Muskegon Magazine.com, Muskegon County's online magazine

A Muskegon Magazine.com Tradition: Christmas Cartoons

BY GARY SCOTT BEATTY, WRITER AND ILLUSTRATOR OF BOOKS, AND PUBLISHER AND EDITOR, MUSKEGONMAGAZINE.COM

Happy holidays! Enjoy these cartoons from the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was the creation of a copywriter at Montgomery Ward. In 1948 the Jam Handy Organization, a Detroit-based producer of some fine promotional and educational films, and legendary animator Max Fleischer, produced this cartoon version to be shown in theaters as yet more advertising for Montgomery Ward. Presented here is a beautiful Technicolor nitrate print from the AFI/Columbia Pictures Collection, the original produced before the re-release in 1951 containing the famous Johnny Marks song from 1949. What a find! Enjoy.


Jack Frost helps a bear cub combat Old Man Winter in this 1934 Ub Iwerks ComicColor cartoon. The song "I Don't Have to Worry, I Don't Have to Care" was written by Carol Stalling, who would become best known for his Warner Bros. cartoon orchestra soundtrack work. Note to children: the wringer washer is how people used to wash clothes.


1936's Christmas Comes But Once a Year comes from Fleischer Studios, with a strangely adult-absent orphanage and Jack Mercer (Fleischer Studios voice of Popeye) as Grampy. Max and Dave Fleischer had decided years prior to tone down Betty Boop to make her more family-friendly, and her invention-creating grandfather was one of the additions.


Otto Soglow’s The Little King first appeared in 1931 in The New Yorker magazine, was licensed for animation by the Van Beuren Studios, and became a King Features Syndicate newspaper strip in 1934. Here the King invites some down-and-out friends to sleep over Christmas Night (1933) and, after Santa delivers, they proceed to tear up the palace.


Skating Hounds, from 1929, is perhaps more focused than many of the Van Beuren Studios shorts made before they brought in Disney alumni Burt Gillett and Tom Palmer in 1933. At least they are more linear than Gypped in Egypt (1930)! I think these cartoons’ oddly rambling storytelling style has a charm all its own. Don't bother to figure it out, just enjoy!


What do you think of classic cartoons? Too violent or bigoted to be enjoyed today? Let us know at Muskegon Magazine .com on Facebook.


These Works are in Public Domain and not Derivative as specified by U.S. copyright law (title 17 of the U.S. Code).

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Jazz: Midnight, with art inspired by jazz album cover design, drops readers into the late night music clubs of 1957. From Gary Scott Beatty. Click here for Jazz: Midnight.

Wounds, Gary Scott Beatty’s zombie horror book with a twist, is now on Amazon. Click here for Wounds.

Worlds, the first Gary Scott Beatty retrospective is now on Amazon. This 96 page collection includes early work, unpublished art, in-depth articles, a jazz art gallery and more. Click here for “Worlds.”

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Contents:

EVENTS
Stay warm in December with Hackley Public Library events for all ages, like storytime, LEGO coding, bingo, crafts, tours, groups. Don't miss the Yule Gift Book Event! Details here.

SENIORS
Caregivers can quickly become overwhelmed over the holidays. Kurt Sapp of Seminole Shores Living Center offers five ways respite care can help them manage the busy holiday season.

COMMUNITY
Adopt A Working Family, GivingTuesday and more offer happy holidays to many in our community. Christine Robere explores how in this informative article. VIDEO!

LAKESHORE STAR GAZER
The brilliant starry nights in December remind us of our holiday decorations. Also, don't miss Mystery of the Christmas Star! Astronomer Jonathan Truax is your guide. VIDEO!

BUSTER KEATON
Muskegon's own silent film star visits “The Frozen North” in this parody of 1920’s popular melodramas. Find out why Buster made this short and see it here! VIDEO!

HOLIDAY CARTOONS
Enjoy a beautiful Technicolor nitrate print of the original Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and four more crazy Christmas themed cartoons, complete and online here! VIDEO!

EVENTS CALENDAR
Don't miss a thing this month with Muskegon County's best online events calendar, courtesy of Hackley Public Library!

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