United Productions of America, better known as UPA, was an American animation studio and later distribution company founded in 1941 as Industrial Film and Poster Service by former Walt Disney Productions employees. Beginning with industrial and World War II training films, UPA eventually produced theatrical shorts for Columbia Pictures such as the Mr. Magoo series. In 1956, UPA produced a television series for CBS, The Boing-Boing Show, hosted by Gerald McBoing Boing. In the 1960s, UPA produced syndicated Mr. Magoo and Dick Tracy television series and other series and specials, including Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol. UPA also produced two animated features, 1001 Arabian Nights and Gay Purr-ee, and distributed Japanese films from Toho Studios in the 1970s and 1980s.
Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol is a 1962 animated musical holiday television special produced by UPA. It is an adaptation of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, and it features UPA's character Mr. Magoo as Ebenezer Scrooge. The special first aired on December 18, 1962, on NBC and was the first animated Christmas special to be produced specifically for television.
The golden age of American animation was a period in the history of U.S. animation that began with the popularization of sound cartoons in 1928 and gradually ended from 1957 to 1969, where theatrical animated shorts began losing popularity to the newer medium of television animation since in 1957, produced on cheaper budgets and in a more limited animation style by companies such as Terrytoons, UPA, Paramount Cartoon Studios, Jay Ward Productions, Hanna-Barbera, DePatie-Freleng, Rankin/Bass and Filmation. In artefact, the history of animation became very important in the United States.
Animation in the United States in the television era was a period in the history of American animation that slowly set in with the decline of theatrical animated shorts and the popularization of television animation during the late 1950s to 1960s, peaked in the 1970s, and ended in the mid-late 1980s. This era is characterized by low budgets, limited animation, an emphasis on television over the theater, and the general perception of cartoons being primarily for children. Due to the perceived cheap production values, poor animation, and mixed critical and commercial reception, this era is sometimes referred to as the Dark Age of American animation by critics.
J. Quincy Magoo, better known as Mr. Magoo, is a fictional cartoon character created at the UPA animation studio in 1949. Voiced by Jim Backus, Mr. Magoo is an elderly, wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of comical situations as a result of his extreme near-sightedness, compounded by his stubborn refusal to admit the problem. However, through uncanny streaks of luck, the situation always seems to work itself out for him, leaving him no worse than before. Bystanders consequently tend to think that he is a lunatic, rather than just being near-sighted. In later cartoons, he is also an actor, and generally a competent one, except for his visual impairment.
John Kirkham Hubley was an American animated film director, art director, producer, and writer known for his work with the United Productions of America (UPA) and his own independent studio, Storyboard, Inc.. A pioneer and innovator in the American animation industry, Hubley pushed for more visually and emotionally complex films than those being produced by contemporaries like the Walt Disney Company and Warner Brothers Animation. He and his second wife, Faith Hubley, who he worked alongside from 1953 onward, were nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning three.
Rudolph Larriva was an American animator and director from the 1940s to the 1980s.
Screen Gems is an American film production company owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation, initially as a cartoon studio, then a television studio, and later on as a film studio. The label currently serves as a film production that specializes in genre films, mainly horror.
Gerald McBoing-Boing is an American-Canadian 2D animated children's television series based on the 1950 animated short film Gerald McBoing-Boing. It premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States on August 22, 2005, as part of their then-Tickle-U programming block, and on Teletoon in English and French in Canada on August 29, 2005. The show would later be reran on Boomerang around 2007. It uses the same basic art style as the original, but with more detail. Each 11-minute episode features a series of vignettes with Gerald, of which the "fantasy tales" are done in Seussian rhyme. There are also sound checks, gags, and "real-life" portions of the show, It was also internationally broadcast on ABC Kids in Australia.
The Pink Panther is a fictional animated character who appears in the opening and/or closing credit sequences of every film in The Pink Panther series except for A Shot in the Dark and Inspector Clouseau. In the storyline of the original film, the "Pink Panther" is the name of a valuable pink diamond named for a flaw that shows a "figure of a springing panther" when held up to the light in a certain way; in the credits this was translated to an animated pink panther. Only the first Pink Panther film and the second sequel, The Return of the Pink Panther, featured the diamond.
The Pink Panther Show is a showcase of animated shorts produced by David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng between 1969 and 1978, starring the animated Pink Panther character from the opening credits of the live-action films. The series was produced by Mirisch Films and DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, and was broadcast Saturday mornings on two American television networks: from September 6, 1969, to September 2, 1978, on NBC; and from September 9, 1978, to September 1, 1979, on ABC.
Stephen Reginald Bosustow was a Canadian-born American film producer from 1943 until his retirement in 1979. He was one of the founders of United Productions of America (UPA) and produced nearly 600 cartoon and live-action shorts. He is chiefly remembered for producing a string of Mr. Magoo and Gerald McBoing-Boing cartoons in the 1950s, three of which earned Academy Awards. He is the only film producer in history who received all the Oscar nominations in one category (1956), guaranteeing him the winning Oscar. Magoo's Puddle Jumper was the eventual winner.
Herbert Klynn was an American animator at UPA from 1944 to 1959 eventually rising to the role of Vice President and Production Chief. He worked on various Mr. Magoo cartoons and Gerald McBoing-Boing cartoons as well as cartoon shorts such as Madeline (1952) and Christopher Crumpet (1953).
Shirley Silvey was an American animator, whose credits included Mr. Magoo, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, Dudley Do-Right Show and George of the Jungle. Silvey was considered a pioneer in animation, as she was one of the first women to work in the field.
Jolly Frolics is a UPA animated cartoon series. Thirty-eight films were produced in the series, theatrically released from 1948 to 1959, pioneering the use of limited animation.
1001 Arabian Nights is a 1959 American animated comedy film produced by United Productions of America (UPA) and distributed by Columbia Pictures. Released to theaters on December 1, 1959, the film is a loose adaptation of the Arab folktale of "Aladdin" from One Thousand and One Nights, albeit with the addition of UPA's star cartoon character, Mr. Magoo, to the story as Aladdin's uncle, "Abdul Azziz Magoo". It is the first animated feature to be released by Columbia Pictures.
David Weidman was an American animator, animation artist and silkscreen print artist known for his mid-century modern works, including posters, prints and ceramics. Weidman began his career in animation as a background artist during the 1950s and 1960s. During his later life, Weidman's silkscreens were featured in the sets of the AMC television series, Mad Men, which revived interest in his work. In 2010, the Los Angeles Times referred to Weidman as possibly "the most famous unknown artist."
Willis Acton Pyle was an American animator known for his work with Walt Disney Animation Studios, including Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), and Bambi (1942), as well as UPA's Mr. Magoo, where he co-created the iconic character, and the short film, Gerald McBoing-Boing (1950), which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1951. Pyle later enjoyed a long career as a freelance animator on such projects as the animated film, Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure (1977), Halloween Is Grinch Night (1977), several Peanuts television specials, and Cathy's Valentine.
