Film Forum

Bouncy, often jaw-dropping, musical cartoons from the 1930s, restored from the original camera negatives, giving each short a visual and sound clarity they haven’t had in 90 years or more. Program includes Pre-Code shenanigans with Felix The Cat, Popeye the Sailor, Flip The Frog, The Little King and The Wizard of Oz — some using long-forgotten early color processes. Plus rare Fleischer pencil tests and much more!

Romeows (1930), Mendelsson’s Spring Song (1930), Piano Tooners (1932), Buster Bear (1930), Ragtime Romeo (1931), Hell’s Fire (1933), Jack Frost (1934), Sunshine Makers (1935), Marching Along (1933), Bold King Cole (1936), The Wizard Of Oz (1932), Fleischer Pencil Tests

Jerry Beck is a writer, animation producer, college professor and author of more than 15 books on animation history. He is a former studio exec with Nickelodeon Movies and Disney, and has written for The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. He has curated cartoons for DVD and Blu-ray compilations and has lent his expertise to dozens of bonus documentaries and audio commentaries on such. Beck is currently on the faculty of CalArts in Valencia, UCLA in Westwood and Woodbury University in Burbank — teaching animation history.

Special thanks to archivists Serge Bromberg and Steve Stanchfield.

Restorations funded by ASIFA-Hollywood.