Saturday, January 10, 2009

HELP SAVE ANIMATION HISTORY!

Whether you're a friend or fellow blogger, or maybe you've found my blog by googling some early animation key words, you will know that information and film availability is close to nill out there. It's been my goal for the past decade to locate as many pre-sound cartoons as possible--something that I spend hours each day attempting to accomplish.
I cannot do this without the help of fellow historians and fans, however. Almost all my my acquisitions are funded through the purchases of DVDs listed on my Tom's Vintage Film website (banner link above). There you will find the most comprehensive source for silent-era cartoons...as such, I challenge you to locate more!
It is especially necessary that you, the historian or fan, help with my search by purchasing one or a few DVDs in order to enable me to fund further films that can be unearthed at any given time. Imagine a scenario where a random, previously unavailable film hits the market and yours truly has no funds for it because DVD sales have been slow. That increases the chances of the film falling into the hands of someone else who can pay more and will only store it on a shelf for no one else to see. We all lose in that scenario, except for the lucky purchaser. Unfortunately, I've faced that situation countless times!
Here is an example of one DVD I've compiled, and what the costs were to obtain original 16mm film prints...
TS40: Mutt & Jeff Vol. 2 (with beautiful cover art!)

Cramps (1916)
A Kick for Cinderella (1924)
Invisible Revenge (1925)
Mummy O' Mine (1926)
The Globe Trotters (1926) excerpt
Westward Whoa (1926) Original b&w footage!
Aroma of the South Seas (1926; 1931 b&w/sound)
Aroma of the South Seas (1926; 1931 color/silent)

My cost: Roughly $275
Your cost: $20

Here's another example:

TS-38 Cartoons at Home (Brand new 16mm transfers)
Here you will get a glimpse into how your ancestors enjoyed cartoons from the 1920s and 1930s at home by renting 16mm prints from various distributors before the days of television. You may have seen some of these in their original versions, but chances are you've not seen these alternate versions which have been out of use for sixty-plus years.

Fighting Flees (Kitty Kat Cartoons: Felix the Cat)
Alice's Tin Pony (Novelty Film Co.)
Racing Fever (Screen Attractions Corp.)
Tuning In (Unknown Dist.)
El Toreador (Unknown Dist.)
Midnight Frolics (Unknown Dist.)
War Daze (Unknown Dist.)
Magazine Rack (Screen Attractions Corp.)
Slight Fantastic (Screen Attractions Corp.)
Hey Fever (Hollywood Film Enterprises)

My cost: Roughly $325
Your cost: $20

So you see, locating and acquiring these early films is costly. Few are willing or even have the time to do it.

As always, the animation enthusiast's contributions and purchases are always highly appreciated and necessary for allowing additional material to find its way to you. Just follow the Tom's Vintage Film banner link above and take a look at the DVD page.

Thank you all!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hey, Kinda random... but...

I'm sure you have heard of "Kitty Kat Cartoons"... I've found a reel of a cartoon titled "The Moon Visits". It seems to be a silent Felix the Cat cartoon, I'm told it's from around 1930.
Have you heard of it at all? Or do you know where I can go to find more information on the film?