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1921
World News
Mussolini becomes the leader of the Facist Party in Italy.
Germany smuggles cocaine, heroin and other habit forming drugs into the U.S. through South America.
1st Miss America contest is held.
1st regular broadcasting licence is issued to radio station WBZ in Springfield, Mass. Insulin is isolated in Toronto, Canada by Frederic Banting and Charles Best.
Inventions
Insulin is developed.
Animation News
Out Of The Inkwell, Inc. formed by Fleischers
Producer Amadee Van Beuren announces Paul Terrys Aesops Fables. Terry hired the first checkers, then called them supervisors
Paul Terry forms the Aesop's Fables Studio and begins producing one cartoon per week for the next 8 years.
Charles Bowers fired by Bud Fisher. New studio director is Dick Friel. Later in the year the studio went bankrupt.
Charles Bowers creates a new studio (Mount Vernon, New York) to continue the Mutt and Jeff series.
Comics
The New Yorrk World publishes the cartoon "On The Road To Moscow" by Rollin Kirby. It became the 1st cartoon ever awarded a Pulitzer Prize.
Birthdays
Bob Godfrey, animator, "Great", Oscar winner 1975.
Emanuele Luzzati, Italian animator, Ali Baba 1971, Pulcinella 1973 nominated for Academy Award.
Carol Channing, voice and movie actress
Tissa David, Hungarian animator, layout artist, director, producer.
Peter Ustinov, actor, voice actor for "Grendel, Grendel, Grendel" and "Peep and the Big Wide World".
Deaths
Engelbert Humperdink, German composer of "Hansel and Gretel" dies at age 67.
Movies
Douglas Fairbanks stars in "The Mark of Zorro"
Rudolph Valentino stars in "The Sheik"
Notable Cartoons
United States
McCay releases his last films, The Centaurs" [fragment], Gertie on Tour" [fragment], Bug Vaudeville, The Pet, The Flying House, and Flips Circus
Cat and the Canary, Paul Terry /Fable. first Aesop's Fable series (1921-1933) after 1928 the series was continued by Van Beuren
Paramount Cartoons, Pat Powers /Paramount. weekly distribution of cartoons made by various studios series 1921
Shedding A Profiteer, Bray. (one of the Judge Rummy series)
Barney Google meets Spark Plug the Horse
"The First Circus" from Tony Sargs Almanac (1921, Herbert M. Dawley)
Europe
Fantoche cherche un logement ("The Puppet Looks for Lodging") (ss), Emile Cohl /AGC. (France) (puppet animation)
Bobby the Scout, Anson Dyer /Hepworth. (Great Britain) first Bobby the Scout series (1921)
Le Canard en Ciné series, Lortac. (France) series 1921
Crock and Dizzy series, Tom Titt /B&J Productions. (Great Britain) series (1921-1922)
Monsieur Vieuxbois, Lortac and Cave /Pencil-Films. (Switzerland)
Opus I, Walter Ruttman. (Germany)
Over the Edge of the World, Lancelot Speed. (Great Britain) one of The Wonderful Advenures of Pip, Squeak, and Wilfred series (1921)
Potiron series by Albert Mourlan. (France)
Running A Cinema, Dudley Buxton. (Great Britain) one of the Memoirs of Miffy series
Toto au berceau, Lortac. (France> first Toto series (1921-1924
1922
World News
1st edition of Reader's Digest is published.
King Tut's tomb is discovered.
James Joyce writes "Ulysses".
The U.S.S.R. is established on Dec. 30th. (It is later dissolved in 1991.)
Animation News
Disney founds Laugh-O-Grams in Kansas City and begins producing a series of fairy tale cartoons.
Sullivan produces the Felix the Cat cartoons for Winkler Productions.
Lyman H. Howe Films Company Productions produces a long running series of cartoons called "Hodge Podge" (1922 - 1929)
Bray Productions produces 3 cartoons by Milt Gross called, "Ink Ravings".
Comics
Walter Berndt's "Smitty" comic strip debuts.
Harald Gray's "Little Orphan Annie" comic strip debuts in The New York Times on Oct 1th.
Birthdays
Paul Winchell (voice actor)
Hoyt Curtin (composer)
Charles M. Schultz (cartoonist "Peanuts")
Deaths
Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone dies at age 76.
Notable Cartoons
United States
Felix Turns the Tide, Otto Messmer /Sullivan.
Colonel Heeza Liar's Treasure Island (ss), Vernon Stallings /Bray. first in a new Colonel Heeza Liar series (1922-1924)
Golf in Slow Motion, Walt Disney /Laugh-O-Grams. (drawn animation, some puppet animation) early Lafflets series (1922-1923)
Little Red Riding Hood, Walt Disney /Laugh-O-Grams. first "full length" short subject by Walt Disney
Europe
Les Grenouilles Qui Demandant Un Roi ("The Frogs That Demanded a King" or "Frogland"), Ladislas Starewicz. (France) (puppet animation)
Little Red Riding Hood), Anson Dyer /Hepworth Picture Plays. (Great Britain) (drawn animation, some live action) first Kiddiegraph series (1922)
1923
World News
Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler holds it's first public congress.
Dance marathons all the craze.
Earthquake destroys Tokyo and Yokohama. 300,000 killed and 500,000 injured and about 2.5 million left homeless.
Adolf Hitler attempts a coup of the German government. It fails and he is arrested.
German Mark plummets from an exchange rate of 4.2 marks per dollar in 1914 to 4.2 trillion marks per dollar making it worthless
Inventions
Zworykin develops Iconoscope at Westinghouse
Animation News
Fleischers produce a series of animated sequences adapted from the Literary Digest, titled "Fun From The Press"
Dick Huemer begins working for the Fleischers
Bill Tytla is hired by Paul Terry.
"Disney Brothers" Cartoon Studio founded in Hollywood, California by Walt and Roy Disney.
Comics
"Felix The Cat" debuts as a comic strip for The American Journal. It drawn by cartoonist Pat Sullivan.
Frank Willard's "Moon Mullins" comic strip debuts in The Chicago Tribune.
Birthdays
Harry Smith, (director, animator, writer)
Ion Popescu-Gopo (Romanian director, writer)
Bretislav Pojar (Czechoslovakian director, animator, writer)
Wladyslaw Nehrebecki (Polish director, writer)
Marcel Marceau (French Mime)
Movies
Cecil B. DeMille releases, "The Ten Commandments"
The 1st movie with sound recorded on film. It showes a couple dancing to music played by 4 musicians. There is no dialogue.
Notable Cartoons
United States
The Einstein Theory of Relativity, Max Fleischer and Garrett P. Serviss /Fleischer. (drawn animation, some live action)
Bedtime, Dave Fleischer /Fleischer.
(drawn animation)
Silliettes, Herbert M. Dawley /Dawley Production. (silhouette animation) first Silliettes series (1923-1925); distributed as part of one of Pathe's film magazines
Felix in Hollywood, Otto Messmer /Sullivan.
Robinson Crusoe Returns on Friday, Richard McShay Friel /Lee-Bradford.early Red Head Comedies series (early series with color, 1923-1925)
Europe
La Voix du rossignol ("The Voice of the Nightingale"), Ladislas Starewicz /Pathe. (France) (puppet animation, some live action)
Sovietskie igrushki ("Soviet Toys"), Aleksandr Ivanov and Aleksandr Buskin /Kultkino. (Soviet Union) (distributed in the Kino-Pravda newsreel)
1924
World News
Composer, George Gershwin writes the music for "Rhapsody In Blue".
1st Winter Olympics are held in France.
Radio signals are broadcast 7,000 miles from New York to Manchester.
Hitler is sentenced to 5 years in prison for his failed coup.
Hitler is freed from jail after serving 8 months.
Animation News
"Animated Hair" by caricaturist, Marcus shows celebrity caricatures evolving out if a "strand of hair"
• Roy and Walt Disney move their studio down one building. Hires Rollin "Ham" Hamilton
• June - Ub Iwerks moves to Hollywood to join the
studio at Walt's insistance
Reel Colors Inc. produces a short series of animated color cartoons called, "Historiets"
J.R. Bray Studios produce the "Dinky Doodle" series (1924 - 1926) which shows Walter Lantz as the animator, drawing the adventures of the main characters ala the "Out of the Inkwell" series by Fleischer.
1st Song Cartoon using the "bouncing ball" by Fleischer
Fleischers produces a series featuring different types of animation between 1924 and 1925. These films are not released until 1927.
Columbia Pictures incorporates
MGM is formed
• Winkler contracts with Disney for another 26 Alice cartoons. The contract would stipulate the delivery of one cartoon every 3 weeks.
Comics
Roy Crane's comic strip "Wash Tubbs" debuts in The Chicago Tribune.
Birthdays
Gene Deitch, animator (1924 - )
Federic Back, German animator (1924 - )
Henry Mancini, American composer of "The Pink Panther" theme
Kihachiro Kawamoto, Japanese animator (Paradise)
Faith Hubley, animator (1924 - 2001)
Deaths
Russian revolutionist, Vlavimir Lenin dies at the age of 54. His body is plasticized and put on public display in Lenin's Tomb. To this day it is still perfectly preserved.
Notable Cartoons
United States
Disney releases his first of his Alice Comedies: "Alice's Day at Sea"
Oh! Mabel, Max Fleischer /Out of the Inkwell. first Song Car-Tune series First sound cartoon, using the DeForest Phonofilm system (theatres without sound systems were given sheet music for their orchestras)
The Magic Lamp, Walter Lantz /Bray. (drawn animation, some live action) first Dinky Doodle series (1924-1926)
The Boneyard Blues, Earl Hurd /Hurd Productions. one of the Pen and Ink Vaudeville series (1924-1925)
Animated Hair [1], Marcus. series 1924-1925
Cracked Ice, Edwin Miles Fadman /Red Seal. (puppet animation) one of the Funny Face Comedies series (1924)
Europe
Bonzo, George Ernest Studdy. (Great Britain) first Bonzo the Dog series (1924-1926)
Pongo Arrives, Dudley Buxton. (Great Britain) first Pongo the Pup series (1924)
Ballet mécanique ("Mechanical Ballet"), Ferdinand Leger. (France)
The Interplanetary Revolution", Senon Komissarenko, Yury Merkulov, Nicolai Khodataev /State Film Technicum. (Soviet Union) (puppet animation)
Max und Moritz series, unknown (Germany)
Orient
Akagaki Genzo: Tokuri no Wakare ("Genzo Performs a Ceremony with a Parting Cup"), Hakuzan Kimura. (cut-out animation)
Obasuteyama ("The Mountain Where Old Women Are Abandoned"), Sanae Yamamoto.
1925
World News
Hitler publishes "Mein Kampf" (My Struggle)
The "Charleston" becomes a dance craze.
Women wear "flapper" dresses.
Surreal art is shown in Paris.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby" is published.
Animation News
Warner Bros buy Vitagraph from animator J. Stuart Blackton
• April - Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising join Walt's studio
July - Walt and Lillian Disney are married
• Late July - Walt and Roy put a $400.00 deposit down to buy the studio building on Hyperion Ave.
The short lived "Ebenezer Ebony" series (1925) is produced by Sering D. Wilson & Company
Pat Sullivan produces the Felix the Cat cartoons under his own production company: Pat Sullivan Productions.
Just to prove that there was nothing that couldn't be animated, John Colman Terry produced, directed and animated a series of animated crossword puzzles. (10 of them were done... just think of it!)
Associated Animators studio founded by Burt Gillet, Dick Huemer, Ben Harrison, and Manny Gould.
Charles Mintz founds Winkler Productions to create a Krazy Kat series for R-C Pictures (1925-1927).
Hans Fischerkoesen establishes the Fischerkoesen Studio in Leipzig to make advertising films. (Germany)
Bill Nolan gets the rights to animate a series of Krazy Kat cartoons produced and distributed by Charles Mintz Studio (husband of Margaret Winkler, Disney's distributor).
Comics
Robert E. Howard sells his first story "Spear & Fang" to the pulp magazine "Wierd Tales" begining his writting career.
Birthdays
Arnold Stang (voice actor)
Yasuji Mori (Mori Yasuji) (animator, director, character designer)
Jonathan Winters (comedian, actor, voice of Theif in "Theif and the Cobbler")
Movies
Chaplin in "The Gold Rush"
Eisenstein's "The Battleship Potemkin"
Buster Keaton in "Go West"
Lon Chaney in "Phantom of the Opera"
Notable Cartoons
United States
"My Old Kentuky Home" by Max Fleischer uses syncronized sound using Dr. Lee DeForest's invention
The Flying Elephant, first Ebenezer Ebony series (early experimental color cartoon using the Natural Color Kelly Process)
Evolution, Max Fleischer /Fleischer. (drawn animation, some live action)
Ebony Cleans Up, L.B. Cornwell, Inc. first Little Ebony series
Hot Dogs, Winkler. first Krazy Kat series (1925-1929)
How the Elephant Got His Trunk, Walter Lantz /Bray. first Unnatural History series (1925-1927)
Europe
Jerry the Troublesome Tyke, Sid Griffiths. (Great Britain) first Jerry series (1925-1927)
Orient
Nonkina Tosan Ryugu Mairi ("Easy Going Old Man Visits the Ryugu"), Hakusan Kimura /Misugaya Eiga Seisakujo.
Sukesuke Shinohara, Hakusan Kimura /Asahi Kinema.
1926
World News
Gretta Garbo starts her film career in the U.S.
NHL expansion. Teams include: Montreal Maroons, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Chicago Black Hawks, and Detroit Cougars.
A drawing is "faxed" across the Atlantic Ocean for the 1st time.
Inventions
Scottish inventor, John L. Baird demonstrates something he calls "television"
1st teleconference - between Washington and New York
Movies
John Barrymore and Mary Astor star in the 1st film demonstrating the Vitaphone system for combining picture and sound for movies.
Radio
Sam and Harry, AKA "Amos N' Andy" a radio show about two black characters from Harlem debuts. The actors, Freeman Godsen and Charles Correll were two white men. The show had a cartoon spinoff during the late 20's. The radio show was the highest rated in radio history. In 1961, the show was disguised as another cartoon called "Calvin and the Colonel.
Animation News
• Disputes between Disney and Mintz begin
Warner Bros. premiers the Vitaphone motion picture sound on disk system for the film Don Juan
Caricaturist, John Held Jr. reaches the peak of his career.
• Walt fires Rudy Ising for falling asleep at his desk
Comics
"Amazing Stories" begins publication.
Birthdays
Osamu Tezuka, comic book artist, animator (Astro Boy, Jumping)
Mel Brooks, actor and director; narrator of Ernest Pintoffs The Critic (see 1963)
Don Adams (Donald James Yarmy) (voice actor)
Stan Freberg (voice artist)
Yoram Gross, Polish director, producer, animator, writer
Queen Elizabeth II
Norma Jean a.k.a. Marilyn Munroe
Deaths
Actor, Rudolph Valentino dies at age 31.
Escape artist, Harry Houdini dies at age 52 of ruptured appendix.
Artist, Claude Monet dies at age 86.
Notable Cartoons
Europe
Lotte Reiniger, of Germany, completes the second animated feature film, "The Adventures of Prince Achmed"
United States
Invalid, Mintz. first Krazy Kat series from the Charles Mintz studio (1926-1940). Later episodes from the Columbia studio.
The Family Album, Hy Mayer /Mayer. first Scenic Sketchographs series
For the Love o' Pete, Walter Lantz /Bray. (drawn animation, part live action) first Hot Dog series (1926-1927)
Canada
Romulus and Remus, Charles Lambly. (Canada) (cut out animation)
Orient
"Uproar in the Art Studio", Wan Lai-ming, Wan Guchan, Wan Chaochen, and Wan Dihuan. (China)
1927
World News
Clara Bow becomes the "It" girl.
Mae West is sentenced to 10 days in jail and a $500 fine for indecency in her Broadway production, "Sex".
Charles Lindbergh flies solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
PanAm Airlines is formed - flights between Key West and Cuba are $100 round trip.
While still under construction, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Picford, and Norma and Constance Talmadge leave their footprints in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded.
Inventions
Philo Farnsworth invents fully electronic TV
Motion picture film standardized at 24 fps
Animation News
• March Mintz signs an agreement with Universal Studios to distribute 26 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons produced by Disney
• Les Clark joins Disney Studio
Friz Freleng is hired by Disney.
The Fleischer Bros. go broke but are bailed out by a businessman named Alfred Weiss who arranged for their films to be relesed through Paramount.
Fleischers begin producing a series of cartoons featuring Ko-Ko the Clown (1927 - 1929)
Winkler Productions' Krazy Kat series is transferred from R-C Pictures to Paramount-Famous-Lasky.
Bray Studio stops making entertainment films. The studio continued to make educational films.
Quirino Cristiani founds Studios Cristiani. The studio mainly created commercials. (Argentina)
Birthdays
Dusan Vukotic, Yugoslavian animator (Zagreb Animated Film Studio)
Attila Dargay, Hungarian animator (The Goose Boy 1976)
Don Messick (voice actor)
Witold Giersz (Polish director, writer, animator)
Vyacheslav Kotenochkin, (Russian director, producer, animator)
Alison de Vere (director, animator, background artist) born in Peshawar. (India)
Shin Dong Hun (director, animator, producer). (Korea)
Giulio Gianini, Italian animator (Ali Baba 1971, Pulcinella 1973 nominated for Academy Award)
Movies
Cecil B. DeMille directs, "The King of Kings".
Al Joleson stars in "The Jazz Singer" 1st successful full length "talkie"
The Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences is formed.
Alfred Hitchcock's 1st film, "The Pleasure Garden" is released in England.
Laurel and Hardy begin their film careers.
Notable Cartoons
United States
"Trolley Troubles", Walt Disney /Disney. first Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series (Disney 1927-1928).
Canada
Follow the Swallow, Bryant Fryer. (Canada) (silhouette animation) first Shadowlaughs series
two films were created in this series but never distributed
Europe
Anémic cinéma ("Anemic Cinema"), Marcel Duchamp. (France)
Fiinbeck er rømt ("Jiggs Has Escaped"), Ottar Gladtvet. (Norway)
"Skating Rink", Ivan Ivanov-Vano and Cherkes /Mezhrabpom-Rus. (Soviet Union)
Orient
Tako no Hone ("The Octopus Bone"), Yasuji Murata.
1928
World News
The Federal Radio Commission (later called the FCC) issues the 1st television licence for a broadcast station in Washington, D.C.
GEs WG4 Schenectady, the 1st television station goes on the air.
NBC broadcasts the first nation-wide radio show.
Bacteriologist, Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.
Amelia Earhart flies across the Atlantic Ocean.
Inventions
RCA and General Electric install 3 1.5" square television sets in 3 homes in Schenectady, N.Y.
Hollerith introduces the 80-column "punch card"
Animation News
Disney holds out for more money to produce the "Oswald the Rabbit" cartoons. Charles Mintz says, "No"
Charles Mintz set up the Winkler Studio in Hollywood to make Oswald cartoons.
• March - Walt and Lillian leave N.Y. for Hollywood. On the train ride Walt comes up with the plot for "Plane Crazy" starring "Mickey Mouse"
• March - May Iwerks animates "Plane Crazy" in secret while the rest of the Disney staff complete the remaining 3 Oswalds
May - Charles Mintz hires away most of Disney's staff.
• May 29 - Walt discusses the idea of making the 2nd Mickey cartoon wih sound with the studio staff.
• Wilfred Jackson comes up with the idea of making an exposure sheet and then creates the "Bar Sheet" for transcribing the music and breaking it down into frames for better synchronization.
• Late June - Walt, Jackson, Roy, Cannon and UB do a live performance of the sound effects to a short section of the "Steamboat Willie" cartoon that is in mid-production.
Shamus Culhane is hired as an inker on Krazy Kat cartoons at Mintz Studio.
• Late July - Disney has another screening like the first but this time with the entire film completed.
Out of the Inkwell Studio declared bankrupt. Max Fleischer forms the Fleischer Studio.
Universal Studios, who own the rights to Oswald take the series away from Mintz.
• Sept 4 - Walt leaves for N,Y, and meets Pat A. Powers who helps get the Steamboat sound recorded.
• Sept 15 - Walt has the 1st recording session which turns out to be a disaster.
• Sept 30 - After adding a bouncing ball to the corner of the film to better assist in the timing of the sound, the 2nd recording session is a complete success.
• Mid Oct - Disney screens the finished film at Universal - They draw out the negotiations for distribution.
• Nov 18 - "Steamboat Willie" premiers at the Colony Theater in N.Y. to rave reviews.
In a case of "bitter/sweet irony" Universal Studios ask Walter Lantz to set up an animation studio to produce the "Oswald the Rabbit" series cutting out Charles Mintz
After the release of "Steamboat Willie", Van Beuren announces that all their new cartoons would be produced with sound.
Comics
"Buck Rogers" debuts in "Amazing Stories".
Ham Fisher's comic strip "Joe Palooka" makes his first appearance.
Birthdays
Raoul Servais, Belgian animator (Goldframe 1969, Harpya 1979)
Maurice Sendak, Illustrator
Stanley Kubrick, live action director (2001, A Space Odyssey)
Movies
Joseph Schenk, President of United Artists says, "Talkies are just a fad."
The M.G.M. lion logo appears for the 1st time introducing the studio's 1st talking picture, "White Shadows on the South Seas".
"The Lights of New York", the 1st all talking feature film.
Notable Cartoons
United States
Disneys Steamboat Willie (Ub Iwerks animator)
Fleischers Kokos Earth Control
High Up, Rudolph Ising /Winkler. first Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series from the Winkler Studio (1928)
Mississippi Mud, Walter Lantz /Universal. first Oswald the Rabbit series. Continuation of the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series. (1928-1938).
Dinner Time, Paul Terry and John Foster /Van Beuren. first sound Aesop's Fables series (1928-1933)
Monsters of the Past, Virginia May /Pathe. (clay animation)
Europe
Putting the Wind Up Winnie, Joe Noble /Pathe. (Great Britain) first Sammy and Sausage series (1928-1930)
Doktor Dolittle und seine Tiere ("Doctor Dolittle and His Animals), Lotte Reiniger. (Germany) (silhouette animation)
'Orace the 'Armonious 'Ound in "The Jazz Singer", Joe Noble /British Sound Film Productions. (Great Britain) (drawn animation, some live action) first 'Orace the 'Armonious 'Ound series (1928-1929) first sound British cartoon
"Amorous Water Sprite", Hermina Trylova. (Czechoslovakia)
Die Chinesische Nachtigall ("The Chinese Nightingale"), Rudi Klemm and Julius Pinschewer. (Germany)
"Eva and the Grasshopper" (ss), Ferdinand and Hermann Diehl. (Germany) (puppet animation)
Sluchay na stadione ("Occurrence in the Stadium"), Alexander Ptushko. (Soviet Union)
Orient
Nihonichino Momotaro ("Momotaro Is the Greatest"), Sanae Yamamoto /Takamasa Eiga.
"Raccoon That Helped a Junk Man", Yasuji Murata /Yokohama Cinema Kyokai.
1929
World News
"St. Valentines Day" massacre in Chicago.
The Vatican becomes a state in Italy.
The "Geneva Convention" is signed by 48 nations.
Zepplin completes a round the world trip.
New York's Museum of Modern Art opens.
October 24th - "Black Thursday" - American Stock Market crash throws America into "The Depression".
Inventions
Color television is demonstrated at Bell Laboratories
Animation News
First Academy Awards ceremony. Animation awards are not given until 1932.
Walter Lantz adds sound to the cartoons produced at Universal Studios
MGM attempts to sign a contract with Disney but withdrew the offer for fear of a financial battle with Pat Powers, Disney's distributor.
• Disney hires Burt Gillett who was previously working on "Felix the Cat" cartoons, Ben Sharpsteen from "Mutt & Jeff" series, Jack King and Norm Ferguson from Paul Terry's, "Aesops Fables". Al Eugster and Otto Messmer were asked to join the Disney staff but declined. Eugster went to Fleischer and Messmer continued to do the "Felix the Cat" cartoons.
The Fleischers begin adding sound to all their cartoon productions.
Paul Terry leaves Van Beuren in a dispute over sound and the unnessesary costs involved
Paul Terry and Frank Moser establish the Terrytoons studio in New Rochelle, New York.
Paul, Hermann and Ferdinand Diehl establish an animation studio in Graefelfing. (Germany).
• Disney hires Carlos Manriquez as the 1st Layout artist on staff.
Comics
Harold R. Foster begins working on a "Tarzan" comic strip.
"Popeye The Sailor" make his debut in E.C. Segar's "Thimble Theatre" strip.
"Buck Rogers" comic strip by Dick Calkin's makes first appearance.
Cartoonist Herge (Georges Remi) begins Internationally famous comic strip "TinTin" in Belgium.
Popular Music
"Tip Toe Thru the Tulips"
"Singin' In the Rain"
Birthdays
Rene Laloux, animator is born (Fantastic Planet) (1929 - )
Manuel García Ferré (director, producer, writer, animator) born in Almería. (Spain)
Deaths
Gunman, Wyatt Earp dies at age 80.
Asa Candler, founder of Coca Cola dies at age 77.
Movies
MGM makes it's first musical comedy, "Broadway Melody".
1st Academy Awards.
Alfred Hitchcock directs Britian's 1st syncronized sound film, "Blackmail".
Fox Film Corporation sells first national holdings to Warner Bros. says, "Talkies have made silent films obsolete."
1st movie with both sound and colour, Warner Bros. Technicolour, "On With the Show".
Notable Cartoons
United States
Yankee Doodle Boy, Seymour Kneitel /Fleischer. (drawn animation, part live action) first Screen Songs series, each film contained live action footage of the artist or orchestra that provided the song. Series continued until 1951 (later episodes produced by Famous Studios)
The Skeleton Dance, Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks /Disney. first Silly Symphonies series (1929-1939)
Bosko the Talk Ink Kid, Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising /Harman-Ising. (drawn animation, part live action) experimental short made to demonstrate the Bosko character, not released to theatres.
Noah's Lark, Dave Fleischer /Fleischer. first Talkartoons series (1929-1932)
• "Ratskin" the 1st Krazy Kat cartoon released by Columbia Pictures
Europe
Pochta ("The Post", "Post Office"), Mikhail Tsekhanovsky. (Soviet Union)
Tusalava, Len Lye. (Great Britain) (direct-on-film animation)
"The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen" (ss), Ivan Ivanov-Vano/Mezhrabpom-Rus. (Soviet Union)
Kalif Storch ("Caliph Stork"), Ferdinand Diehl. (Germany) (silhouette animation)
Das Wetterhäuschen, Gerda Otto and Hedwig Otto. (Germany)
Orient
Kobu Tori ("Removing the Lump"), Yasuji Murata /Yokohama Cinema Kyokai.
Kujira ("The Whale"), Noburo Ofuji. (cut-out animation)
1930
Inventions
Masking tape is invented
Philo Farnsworth receives patents for transmitting images by electronic means
Movies
Filming begins on the classic film "Dracula" starring Bela Lugosi who had played the title role on stage beginning in 1927. Filming also began simultaneously on the Spanish version with a completely different cast and crew but using all the same locations. The Spanish version is arguably the better of the two from a cinematic point of view.
The motion picture producers and distributors of America formally adopt the "Production Code" which for 30 years imposed strict guidelines on cinema treatment of sex, crime, religion, violence, and other controvercial subjects.
Animation News
Charles Mintz signs a distribution deal with Columbia and moves the studio and most of the staff to California.
Sid Marcus and Dick Huemer join Mintz and help produce the 'Scrappy' series.
Leon Schlesinger, a co-founder of Pacific Art and Title, signs a contract with former Disney
artists Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising to produce shorts for Warner Bros.
Ub Iwerks leaves Disney and sets up his own studio producing Flip the Frog cartoons.
• Carl Stalling, Disney's music director leaves the studio the day after Ub quits. He ends up going over to Warner Bros.
MGM agrees to distribute the "Flip the Frog" series, the first of which is done in two color Technicolor.
Walter Lantz produces animation for the live action movie "The King of Jazz Revue" in two strip Technicolor
• Ham Hamilton and Hugh Harman (who left Warner Bros.) sign a contract to work for Pat Powers.
• Disney hires Tom Palmer, David Hand, and Harry Reeves.
• Disney hires Ted Sears an animator and gag man from Fleischers.
Comics
Chic Young's "Blondie" comic strip makes it's first appearance.
Sax Rohmer's "Fu Manchu" character is adapted into a comic strip by cartoonist Leo O' Melia.
Ub Iwerks introduces "Micky Mouse" as a comic strip.
Birthdays
Roy E. Disney born (future vice-chairman, Walt Disney Co.)
Borivoj Dovnikovic, Yugoslavian animator is born (Second Class Passenger, One Day of Life)
Alan Oppenheimer (voice actor)
Billie Lou Watt (voice actress)
Phil Roman (director, producer, animator) born in Fresno, California.
Neil Armstrong, Astronaut - 1st man to step on the moon.
Sean Connery, Actor (James Bond, 007)
Deaths
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Author of Sherlock Holmes dies at age 71.
Lon Chaney, horror film actor dies at age 47.
Notable Cartoons
United States
Dizzy Dishes 1st appearance of Betty Boop, created by Grim Natwick, Fleischer Studio.
The King of Jazz, John Murray Anderson /Universal. (live action, some drawn animation)
Contains a 2 1/2 minute animated sequence by Walter Lantz. The first color animation using the two-strip Technicolor process.
Sinkin' In the Bathtub (ss), Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising /Harman-Ising. first Bosko series (1930-1938)
The Chain Gang, Walt Disney /Disney. first appearance of Pluto
Fiddlesticks, Ub Iwerks /Iwerks. first Flip the Frog series (1930-1933)
The Museum, Dick Huemer, Sid Marcus /Mintz. first Toby the Pup series (1930-1931)
Europe
Bingo Breaks Loose, Norman Cobb /Shepherd. (Great Britain) first Bingo the Dog series (1930)
"The Card Maniac", Richard Teschner. (Austria) (puppet animation)
Un disciplo de caco, Joaquin Xuadaro. (Spain)
Orient
Saru Masamune, Yasuji Murata /Yokohama Cinema Kyokai.
Sekisho ("The Inspection Station"), Noburo Ofuji.
1931 - 1940
Timeline Index
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