I just recent revisited many old (largely Freleng-directed) 1930s
Merrie Melodies on http://www.YouTube.com.
and as we know many were and have always been shown with original open
and closings and others got the Blue Ribbon treatment with those
reissued as Blue Ribbons after the retirement in 1944 of Leon
Schlesinger being listed just as Warner Bros.cartoons and given the
open & closure dujour' of whatever cartoons concurrently were current
from WB (for the 1950s reissues of these, they'd have the big blue or
red hole and brown, green/yellow, red, or blue/red rings. These would
include "Country Mouse"[7/13/35], "The Merry Old Soul" [8/17/35], "The
Lady In Red" [9/21/35], "Little Dutch Plate" [10/21/35]", "The Cat
Came Back" [2/08/36], "Flowers for Madame" [4/06/35], and "I'm s Big
Shot Now"[4/11/36]. There seems to be a doubt as to "Flowers For
Madame" was released that late even with the screwed up backlogging at
times [repeated in the later 2-color era in 1947-1949], since it was
released April 6, less than a week before "I'm a Big Shot Now", .Jerry
Beck & Will Fredwald and others more accuratelyIMO mention it as being
late 35 or early 36 and
despite it having a purple flower [look up title in this newsgroup] it
still looks 2-color and while there's a cut off continum from cartoon
to end of the score that just got cut off, it's still very fast. I
think the court jester who delivered the "That's all folks" signoff
previously was used.More below on this.
Also..
The ones reissued during the reign of Leon Schlesinger just had the
original closing! These are "Let it be Me" [5/02/36], "I Love to
Singa" [7/18/36], and "Don't Look Now"[11/28/36]. "Sunday Go to
Meetin' Time" hasn't been shown due to having "darkies". :)
[NOTE: YouTube has the complete RESTORED "I Love To Singa" with its
original open and cloosing.]
No pre-July1935 Warner Bros.caroton was ever given a Blue Ribbon
treatment.
[Nor were ANY with the original "Court Jester" ending treated to the
1936-37 music restoration under the Warner Brothers familiar
concentric ciurcles! Just some (thank you to Dave Mackey's site for
the ID) Lydian terrifyingly large "THE END" stuff over these 1953
reissues and the 1944-1955 take on "Merrily We Roll Along" which
ironically escaped being a closing for "Billboard Frolics" (i.e., that
had no BR treatment), considering it debuted in WB animaiton in
"Billboard Frolics!"
The ones from 1935-1936 shown with original open and closings in the
Merrie Melodies are.."I Haven't Got A Hat" [3/5/35], "Into You
Dance","Along Flirtation Walk", "Mr. & Mrs.Is The Name",and "Billboard
Frolics" [12/21/35].
Here is a coupleof comments on some of those late 1935-spring 1936 MM
titles.
"Billboard Frolics": The last one remaining with stage and curtain,
with pennant inscribed "Warner Bros. Vitaphone Pictures" and the
WARNER BROS.
Productions Corpoartion
& The Vitaphone Corp.
WB VITAPHONE
Present
With all the talk about the Vitaphone coproation then in 1960s Warners
taking copyright credit, here is something to think about.
In 1934 the copyright ascribed to BOTH parties, then "Warner
Bros.Productions Corp" till1936 when it read "The Vitaphone Corp".till
late 1959! Then it became "Warner Bros.Pcitures Inc. thru 1967 when of
course it was "Warner Bros.-Seven Arts".,
And the fancy sophisticated "Presents" written across as only a 1930s
film could present it...;-)
The 1935 releases start having this
WARNER BROS.PRODUCTIONS corp.
And the WB Productions Corp.,, no Vitaphone Cor****aiton
But the open is the same with some cosmetic changes to the curtain.And
last to have court jester. Of course no "Merrily we roll along them"
in familiar place but it IS highlighted in this one,the titles and in
the cartoon (caritcatured guest Eddie Cantor used it as his raido
theme and even cowrote it).
"Flowers for Madame": A Blue Ribbon release,the score's cut off as the
grasshopper in the cartoon put in his last tobacco spit (gotta have
that hopper spit!) and the 1940s-50s "Merrily.." theme and a 1953
ending.
"I Wanna Play House': The first full Technicolor Warners short (after
Fox released "Becky Sharp" in 1935 as a feature using Technicolor for
the first time outside Disney as a full-color thing)
has always had its open (same flag logo but now for the first time in
reissues, concentric circles at open and end and the "That's all
folks" graphic (a fast one too!)'. This was one of the first cartoons
not by Disney using Tech.full color. Disney had just released the
first character serie susing Terch. after their "Flowers and
Trees"[1932], "Mickey's Band Concert'[1935],whcih also introduced the
major clahs between Mickey and Donald.
"The Cat Came Back": Open and closing rings are 1953 version, tacked
on stationary a la a very different and more known short "What's
Opera Doc" (as well as just pasted onto the end of "Nelly'sFolly",
"Two Crows From Tacos", "Coal Black", and I ahev read,, "Old Glory").
with the score ending throuigh the rings. Two-color,ending till
"Doggone Cats" [10/25/47] started the Cinecolor two-year stretch at
Warner, Paramount, and Columbia. I must say,it sure is odd seeing
Technicolor rings flanking a a 2-color Tech.Warner Bros.cartoon!!!!!!!
"Miss Glory": Tex Avery's first MM (Friz Freleng,ala Isadore or I. by
now, ) is the second "always with its original open/closing" Warner
short LT or MM from 1936, and the second in 3-color. The original
rerusn on television showed the original ending, CN (Damn!) showed the
"My Little Buckeroo"/"The Woods are full of cuckoos"1937 ending for
thsi and "I Wanna Play House" (were Warner Bros.just moving away from
suing song titles in their MM short titles?) >angry<(dubbed versions
being the reissues being complaned about, of course.} (The others
were shown this way, and all of this is true on You Tube showings,
but they were Blue Ribbons that were reissued when Jack L.Warner
bought the "Looneys/Merries" outright and reissued those with the
rings of the day and when the ones with the background music (starting
with "The Cat Came Back") continuing into the rings graphic, it'snot
so noticable, with the 1948 rings used for these.These Blue Ribbon
reissues were done in 1953.I just wish the restoration happened in the
80s.I hate Dubbed Versions.)
"I'm A Big Shot Now" ,"When I Yoo Hoo"(just remembered that one!) and
others had : MM rings, open and close, score continues through end.
"Let it be Me",and "I Love to Singa" had Leon Schlesinger reissues as
Blue Ribbons, so the end titles existed (till that blasted Ted Turner
decided to stamp those goddamned DUBBED verisons on them.)
So it would alternate with till the end of these color pre-1948
releases, (the last produced was "The Up-Standing Sitter"[7/3/48]),
never a B lue Ribbon but with its own screwed up closing history!) ---
many of these Blue Ribbon prints--some during Leon Schlesinger's
tenure (and thus with original endings
intact) while others from the 1930s had to wait till after wards, with
WB cartoon studio being a reality,and Leon's name and the original
closings (tillthe late 1950s reissues of post-1946 releases of later
pre-1948 and many 1947-1949 titles) disappeared.
BTW Let it Be Me",[5/02/36] a spoof of crooner Bing Crosby, who was
not too thrilled with some of these ****trayals and sued and (IIRC)
lost, came out on IIRC his birthday?(Some difference as to this,)
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