Following the announcement of the upcoming release of a blu-ray on the Little King cartoons by Steve Stanchfield, I thought it would be interesting to highlight this very short series composed of only two short films named "A Dizzy Day" and "AM to PM" both produced in 1933.

Personally, I love these Sentinel Louie cartoons because they are the most faithful to Otto Soglow's humor in addition to being among the most beautiful cartoons of the 30s. The Little King series tries too hard to imitate Disney for my taste, which makes it lose a lot of its charm and I think the change in direction has a lot to do with it. The method of the animator Harry Bailey consisted in taking back many of Soglow's singular gags to improve them and the result turned out to be deliciously atypical and original, while George Stallings was content to build stories that were mostly unrelated to the comics.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the Little King series is bad, there are some very good episodes and even some excellent ones, thanks to Jim Tyer's animation, but we lost the strange charm and the typical Van Beuren's weird atmosphere that was present in the Sentinel Louie series and it's really a pity.

Another reason why I prefer Sentinel Louie is that the visuals are much more imaginative, even if you often have to freeze-frame to appreciate all the beauty of the settings. On this point, "A Dizzy Day" is the one that stands out the most, the way the houses and landscapes are drawn is really extravagant, we also find the animal repertoire of Soglow. The result is a perfect immersion in this idiosyncratic universe and all this makes the cartoon extremely confusing, especially with this music that seems to be a later addition but is surprisingly well suited to the cartoon.

Although visually less impressive than its predecessor, "AM to PM" is however much better animated. VB's style is expressed a bit more when we see some objects animated like the Sentinel Louie's mustache, the street lamps in contact with the wind and the living police car but these additions are not disturbing because they add humor to the film. Secondary characters also make an appearance such as the mysterious Mr. Zout or the shoeshine boy. Gene Rodemich's music is catchy and adds a lot of energy to the cartoon, the choices of scores are also very clever: it's a great idea to have put in the credits the famous Crazy People of the Boswell Sisters !

It's worth noting that "A Dizzy Day" seems to be set in the countryside while "AM to PM" is almost exclusively urban, these differences as well as the ones I've already mentioned make me think that another director - perhaps John Foster, or even Otto Soglow himself - was involved in making "A Dizzy Day". I recognized several ways of animating the Sentinel Louie that do not appear in "AM to PM," including the parade scene at the opening to the mustache exchange scene and the extremely angular scene in which Louie salutes a general on horseback, but it is impossible for me to know who animated these scenes.

I also don't know why Louie was renamed Louey or why he wears a mustache when he doesn't have one in the comic book. I suspect this is because Paul Terry produced a series of cartoons around the same time about a character named King Zich, which seems to be a kind of plagiarism of the Little King universe, but there is no way to confirm this for sure.

In short, as you can see, there are still a lot of points to be clarified around this series and I hope to find answers to all these questions one day.

As these two clips from the Sentinel Louie series are quite difficult to find on YouTube, I'll allow myself to post links here :

Here you go, feel free to give your opinion on this series, I'm curious to know if like me you prefer the Sentinel Louie !

The thing that fascinates me most about Bailey is that he is one of the earliest studio animators, ever. His career began in Bray's apartment in 1913, and he was at the Bray Studios until at least 1915-16 or so.

The thing that fascinates me most about Bailey is that he is one of the earliest studio animators, ever. His career began in Bray's apartment in 1913, and he was at the Bray Studios until at least 1915-16 or so.

I didn't know that Harry Bailey had been working in animation since 1913, so he was probably involved in the creation and animation of the Bobby Bumps and Heeza Liar series.

It would be interesting to know if Bray ever mentioned working with Bailey during his interviews.

According to the extracts of the Film Daily poster by Yowp, Soglow signed with Van Beuren to authorize the adaptation of his characters in cartoon on March 1st 1933. However, the last cartoon directed by John Foster was released on March 10th of the same year, so it is quite unlikely that he could have participated in the creation of the series. On the other hand, the article also mentions that the writer JP McEvoy was hired to help with the writing of the stories of the studio, which could perhaps explain why these first cartoons based on the topper of the comic of Soglow are so different from the others, but it is still necessary to know how long McEvoy stayed at Van Beuren.

On the other hand, I don't know why the topper was renamed Louey and why he doesn't appear on screen anymore after the launch of the Little King series.

The thing that fascinates me most about Bailey is that he is one of the earliest studio animators, ever. His career began in Bray's apartment in 1913, and he was at the Bray Studios until at least 1915-16 or so.

I didn't know that Harry Bailey had been working in animation since 1913, so he was probably involved in the creation and animation of the Bobby Bumps and Heeza Liar series.

It would be interesting to know if Bray ever mentioned working with Bailey during his interviews.

Well we can say that the chance makes well the things because I found on the same site an article of the Film Daily where Bray talks about the first cartoon which he directed !

https://tralfaz.blogspot...l-hugh-and-rudy.html?m=1 

Bray said he hired three artists to help him in his work and it is quite possible that Harry Bailey is one of them.

Thank you for all these details, Mr Tragus.

It's really sad that we don't have more information about the development of this series, I really hope that Steve Stanchfield will address at least one of these two cartoons on Cartoon Research.

In the meantime, if someone has more information about Harry Bailey, I'm a taker, I'd also like to know which scenes he animated in these two short films of the Sentinel Louie because I don't recognize very well the style of the VB animators.

You are totally right to say that this series was much better than The Little King which on its side is very bland and completely without interest but you must know that Van Beuren in the meantime fired a large part of his staff which explains why these cartoons became so bad.

You have to know that the son president of RKO, Hiram "Bunny" Brown Jr, was appointed business manager of the studio at the beginning of 1933 and according to Mannie Davis, Hiram Brown tried to interfere in the affairs of the company. His first move was to force Van Beuren to fire the studio's director, John Foster, the reason for the firing being that Foster tended to emphasize gags over quality animation, which displeased this demanding new business manager. As RKO was the major shareholder of the Van Beuren Corporation, Brown threatened Van Beuren with withdrawal of funding if he did not bend to his will and Van Beuren had to give in.

After John Foster's dismissal, one would think that Brown would have left Van Beuren alone, but this was not the case, Hiram Brown wanted Van Beuren to follow the same path as Disney but Van Beuren refused. Brown therefore diverted a large part of the studio's financing, which forced Van Beuren to fire almost all of its main animators. Harry Bailey, Mannie Davis, George Rufle and Frank Sherman were the main victims, but animators Hicks Lockey and John McManus also seem to have left Van Beuren at this time.

From then on, it was a disaster: the series Aesop's fables which had lasted for more than twelve years as well as the series Tom and Jerry were abruptly cancelled, the series Cubby Bear suffered a huge drop in quality in the stories and the production of the new series Amos 'n' Andy had to be delayed for more than 6 months !

The last thing was that Brown was still not satisfied and he continued to push Van Beuren to fire staff, the genius Gene Rodemich was for example fired for no apparent reason, same for Margie Hines. Frank Taslin also resigned to join Earl Hurd on the West Coast.
It is in this catastrophic context that Van Beuren launches the series The Little King, a series that could only be mediocre given the simply lamentable situation of the studio.

Steve Stanchfield is obviously well aware of all this history but he is careful not to say it because it would make The Little King series look bad and also the DVD he wants to market. Fortunately, Yowp has done an excellent job of documenting the role that Hiram Brown played in the fall of Van Beuren.

Charlie, hold on

You have to know that the son president of RKO, Hiram "Bunny" Brown Jr, was appointed business manager of the studio at the beginning of 1933 and according to Mannie Davis, Hiram Brown tried to interfere in the affairs of the company. His first move was to force Van Beuren to fire the studio's director, John Foster, the reason for the firing being that Foster tended to emphasize gags over quality animation, which displeased this demanding new business manager.

I'm pretty sure that Bunny Brown was placed in the studio in the middle of 1932, and his first act wasn't firing Foster, but they did clash heads immediately because of Bunny's high opinion of his role. John Foster has his name last on LOVE'S LABOR WON (1933), so its clear he was there when Cubby Bear was created at the meeting held in early 1933 at a sports club to come up with new ideas, and at the meeting to create new ideas. Foster was likely fired shortly after this, probably for butting heads with Brown, and for missing deadlines, not for story content (although it was a point of contention at some points...)

Hiram Brown wanted Van Beuren to follow the same path as Disney but Van Beuren refused. Brown therefore diverted a large part of the studio's financing, which forced Van Beuren to fire almost all of its main animators. Harry Bailey, Mannie Davis, George Rufle and Frank Sherman were the main victims, but animators Hicks Lockey and John McManus also seem to have left Van Beuren at this time.

From POPEYE THE UNION MAN, I know they were hired for attempting to unionize. There was a lot of unpaid overtime at Van Beuren because of missing deadlines, I believe all of the animators you listed (except McManus) all were in these meetings. George Stallings ratted them out to the bosses and were all hired, which is probably how Stallings became the key director for awhile until Burt Gulliet joined, who actually rehired Rufle and Frank Amon, which was probably awkward for Stalling during his brief time still there (he ended up as a storyman at Disney not long after)

From then on, it was a disaster: the series Aesop's fables which had lasted for more than twelve years as well as the series Tom and Jerry were abruptly cancelled, the series Cubby Bear suffered a huge drop in quality in the stories and the production of the new series Amos 'n' Andy had to be delayed for more than 6 months !

During the meeting at the sports club, it was decided Tom and Jerry would not continue the 1933-34 season. Technically, Fables did continue as Cubby Bear, cancelled along with Little King when Gulliet took over. Not sure why you say the stories suffered a loss of quality when even if they aren't as funny (imho), they did spend more time on story for them.

The last thing was that Brown was still not satisfied and he continued to push Van Beuren to fire staff, the genius Gene Rodemich was for example fired for no apparent reason, same for Margie Hines. Frank Taslin also resigned to join Earl Hurd on the West Coast.
It is in this catastrophic context that Van Beuren launches the series The Little King, a series that could only be mediocre given the simply lamentable situation of the studio.

Rodemich died suddenly in February 1934. After briefly running the whole department, I think they just moved him back into composing once they found someone acceptable (Stallings). Margie Hines was not a studio employee and mostly stopped being used around this time for various reasons. I have also, never seen any proof of Tashlin leaving to join Earl Hurd, can you cite this? I don't even think he had a studio in 1933, I think he may of just joined Disney's, or was he still at Iwerks? Anyhow, I don't know why Tashlin left VB but he went to Schlesinger sometime in spring or summer of 1933

For what it's worth, I think The Little King cartoons are fine and funny. Some rely too much on "kill the king", but they have the usual VB WTFisms and their attempt at creating something like Soglow's designs is quite appealing. They would've probably kept up for at least another season if Van Beuren didn't want the "box office appeal" of Burt Gulliet. Tyer does some nice work on them too, but opinions will be opinions when justified

Charlie, hold on

I'm pretty sure that Bunny Brown was placed in the studio in the middle of 1932, and his first act wasn't firing Foster, but they did clash heads immediately because of Bunny's high opinion of his role.

After doing some checking, I realize that you are correct.
Hiram Brown Jr. did become a business manager in 1932 while his father was still the director of RKO.

John Foster has his name last on LOVE'S LABOR WON (1933), so its clear he was there when Cubby Bear was created at the meeting held in early 1933 at a sports club to come up with new ideas, and at the meeting to create new ideas. Foster was likely fired shortly after this, probably for butting heads with Brown, and for missing deadlines, not for story content (although it was a point of contention at some points...)

I add that Hiram Brown reproached John Foster for not controlling enough the quality of the animation, the designs of the characters changing enormously from one animator to another and this is something that tends to decrease after Foster left VB. To make matters worse, Foster had a tendency to recycle his animations, for example the cartoon Opera Night reuses a lot of Mad Melody's animations and I think that Brown was opposed to it since this practice will also disappear.

From POPEYE THE UNION MAN, I know they were hired for attempting to unionize. There was a lot of unpaid overtime at Van Beuren because of missing deadlines, I believe all of the animators you listed (except McManus) all were in these meetings. George Stallings ratted them out to the bosses and were all hired, which is probably how Stallings became the key director for awhile until Burt Gulliet joined, who actually rehired Rufle and Frank Amon, which was probably awkward for Stalling during his brief time still there (he ended up as a storyman at Disney not long after)

I had read in The Dutch Animation Collection: a work in progress by Mette Peters and Peter Bosma that Georges Stallings claimed to have found himself at the head of the Van Beuren Corporation thanks to a financial dispute with RKO, however, your assertion is much more credible because it explains very well why Stallings was chosen to direct VB, especially since Stallings would never have been able to admit having betrayed his colleagues. Finally this explanation is consistent with the strikes that will take place later at VB and Fleischer so I thank you for this information.

During the meeting at the sports club, it was decided Tom and Jerry would not continue the 1933-34 season. Technically, Fables did continue as Cubby Bear, cancelled along with Little King when Gulliet took over. Not sure why you say the stories suffered a loss of quality when even if they aren't as funny (imho), they did spend more time on story for them.

I was talking about the one-shots of the Aesop's fables series directed by Harry Bailey, it doesn't seem to me that Van Beuren had planned to suppress them since even the first adaptations of Soglow's comics were produced within this series.
It was only after Bailey left that The Little King series was produced independently.

Rodemich died suddenly in February 1934. After briefly running the whole department, I think they just moved him back into composing once they found someone acceptable (Stallings). Margie Hines was not a studio employee and mostly stopped being used around this time for various reasons. I have also, never seen any proof of Tashlin leaving to join Earl Hurd, can you cite this? I don't even think he had a studio in 1933, I think he may of just joined Disney's, or was he still at Iwerks? Anyhow, I don't know why Tashlin left VB but he went to Schlesinger sometime in spring or summer of 1933

Gene Rodemich was replaced by his assistant Winston Sharple from Galloping Fanny released December 1, 1933 so he had actually left VB shortly before his death, Yowp claimed that he read a letter written by Hiram Brown himself where he asks Van Beuren to fire Rodemich, unfortunately he didn't give more details than that. Also, Gene Rodemich is credited as VB studio manager in Film Daily ads long before Harry Bailey's departure, although he was still credited only as music director in the cartoon title cards.

Concerning Frank Tashlin, I misspoke : originally Tashlin migrated to the West Coast to work for Walt Disney, and according to Michael Barrier, Earl Hurd went to meet Tashlin at the Los Angeles train station but he does not explain why he wanted to meet him.

Michael Barrier mentions it in a very brief way on his website : http://www.michaelbarrier.com/I...in/tashlin_interview.htm 

Since Earl Hurd was actually working for Schlesinger at the time (at least according to an advertisement in the Film Daily dated June 10, 1933), I assume that he was the one who convinced Tashlin to choose Schlesinger over Disney.

For what it's worth, I think The Little King cartoons are fine and funny. Some rely too much on "kill the king", but they have the usual VB WTFisms and their attempt at creating something like Soglow's designs is quite appealing. They would've probably kept up for at least another season if Van Beuren didn't want the "box office appeal" of Burt Gulliet. Tyer does some nice work on them too, but opinions will be opinions when justified

The problem with The Little King series is that while it more or less succeeds in retranscribing Soglow's character designs, it completely fails to capture the spirit of the comic book, whereas the Sentinel Louey series succeeds perfectly. To do a comic book adaptation well, especially one by a singular author like Otto Soglow, you need to capture the universe of the comic book as closely as possible, not just the character designs.

For example, Harry Bailey had perfectly understood Soglow's minimalist drawing style, so he was careful not to add too much detail in the backgrounds. However, in order to keep the audience's attention, he designed the landscapes in the strangest way possible and that is the genius of this director. We can see that Bailey deeply admired Soglow's style and that he did everything to remain faithful to it.

On the other hand, look at the backgrounds in The Little King, they are nice and very detailed but it's not in Otto Soglow's style, he would never have drawn the scenery that way. And even if these backgrounds are detailed, they are completely unimaginative : the rooms of the castle are horribly common and there is nothing to show the eccentricity of the Little King character.

But the biggest flaw of the series remains the writing of the stories, it has nothing to do with the comic book, absolutely no effort has been made to respect Soglow's humor and this is hard to forgive. It's obvious that George Stallings didn't appreciate Soglow, he built an animation series around the Little King simply because he was a popular character and he hoped to attract the numerous readers of the comic. Especially since by adding antagonists out of laziness of the script, he somehow turned The Little King into a crowned Mickey Mouse. These cartoons are not even interesting musically as the first VB were since Sharples is not as good as Gene Rodemich because he does not have his energy nor his intelligence.

In fact, the only good thing about The Little King series was the appointment of Jim Tyer as animation director. Tyer's animation is incredible, not only because he manages to fit Soglow's character designs perfectly, but he manages to give them so much vibrancy and energy that you immediately become attached to them. I don't think any other animator at that time could have done it as well as Jim Tyer, so it's a very good thing that he became the main animator, something that probably wouldn't have been possible without the firing of Harry Bailey and the others, although it's pretty hard to speculate on that.

I can't force you to like the Sentinel Louey series but I had to give my opinion because this series is too often put in the background whereas in my opinion it is a good example of what should have been The Little King series.

How did Gene Rodemich manage the Van Beuren studio when he was just the conductor ?

How did Gene Rodemich manage the Van Beuren studio when he was just the conductor ?

In truth, it's worth pointing out that Gene Rodemich never really managed the Van Beuren studio as a whole. However, it's important to stress that Van Beuren nevertheless gave him a key role within the company.

It's important to contextualize this period in animation history. At the time, the music director was traditionally under the supervision of the director, who had the power to choose the scores to be used in the films. However, Van Beuren decided to do something quite revolutionary by giving Gene Rodemich total freedom in the choice of music.

As a result, all Van Beuren studio directors were placed under Rodemich's direction, who had the power to impose his directives on them. This decision had a significant impact on the production of the Van Beuren studio's animated films. The directors were now obliged to accept Rodemich's musical choices, allowing them to concentrate more on other aspects of production, such as the animation itself.

Gene Rodemich, for his part, skilfully exploited this new freedom by adding popular, well-known tunes, such as the cover of "Crazy People", which you mentioned earlier. This testifies to his great mastery of his art and his concern to satisfy the public while respecting Van Beuren's directives.

This step taken by Van Beuren shows how aware he was of Gene Rodemich's talent and how intent he was on keeping him loyal. In fact, by giving Rodemich complete freedom in his choice of music, Van Beuren was granting him an exceptional opportunity that no other studio could offer him.

In other words, although Gene Rodemich never actually held the position of head of the Van Beuren studio, his role was essential in helping to establish a new balance within the company's animated film production.