bros. Note: (*) = Currently owned by Turner Entertainment and Warner Bros. Discovery On December 8, 1998, Screen Gems
2475-520: A series was in development as a follow-up for the team behind Legend of the Three Caballeros , but that they "got broken up and scattered to the wind". He expressed hope that the series could still be revived in the future and further hinted that another team would develop it, because Disney was still heavily invested in wanting to revive the character. On December 1, 2022, an online hand-drawn animated Oswald short by Walt Disney Animation Studios
2574-400: A shirt and shorts. Both redesigns were done by Manuel Moreno, who recalled that in the 1935 redesign that Lantz said to make Oswald cute and to get rid of the black on him, because Disney was also changing his characters. The cartoons containing the new, white-furred Oswald seemed different from their predecessors in more than one way, as the stories themselves became softer. Minor changes in
2673-495: A syndicated TV package showcasing Columbia's classic cartoon library. With the aid of animation historian Jerry Beck , Columbia restored and remastered the majority of the color Screen Gems cartoons (as well as all the UPA cartoons) from their original 35mm elements. The show aired in several international markets before making its American television debut on Antenna TV on January 8, 2011. They would later be aired on Toon In With Me on
2772-552: A threat to their business, thus it was expected that they would shun the medium. However, Columbia was one of a few studios who branched out to television under a pseudonym to conceal the true ownership of the television arm. That is until 1955, when Columbia decided to use the woman from its logo under the Screen Gems banner, officially billing itself as a part of "the Hollywood studios of Columbia Pictures", as spoken in announcements at
2871-424: A younger character, peppy, alert, saucy, and venturesome, keeping him also neat and trim". With Oswald, Disney began to explore the concept of "personality animation", in which cartoon characters were defined as individuals through their movements, mannerisms, and acting, instead of simply through their design. Around this period, Disney had expressed: "I want the characters to be somebody. I don't want them just to be
2970-405: Is an American film production company owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment , a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation . The Screen Gems brand has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation, initially as a cartoon studio, then a television studio, and later on as a film studio. The label currently serves as
3069-598: Is definitely worth more than a fourth-round draft choice. I'm going to be a trivia answer someday. In January 2007, a T-shirt line from Comme des Garçons seems to have constituted the first new Disney Oswald merchandise. Following in December was a two-disc DVD set, The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit , included in Wave Seven of the Walt Disney Treasures DVD series. Several Oswald collectors' figurines and
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3168-530: The MeTV Network in November 2021. Despite these restoration efforts, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has no current plans to release these shorts on DVD or Blu-ray. Since CPE Holdings, Inc. became dormant on May 9, 2024, Sony Pictures Releasing now owns the theatrical distribution on behalf of Columbia Pictures , while Sony Pictures Television owns the television distribution on behalf of CPT Holdings, Inc. to
3267-666: The Nine Network . In the late 1950s, Screen Gems also entered into ownership and operation of television stations. Stations owned by Screen Gems over the years included KCPX (Salt Lake City; now KTVX , owned by Nexstar Media Group ), WVUE-DT (New Orleans; now owned by Gray Television ), WAPA-TV (San Juan; now owned by the Hemisphere Media Group), WNJU (Linden, NJ; now Telemundo / NBCUniversal O&O), and several radio stations as well, including 50,000-watt clear channel WWVA (Wheeling, WV; now owned by iHeartMedia ). As
3366-580: The 1941 short The Fox and the Grapes . Based on the Aesop's Fable of the same name, the short would inadvetably spawn Columbia's most successful characters with The Fox and the Crow , a comic duo of a refined Fox and a street-wise Crow. Tashlin's stay at Screen Gems would be short-lived, as he would later leave the studio, following an argument with Columbia higher-ups. When interviewed by Michael Barrier, Tashlin said that
3465-525: The 2013 animated short Get a Horse! He was the subject of the 2015 feature film Walt Before Mickey . Oswald also appears as a townsperson in Disney Infinity 2.0 . In 2022, Oswald appeared in a new short produced by Disney. He also has a cameo appearance in Once Upon a Studio . In January 2023, the copyrights on several of the original Oswald shorts, as well as the character, expired. Those films and
3564-494: The CPT name. Columbia also ran Colex Enterprises , a joint venture with LBS Communications to distribute most of the Screen Gems library, which ended in 1987. In 1985, the name was brought back by Columbia Pictures Television to distribute classic television series from its vaults to first-run syndication. On December 18, 1987, Coca-Cola spun off its entertainment holdings and sold it to Tri-Star Pictures, Inc. for $ 3.1 billion. It
3663-622: The Dell Oswald stories. In 2010, Oswald starred in the digi-comic series Epic Mickey: Tales of the Wasteland , a prequel to the Epic Mickey video game, sharing what the Wasteland was like before Mickey arrived there. In 2011, Oswald starred in the Norwegian Disney comic story "En magisk jul!", written by David Gerstein and drawn by Mark Kausler. It is based on and takes place in the times of
3762-701: The Disney Store, various chain stores, and the Disney California Adventure theme park. In 2012, the newly redesigned Buena Vista Street at Disney California Adventure included Oswald's Filling Station, an Oswald merchandise stand themed as a 1920s gas station. The shop exclusively only sells just "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" merchandise such as "Oswald Ears" hats (a similar style to the popular Mickey Mouse Club black mouse-eared caps), as well as shirts, t-shirts, plush toys, pins, mugs, and other special Oswald items. In 2014, Oswald began making appearances in
3861-632: The Lucky Rabbit Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (also known as Oswald the Rabbit , Oswald Rabbit , and Ozzie ) is an animated cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures . He starred in several animated short films released to theaters from 1927 to 1938. Twenty-seven animated Oswald shorts were produced at the Walt Disney Studio . After Universal took control of Oswald's character in 1928, Disney created
3960-633: The Lucky Rabbit production from Disney. Bill Nolan was Oswald's first voice actor in 1929, when Walter Lantz produced the Oswald cartoons. Tetsuya Nomura , creator and lead producer of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, had requested for Oswald's use in Kingdom Hearts III , but the response from Disney was that the character would be "too difficult" to use, with no further clarification or details from Disney. Nomura cites Oswald as one of his favorite Disney characters. On November 30, 2023, Oswald
4059-640: The Ocean ". In 1939, a short while before his death, after becoming indebted to Columbia, Mintz relinquished ownership of his studio and the Screen Gems name to Columbia to settle longstanding financial problems. Mintz was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Short Subject. His first nomination was in 1935 for Holiday Land , and he was nominated again in 1938 for The Little Match Girl . For an entire decade, Charles Mintz produced Krazy Kat , Scrappy , and Color Rhapsody animated film shorts through Columbia Pictures. Mintz's production manager became
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4158-645: The area near the shop. In 1995, Oswald briefly appeared in Férias Frustradas do Pica-Pau , a Woody Woodpecker video game released for the Master System and the Mega Drive in Brazil only. Oswald is one of the main characters in the 2010 video game Epic Mickey and its 2024 remake, Epic Mickey: Rebrushed . The world of Epic Mickey takes place in "Wasteland", a setting that mirrors elements of Disneyland but as
4257-460: The art of Jack Bradbury , known also for his Mickey Mouse work. After the assassination of John F. Kennedy by Lee Harvey Oswald , the name "Oswald" came to have negative connotations. He made brief appearances in the Woody Woodpecker comics series until it ended in the 1970s. Through the end of the 20th century, the comics produced outside the U.S. carried on the look and story style of
4356-547: The block, with the second season expanding to include hour-long drama shows. (While not part of the Screen Gems Network itself, CTTD and Evolution also produced 130 half-hour compilations of shorts featuring The Three Stooges in a similar manner to that of the Screen Gems Network.) SGN was the first broadcast-based service airing classic shows from the Columbia Pictures Television vault, airing shows with
4455-446: The cartoons made during this period were described as being "misguided" or "imitation Warner Bros." Hubley also said to have disliked his work at the studio, and that Columbia "hated" the cartoons they were making. Historians note that the decline in quality could have been caused by several key factors; Tashlin's departure from the studio, the inability to obtain confident animators, writers or directors and Columbia's mismanagement behind
4554-647: The cartoons. Mintz refused, and hired away all of Walt Disney Studios 's animators except Iwerks, Les Clark, and Johnny Cannon, who all refused to leave Disney. He moved the production of the Oswald cartoons to Winkler Pictures, along with Margaret Winkler's brother, George. After losing the Oswald contract to Walter Lantz , Mintz focused on the Krazy Kat series, which was the output of a Winkler-distributed property. M.J. Winkler Productions became known as Winkler Pictures after Mintz took over in 1926 and partnered with Columbia Pictures for distribution in 1929. In 1931, when
4653-507: The character are now in the public domain . The character will appear in Oswald: Down the Rabbit Hole , an upcoming horror film directed by Lilton Stewart III, and starring Ernie Hudson as the titular character. While under Disney's creative control, Oswald was one of the first cartoon characters that had personality. As outlined by Walt himself: "Hereafter we will aim to [make] Oswald
4752-592: The character over the years. June Foray provided Oswald's voice in The Egg Cracker Suite , which was the final theatrical short to feature him. She later voiced him again for an unaired radio pilot, Sally in Hollywoodland (1947). Oswald made a cameo appearance in the first animated sequence with both sound and color (two-strip Technicolor), a 2½-minute animated sequence of the live action movie The King of Jazz (1930), produced by Laemmle for Universal. It
4851-560: The character, spanning the work of all three producers. After Lantz took over production in 1929, Oswald's look changed to some degree over the following years: Oswald got white gloves on his hands, shoes on his feet, a shirt, a "cuter" face with larger eyes, a bigger head, and shorter ears. With 1935's Case of the Lost Sheep , an even more major makeover took place: the character was drawn more realistically now, with white fur rather than black, shoes are removed, plus wearing suspenders instead of
4950-578: The classic Oswald shorts from 1927 to 1928. The story was later reprinted, as "Just Like Magic!", in the American Disney comic Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #726 (2015). In February 2006, Disney CEO Bob Iger initiated a trade with NBCUniversal in which a number of minor assets, including the rights to Oswald and the 27 shorts that Walt Disney had worked on, were acquired by The Walt Disney Company in exchange for sending sportscaster Al Michaels from Disney's ABC and ESPN to NBC Sports . At
5049-463: The contract, partly due to Iwerks informing Disney that George Winkler, at the behest of Mintz, had been going behind Disney's back during pick-up runs for Oswald reels and hiring away his animators. Eventually, Disney traveled with his wife Lilly to New York to find other potential distributors for his studio's cartoons, including Fox and MGM, prior to meetings with Mintz. As Walt later recalled, he placed two Oswald prints under one arm and—feeling "like
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#17328586735265148-617: The deal was announced: When Bob [Iger] was named CEO, he told me he wanted to bring Oswald back to Disney, and I appreciate that he is a man of his word. Having Oswald around again is going to be a lot of fun. Around the same time, the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets made a similar deal, the Chiefs giving the Jets a draft pick as compensation for releasing coach Herm Edwards from his contract. Referring to this trade, Michaels said: Oswald
5247-546: The distribution of the series. Winkler formed M.J. Winkler Productions and soon also took control of Max and Dave Fleischer 's series Out of the Inkwell . By 1923 she and Sullivan were arguing, and that same year the Fleischer Brothers formed their own distribution company named Red Seal. Winkler saw an unreleased short called Alice's Wonderland , a cartoon produced and directed by Walt Disney , and became impressed with
5346-451: The drawing style would continue, too. With Happy Scouts (1938), the second-to-last Oswald film produced, the rabbit's fur went from being all-white to a combination of white and gray. Unlike the Disney shorts, in which Oswald did not speak, Lantz's cartoons began to feature actual dialogue for Oswald, although most of the cartoons were still silent to begin with. Animator Bill Nolan performed
5445-962: The end of some Screen Gems series. By 1952, the studio had produced a series of about 100 film-record coordinated releases for television under the brand "TV Disk Jockey Toons" in which the films "synchronize perfectly with the records". In 1954, the studio started producing Father Knows Best on CBS and The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin on ABC, which became their biggest successes at the time. On July 1, 1956, studio veteran Irving Briskin stepped down as stage manager of Columbia Pictures and formed his own production company Briskin Productions, Inc. to release series through Screen Gems and supervise all of its productions. On December 10, 1956, Screen Gems expanded into television syndication by acquiring Hygo Television Films (a.k.a. Serials Inc.) and its affiliated company United Television Films, Inc. Hygo Television Films
5544-405: The first Oswald cartoon, Poor Papa , for its poor production quality and the sloppiness and age of Oswald. Disney, together with Iwerks, created a second cartoon titled Trolley Troubles featuring a much younger, neater Oswald. The short, released on September 5, 1927, officially launched the series and proved to be Universal's greatest success to date. Poor Papa was later released in 1928 and
5643-591: The first issue of More Fun . Oswald's second run in comics began in Dell Comics ' New Funnies , which ran from 1942 to 1962. Following the typical development seen in most new comics, the New Funnies stories slowly morphed the character in their own direction. At the start of the New Funnies feature, Oswald existed in a milieu reminiscent of Winnie-the-Pooh : he was portrayed as a live stuffed animal , living in
5742-474: The first major film studio to move into television. Although Harry wasn't convinced by the suggestion, Columbia invested $ 50,000 acquiring Pioneer and reorganized it as Screen Gems. The studio started its new business in New York on April 15, 1949. By 1951, Screen Gems became a full-fledged television studio by producing and syndicating several popular shows (see below ) . Within a few months, Ralph Cohn had sold
5841-491: The first year and 17 the next, before others took over Oswald. Animators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising , unhappy with Mintz, asked Universal head Carl Laemmle to remove Mintz, suggesting they would be the ones to continue the Oswald series. Laemmle terminated Mintz's contract but, instead of hiring Harman and Ising, he opted to have the Oswald cartoons produced right on the Universal lot. Laemmle selected Walter Lantz to produce
5940-523: The last major studio to enter television by name. Changes in corporate ownership of Columbia came in 1982, when Coca-Cola bought the company, although continuing to trade under the CPT name. In the mid-1980s, Coca-Cola reorganized its television holdings to create Coca-Cola Television, merging CPT with the television unit of Embassy Communications as Columbia/Embassy Television, although both companies continued to use separate identities until January 4, 1988, when it and Tri-Star Television were reunited under
6039-401: The majority of the color Screen Gems cartoons (as well as all the UPA cartoons) library. All series were distributed by Columbia unless otherwise noted. Ralph Cohn, the son of Columbia co-founder Jack Cohn and nephew of Columbia head Harry Cohn , founded Pioneer Telefilms, a television commercial production company, in 1947. Ralph later wrote a 50-page memo arguing that Columbia should be
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#17328586735266138-431: The management "can't stay happy long when things are going well, so we ended up in another fracas and I left." He was replaced by Dave Fleischer , previously the co-founder and head director of Fleischer Studios . John Hubley described Fleischer as "one of the world's intellectual lightweights", as he had very little involvement in the making of cartoons. However he was also noted for his baffling editing practices. Dave
6237-516: The most notable other production of Goldberg's tenure at Screen Gems being the 1971 television movie Brian's Song . He then formed a production company with producer Aaron Spelling . In 1971, Douglas S. Cramer , former executive VP in charge of production at Paramount Television , set up a SG-affiliated production firm, The Douglas S. Cramer Company, to produce projects for feature films and TV projects via Columbia Pictures. In 1972, David Gerber , who had left 20th Century Fox Television , set up
6336-478: The new series of Oswald shorts (the first of which was 1929's Race Riot ). Featuring Bill Nolan as an animator (and later director), the Lantz-produced Oswalds had a decidedly different tone and aesthetic than the Disney shorts, with more slapstick and surreal visual gags, some contributed by a young Tex Avery . Over the next decade, Lantz produced 142 Oswald cartoons, for a total of 194 films featuring
6435-442: The newly formed Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. for $ 24.5 million. In the following year, former ABC vice president of programming Leonard Goldberg joined Screen Gems, displacing Jackie Cooper as vice president of program development. Goldberg failed to receive the same level of success as Cooper. His shows all tanked after one season, with the exception of The Partridge Family , and he abruptly left after three years, with
6534-400: The progress it was clear that Disney was unhappy with the production costs on cartoons, and he asked Disney and Ub Iwerks to develop a new character. The result was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit , the first animated character for Universal Pictures . In February 1928, when the character proved more successful than expected, Disney sought to meet with Mintz over the budget, wanting to spend more on
6633-497: The scenes. Other staff members during this period included people such as Bob Wickersham, Paul Sommer, Alec Geiss, Sid Marcus, Howard Swift and Alex Lovy . Bob Clampett was also brought in as a gag writer before setting up his own animation studio for Republic Pictures . Screen Gems was, in an attempt to keep costs low, the last American animation studio to stop producing black and white cartoons. The final black-and-white Screen Gems shorts appeared in 1946, over three years after
6732-448: The screen that fall and became a major hit, eclipsing Oswald. Plane Crazy was later given its own synchronized soundtrack and released on March 17, 1929. Mintz, meanwhile, opened his own studio (later known as Screen Gems ) consisting primarily of former Disney employees, where he continued to produce Oswald cartoons, among them the first Oswald with sound, Hen Fruit (1929). Coincidentally, Disney and Mintz each produced nine cartoons
6831-472: The second-longest holdouts ( Famous Studios and Leon Schlesinger Productions). During that same year, Columbia decided to shut its doors for good, while releasing a back catalog up until 1949. It later merged with the television version of Screen Gems (previously Pioneer Telefilms). In spite of the studio's internal affairs, Screen Gems' cartoons were still moderately successful, with it achieving additional Academy Awards nominations . However it never achieved
6930-561: The series was later drawn by the likes of Dan Noonan and Lloyd White. In 1948, Toby adopted two orphan rabbits for Oswald to raise. Floyd and Lloyd, "Poppa Oswald's" new sons, stuck around; Toby was relegated to the sidelines, disappearing for good in 1953. Later stories focused on Oswald adventuring with his sons, seeking odd jobs, or simply protecting the boys from the likes of rabbit-eating Reddy Fox and (from 1961) con man Gabby Gator—a character adapted from contemporary Woody Woodpecker cartoon shorts. This era of Oswald comics typically featured
7029-641: The services of Al Michaels as play-by-play announcer on NBC Sunday Night Football ). Oswald returned in Disney's 2010 video game, Epic Mickey . The game's metafiction plot parallels Oswald's real-world history, dealing with the character's feelings of abandonment by Disney and envy toward Mickey Mouse. He has since appeared in Disney theme parks and comic books , as well as two follow-up games, Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two and Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion . Oswald made his first appearance in an animated production in 85 years through his cameo appearance in
7128-436: The shadow effects, cross-cutting, and staging of action in films featuring Douglas Fairbanks and Lon Chaney . Over several cartoons, Disney and his animators would develop Oswald's persona: an "emotive, fast-moving wise guy, alternately ebullient and grouchy". Walt Disney did not want for Oswald to simply be "a rabbit character animated and shown in the same light as the commonly known cat characters", as well as merely just
7227-586: The shops on Main Street USA. In 2012, Disney California Adventure park at the Disneyland Resort reopened with a new entry area called Buena Vista Street , themed to 1920s Los Angeles. Oswald's Service Station is a 1920s gas station (housing a gift shop) located at the north end of the street and features Oswald prominently in its logo. Disney California Adventure also sells Oswald merchandise and next-door Disneyland offers Mickey Mouse merchandise exclusively. In
7326-528: The short. The two agreed to make a series about the cartoon. In 1924, Charles Mintz married Winkler, and the latter's career began to decline. Mintz quickly assumed Winkler's role in the company, later rebranding it Winkler Pictures. In 1925 Winkler's renewal contract for the Felix shorts was written, yet Winkler declined to renew due to her dispute with Sullivan. The following year the Alice Comedies stopped being distributed by Winkler. After Mintz become involved with
7425-577: The storyline was reused in a Mickey Mouse short five years later, in Mickey's Nightmare . Oswald the Lucky Rabbit became Universal's first major hit in 1927, rivaling other popular cartoon characters, such as Felix the Cat and Koko the Clown . The success of the Oswald series allowed the Walt Disney Studio to grow to a staff of nearly twenty. Walt's weekly salary from the series was $ 100 while Roy Disney 's
7524-461: The studio head but was shortly replaced by Mintz's brother-in-law, George Winkler. Columbia then decided to hire Frank Tashlin , then a writer for Walt Disney Productions , as lead producer. There he would hire many displaced animators from the 1941 Disney animators' strike , as well as making the decision of firing the bulk of their initial staff (included Arthur Davis , Manny Gould , Lou Lilly , Ben Harrison and Winkler). Tashlin would also direct
7623-555: The studio moved from New York to California, it was renamed The Charles Mintz Studio. The Charles Mintz studio became known as Screen Gems in 1933. The name was originally used in 1933, when Columbia Pictures acquired a stake in Charles Mintz's animation studio. The name was derived from an early Columbia Pictures slogan, "Gems of the Screen"; itself a takeoff on the song " Columbia, the Gem of
7722-429: The studio to start his own production company to be affiliated with Paramount Television . On May 6, 1974, Screen Gems was renamed to Columbia Pictures Television as suggested by then-studio president David Gerber , who succeeded Art Frankel as his studio president. The final notable production from this incarnation of Screen Gems before the name change was the 1974 miniseries QB VII . Columbia was, technically,
7821-567: The talk but wasn't as good at walking the walk". In order to make his Oswald cartoons look "real", Disney turned away from the styles of Felix the Cat , Koko the Clown , Krazy Kat , and Julius the Cat and began emulating the camera angles, effects, and editing of live-action films. To learn how to base gags on personality and how to build comic routines, rather than heaping one gag after another, he studied Laurel and Hardy , Harold Lloyd , Charlie Chaplin , and Buster Keaton . In order to stir emotion in an audience, Disney studied and scrutinized
7920-468: The time, ABC had lost its contract for NFL broadcast rights, and despite recently signing a long-term contract with ESPN, Michaels was interested in rejoining broadcast partner John Madden at NBC for the Sunday night package. Universal transferred the trademark of the character to Disney, and in exchange, Disney released Michaels from his employment contract, allowing him to sign with NBC . The deal included
8019-405: The time, Mintz figured Disney should settle for a 20% cut, although large turnarounds were promised if the studio's finances showed considerable growth. While most of his fellow animators left for Mintz's studio, Disney quit working on the Oswald cartoons. On his long train ride home, he came up with an idea to create another character, and retain the rights to it. He and Iwerks would go on to develop
8118-567: The time. In 2010, Tokyo Disneyland produced a float featuring Oswald for their first Easter holiday event. In 2011, Oswald appeared with other old Disney characters on the construction walls for Disney California Adventure Park's new entrance. Oswald also appeared on a poster as a magician's rabbit in Town Square Theater in Magic Kingdom park. Oswald appeared on various items of clothing available for purchase at Disneyland Paris in
8217-404: The trademark rights to the character and the 27 Disney-produced Oswald shorts along with the handover of any physical Disney-produced Oswald material Universal still had in their possession. Iger had been interested in the property because of an internal design document for a video game, which became Epic Mickey . Walt Disney's daughter, Diane Disney Miller , issued the following statement after
8316-451: The unit similar to Dimension Films (part of Lantern Entertainment ), Hollywood Pictures with Searchlight Pictures (divisions of The Walt Disney Company ), and Rogue Pictures (when it was formally owned by Relativity Media and before that, Universal Pictures ). As of 2023, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016) is Screen Gems' highest-grossing film with over $ 300 million dollars worldwide in box office earnings. Oswald
8415-526: The voice of Oswald in Cold Turkey , the first Lantz cartoon with dialogue, and the following year Pinto Colvig , who was working as an animator and gag man at the studio, started voicing Oswald. When Colvig left the studio in 1931, Mickey Rooney took over the voicing of Oswald until early in the following year. Starting in 1932, Lantz ceased to use a regular voice actor for Oswald, and many studio staff members (including Lantz himself) would take turns in voicing
8514-726: Was $ 65. The Disney brothers earned $ 500 per Oswald short and split the year-end profits, with Walt receiving 60% ($ 5,361), and Roy receiving 40% ($ 3,574). With income gained from the Oswald series, Walt and Roy purchased ten acres of land in the desert. They also invested in an oil-drilling venture. Iwerks also invested his income in several stone mills to crush paint pigment he used to make paint formulas that were utilized by animators for decades. Oswald's success also resulted in Universal and Winkler signing another contract in February 1928, guaranteeing three more years of Oswald cartoons. As time passed, Disney feared that Mintz would forgo renewal of
8613-748: Was a cameo in The Woody Woodpecker Polka (1951), also in Technicolor, which by then had become the norm in the cartoon industry. He also appeared in a 1952 theatrical commercial for the Electric Autolite Company, with his voice being provided by Dick Beals . Oswald's first appearance in comics was in a series of comic strips titled Oswald the Rabbit , which ran from February 1935 to January 1936. They were drawn by Al Stahl and published by National Allied Publications . The comics were serialized on one page of every issue of New Fun and
8712-557: Was added as a playable racer in Disney Speedstorm during its fifth season alongside Ortensia, while he appears in Disney Dreamlight Valley as part of its "Eternity Isle" expansion. He is voiced by David Errigo Jr. in both appearances. In 2012, sketch animation from a lost 1928 cartoon, Harem Scarem , was compiled by archivists at Disney and released to help celebrate Oswald's 85th Anniversary. He made an appearance in
8811-738: Was also the first distributor for Hanna-Barbera Productions, an animation studio founded by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera after leaving Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , and was also the distributor of the Soupy Sales show. The company also entered a co-production deal with Canada 's CTV Television Network and produced several shows, many of which were filmed or taped in Toronto for distribution to Canadian stations ( Showdown , The Pierre Berton Show ). The company even expanded as far as Australia , opening Screen Gems Australia to produce shows for that country's networks, including The Graham Kennedy Show for
8910-402: Was founded in 1951 by Jerome Hyams, who also acquired United Television Films in 1955 that was founded by Archie Mayers. During that year, the studio began syndicating Columbia Pictures' theatrical film library to television, including the series of two-reel short subjects starring The Three Stooges in 1957. Earlier on August 2, 1957, they also acquired syndication rights to " Shock Theater ",
9009-481: Was intended to be carried by stations in daytime slots, primarily afternoon and early evenings; for instance, WNYW in New York ran the block at 2 p.m., while WUAB in Cleveland aired it at 11 a.m. The block covered 62% of the country by March 1999; this number had risen to 80% of the stations carrying it by January 2000. The block was still being advertised by CTTD as late as May 2001. Screen Gems Screen Gems
9108-580: Was later fired and succeeded by a revolving door of producers, including musician Paul Worth, Three Stooges producer Hugh McCollum and ex-Schlesinger assistants Ray Katz and Henry Binder. The studio would also create several more recurring characters around this time, including Tito and His Burrito, Flippy , Flop the Cat , Igor Puzzlewitz, Willoughby Wren , and an adaptation of Al Capp's comic series Li'l Abner , with varying levels of success. The studios output following Tashlin's departure was, in retrospect, considered to be vastly inferior as many of
9207-437: Was made of rubber and could turn anything into a tool. His distinct personality was inspired by Douglas Fairbanks for his courageous and adventurous attitude as seen in the cartoon short Oh, What a Knight . In regard to Oswald's personality, Disney historian David Gerstein describes the difference between Mickey and Oswald: "Imagine Mickey if he were a little more egotistical or fallible, or imagine Bugs Bunny if he talked
9306-470: Was not until 1934 that Oswald got his own color sound cartoons in two-strip Technicolor, Toyland Premiere and Springtime Serenade . The Oswald cartoons then returned to black-and-white, except for the last one, The Egg Cracker Suite (1943), released as a part of the Swing Symphonies series. Egg Cracker was also the only Oswald cartoon to use three-strip Technicolor . Oswald's last cartoon appearance
9405-472: Was released. The short was directed by Eric Goldberg , scored by Dean McClure, and produced by Dorothy McKim, with Mark Henn and Randy Haycock working on the animation alongside Goldberg. It marked Oswald's first short produced by Disney, as well as his first short ever since Feed the Kitty (1938). A few weeks later, a hand-drawn animation piece by Disney Animation featuring Oswald was released, meant to promote
9504-460: Was renamed to Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc., also creating Columbia/Tri-Star by merging Columbia and Tri-Star. Both studios continued to produce and distribute films under their separate names. In 1989, Sony Corporation of Japan purchased Columbia Pictures Entertainment. On August 11, 1991, Columbia Pictures Entertainment was renamed as Sony Pictures Entertainment as a film production-distribution subsidiary and subsequently combined CPT with
9603-443: Was resurrected as a fourth speciality film-producing arm of Sony's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group. It was created after Triumph Films closed. Screen Gems produces and releases "films that fall between the wide-release films traditionally developed and distributed by Columbia Pictures and those released by Sony Pictures Classics ". Many of its releases are of the horror, thriller, action, drama, comedy and urban genres, making
9702-474: Was sold to EMI for $ 23.5 million in 1976. From 1964 to 1969, former child star Jackie Cooper was Vice President of Program Development. He was responsible for packaging series (such as Bewitched ) and other projects and selling them to the networks. For the 1965–1966 season, Screen Gems announced that they would sign three big creative programmers to develop new series, which was announced in June 1964. Among them
9801-599: Was writer Sidney Sheldon , director Hy Averback , and writer David Swift . In 1965, Columbia Pictures acquired a fifty per cent interest in the New York-based commercial production company EUE, which was incorporated into Screen Gems and renamed EUE/Screen Gems . The studios were sold in 1982 to longtime Columbia Pictures executive George Cooney shortly after Columbia Pictures was sold to The Coca-Cola Company . On December 23, 1968, Screen Gems merged with its parent company Columbia Pictures Corporation and became part of
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