Directory of '42

Yowp has posted an LA (uh, City Directory; didn't they have phone books that would have made these redundant by 1942?) directory with the Schlesinger crew. These likely would have been most of the crew for '43 as well.
http://tralfaz.blogspot.com/2011/10/they-made-tunes-looney.html

BoxOffice, October 23, 1943

No text cache.
Linky: http://www.boxofficemagazine.com/the_vault/page_thumbnails?issue_id=1943-10-23

Yowp/Fibber Fox pointed out the following Red Hot Riding Hood ad with a Tex Avery mention on page 8:


Yowp was also nice enough to provide the following text:

Pg 33

Studios Going All-Out On the Popular Shorts

Hollywood—It may have been coincidence, but the trend-seekers could easily pounce on the situation as being indicative that studios are concentrating increasing attention on short subjects—perhaps with a hopeful eye cast toward the return of single-feature programs. In any event, from two film foundries on one and the same day came reports of all-out activities on the shorts front.

With 20 subjects in various stages of production, Metro entered the most intensive schedule in the history of its cartoon studio. Included in the group, under the producer guidance of Fred Quimby, were 16 one-reelers comprising the entire output for 1943-44. The additional four films represent the remaining releases on the current program.

The Tom and Jerry characters, directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, will be starred in “Baby Puss,” “Zoot Cat,” “Million Dollar Cat,” “Bodyguard,” “Puttin’ on the Dog,” “Kitty Foiled,” “Mouse Comes to Dinner” and “Tee for Two.”

In a special slapstick series, directed by Tex Avery, are “Screwball Baseball,” “Nuts in May,” “Little Heel-watha,” “The Shooting of Dan McGoo,” “Screwy Truant,” “House of Tomorrow” and “Screwball Squirrel,” introducing the new pen-and-ink star, Squirrely Squirrel.

The balance of the product, now in animation or in the process of photographing, are “Strange Innertube,” “Worst Aid,” “Bear Raid Warden,” “Bedtime for Barney” and “Some Skunk.”

Pg 35

Technicolor Short Every Third Week From Disney

New York—As a result of a realignment of the studio’s production activities, Walt Disney will hereafter produce and release his Technicolor one-reel shorts on a basis of one every three weeks, it was announced by Harry Michalson, RKO Radio short subjects sales manager.

The new plan, which becomes effective on November 5 with the release of the Donald Duck subject, “The Old Army Game,” will enable RKO, said Michalson, to go back to a regular and orderly release schedule, and afford exhibitors ample advance time for the setting up of playdates.

In announcing the new schedule, Michalson said that he had been advised by Disney that “Commando Duck,” “Donald Duck and the Gorilla,” “Pelican and the Snipe,” and “Chicken Little” carried an extra production budget of 25 per cent and would be specials in quality. Latter two shorts, both Silly Symphonies, will introduce new characters and types of stories which Disney plans to continue in future productions.

Pg 49

Disney Schedule Complete For Remainder of Year

Six new stories have been placed in work at the Walt Disney studios, raising to 18 the number of briefies currently in animation or in story development, all of which are for RKO release. Rounding out the shorts production list for the balance of the year, the six films include three Goofys, “How to Feud,” “Tiger Hunt” and “Big Game Hunt”; two Plutos, “The Dog Watch” and “Ant Eater,” and one Donald Duck, “The Plastic Inventor.”

Pg 50

Studio Personalities

Briefies

WALTER LANTZ has announced a plans to make program of [unreadable]ns for the navy first of which will be a three reel subject, Practical Surgery.

Ben Hardaway has been assigned to write the script which will instruct doctors in accordance with navy requirements.

Pg 98

Exhibitors Report Shorts Great Help

Dallas— Here are additional comments from theatre managers on short subjects that have
“stolen the show” from the feature. Each week in the Interstate circuit house organ designed to promote interest in short subjects, but which also mentions features now and then are published comments from contributing managers. It all comes in the department supervised by Mrs. Besa Short, nationally known for her interest and success in the building up of the regular run of short subjects.

Here are the comments:

“Fifth Column Mouse” was a great help to our program and it held the pace of laughter .set by the feature.—Bill Chambers, Texas Grand. El Paso.

“Red Hot Riding Hood” got more comment than any other cartoon we have ever played.—E. G. Gordon, Rialto, Amarillo.

You can always depend on “Woody Woodpecker” to wow ‘em. Please send us more.—Shelton Young, State, Mercedes.

Applause greeted Woody Woodpecker in “Dizzy Acrobats” . . . this rascal’s name means something at our boxoffice.—Ray Hazlett, Sunshine, Albuquerque.

The Phantom Chapter 8

http://www.archive.org/details/ThePhantom1943Serial-15Chapters

Go to Chapter 8.
In Quest of the Keys
This Lois Lane is better at finding out her Superman's identity than the actual Lois Lane. So the gig will be up when Lois Lane tells them Lex Luthor only pretended to be shot, right? Heh, Phantom whispers from the bushes instead of actually helping Lois Lane... Slippy hill...

Cartoons of 1943 on TV

On 10/22/11, I saw the Fox and the Crow's Way Down Yonder in the Corn on Totally Tooned In on Antenna TV; it was the first cartoon I'd seen on the show, as it was the first time I was in town for it since Detroit got access to the station on WADL's subchannel. But there you go; the year lives on on the broadcast airwaves. This was promptly followed by the '39 cartoon Jitterbug Knights. Huzzah!

105 Fin'N Catty

Title: Fin'N Catty
Studio: WB
Date: 10/23/43 (10/9 in BoxOffice?)
Credits: - (but Chuck Jones)
Series: Merrie Melodies (Blue Ribbon re-release)
Running time (of viewed version): 6:27
Commercial DVD Availability: Old Acquaintance (I assume but do not know that the disc in each of the following has the short; technically I am usually not sure the versions definitely have the shorts, but it's usually easier to assumethe reviews are correct as there are usually fewer releases: Bette Davis Colleciton v 2, TCM Collection, stand alone dvd )

Synopsis: Cat vs water, fish vs cat.




















Comments: Narrator. Looming cat head. Pastel backgrounds, no black lines. Water gun in the eye. Wide cheeks. Crazy eyes and angles. Fairly fast cutting. Fish with hat. Fish visible in the cat tail. Water FX. Sucking cat looks a bit like Chuck Jones Tom of Tom and Jerry.

Not the only cartoon with a hanging "n" in its title this year; there's also Fin n' Catty. (edit: er, I mean, Seein' Red White 'n' Blue, Woodpeckin', No Mutton fer Nuttin')

104 The Stork's Holiday

Title: The Stork's Holiday
Studio: MGM
Date: 10/23/43
Credits:
Directed by
George Gordon
Animation
Michael Lah
Rudy Zamora
Carl Urbano
Don Williams
Al Grandmain
Story
Otto Englander
Webb Smith
Music
Scott Bradley
Series: -
Running time (of viewed version): 7:45
Commercial DVD Availability: -

Synopsis: Stork smartly decides to not fly through guns to deliver babies; then stupidly changes mind.





















Comments: Newspaper headline text opening. Shadow shot. Bag of kittens. Dropping birthrate should have been true, based on so many of the guys all being overseas. Cool anthropomorphic zeppelin clouds. I love the listening post. I have a drawing of the searchlight eye of Sauron. Cigarette lighter shell. The Nazi versions of anthropomorphic planes. Straight on view of a long gun Big Bertha. Is the stork delivering Nazi babies, or is his base located in Germany? Magazine: Torso. Apparently the Men's Health of its time. Cigar smoking.

103 Aladdin's Lamp

Title: Aladdin's Lamp
Studio: Terry
Date: 10/22/43
Credits:
Series: Gandy Goose
Running time (of viewed version): 6:15
Commercial DVD Availability: -

Synopsis: Wartime dreams of furlough in China.



















Comments: Colorful flashes with the lightning. The story of Aladdin's lamp is for some reason in "Tales of China". Very rainy for an Aladdin cartoon. Colorful clouds. Aladdin is a white Chinese duck. Dancing girls in lanterns. Gandy and Sourpuss pursue them, which is abnormally like miscegenation for the time (species issues aside). Zoot suit uniforms. Firecrackers (coincidental as I write this on July 4). Then they drink a red fluid from martini glasses. I have no idea why this should be called Aladdin's Lamp. Maybe that was the name of a famous Chinese brothel or something. Awesome iris wipe.