Walt Disney Cartoons

Credits

Compiled by
Lenhill and RSX-798

Editions by
Michael Kenchington

Background

In 1921, Walt Disney started making cartoons at Laugh-O-Gram Studio. They eventually moved to Los Angeles in 1923 and the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio was formed in order to release the Alice Comedies at Winkler Pictures. They started working on Oswald the Lucky Rabbit at Universal Pictures in 1927, before dropping it in 1928 to work with Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphony at Pat Powers' Celebrity Productions. Pat Powers would eventually go on to distribute the Flip the Frog and Willie Whopper cartoons, through MGM, as well as the ComiColor cartoons. They eventually moved to Columbia Pictures in 1930, then at United Artists in 1932. They eventually moved to RKO Radio Pictures in 1937 (the same year as the release of Walt Disney's first animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) to replace Van Beuren Productions as RKO's cartoon provider and stayed for two decades until 1956, even after Disney formed Buena Vista Film Distribution in 1953. It never used a logo until 1935.

1st Logo (February 23, 1935-May 29, 1937)

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Visuals:

• Opening: On a gray background, there is the text "WALT DISNEY" in a blocky-like font, and below it is the series' logo in red (either the Silly Symphony logo or the text "MICKEY MOUSE" arranged in crooked, blocky letters), followed by the text "IN TECHNICOLOR". Underneath is the text "UNITED ARTISTS PICTURE", the yellow MPPDA logo, and a copyright date.
• Closing: On the same gray background, there is a white outlined circle. The text inside is "A WALT DISNEY", then the series' title, followed by a rectangle with a yellow circle, and then the text "THE END". Below it is a disclaimer for RCA Victor and Technicolor.

Variant: On B&W rereleases, the whole logo is in B&W, and all Technicolor references are removed.

Technique: A hand-drawn graphic.

Audio: The cartoon's theme.

Availability: It has fallen victim to being replaced with reissue titles. First seen on "The Band Concert" and last appeared on "Modern Victims".

2nd Logo (September 24, 1937-September 2, 1959, December 21, 2007)

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Visuals:

• Opening: On a yellow or blue background, a character's face (ranging from Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald and Pluto) from the featured cartoon is shown. The screen then fades to a red cloth/burlap-like background, with the text "A" with the text "WALT DISNEY" in a blocky/rounded-type font and the text "CARTOON" (or mostly the series' logo), once again arranged in red crooked, blocky letters with the text reading "IN TECHNICOLOR" (1937-1948), "Color by TECHNICOLOR" (1948-1956), "TECHNICOLOR" (1956-1959), "RECORDED BY RCA VICTOR "HIGH FIDELITY" SOUND SYSTEM" (1960-1970 reissues) or "COLORIMAGED BY AMERICAN FILM TECHNOLOGIES" (1970s colorized reissues) below. Underneath is the copyright disclaimer and the logos.
• Closing:
  • 1937-1956: On the same burlap background, there is a spotlight. The same text is shown on top, surrounded by a yellow circle (prior to the 1940's), and then the text "The End" in a script font, and below are references to Technicolor and RCA.
  • 1956-1959: On the same background, "The End" was moved to the center, and below it was the red text "A WALT DISNEY PRODUCTION".
  • There's another version where it has "The End" in teal script font in the center of a blue or red background, with "A WALT DISNEY PRODUCTION" in white very below.
  • The other version featured the text "The End" onto the same red sunburst background, and below it is the text "A WALT DISNEY PRODUCTION".
  • On 1970s B&W reissues, the end title is in B&W.
  • On 1970s colorized reissues of 1928-1935 cartoons, this version features "The End" (in the 1951-1979 "Walt Disney" font) and below it is the text "A WALT DISNEY PRODUCTION", all in Yellow.
  • On a 1991 Dutch TV airing of the colorized print of Mickey Mouse short Wild Waves, the copyright stamp appears on the 1970s end title.

Variants:

• On cartoons from 1937 to 1954, an additional disclaimer for RKO Radio Pictures is shown between the Technicolor disclaimer and copyright information.
• On some one-shot cartoons like Lambert, The Sheepish Lion and Susie, The Little Blue Coupé, an alternate version of the logo exists where the logo is on a red sunburst background, the Technicolor text is moved to the top and in pink, and the center has the text "Walt Disney" (in the 1951-1979 font) with "PRESENTS" below.
• On some one-shot cartoons, like Pigs is Pigs, Football (Now and Then), Casey Bats Again and Social Lion, the logo is on the same sunburst background, and has the text "A WALT DISNEY PRODUCTION" ("WALT DISNEY" has the classic font. "A" and "Production" are in script). The Technicolor text was moved to the top and it was in an old-styled font.
• When the cartoons are reissued for TV in the 1970s, the logo is on a burlap background with some music notes behind it. The logo would sometimes appear on old B&W cartoons.
• On some reissues, the background is red with some musical notes "waving".
• On some reissues, the text is "A Walt Disney Production" in a script-like font, and below it was either "Color by TECHNICOLOR" (1954-1956) or "TECHNICOLOR" (1956-1959).
• On How to Hook Up Your Home Theater, the MPAA, Dolby Digital, DTS, Sony Dynamic Digital Sound and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees logos along with the text "DISTRIBUTED BY WALT DISNEY STUDIOS MOTION PICTURES" appears.

Technique: Hand-drawn graphics with a cross-dissolve transition.

Audio: The theme of the cartoon's short.

Availability: It was found on many Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Silly Symphony, Pluto, Chip 'n Dale cartoons and some Academy ratio releases of CinemaScope titles.

• It was first shown on "Hawaiian Holiday" and last appeared on How to Have an Accident at Work.
• The logo also appeared on How to Hook Up Your Home Theater.

3rd Logo (1941-1944)

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Visuals:

• Opening: On a black background with a blue thorn pattern is the text "A". Next to that is the text "WALT DISNEY" in a large font, and below it is "PRODUCTION" in spaced-out letters. Then, a reversed version of the pattern (with the text "PHOTOGRAPHED IN" in spaced-out letters and "TECHNICOLOR in the same bold font) fades in. Then the text "DISTRIBUTED BY" in spaced-out letters and the text "R.K.O RADIO PICTURES, INC." in the same bold font. Copyright info is shown below.
• Closing: On the same background as the opening logo is the text: "THE END in the same bold font, and below that is the text "A WALT DISNEY PRODUCTION" and "IN TECHNICOLOR". Below was another text "DISTRIBUTED BY R.K.O RADIO PICTURES, INC."

Technique: Hand-drawn graphics.

Audio: The beginning of the theme of the respective short.

Availability: Seen on shorts released at the time, but now may be replaced with the 2nd reissue logo instead.

• These titles can be seen on The Pelican and the Snipe and Reason and Emotion, respectively.

4th Logo (November 23, 1954-July 27, 1956)

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Visuals:

• Opening: On a black background with some grids, there is an outline of Donald Duck holding a flashlight. A light turns on a red parallelogram with the text "a Walt Disney" on the top left, then another light turns on the green parallelogram with the text reading either "Cartoon" or "Donald Duck" on the bottom right, followed by another flashlight turning on a blue parallelogram with the text "color by Technicolor" in red, and then another parallelogram shows copyright info with logos, and then the light turns off.
• Closing: On a black background, there is a sky blue paralleogram with black parallelograms with yellow and blue edges. Inside it is the text "the end" and below it was the text "A WALT DISNEY PRODUCTION" is shown below the logo.

Technique: Cel animation.

Audio: The theme of the cartoon's short.

Availability: First seen on the Donald Duck cartoon Grand Canyonscope and last seen on the Humphrey the Bear cartoon In the Bag.

5th Logo (August 28, 1957)

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Visuals: Over a blue marble background is the text "A" in white, then "Walt Disney" appears in the pre-1979 signature font, and below it was the text "CARTOON" and the text "TECHNICOLOR" is shown below inside a transparent parallelogram. Below it was copyright information.

Technique: A hand-drawn graphic.

Audio: The theme of the cartoon's short.

Availability: Can only be seen on The Truth About Mother Goose.