Screen Songs (formerly known as KoKo Song Car-Tunes) are a series of animated cartoons produced at the Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures between 1929 and 1938. Paramount brought back the sing-along cartoons in 1945, now in color and produced by Fleischer Studios' successor Famous Studios, and released them regularly through 1951.
History The Screen Songs are a continuation of the earlier Fleischer series Song Car-Tunes in color. They are sing-along shorts featuring the famous "bouncing ball", a sort of precursor to modern karaoke videos. They often featured popular melodies of the day. The early Song Car-Tunes were among the earliest sound films, produced two years before The Jazz Singer. They were largely unknown at the time because their release was limited to the chain of 36 theaters operated by The Red Seal Pictures Company, which was equipped with the early Lee DeForest Phonofilm sound reproduction equipment. The Red Seal theater chain—formed by the Fleischers, DeForest, Edwin Miles Fadiman, and Hugo Riesenfeld—went from the East Coast to Columbus, Ohio.
Between May 1924 and September 1926, the Fleischers released 36 Song Car-Tunes series, with 19 using the Phonofilm sound-on-film process. The films included Oh Mabel, Come Take a Trip in My Airship, Darling Nelly Gray, Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly?, and By the Light of the Silvery Moon. Beginning with My Old Kentucky Home (1926), the cartoons featured the "follow the bouncing ball" gimmick, that lead the audience singing along with the film. The other 17 films in the Song Car-Tunes series were silent, designed to be shown with live music in movie theaters.
The Fleischers were ahead of the sound revolution, and just missed the actual change when Red Seal Pictures filed for bankruptcy in the fall of 1926.
Releases after Red Seal Pictures In 1928, the Weiss Brothers reissued through their Artclass Pictures company and other independent distributors a number of the silent "Ko-Ko Song Car-tunes" with new animation created for the beginnings, removing the original titles and opening original footage.
For Me and My Gal (1926) I Love to Fall Asleep (1926) In My Harem (1926) Just Try to Picture Me (1926) My Sweetie (1926) Old Pal (1926) Alexander's Ragtime Band (1926) The Sheik of Araby (1926) Annie Laurie (1926) Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning (1926) When I Lost You (1926) Margie (1926) When the Midnight Choo-Choo Leaves for Alabam (1926) Oh! What a Pal Was Mary (1926) Everybody's Doing It (1926) Yak-A-Hula-Hick-A-Doola (1926) My Wife's Gone to the Country (1926) My Old Kentucky Home (1926) Beautiful Eyes (1926) Finiculee Finicula (1926) Micky (1926) When the Angelus Was Ringing (1926) When I Leave This World Behind (1926) Tumbledown Shack in Athlone (1927) The Rocky Road to Dublin (1927) Call Me Up Some Rainy Afternoon (1927) Oh I Wish I Was in Michigan (1927)
New contract with Paramount Pictures The Fleischers signed a new contract with Paramount Pictures in late 1928. Beginning in February 1929, the song cartoons returned under a new name, Screen Songs, using the Western Electric sound-on-film process. The first was The Sidewalks of New York (East Side, West Side) released on 5 February 1929. In the 1930s, the shorts began to feature such musical guest stars as Lillian Roth, Ethel Merman, Cab Calloway, Rudy Vallée, The Mills Brothers, the Boswell Sisters, and others. The series, which eventually focused on many of the "Big Bands" of "The Swing Era" continued until 1938. In 1945, Famous Studios, successors to the Fleischers, revived the Screen Songs as an all animated series. The earliest Screen Song released as part of the Noveltoons series, When G.I. Johnny Comes Home, was released on February 2, 1945.Pointer, Ray (2016) "The Art and Inventions of Max Fleischer: American Animation Pioneer", McFarland & Co. Publishers
Filmography Fleischer Studios All films produced in 1930 or before are in the public domain. {| class="wikitable sortable" |- | colspan="6" align="center" bgcolor="#DDDDDD" |
1929 |- ! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|No. ! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Film ! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Characters / Musicians ! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Animation ! style="text-align:center; width:150px;"|Copyright status !Video if in the public domain |- |1 |The Sidewalks of New York
|February 5, 1929
|2 |Yankee Doodle Boy
|March 1, 1929
|3 |Old Black Joe
|April 5, 1929
|4 |Ye Olde Melodies
|May 3, 1929
|5 |Daisy Bell
|May 31, 1929
|6 |Mother, Pin a Rose on Me
|July 6, 1929
|7 |Dixie
|August 17, 1929
|8 |Chinatown, My Chinatown |One-shot Chinese characters | |August 29, 1929
|9 |Goodbye My Lady Love
|August 31, 1929
|10 |My Pony Boy
|September 13, 1929
|11 |Smiles |One-shot human quartet | |September 27, 1929
|12 |Oh, You Beautiful Doll |Tommy and Mariah Cat | |October 14, 1929
|13 |After the Ball |Charles K. Harris and Fitz the dog (called fido in this short) | |November 8, 1929
|14 |Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet |One-shot animal characters | |November 22, 1929
|15 |I've Got Rings on My Fingers |One-shot black cannibal characters and (human) Irish cop | |December 17, 1929
| colspan="6" align="center" bgcolor="#DDDDDD" |
1930 |- |16 |Bedelia |Bimbo | |January 3, 1930
|17 |In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree |One-shot bear characters | |January 18, 1930
|18 |I'm Afraid to Go Home in the Dark |Bimbo | |January 30, 1930
|19 |The Prisoner's Song |Bimbo | |March 1, 1930
|20 |I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles |One-shot mouse characters | |March 15, 1930
|21 |La Paloma |Bimbo | |April 12, 1930
|22 |Yes! We Have No Bananas |One-shot animal characters | |April 26, 1930
|23 |Come Take a Trip in My Airship |Mariah Cat (here called "Kitty") | |April 26, 1930
|24 |In the Good Old Summer Time |One-shot animal characters | |June 6, 1930
|25 |A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight |One-shot mouse characters |Seymour Kneitel |August 1, 1930
|26 |The Glow-Worm |Special bilingual entry Song sung first in German, then in English. |Rudy Zamora |August 23, 1930
|27 |The Stein Song |One-shot animal characters |Rudy Zamora Shamus Culhane |September 6, 1930
|28 |Strike Up the Band |One-shot dog sailors |Al Eugster |September 27, 1930
|29 |My Gal Sal |Bimbo |Willard Bowsky Rudolph Eggeman |October 18, 1930
|30 |Mariutch |Bimbo (in Italian lead role) |Grim Natwick George Cannata |November 15, 1930
|31 |On a Sunday Afternoon |One-shot dog characters and (briefly) Bimbo |Rudy Zamora Shamus Culhane |November 29, 1930
|32 |Row, Row, Row |Bimbo (in villainous lead role) and Betty Boop prototype |Seymour Kneitel Rudolph Eggeman |December 20, 1930
| colspan="6" align="center" bgcolor="#DDDDDD" |
1931 |- |33 |Please Go 'Way and Let Me Sleep |One-shot animal characters |Grim Natwick George Cannata |January 10, 1931
|34 |By the Beautiful Sea |One-shot mouse characters |Willard Bowsky Reuben Timinsky (later Reuben Timmins) |January 24, 1931
|35 |I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now |Tommy and Mariah Cat |Al Eugster George Cannata |February 14, 1931
|36 |I'd Climb the Highest Mountain |Bimbo |Seymour Kneitel Reuben Timinsky |March 7, 1931
|37 |Somebody Stole My Gal |Bimbo |George Cannata Reuben Timinsky |March 20, 1931
|38 |Any Little Girl That's a Nice Little Girl |Tommy Cat and Betty Boop prototype |Seymour Kneitel |April 18, 1931
|39 |Alexander's Ragtime Band |Bimbo |Rudy Zamora Shamus Culhane |May 9, 1931
|40 |And the Green Grass Grew All Around |One-shot bug characters | |May 30, 1931
|41 |My Wife's Gone to the Country |Bimbo and (briefly) Betty Boop | |May 31, 1931
|42 |That Old Gang of Mine |Mariah and (briefly) Tommy Cat | |July 11, 1931
|43 |Betty Co-ed |Rudy Vallée, Betty Boop prototype | |August 1, 1931
|44 |Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean |Gallagher and Shean |Al Eugster |August 29, 1931
|45 |You're Driving Me Crazy |Harriet Lee, vocalist (Radio Queen of 1931-32) Snooks and his Memphis Ramblers | |September 19, 1931
|46 |Little Annie Rooney |Bimbo (in "Joe" role of song) |Seymour Kneitel Bernard Wolf |October 10, 1931
|47 |Kitty from Kansas City |Rudy Vallée, Betty Boop | |October 31, 1931
|48 |By the Light of the Silvery Moon |Bimbo and (briefly) Betty Boop |Seymour Kneitel Myron Waldman |November 14, 1931
|49 |My Baby Just Cares for Me |Eddie Cantor, Bimbo (monkeylike design) | |December 5, 1931
|50 |Russian Lullaby |Arthur Tracy, Aloysius | |December 26, 1931
| colspan="6" align="center" bgcolor="#DDDDDD" |
1932 |- |51 |Sweet Jennie Lee |One-shot animal characters | |January 9, 1932
|52 |Show Me the Way to Go Home |One-shot animal characters | |January 30, 1932
|53 |When the Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along |One-shot bird characters | |February 19, 1932
|54 |Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie |The Round Towners Quartet, Betty Boop and Bimbo |Seymour Kneitel Myron Waldman |March 4, 1932
|55 |Just One More Chance |Art Jarrett, Betty Boop |Shamus Culhane Dave Tendlar |April 1, 1932
|56 |Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning |Les Reis and Artie Dunn, Betty Boop |Seymour Kneitel Bernard Wolf |April 22, 1932
|57 |Shine On Harvest Moon |Alice Joy, one-shot animal characters |Shamus Culhane Reuben Timinsky |May 6, 1932
|58 |Let Me Call You Sweetheart |Ethel Merman, Betty Boop and Bimbo |Shamus Culhane Dave Tendlar |May 20, 1932
|59 |I Ain't Got Nobody |The Mills Brothers, one-shot animal characters |Willard Bowsky Tom Bonfiglio |June 17, 1932
|60 |You Try Somebody Else |Ethel Merman, Betty Boop | |July 29, 1932
|61 |Rudy Vallée Melodies |Rudy Vallée, Betty Boop | |August 5, 1932
|62 |Down Among the Sugar Cane |Lillian Roth, one-shot animal characters |Shamus Culhane William Henning |August 26, 1932
|63 |Just a Gigolo |Irene Bordoni, Betty Boop |Shamus Culhane Reuben Timinsky |September 9, 1932
|64 |School Days |Gus Edwards, one-shot animal characters |William Henning Dave Tendlar |September 30, 1932
|65 |Romantic Melodies |Arthur Tracy, Betty Boop and Bimbo |Seymour Kneitel Bernie Wolf |October 21, 1932
|66 |Sleepy Time Down South |The Boswell Sisters, one-shot animal characters |Seymour Kneitel Bernie Wolf |November 11, 1932
|67 |Sing a Song |James Melton, one-shot animal characters |Seymour Kneitel Myron Waldman |December 2, 1932
|68 |Time on My Hands |Ethel Merman, Betty Boop |Willard Bowsky Thomas Goodson |December 23, 1932
| colspan="6" align="center" bgcolor="#DDDDDD" |
1933 |- |69 |Dinah |The Mills Brothers, one-shot animal characters |Dave Tendlar William Henning |January 13, 1933
|70 |Ain't She Sweet? |Lillian Roth, Tommy and Mariah Cat |Seymour Kneitel Tom Johnson |February 3, 1933
|71 |Reaching for the Moon |Arthur Tracy, one-shot space alien characters |Willard Bowsky Ugo D'Orsi |February 23, 1933
|72 |Aloha Oe |Royal Samoans, one-shot jungle animal characters |Bernie Wolf Dave Tendlar |March 17, 1933
|73 |Popular Melodies |Art Jarrett |Willard Bowsky Myron Waldman |April 7, 1933
|74 |The Peanut Vendor |Armida, one-shot animal characters |Seymour Kneitel Tom Johnson |April 28, 1933
|75 |Song Shopping |Ethel Merman and Johnny Green, one-shot animal characters |Willard Bowsky Dave Tendlar |May 19, 1933
|76 |Boilesk |The Watson Sisters, one-shot animal characters |Willard Bowsky Myron Waldman |June 9, 1933
|77 |Sing, Sisters, Sing |Three X Sisters, one-shot animal characters ||Bernie Wolf Dave Tendlar |June 3, 1933
|78 |Down by the Old Mill Stream |The Eton Boys, one-shot animal characters ||Willard Bowsky William Sturm |July 21, 1933
|79 |Stoopnocracy |Stoopnagle and Budd, one-shot animal characters |Seymour Kneitel William Henning |August 18, 1933
|80 |When Yuba Plays the Rumba on the Tuba |The Mills Brothers |Bernie Wolf Tom Johnson |September 15, 1933
|81 |Boo Boo Theme Song |The Funnyboners |Willard Bowsky Myron Waldman |October 13, 1933
|82 |I Like Mountain Music |The Eton Boys |Willard Bowsky Myron Waldman |November 10, 1933
|83