Screen Gems Cartoons
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Logo descriptions and captures by Lenhill, Mr. Logo Lord, and garfield13
Editions by Lenhill, V of Doom, Bob Fish and garfield13
Background: Charles B. Mintz and his wife Margaret J. Winkler opened their animation studio in 1929 to produce animated film shorts, using various vanity cards, which include "Color Rhapsody", "Phantasy" and "Fable" among others.Columbia Pictures Corporation released their cartoons and then later acquired a stake in the company in 1933 and launched "Screen Gems". However, when Mintz became indebted to Columbia in 1939, he ended up selling his studio to them. Under new management, the Screen Gems became a full time animation studio in 1940 until 1946 when Columbia closed its animation unit.
Background Trivia: The "Screen Gems" name was inspired on an early Columbia Pictures slogan that said "Gems of the Screen", itself based on an old American patriotic song named "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean".
Krazy Kat
1st Logo
(1929-1930)
Note: Krazy Kat was the first cartoon series ever to be produced at the Mintz-Winkler studio.
Logo: In the first cap, we see a big screen surrounded by curtains while a weird-looking creature conducts an orchestra totally full of animals. The screen says "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. presents KRAZY KAT" with the episode title and the "A Winkler Picture" logo below, the credits for the animators (Ben Harrison and Manny Gould in this case) and the copyright disclaimer. The second cap is the credits for the comic book version's creator George Herriman and the music composer (Joe De Nat) with the Columbia Pictures' print logo barely seen.
Closing Title: Same as the opening, but instead of the credits, we can now see clearly the Columbia Pictures print logo overlapped by the "The End" written in script and "A KRAZY KAT COMIC" below. Later in 1930, the disclaimer changed to "A WINKLER KRAZY KAT COMIC".
FX/SFX: The whole orchestra. We don't know if the curtains were also animated.
Music/Sounds: The intro/outro of the cartoon's music.
Availability: Rare, as many of the Krazy Kat shorts were reissued by Samba Pictures, Inc.
Scare Factor: None whatsoever.
2nd Logo
(1930-1933)
Logo: Krazy Kat and his girlfriend are hammering a wood banner. On the banner are the words: "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. presents KRAZY KAT" with the episode title
and the "A Winkler Picture" logo below, the credits for the animators (Ben Harrison and Manny Gould in this case) and the copyright stamp.
Closing Title: TBA
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.
Availability: Rare since many Krazy Kat shorts were reissued by Samba Pictures, Inc.
Scare Factor: None.
3rd Logo
(1932-1933)
Logo: On a triangles background we see Krazy Kat on the left and his girlfriend on the right. In the middle of them are the words: "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. presents".
Below are the big letters "KRAZY KAT" with the episode name below. Below is the Charles Mintz Production logo and the credits for the animators (Ben Harrison and Manny Gould in this case) and the copyright disclaimer.
Closing Title: TBA
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.
Availability: Rare.
Scare Factor: None.
4th Logo
(1933-1934)
Logo: On the same background, Krazy Kat appears on the right. There are the words "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. presents KRAZY KAT". Below is the Charles Mintz
Production logo and the credits for the story, musical scores and animation. Below is the copyright stamp.
Closing Title: TBA
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.
Availability: Rare.
Scare Factor: None.
5th Logo
(1934-1939)
Logo: Now, on the same background, Krazy Kat appears on a slightly different design. On the top of the screen, only "KRAZY KAT" appears in big bold letters without the
Columbia script and the Charles Mintz Production logo. The copyright stamp is also different.
Closing Title: On a black background with an outline looking like a TV screen, the words "A KRAZY KAT CARTOON" appear in big bold letters on the top of the screen. On the middle is the Columbia Pictures print logo overlapped by the "The End" written in script and below are the words "Recorded by RCA Victor "HIGH FIDELITY" Sound System". On the bottom of the screen is the Charles Mintz Production logo.
Variant: When the cartoons were re-released by Samba Pictures Inc., a variation of this logo was used with the words "SAMBA PICTURES PRESENTS" on the top of the screen.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.
Availability: Rare.
Scare Factor: None.
_______________________________________________________________
Scrappy
1st Logo
(1930-1933)
Logo: On a curtains background, we see words "CHARLES MINTZ presents", the big word "SCRAPPY" and below it "by DICK HEUMOR". Below are the credits for the animation and musical scores. On the bottom of the screen is the copyright disclaimer. Scrappy appears on the right.
Closing Title: TBA
Later Variant: From 1932, some changes were made on the logo. The Charles Mintz disclaimer was replaced with the words "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. presents" and instead, the words "a Charles Mintz Production" appear below the "SCRAPPY" big letters. The words "by DICK HEUMOR" were moved on the same place above the credits. Also, Scrappy appears on a slightly different design along with his puppy.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.
Availability: Ultra rare, as the majority of the Scrappy cartoons were re-released by Samba Pictures.
Scare Factor: None.
2nd Logo
(1934-1939)
Logo: Nearly same as the 1934-1939 Krazy Kat but Scrappy appears with the hands on a fence instead of Krazy Kat and the big words "SCRAPPY" appear.
Closing Title: Same as the 1934-1939 Krazy Kat closing title but the words "A SCRAPPY CARTOON" appear in big bold letters on the top of the screen.
Variant: When the cartoons were re-released by Samba Pictures Inc., a variation of this logo was used with the words "SAMBA PICTURES PRESENTS" on the top of the screen.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.
Availability: Ultra rare.
Scare Factor: None.
_______________________________________________________________
Color Rhapsodies
1st Logo
(1934)
Note: This is the first opening title of the short-lived series of animated shorts named "Color Rhapsody", created by Charles B. Mintz.
Logo: In a black background with red, gray and blue bubbles, are the words "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. PRESENTS A" and below, in huge fonts, "COLOR RHAPSODY". Underneath, the credits and the copyright stamp. There are two characters and a pup with a cello.
Closing Title: Following an iris-out, in orange background, we see "A Color Rhapsody" very above in red majestic font and the 30s Columbia Pictures' print logo with the world-famous "The End" words overlapping the Torch Lady. Underneath has the following: the sound for RCA Victor; seen on nearly all the 30s shorts from many other companies, and the text"A CHARLES MINTZ PRODUCTION" very below.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The opening/closing theme of a short.
Availability: Rare, as it was seen only on the very first Color Rhapsody short, named "Holiday Land".
Scare Factor: Minimal. The dark background of the opening may bother some, but it's harmless.
2nd Logo
(1934-1936)
Note: These were the last titles for the 2-strip Technicolor era.
Logo: In a light cyan background, we see the "Color Rhapsody" in big bold red-outlined white letters below the "Columbia Pictures Corporation" banner. It is overlapping a partiture with musical notes and all. It has credits for the producer, writer, animator and music composer (in the image, respectively: Charles Mintz, Arthur Davis - credited as Art Davis - Sid Marcus and Joe de Nat).
Closing Title: Same as the last one, with three differences. The light cyan background, the Color Rhapsody font is different and the print logo has the "Columbia Pictures" banner in green instead of black. "Little Rover" (1935), however, has the end title superimposed over a city-at-night background.
FX/SFX: None if you don't want to count the iris-out.
Music/Sounds: See the 1st logo.
Availability: Very rare, although Totally Tooned In had these opening titles uncut.
Scare factor: None.
3rd Logo
(1936-1938)
Note: These are the final titles from the Charles Mintz era. Also the first titles shown in 3-strip Technicolor.
Logo: In a curtain background, are the words "SCRAPPY PRESENTS" in little letters above blocks with "A COLOR RHAPSODY" written. Then, the opening cuts off to the credits.
Closing Titles: Three closing titles were used in the 1935-1939 period:
Closing Variant: The early variant of the 3rd closing title has been spotted recently on Totally Tooned In, The same concept, but the "A COLOR RHAPSODY" and "IN TECHNICOLOR" text were pulled from below to the middle of the screen to give space to another text: "a CHARLES MINTZ production", with "CHARLES MINTZ" in uppercase lettering and everything else in script. The title is very dark due to print deterioration and it was only seen on "Window Shopping" (1938).
FX/SFX: None, except for the iris-out in the opening and the ending.
Music/Sounds: Again, the music of a short.
Availability: Some recent prints only show the "Blocks" opening without the credits and the Torch Lady ending. Totally Tooned In shown the 1937-1938 end title. "The Little Match Girl" (1937) had the 1st end title before it was replaced by the UPA's "A Columbia Favorite" reissue end title. Fortunately, these titles (except the Charles Mintz variant of the 3rd closing title) were recently restored and shown uncut on DVD.
Scare Factor:
4th Logo
(1938-1942)
Note: This is the first opening title from the Frank Tashlin era.
Logo: In majestic background, with a castle above the clouds, the "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORPORATION PRESENTS" opening title above "A COLOR RHAPSODY" in huge letters, with "IN TECHNICOLOR" arched above the copyright stamp. Then, it cuts off to the opening credits.
Early variant: A rare early variant has Scrappy's name instead of the "Columbia Pictures Corporation" banner. It was the last opening title to bear his name. This particular variant was seen from 1938 to 1940.
Closing Title: Same as the 3rd closing title from the last version. In 1940, it added the "The End" in white script below the "COLUMBIA" lettering. It was only seen on one cartoon: "Cinderella Goes to a Party".
FX/SFX: Only the iris-in during the opening and the iris-out at the end.
Music/Sounds: The theme of a short or a customized fanfare.
Availability: Shorts on Totally Tooned In only show the "Castle" opening title without the credits and the Torch Lady ending. The early variant was very tough to find, as many of the cartoons from this era were reissued by UPA. However the titles (except the Scrappy variant) were recently restored and shown uncut on DVD.
Scare Factor:
5th Logo
(1942-1946)
<img align="bottom" alt='Columbia Color Rhapsody Title - "The Fox and the Crow" variant' height="137" src="http://image.wikifoundry.com/image/1/dK16CzqWPgsINYMw_9p_Sw79575/GW184H137" title='Columbia Color Rhapsody Title - "The Fox and the Crow" variant' width="184"/><img align="bottom" alt="Color Rhapsody special opening title" height="141" src="http://image.wikifoundry.com/image/1/1s8KfN8KqDYepCfIKC4Jdg19104/GW187H141" title="Color Rhapsody special opening title" width="187"/>
Note: Cartoons from this era were produced by former Paramount animator Dave Fleischer.
Logo: The logo is nearly the end title, but the clouds are orange instead of blue, although some shorts do have the opening with blue clouds. Below we see "Presents" in script. It also has a difference in the Torch Lady. Instead of an American flag, she is grabbing a pink (or purple due to print deterioration) drape. Then it cuts off to the opening credits.
Series Title: On a red background on a yellow placard are the words "A Color Rhapsody" in white letters and below "IN TECHNICOLOR" in black letters. On the top of the placard is the copyright disclaimer. Surrounding it are several characters from the Columbia cartoons including The Fox and The Crow, the baby and the bulldog from The Bulldog and the Baby (1942) and Professor Small and Mr. Tall among others.
Variant: On cartoons featuring The Fox and The Crow, the words read "a Color Rhapsody THE FOX AND THE CROW".
Closing Titles: Two end titles were used during this period:
Variants:
FX/SFX: The iris-out and the characters moving in the opening credits.
Music/Sounds: Again, the theme of a short or a customized fanfare.
Availability: The opening is quite rare. On TV, via Totally Tooned In, only the end titles survive. The titles were recently restored on DVD.
Scare Factor: None.
6th Logo
(1947-1949)
Logo: In a background with red and metallic stripes, zooms in rapidly a "TV Tube" with the opening "A COLOR RHAPSODY" in yellow bold and "Cartoon" in red script. Underneath, the text "IN TECHNICOLOR".
Closing Titles: Two end titles were used in the last years of the Color Rhapsodies.
FX/SFX: The zooming in on the opening title.
Cheesy Factor: The zooming in of the opening is too fast-paced and rough.
Music/Sounds: The theme of a short or a customized fanfare. It also have an exclusive theme for the ending.
Availability: Saved on many cartoons on Totally Tooned In. These titles were recently restored on DVD.
Scare Factor:
Columbia Phantasies
1st Logo
(1939-1942)
Logo: Nothing but the Columbia movie logo from the 30s, only with two changes:
Series Logo: In a special background, we see the words "A Phantasy Cartoon" and the copyright stamp. The words "A Phantasy" is in huge script font and "CARTOON" is in stylized font. It had three variants used in tandem with each other:
Closing Title: Same as the opening, but with "The End" in white script instead of "Presents". The text, "A COLUMBIA PHANTASY" is seen below "The End".
FX/SFX: None as far as we know.
Music/Sounds: The theme of a short or a customized fanfare.
Availability: Very tough to find, specially the Scrappy variant, as many of these cartoons were reissued by Official Films in the 50s.
Scare Factor: Minimal to low. The dark background may give some jumps, but the music lowers the scare factor.
2nd Logo
(1942-1944)
Logo: Same as the 1st logo.
Series Logo: Even though the words and the texts hasn't changed (not counting the production year), the title has been overhauled. The font is different and there are the characters from various cartoons including The Fox and the Crow.
Closing Title: Same as the 1st logo as well.
FX/SFX: The characters moving in the series logo.
Music/Sounds: Again, the theme of the respective short or customized fanfare.
Availability: See 1st logo.
Scare Factor: Minimal. No dark background in the series logo lowers the scare factor even further.
3rd Logo
(1944-1945)
Logo: Again, same as the 1st logo.
Series Logo: Same as the 2nd series logo, but with changes. The characters are inside papers and there is no animation.
Closing Title: Again, same as the 1st logo.
Alternate Closing Title: In black background, we see the "The End" words in white script with "A PHANTASY CARTOON".
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: Again, the theme of a short or customized fanfare.
Availability: See the 1st logo again.
Scare Factor: See the 2nd logo.
4th Logo
(1945-1946)
Logo: This time, no Torch Lady opening. Only the "A Phantasy Cartoon" opening in simplified background.
Closing Title: Same as the alternate ending for the 3rd logo.
Alternate Closing Title: Again same as the 3rd logo, but with the "Bullseye" background of the 1947 short-lived ending.
FX/SFX: None, unlike the previous logos.
Cheesy factor: They should at least have kept the "Characters-in-papers" opening.
Music/Sounds: Once again, either the theme of a respective short or a customized fanfare.
Availability: See the 1st logo.
Scare Factor: If it wasn't for the music, the scare factor would be low to medium, but is very low.
5th logo
(1947)
Note: These were the last titles from the Phantasy cartoons, which used the 2-color Cinecolor process for this era.
Logo: Same as the 1947-1949 Color Rhapsody opening title, only with "Phantasy" replacing "Color Rhapsody" and "IN CINECOLOR" replacing "IN TECHNICOLOR".
Closing Title: We see the "The End" in a different script over a bullseye background with two teal rings and a teal-white outline. Below, "A PHANTASY CARTOON" in red and "In Cinecolor" in teal are seen.
FX/SFX: Same as the 1947-1949 Color Rhapsody opening title.
Music sounds: See above.
Availability: Tough to find, but Totally Tooned In did show the titles on "Leave Us Chase It".
Scare factor: Very low.
_______________________________________________________________
Barney Google
Background: Barney Google is the name of a comic strip (later Barney Google and Snuffy Smith) created by Billy De Beck in 1919. From 1935 to 1936, Charles B. Mintz created a cartoon with him. The series only had four episodes.
(1935-1936)
Logo: In blue background, are the titles "SCRAPPY PRESENTS" with "SCRAPPY" in yellow. Below the name of the character and Barney himself. The title cuts off to the credits.
Closing Title: On a light blue background, following an iris-out, we see the 1935-1937 ending for the Color Rhapsodies only with a few changes:
FX/SFX: Nothing but the iris-out.
Cheesy Factor: The titles are still, but the drawing of the Torch Lady in the ending is choppy.
Music/Sounds: Probably the theme of a short.
Availability: If you find it, then you're as lucky as everyone can get. It's way, way, way, WAAAY too hard to find.
Scare Factor: None if you ignore the scratchy prints.
_______________________________________________________________
Fox and Crow
(1943-1946)
Studio Logo: The Torch Lady opening from the 1942-1946 Color Rhapsodies, orange clouds, "Presents" and all.
Series Logo: We see the Fox and the Crow in dark background with their names written with wood sticks.
Closing Title: Same as the 1942-1945 closing title of the Color Rhapsodies, but with "A FOX AND CROW" below "The End".
Alternate Closing Title: Same as the 1945-1946 end title of the Color Rhapsodies, but with the difference explained above.
FX/SFX: None if you don't want to count the iris-out.
Music/Sounds: As usual, the theme of a short or a customized fanfare.
Availability: Very hard to find as UPA has reissued the shorts with their "A Columbia Favorite" opening and ending. However, the original Torch Lady closing title has been spotted on some cartoons via Totally Tooned In.
Scare Factor: Minimal.
_______________________________________________________________
Li'l Abner
(1943-1946)
Studio Logo: The 1942-1946 Torch Lady opening from the Color Rhapsodies, orange clouds, "Presents" and all.
Series Logo: On a blue background, we see Li'l Abner inside a yellow circle, his name in huge letters, and "IN TECHNICOLOR" in white. It cuts off to the opening credits seconds later.
Closing Title: The 1942-1945 Torch Lady ending from the Color Rhapsodies, only with "A L'IL ABNER" below "The End". The title is also a bit darker.
FX/SFX: None if you don't want to count the iris-out.
Music/Sounds: The theme of a short or its own fanfare.
Availability: The Torch Lady ending is easy to find, as it was used in all Li'l Abner shorts. We can't say the same about the opening.
Scare factor: Medium, because of the darkness.
_______________________________________________________________
Fables
(1939-1945)
Studio Logo: The same Torch Lady as the first two "Phantasies".
Series Logo: In a stylized dark background, we see "A Fable" in huge fancy script letters, and a small "Cartoon" below". In the corners we see the MPPDA and an odd RCA logo. And sandwiched between those two logos, the credits of the director, the writer, and the music composer (in the photo, respectively: Arthur Davis (billed as "Art Davis"), Frank Tashlin (billed as "Tish Tash") and Paul Worth). At the very bottom we see a small copyright text.
Closing Title: The "Torch Lady" logo. This end title has three variants:
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: If you read those descriptions above, you'll know where this is going.
Availability: Very hard to find, as some of these "Fables" were reissued by Official Films in the 50s.
Scare factor: The dark background may put some people off, but it's fairly harmless.
_______________________________________________________________
Reissue Titles
Background: As with Warner Bros. and MGM, Columbia too reissued a large portion of its color cartoon library beginning roughly when the studio closed in 1946.
1st Logo
(1940s)
Logo: On a blue background with white stars is a yellow shape. On the shape are the red words "a COLUMBIA FAVORITE" and below the name of the cartoon and "Color by TECHNICOLOR" on a rainbow print. Several characters from the Columbia cartoons are surrounding the logo (a la the 1942-1946 Color Rhapsodies logo and the 1942-1944 Phantasies logo) including Li'l Abner's pig Salami from "Porkuliar Piggy" (1944), the buffalo and Indian from "Lo the Poor Buffal" (1948), the turkey and moose from "Topsy Turkey" (1948), the Daffy-esque duck and the hunter from "Wacky Quacky" (1947), and the dog and cat from "Flora" (1948) among others.
Closing Title: Early reissued cartoons had the original end titles. On later cartoons, the words "A COLUMBIA FAVORITE" and below "The End" in script appears on a background and font of the words depending on the cartoon.
Variant: On cartoons directed by Ub Iwerks like Skeleton Frolic (1937), the black words "Directed by UB IWERKS" were added below the title of the cartoon.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The intro of the cartoon theme.
Availability: Can be found on reissue prints of cartoons like: The Way of all Pests (1941), Bon Bon Parade (1935), Window Shopping (1938), Frog Pond (1938), Mr. Moocher (1944), The Fox and The Grapes (1941), Skeleton Frolic (1937), The Herring Murder Mystery (1943), Mountain Ears (1939) and Rocky Road To Ruin (1943) among others.
Scare Factor: Minimal. The long music staying on an alone logo may scare a few.
2nd Logo
(1950s)
Logo: On a background with colorful rombs, on the top of the screen are the words "A COLUMBIA FAVORITE" in white letters. Below it's the cartoon name in big yellow letters and below it "COLOR BY TECHNICOLOR". On the bottom of it the words "REPRINT" are written in an inflate bottom script.
Closing Title: Same as the previous logo.
Trivia: This title was designed by United Productions of America.
Variants:
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo.
Availability: Can be found on reissue prints of cartoons like: Kitty Caddy (1947), Boston Beanie (1947), Up N' Atom (1947), Concerto In B Flat Minor (1942), The Magic Fluke (1949), Mother Hubba-Hubba Hubbard (1947), Be Patient, Patient (1944), Foxy Flatfoots (1946), and Kuku Nuts (1945), among others.
Scare Factor: Same as the previous logo.
Editions by Lenhill, V of Doom, Bob Fish and garfield13
Background: Charles B. Mintz and his wife Margaret J. Winkler opened their animation studio in 1929 to produce animated film shorts, using various vanity cards, which include "Color Rhapsody", "Phantasy" and "Fable" among others.Columbia Pictures Corporation released their cartoons and then later acquired a stake in the company in 1933 and launched "Screen Gems". However, when Mintz became indebted to Columbia in 1939, he ended up selling his studio to them. Under new management, the Screen Gems became a full time animation studio in 1940 until 1946 when Columbia closed its animation unit.
Background Trivia: The "Screen Gems" name was inspired on an early Columbia Pictures slogan that said "Gems of the Screen", itself based on an old American patriotic song named "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean".
Krazy Kat
1st Logo
(1929-1930)
Note: Krazy Kat was the first cartoon series ever to be produced at the Mintz-Winkler studio.
Logo: In the first cap, we see a big screen surrounded by curtains while a weird-looking creature conducts an orchestra totally full of animals. The screen says "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. presents KRAZY KAT" with the episode title and the "A Winkler Picture" logo below, the credits for the animators (Ben Harrison and Manny Gould in this case) and the copyright disclaimer. The second cap is the credits for the comic book version's creator George Herriman and the music composer (Joe De Nat) with the Columbia Pictures' print logo barely seen.
Closing Title: Same as the opening, but instead of the credits, we can now see clearly the Columbia Pictures print logo overlapped by the "The End" written in script and "A KRAZY KAT COMIC" below. Later in 1930, the disclaimer changed to "A WINKLER KRAZY KAT COMIC".
FX/SFX: The whole orchestra. We don't know if the curtains were also animated.
Music/Sounds: The intro/outro of the cartoon's music.
Availability: Rare, as many of the Krazy Kat shorts were reissued by Samba Pictures, Inc.
Scare Factor: None whatsoever.
2nd Logo
(1930-1933)
Logo: Krazy Kat and his girlfriend are hammering a wood banner. On the banner are the words: "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. presents KRAZY KAT" with the episode title
and the "A Winkler Picture" logo below, the credits for the animators (Ben Harrison and Manny Gould in this case) and the copyright stamp.Closing Title: TBA
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.
Availability: Rare since many Krazy Kat shorts were reissued by Samba Pictures, Inc.
Scare Factor: None.
3rd Logo
(1932-1933)
Logo: On a triangles background we see Krazy Kat on the left and his girlfriend on the right. In the middle of them are the words: "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. presents".
Below are the big letters "KRAZY KAT" with the episode name below. Below is the Charles Mintz Production logo and the credits for the animators (Ben Harrison and Manny Gould in this case) and the copyright disclaimer.Closing Title: TBA
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.
Availability: Rare.
Scare Factor: None.
4th Logo
(1933-1934)
Logo: On the same background, Krazy Kat appears on the right. There are the words "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. presents KRAZY KAT". Below is the Charles Mintz
Production logo and the credits for the story, musical scores and animation. Below is the copyright stamp.Closing Title: TBA
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.
Availability: Rare.
Scare Factor: None.
5th Logo
(1934-1939)
Logo: Now, on the same background, Krazy Kat appears on a slightly different design. On the top of the screen, only "KRAZY KAT" appears in big bold letters without the
Columbia script and the Charles Mintz Production logo. The copyright stamp is also different.Closing Title: On a black background with an outline looking like a TV screen, the words "A KRAZY KAT CARTOON" appear in big bold letters on the top of the screen. On the middle is the Columbia Pictures print logo overlapped by the "The End" written in script and below are the words "Recorded by RCA Victor "HIGH FIDELITY" Sound System". On the bottom of the screen is the Charles Mintz Production logo.
Variant: When the cartoons were re-released by Samba Pictures Inc., a variation of this logo was used with the words "SAMBA PICTURES PRESENTS" on the top of the screen.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.
Availability: Rare.
Scare Factor: None.
_______________________________________________________________
Scrappy
1st Logo
(1930-1933)
<img align="bottom" alt="Scrappy (1930-1933)" height="170" src="http://image.wikifoundry.com/image/1/KE8MFRnyKH4yTZLaCfhCEw28407/GW216H170" title="Scrappy (1930-1933)" width="216"/><img align="bottom" alt="Scrappy (1930-1933)" height="169" src="http://image.wikifoundry.com/image/1/uyuXv3krZHt5yEP0G_RhBw32870/GW201H169" title="Scrappy (1930-1933)" width="201"/>
Logo: On a curtains background, we see words "CHARLES MINTZ presents", the big word "SCRAPPY" and below it "by DICK HEUMOR". Below are the credits for the animation and musical scores. On the bottom of the screen is the copyright disclaimer. Scrappy appears on the right.
Closing Title: TBA
Later Variant: From 1932, some changes were made on the logo. The Charles Mintz disclaimer was replaced with the words "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. presents" and instead, the words "a Charles Mintz Production" appear below the "SCRAPPY" big letters. The words "by DICK HEUMOR" were moved on the same place above the credits. Also, Scrappy appears on a slightly different design along with his puppy.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.
Availability: Ultra rare, as the majority of the Scrappy cartoons were re-released by Samba Pictures.
Scare Factor: None.
2nd Logo
(1934-1939)
Logo: Nearly same as the 1934-1939 Krazy Kat but Scrappy appears with the hands on a fence instead of Krazy Kat and the big words "SCRAPPY" appear.
Closing Title: Same as the 1934-1939 Krazy Kat closing title but the words "A SCRAPPY CARTOON" appear in big bold letters on the top of the screen.
Variant: When the cartoons were re-released by Samba Pictures Inc., a variation of this logo was used with the words "SAMBA PICTURES PRESENTS" on the top of the screen.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.
Availability: Ultra rare.
Scare Factor: None.
_______________________________________________________________
Color Rhapsodies
1st Logo
(1934)
Note: This is the first opening title of the short-lived series of animated shorts named "Color Rhapsody", created by Charles B. Mintz.
Logo: In a black background with red, gray and blue bubbles, are the words "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. PRESENTS A" and below, in huge fonts, "COLOR RHAPSODY". Underneath, the credits and the copyright stamp. There are two characters and a pup with a cello.
Closing Title: Following an iris-out, in orange background, we see "A Color Rhapsody" very above in red majestic font and the 30s Columbia Pictures' print logo with the world-famous "The End" words overlapping the Torch Lady. Underneath has the following: the sound for RCA Victor; seen on nearly all the 30s shorts from many other companies, and the text"A CHARLES MINTZ PRODUCTION" very below.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The opening/closing theme of a short.
Availability: Rare, as it was seen only on the very first Color Rhapsody short, named "Holiday Land".
Scare Factor: Minimal. The dark background of the opening may bother some, but it's harmless.
2nd Logo
(1934-1936)
Note: These were the last titles for the 2-strip Technicolor era.
Logo: In a light cyan background, we see the "Color Rhapsody" in big bold red-outlined white letters below the "Columbia Pictures Corporation" banner. It is overlapping a partiture with musical notes and all. It has credits for the producer, writer, animator and music composer (in the image, respectively: Charles Mintz, Arthur Davis - credited as Art Davis - Sid Marcus and Joe de Nat).
Closing Title: Same as the last one, with three differences. The light cyan background, the Color Rhapsody font is different and the print logo has the "Columbia Pictures" banner in green instead of black. "Little Rover" (1935), however, has the end title superimposed over a city-at-night background.
FX/SFX: None if you don't want to count the iris-out.
Music/Sounds: See the 1st logo.
Availability: Very rare, although Totally Tooned In had these opening titles uncut.
Scare factor: None.
3rd Logo
(1936-1938)
Note: These are the final titles from the Charles Mintz era. Also the first titles shown in 3-strip Technicolor.
Logo: In a curtain background, are the words "SCRAPPY PRESENTS" in little letters above blocks with "A COLOR RHAPSODY" written. Then, the opening cuts off to the credits.
Closing Titles: Three closing titles were used in the 1935-1939 period:
- 1st Closing Title (1935-1937): The first closing title was on white background. There are the words "A COLOR RHAPSODY" in red on a "musical diagram", with "IN TECHNICOLOR" in yellow. Underneath, a simplified drawing of the Columbia Pictures' Torch Lady, with the words "COLUMBIA PICTURES" in bold inside a circle. Below the Columbia logo is the text "A CHARLES MINTZ PRODUCTION" in red. No "THE END", though.
- 2nd Closing Title (1937-1938): The 2nd closing title was nearly the same as the 1935-1937 end title. Nearly, because the Columbia Pictures logo is inside a square this time, with the Torch Lady more detailed compared to the 1st closing title. Again, no "THE END".
- 3rd Closing Title (1938): This closing title is different. It's Columbia Pictures' official logo, with the words "COLUMBIA" in chiseled letters, with the clouds behind the Torch Lady (who is holding an American flag) drawn in blue. It also has, "A COLOR RHAPSODY" and "IN TECHNICOLOR" overlapping the pedestal. Still, no "THE END".
Closing Variant: The early variant of the 3rd closing title has been spotted recently on Totally Tooned In, The same concept, but the "A COLOR RHAPSODY" and "IN TECHNICOLOR" text were pulled from below to the middle of the screen to give space to another text: "a CHARLES MINTZ production", with "CHARLES MINTZ" in uppercase lettering and everything else in script. The title is very dark due to print deterioration and it was only seen on "Window Shopping" (1938).
FX/SFX: None, except for the iris-out in the opening and the ending.
Music/Sounds: Again, the music of a short.
Availability: Some recent prints only show the "Blocks" opening without the credits and the Torch Lady ending. Totally Tooned In shown the 1937-1938 end title. "The Little Match Girl" (1937) had the 1st end title before it was replaced by the UPA's "A Columbia Favorite" reissue end title. Fortunately, these titles (except the Charles Mintz variant of the 3rd closing title) were recently restored and shown uncut on DVD.
Scare Factor:
- Opening: None.
- Closing: None, despite the cheap drawing of the clouds behind the Torch Lady.
4th Logo
(1938-1942)
Note: This is the first opening title from the Frank Tashlin era.
Logo: In majestic background, with a castle above the clouds, the "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORPORATION PRESENTS" opening title above "A COLOR RHAPSODY" in huge letters, with "IN TECHNICOLOR" arched above the copyright stamp. Then, it cuts off to the opening credits.
Early variant: A rare early variant has Scrappy's name instead of the "Columbia Pictures Corporation" banner. It was the last opening title to bear his name. This particular variant was seen from 1938 to 1940.
Closing Title: Same as the 3rd closing title from the last version. In 1940, it added the "The End" in white script below the "COLUMBIA" lettering. It was only seen on one cartoon: "Cinderella Goes to a Party".
FX/SFX: Only the iris-in during the opening and the iris-out at the end.
Music/Sounds: The theme of a short or a customized fanfare.
Availability: Shorts on Totally Tooned In only show the "Castle" opening title without the credits and the Torch Lady ending. The early variant was very tough to find, as many of the cartoons from this era were reissued by UPA. However the titles (except the Scrappy variant) were recently restored and shown uncut on DVD.
Scare Factor:
- Opening: Low. The huge letters in the opening title may get to some, but it's harmless due to the background.
- Closing: Low. See above in the scare factor section for the "Blocks" opening.
5th Logo
(1942-1946)
<img align="bottom" alt='Columbia Color Rhapsody Title - "The Fox and the Crow" variant' height="137" src="http://image.wikifoundry.com/image/1/dK16CzqWPgsINYMw_9p_Sw79575/GW184H137" title='Columbia Color Rhapsody Title - "The Fox and the Crow" variant' width="184"/><img align="bottom" alt="Color Rhapsody special opening title" height="141" src="http://image.wikifoundry.com/image/1/1s8KfN8KqDYepCfIKC4Jdg19104/GW187H141" title="Color Rhapsody special opening title" width="187"/>
Note: Cartoons from this era were produced by former Paramount animator Dave Fleischer.
Logo: The logo is nearly the end title, but the clouds are orange instead of blue, although some shorts do have the opening with blue clouds. Below we see "Presents" in script. It also has a difference in the Torch Lady. Instead of an American flag, she is grabbing a pink (or purple due to print deterioration) drape. Then it cuts off to the opening credits.
Series Title: On a red background on a yellow placard are the words "A Color Rhapsody" in white letters and below "IN TECHNICOLOR" in black letters. On the top of the placard is the copyright disclaimer. Surrounding it are several characters from the Columbia cartoons including The Fox and The Crow, the baby and the bulldog from The Bulldog and the Baby (1942) and Professor Small and Mr. Tall among others.
Variant: On cartoons featuring The Fox and The Crow, the words read "a Color Rhapsody THE FOX AND THE CROW".
Closing Titles: Two end titles were used during this period:
- 1st Closing Title (1942-1945): The 1st closing title was the 1938-1942 Torch Lady ending, only with two differences:
- It has the "The End" words in white script.
- The pink (or purple) drape explained above.
- 2nd Closing Title (1945-1946): The 2nd ending was a simplified one. Was only the "The End" in script and the text, "A COLOR RHAPSODY" in bold and "In Technicolor" in script on blue background.
Variants:
- A rare variant without the "THE END" exists only on one cartoon: Fox and Crow's "Woodsman Spare that Tree" (1942).
- In 1942, a special opening variant was shown in the cartoon "Song of Victory". On a blue background, we see the V of victory overlapped by the "Columbia Pictures Corporation presents" banner and "A Color Rhapsody" in the exact same font. This was the very first cartoon directed by Dave Fleischer since he left Paramount. This was also the last cartoon of the Frank Tashlin era.
FX/SFX: The iris-out and the characters moving in the opening credits.
Music/Sounds: Again, the theme of a short or a customized fanfare.
Availability: The opening is quite rare. On TV, via Totally Tooned In, only the end titles survive. The titles were recently restored on DVD.
Scare Factor: None.
6th Logo
(1947-1949)
Logo: In a background with red and metallic stripes, zooms in rapidly a "TV Tube" with the opening "A COLOR RHAPSODY" in yellow bold and "Cartoon" in red script. Underneath, the text "IN TECHNICOLOR".
Closing Titles: Two end titles were used in the last years of the Color Rhapsodies.
- 1st Closing Title (1947): Nearly the same as the 1945-1946 closing title, but it has a background that resembles the Merrie Melodies ending from the 30s.
- 2nd Closing Title (1947-1949): Again the Merrie Melodies-like bullseye, but with two blue rings and yellow-red outline.
FX/SFX: The zooming in on the opening title.
Cheesy Factor: The zooming in of the opening is too fast-paced and rough.
Music/Sounds: The theme of a short or a customized fanfare. It also have an exclusive theme for the ending.
Availability: Saved on many cartoons on Totally Tooned In. These titles were recently restored on DVD.
Scare Factor:
- Opening: High for people who hate titles zooming in rapidly towards them.
- Closing: None.
Columbia Phantasies
1st Logo
(1939-1942)
Logo: Nothing but the Columbia movie logo from the 30s, only with two changes:
- It has "Presents" in white script below. A variant shows the logo with "Presents" fading in after a few seconds.
- The shining of the torch is a bit different.
Series Logo: In a special background, we see the words "A Phantasy Cartoon" and the copyright stamp. The words "A Phantasy" is in huge script font and "CARTOON" is in stylized font. It had three variants used in tandem with each other:
- In the 1st variant, it had the "Columbia Pictures Corporation presents" banner above "A Phantasy cartoon" and "featuring Scrappy" below. And it had credits, for story, animation and music.
- In the 2nd variant, the "Columbia Pictures Corporation presents" banner is absent, and it doesn't have Scrappy's name, only the credits.
- The 3rd variant has no credits at all. Only the "A Phantasy cartoon" banner in a stylized background.
Closing Title: Same as the opening, but with "The End" in white script instead of "Presents". The text, "A COLUMBIA PHANTASY" is seen below "The End".
FX/SFX: None as far as we know.
Music/Sounds: The theme of a short or a customized fanfare.
Availability: Very tough to find, specially the Scrappy variant, as many of these cartoons were reissued by Official Films in the 50s.
Scare Factor: Minimal to low. The dark background may give some jumps, but the music lowers the scare factor.
2nd Logo
(1942-1944)
Logo: Same as the 1st logo.
Series Logo: Even though the words and the texts hasn't changed (not counting the production year), the title has been overhauled. The font is different and there are the characters from various cartoons including The Fox and the Crow.
Closing Title: Same as the 1st logo as well.
FX/SFX: The characters moving in the series logo.
Music/Sounds: Again, the theme of the respective short or customized fanfare.
Availability: See 1st logo.
Scare Factor: Minimal. No dark background in the series logo lowers the scare factor even further.
3rd Logo
(1944-1945)
Logo: Again, same as the 1st logo.
Series Logo: Same as the 2nd series logo, but with changes. The characters are inside papers and there is no animation.
Closing Title: Again, same as the 1st logo.
Alternate Closing Title: In black background, we see the "The End" words in white script with "A PHANTASY CARTOON".
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: Again, the theme of a short or customized fanfare.
Availability: See the 1st logo again.
Scare Factor: See the 2nd logo.
4th Logo
(1945-1946)
Logo: This time, no Torch Lady opening. Only the "A Phantasy Cartoon" opening in simplified background.
Closing Title: Same as the alternate ending for the 3rd logo.
Alternate Closing Title: Again same as the 3rd logo, but with the "Bullseye" background of the 1947 short-lived ending.
FX/SFX: None, unlike the previous logos.
Cheesy factor: They should at least have kept the "Characters-in-papers" opening.
Music/Sounds: Once again, either the theme of a respective short or a customized fanfare.
Availability: See the 1st logo.
Scare Factor: If it wasn't for the music, the scare factor would be low to medium, but is very low.
5th logo
(1947)
Note: These were the last titles from the Phantasy cartoons, which used the 2-color Cinecolor process for this era.
Logo: Same as the 1947-1949 Color Rhapsody opening title, only with "Phantasy" replacing "Color Rhapsody" and "IN CINECOLOR" replacing "IN TECHNICOLOR".
Closing Title: We see the "The End" in a different script over a bullseye background with two teal rings and a teal-white outline. Below, "A PHANTASY CARTOON" in red and "In Cinecolor" in teal are seen.
FX/SFX: Same as the 1947-1949 Color Rhapsody opening title.
Music sounds: See above.
Availability: Tough to find, but Totally Tooned In did show the titles on "Leave Us Chase It".
Scare factor: Very low.
_______________________________________________________________
Barney Google
Background: Barney Google is the name of a comic strip (later Barney Google and Snuffy Smith) created by Billy De Beck in 1919. From 1935 to 1936, Charles B. Mintz created a cartoon with him. The series only had four episodes.
(1935-1936)
Logo: In blue background, are the titles "SCRAPPY PRESENTS" with "SCRAPPY" in yellow. Below the name of the character and Barney himself. The title cuts off to the credits.
Closing Title: On a light blue background, following an iris-out, we see the 1935-1937 ending for the Color Rhapsodies only with a few changes:
- Instead of "A COLOR RHAPSODY" with musical diagram, the title reads "A BARNEY GOOGLE CARTOON".
- The drawing of the Torch Lady is a bit cheap.
- The words "COLUMBIA PICTURES" are in blue instead of red and the inside of the circle is also blue.
- The text "A CHARLES MINTZ PRODUCTION" are also in blue rather than red.
FX/SFX: Nothing but the iris-out.
Cheesy Factor: The titles are still, but the drawing of the Torch Lady in the ending is choppy.
Music/Sounds: Probably the theme of a short.
Availability: If you find it, then you're as lucky as everyone can get. It's way, way, way, WAAAY too hard to find.
Scare Factor: None if you ignore the scratchy prints.
_______________________________________________________________
Fox and Crow
(1943-1946)
Studio Logo: The Torch Lady opening from the 1942-1946 Color Rhapsodies, orange clouds, "Presents" and all.
Series Logo: We see the Fox and the Crow in dark background with their names written with wood sticks.
Closing Title: Same as the 1942-1945 closing title of the Color Rhapsodies, but with "A FOX AND CROW" below "The End".
Alternate Closing Title: Same as the 1945-1946 end title of the Color Rhapsodies, but with the difference explained above.
FX/SFX: None if you don't want to count the iris-out.
Music/Sounds: As usual, the theme of a short or a customized fanfare.
Availability: Very hard to find as UPA has reissued the shorts with their "A Columbia Favorite" opening and ending. However, the original Torch Lady closing title has been spotted on some cartoons via Totally Tooned In.
Scare Factor: Minimal.
_______________________________________________________________
Li'l Abner
(1943-1946)
Studio Logo: The 1942-1946 Torch Lady opening from the Color Rhapsodies, orange clouds, "Presents" and all.
Series Logo: On a blue background, we see Li'l Abner inside a yellow circle, his name in huge letters, and "IN TECHNICOLOR" in white. It cuts off to the opening credits seconds later.
Closing Title: The 1942-1945 Torch Lady ending from the Color Rhapsodies, only with "A L'IL ABNER" below "The End". The title is also a bit darker.
FX/SFX: None if you don't want to count the iris-out.
Music/Sounds: The theme of a short or its own fanfare.
Availability: The Torch Lady ending is easy to find, as it was used in all Li'l Abner shorts. We can't say the same about the opening.
Scare factor: Medium, because of the darkness.
_______________________________________________________________
Fables
(1939-1945)
Studio Logo: The same Torch Lady as the first two "Phantasies".
Series Logo: In a stylized dark background, we see "A Fable" in huge fancy script letters, and a small "Cartoon" below". In the corners we see the MPPDA and an odd RCA logo. And sandwiched between those two logos, the credits of the director, the writer, and the music composer (in the photo, respectively: Arthur Davis (billed as "Art Davis"), Frank Tashlin (billed as "Tish Tash") and Paul Worth). At the very bottom we see a small copyright text.
Closing Title: The "Torch Lady" logo. This end title has three variants:
- The first variant has no "THE END" below the Torch Lady. Instead the text says "A FABLE CARTOON" in a Times New Roman-ish font.
- The second variant has the "The End" title in the same white script as the Color Rhapsody's torch lady ending from 1942-1945. Below, the text reads, "A COLUMBIA FABLE".
- The third variant has the "The End" in the same script, but without the "A COLUMBIA FABLE" disclaimer.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: If you read those descriptions above, you'll know where this is going.
Availability: Very hard to find, as some of these "Fables" were reissued by Official Films in the 50s.
Scare factor: The dark background may put some people off, but it's fairly harmless.
_______________________________________________________________
Reissue Titles
Background: As with Warner Bros. and MGM, Columbia too reissued a large portion of its color cartoon library beginning roughly when the studio closed in 1946.
1st Logo
(1940s)
Logo: On a blue background with white stars is a yellow shape. On the shape are the red words "a COLUMBIA FAVORITE" and below the name of the cartoon and "Color by TECHNICOLOR" on a rainbow print. Several characters from the Columbia cartoons are surrounding the logo (a la the 1942-1946 Color Rhapsodies logo and the 1942-1944 Phantasies logo) including Li'l Abner's pig Salami from "Porkuliar Piggy" (1944), the buffalo and Indian from "Lo the Poor Buffal" (1948), the turkey and moose from "Topsy Turkey" (1948), the Daffy-esque duck and the hunter from "Wacky Quacky" (1947), and the dog and cat from "Flora" (1948) among others.
Closing Title: Early reissued cartoons had the original end titles. On later cartoons, the words "A COLUMBIA FAVORITE" and below "The End" in script appears on a background and font of the words depending on the cartoon.
Variant: On cartoons directed by Ub Iwerks like Skeleton Frolic (1937), the black words "Directed by UB IWERKS" were added below the title of the cartoon.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The intro of the cartoon theme.
Availability: Can be found on reissue prints of cartoons like: The Way of all Pests (1941), Bon Bon Parade (1935), Window Shopping (1938), Frog Pond (1938), Mr. Moocher (1944), The Fox and The Grapes (1941), Skeleton Frolic (1937), The Herring Murder Mystery (1943), Mountain Ears (1939) and Rocky Road To Ruin (1943) among others.
Scare Factor: Minimal. The long music staying on an alone logo may scare a few.
2nd Logo
(1950s)
Logo: On a background with colorful rombs, on the top of the screen are the words "A COLUMBIA FAVORITE" in white letters. Below it's the cartoon name in big yellow letters and below it "COLOR BY TECHNICOLOR". On the bottom of it the words "REPRINT" are written in an inflate bottom script.
Closing Title: Same as the previous logo.
Trivia: This title was designed by United Productions of America.
Variants:
- On UPA-reissued cartoons like The Magic Fluke (1949), the copyright stamp was added below "COLOR BY TECHNICOLOR". This is followed by the credits and then the UPA logo appears.
- On Totally Tooned In, the "REPRINT" script is blacked out.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo.
Availability: Can be found on reissue prints of cartoons like: Kitty Caddy (1947), Boston Beanie (1947), Up N' Atom (1947), Concerto In B Flat Minor (1942), The Magic Fluke (1949), Mother Hubba-Hubba Hubbard (1947), Be Patient, Patient (1944), Foxy Flatfoots (1946), and Kuku Nuts (1945), among others.
Scare Factor: Same as the previous logo.