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16-613: In 1920, the Keith-Albee organization formed Fables Pictures for the production of the Aesop's Film Fables cartoon series with Paul Terry , who himself owned 10 percent of the studio. Producer Amedee J. Van Beuren bought out the studio in 1928, retaining Terry and renaming the business after its new owner. Van Beuren released Terry's first sound cartoon Dinner Time (1928) (a month before Disney's Steamboat Willie ) through Pathé Exchange , which later became part of RKO Pictures . Terry ran

32-424: A "Van Beuren Vagabond" travelogue series, a series of novelty shorts narrated by the radio comedy team Easy Aces ( Goodman Ace and Jane Ace) and musical comedy shorts featuring Bert Lahr , Shemp Howard , among others. Van Beuren remained unsatisfied, and agreed to license the popular comic-strip character The Little King and the radio comedy act, Amos 'n' Andy to adapt into animated cartoons. Neither series

48-518: A chain of vaudeville and motion picture theatres in the United States and Canada with a seating capacity of 1,500,000 persons. The combined theater chain then had over 700 theaters in the United States and Canada. A total of 15,000 vaudeville performers were booked through the new entity. In May 1928, a controlling portion of stock was sold to Joseph P. Kennedy , from whom it was purchased in October by

64-430: A counterclaim for $ 300,000 damages alleged to have been sustained because of Lowell's inexpert performance in the picture. Lowell alleged that she had not received 15 per cent of the earnings guaranteed her. Van Beuren replied that they lost $ 300,000 on the picture. In making the counterclaim for that sum Van Beuren asserted that Lowell "carelessly, negligently, inefficiently, inexpertly, and improperly acted and performed in

80-536: A mischievous little bear, resulted. In 1932, Van Beuren planned to release a series of wild-animal shorts featuring celebrity explorer Frank Buck . RKO executives were so impressed by these Van Beuren shorts that they decided to combine them into a feature film, Bring 'Em Back Alive . This was a very successful business move, but it left both Van Beuren and RKO with a void in their short-subject schedule. Van Beuren, forced to act quickly, found an existing series of two-reel comedies: Charlie Chaplin 's 12 productions for

96-694: A part of the General Outdoor Advertising Company. Amedee was educated at public and private schools and a business college. He worked in the livery business, groceries, and then as a salesman. One of Amedee Van Beuren's earliest and most successful projects was a series of cartoons produced by his Van Beuren Studios , Aesop's Film Fables . Later movies produced included the Frank Buck features Bring 'Em Back Alive (1932), Wild Cargo (1934), and Fang and Claw (1935). Van Beuren Studios also issued more than two hundred animated shorts. Van Beuren

112-562: A popular cartoon series, but RKO later entered into a deal to distribute new color cartoons produced by industry leader Walt Disney . RKO, no longer needing Van Beuren's cartoons, abandoned the Rainbow Parade shorts. Amedee J. Van Beuren fell ill during this time. In July 1938, he had a stroke that would eventually lead to his death on November 12 of the same year by heart attack. During his recovery from his stroke, Van Beuren closed his studio rather than accept unionization that had caused

128-557: The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) as part of the deal, along with Film Booking Offices of America (FBO), that created the major motion picture studio Radio Keith Orpheum ( RKO Pictures ). After the establishment of RKO, motion pictures became the primary focus of entertainment at the former KAO theaters. Vaudeville survived only as an interlude for feature films . Amedee J. Van Beuren Amedee J. Van Beuren (born Amedee Vignot ; July 10, 1879 – November 12, 1938)

144-432: The studio problems in 1935 . The Van Beuren library was sold to various television, reissue, and home-movie distributors in the 1940s and 1950s, including Unity Pictures, Walter Gutlohn/Library Films, Commonwealth Pictures , and Official Films . The library eventually lapsed into the public domain . Animation : Live-action : Live-action shorts : Keith-Albee-Orpheum The Keith-Albee-Orpheum Corporation

160-838: The Mutual film company, produced in 1916-17. Van Beuren paid $ 10,000 each for the shorts, and assigned his animation department to create new music and sound effects for the silent films. Bandleader Gene Rodemich and Rodemich's assistant and successor Winston Sharples assembled new scores. RKO released the Van Beuren Chaplins in 1933–34. Chaplin did not own these films; author Michael J. Hayde discloses that Chaplin had declined several opportunities to purchase them. The Van Beuren Corporation acquired and produced live-action features such as Adventure Girl (1934) and two more Frank Buck safaris, Wild Cargo (1934) and Frank Buck's Fang and Claw (1935). Other Van Beuren live-action productions included

176-462: The animation studio while Van Beuren focused on other parts of the business. In 1929, Terry quit to start his own Terrytoons studio and John Foster took over the animation department. Van Beuren released his films through RKO Radio Pictures . The early sound Van Beuren cartoons are almost identical to the late silent cartoons: highly visual, with little dialogue and occasional sound effects. Bandleaders Gene Rodemich and Winston Sharples supervised

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192-506: The music. The company's main cartoon characters were " Tom and Jerry ", a tall-and-short pair, usually vagrants who attempted various occupations. They share no relation to MGM 's more successful Tom and Jerry , a cat and mouse, and the older series has been renamed "Van Beuren's Tom and Jerry" and "Dick and Larry" in various future incarnations. Van Beuren was keenly aware that successful cartoons often featured animated "stars", and urged his staff to come up with new ideas for characters. Cubby,

208-661: Was president of the Colorado Springs Theatre Corporation and the Kernab Corporation. He was a life member of the Society of The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick . A 1935 lawsuit by Joan Lowell against Amedee Van Beuren and Van Beuren Studios demanded an accounting of the profits from the film Adventure Girl . Lowell wrote and starred in this filmed version of her book, Cradle of the Deep . Van Beuren promptly made

224-508: Was successful. Van Beuren then hired Walt Disney director Burt Gillett and animator Tom Palmer to create a new series of color cartoons. These "Rainbow Parade" cartoons featured established characters: Felix the Cat , Parrotville Parrots , Molly Moo-Cow , and the Toonerville Folks . These full-color Van Beuren efforts were well received, and Van Beuren had finally succeeded in sponsoring

240-685: Was the owner of a chain of vaudeville and motion picture theatres. It was formed by the merger of the holdings of Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward Franklin Albee II and Martin Beck 's Orpheum Circuit . The company was incorporated in Delaware on January 28, 1928, to acquire the stocks of the B.F. Keith Corporation; Orpheum Circuit, Inc. ; Vaudeville Collection Agency; B.F. Keith-Albee Vaudeville Exchange; and Greater New York Corporation. The company operated

256-523: Was the producer of Frank Buck 's first three films, as well as many cartoons and short films. Van Beuren was born in New York , the son of Alfred Vignot, who died in 1894, and Marietta Ferguson. Subsequently, Marietta married Alfred Van Beuren on January 13, 1898, when Amadee was 9 years old, and he took on his stepfather's surname. Alfred Van Beuren was head of the Van Beuren advertising company, which became

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