Toby the Pup is an animated cartoon character created by animators Sid Marcus, Dick Huemer, and Art Davis. He starred in a series of early sound shorts produced by Charles B. Mintz for RKO Radio Pictures. The series lasted from 1930 to 1931. [1] Twelve cartoons were produced, though some are still considered to be lost. The character was voiced by Dick Huemer. [2]
In 1930, Charles Mintz, while simultaneously producing the Krazy Kat cartoon series for Columbia, decided to create an additional series to be distributed through RKO Radio Pictures. He hired two Fleischer animators, Dick Huemer and Sid Marcus, and assigned them to work with Art Davis to create the new series. Marcus, who worked for the Mintz studio when it was still located in New York City, devised Toby the Pup. Toby was very similar to Fleischer's Bimbo in both personality and character design. He wore a custodian hat and a pair of shoes that looked like dog feet.
Despite the series' success, it concluded after only twelve films; most likely because of RKO's ties with the Van Beuren studio. However, by the time the series ended, Mintz was already negotiating with Columbia for backing on a second cartoon series to be headed again by Huemer, Marcus, and Davis. For this series, Huemer devised a new character, a small boy named Scrappy.
Today, only eight of the Toby cartoons are known to exist.
Toby can be seen dancing in one of the scenes of the movie, Cool World . [ citation needed ]
| # | Film | Original release date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Museum | August 19, 1930 | First Toby the Pup cartoon. |
| 2 | The Fiddler | September 1, 1930 | A French print was discovered circa 2024. |
| 3 | The Miner | October 1, 1930 | Lost cartoon- |
| 4 | The Showman | November 22, 1930 | A silent print with no opening or ending titles was found in 2010. |
| 5 | The Bug House | December 7, 1930 | Lost cartoon- |
| # | Film | Original release date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Circus Time | January 25, 1931 | A sound unedited print is held by UCLA in 35mm. |
| 7 | The Milkman | February 25, 1931 | A French 35mm release print survives, held by Lobster Films. |
| 8 | The Brown Derby | March 22, 1931 | A full 16mm print was found in 2005 in San Marcos, Texas. |
| 9 | Down South | April 15, 1931 | A French 16mm release print survives, held by Lobster Films. |
| 10 | Hallowe'en | May 1, 1931 | A French 35mm release print survives, held by Lobster Films. |
| 11 | Aces Up | May 16, 1931 | Lost cartoon |
| 12 | The Bull Thrower | June 7, 1931 | Last Toby the Pup cartoon. Lost cartoon. |
The golden age of American animation was a period in the history of U.S. animation that began with the popularization of sound synchronized cartoons in 1928, gradually ending in the 1960s when theatrical animated shorts started to lose popularity to the newer medium of television. Animated media from after the golden age were produced on cheaper budgets and with more limited animation techniques between the 1960s and 1970s. The theatrical animation of the golden age peaked in the 1930s and 1940s, while the period is subdivided as the silver age for the rest of its animation produced in the 1950s and 1960s; which includes the latest theatrical animations produced by Walt Disney and Walter Lantz, the latest theatrical cartoons of MGM and Warner Bros., Hanna-Barbera's earliest animated television series and DePatie–Freleng's earliest theatrical cartoons. Furthermore, the history of animation became very important as an artistic industry in the United States.
Fleischer Studios was an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of its films. In its prime, Fleischer Studios was a premier producer of animated cartoons for theaters, with Walt Disney Productions being its chief competitor in the 1930s.
Max Fleischer was a Polish-American animator, inventor, film director and producer, and studio founder and owner. Born in Kraków, Poland, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became a pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon and served as the head of Fleischer Studios, which he co-founded with his younger brother Dave. He brought such comic characters as Koko the Clown, Betty Boop, Popeye, and Superman to the movie screen, and was responsible for several technological innovations, including the rotoscope, the "follow the bouncing ball" technique pioneered in the Ko-Ko Song Car-Tunes films, and the "stereoptical process". Film director Richard Fleischer was his son.
Koko the Clown is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer. He first appeared as the main protagonist in Out of the Inkwell (1918–1929), a major animated series of the silent era. Throughout the series, he goes on many adventures with his canine companion "Fitz the Dog", who would later evolve into Bimbo in the Betty Boop cartoons.
Flip the Frog is an animated cartoon character created by American animator Ub Iwerks. He starred in a series of cartoons produced by Celebrity Pictures and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1930 to 1933. The series had many recurring characters besides Flip, including Flip's dog, the mule Orace, and a dizzy neighborhood spinster.
The Fleischer Superman cartoons are a series of seventeen animated superhero short films released in Technicolor by Paramount Pictures and based upon the comic book character Superman, making them his first animated appearance.
Arthur Davis was an American animator and director known for his time at Warner Brothers' Termite Terrace cartoon studio.
Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid is a 1929 live-action/animated short film produced to sell a series of Bosko cartoons. The film was never released to theaters, and therefore not seen by a wide audience until 2000 on Cartoon Network's television special Toonheads: The Lost Cartoons. The film was produced on May 29, 1929 and directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising.
Tom and Jerry are fictional characters that starred in a series of early sound cartoons produced by the Van Beuren Studios, and distributed by RKO Pictures. The series lasted from 1931 to 1933.
Noveltoons is a series of cartoons produced by Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios from 1943 to the end of the studio during 1967. The series was known for bringing the characters from Harvey Comics to life, such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Wendy the Good Little Witch, Herman and Katnip, Little Audrey, and Baby Huey. All shorts from Baby Huey and Little Audrey are included. It was the successor to the series Color Classics produced by Fleischer Studios. Several Noveltoons feature characters which originated in Color Classics. This series was also similar to the two series from Warner Bros., Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, in that it features several recurring characters with one general title.
ComiColor Cartoons are a series of 25 animated short subjects produced by Ub Iwerks from 1933 to 1936. The series was the last produced by Iwerks Studio; after losing distributor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1934, the Iwerks studio's senior company Celebrity Pictures had to distribute the films itself. The series was shot exclusively in Cinecolor.
Charles Bear Mintz was an American film producer and distributor who assumed control over Margaret J. Winkler's Winkler Pictures after marrying her in 1924. The couple had two children, Katherine and William. Between 1925 and 1939, Mintz produced over 370 cartoon shorts.
Bimbo is a fat, black and white cartoon pup created by Fleischer Studios. He is most well known for his role in the Betty Boop cartoon series, where he featured as Betty's main love interest. A precursor design of Bimbo, originally named Fitz, first appeared in the Out of the Inkwell series.
Scrappy is a cartoon character created by Dick Huemer for Charles Mintz's Screen Gems Studio. A little round-headed boy, Scrappy often found himself involved in off-beat neighborhood adventures. Usually paired with his little brother Oopy, Scrappy also had an on-again, off-again girlfriend named Margy and a Scotty dog named Yippy. In later shorts the annoying little girl Brat and pesky pet Petey Parrot also appeared.
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.
Charles R. Bowers was an American cartoonist and slapstick comedian during the silent film and early "talkie" era. He was forgotten for decades and his name was notably absent from most histories of the Silent Era, although his work was enthusiastically reviewed by André Breton and a number of his contemporaries. As his surviving films have an inventiveness and surrealism which give them a freshness appealing to modern audiences, after his rediscovery his work has sometimes been placed in the "top tier" of silent film accomplishments. In comic style, he probably modelled himself after both Harry Langdon and Buster Keaton and was known to the French as "Bricolo."
Rainbow Parade is a series of 26 animated shorts produced by Van Beuren Studios and distributed to theaters by RKO between 1934 and 1936. This was the only all-color series produced by Van Beuren, and the final series of the studio.
Richard Huemer was an American animator in the Golden Age of Animation.
The Showman is a 1930 animated film directed by Dick Huemer and Sid Marcus.
 | This article about an animated character is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |