Cartoons On Film

31/12/2023

Cartoons On Film is run by Tommy José Stathes, who has now been featured in a fabulous New York Times piece. This is a major moment for animation archiving awareness. Link to the online edition:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/19/nyregion/stathes-vintage-cartoons.html

11/12/2023

For over a decade, the Cartoons On Film crew has enjoyed a fruitful working relationship with world renowned silent film accompanist, Robert Israel. Our custom-commissioned scores by Robert have appeared in some of our past Cartoon roots collections, as well as a number of programs we've produced for Turner Classic Movies.

Here, Robert is leading some of his musical colleagues in Prague through a recording session for three Out of the Inkwell shorts, dating from 1919 through 1922. The newly restored and scored versions of these films will appear in our upcoming Cartoon Roots: Back to the Inkwell home video collection. That Blu-ray/DVD combo will debut sometime in 2024. Stay tuned!

For nearly 20 years, the Cartoons On Film team has been locating and reuniting rare 16mm and 35mm prints of silent era cartoons, and we've also been collecting hi res scans of prints in other collections. Subsequently, Cartoons On Film's long term plan is to release new restorations of all the surviving silent era Fleischer animated films.

Follow this page for more info about upcoming silent era animation restoration and rerelease projects! Learn more at: cartoonsonfilm.info

For Fleischer related research and discussions, join "The REAL Fleischer Studios Group" on Facebook!

16/02/2023

Now on YouTube, courtesy of Cartoons On Film. Subscribe to us there!

Here is a charming entry in Max Fleischer's independently produced Out of the Inkwell series, made after Max had jumped ship from the Bray Studios in 1921. T...

08/02/2023

We're now posting a wide variety of rare silent and early sound cartoons to YouTube. Enjoy, and please subscribe to the Cartoons On Film channel on YouTube!

Cartoons On Film is a boutique restoration and distribution label specializing in early animated cartoons from the 1900s through the 1930s. Our focus is sile...

26/01/2023

THIS SUNDAY at Rubulad in Bushwick, Brooklyn! It’s going to the 107th 16mm Cartoon Carnival—the theme being Big Jerks. Grab advance tickets NOW:
https://withfriends.co/event/15545780/16mm_cartoon_carnival_107_big_jerks

18/10/2022

THIS SUNDAY at Rubulad in Bushwick, Brooklyn! It’s our annual Halloween installment of the 16mm Cartoon Carnival. Grab advance tickets NOW:
https://withfriends.co/event/15094072/16mm_cartoon_carnival_105_spooks_in_store

28/09/2022

Before Mickey Mouse: A History of American Animation (1982) is now distributed exclusively by Cartoons On Film. More info:
http://www.cartoonsonfilm.info/before-mickey-mouse.html

Trailer edited by Andrew T. Smith

14/09/2022

For nearly 20 years, Cartoons On Film has been dedicated to researching, archiving, and ultimately sharing all sorts of early animated cartoon films. These archival efforts have always involved some of the best known characters, series, and studios of the silent era—including the very clever Mutt and Jeff cartoons!

As with all of our archiving and restoration projects, this is an ongoing practice that largely happens behind the scenes, and without much publicity or fanfare. That is already true of dozens of Mutt and Jeff cartoons. We have been carefully collecting prints and digital scans for several years, with specific restoration and re-release plans in mind.

More recently, another entity has come along and made public statements claiming that the Mutt and Jeff cartoons have been totally neglected up through now, and are at risk of deteriorating and disappearing. A Kickstarter campaign had been set up by this unrelated entity, seeking funds for restorations (of which films?) and vague end goals (what are they, exactly?). Since the material at the forefront of the fundraiser is a specific silent animation series (something Cartoons On Film would normally handle, and has already begun handling and restoring), various social media announcements—and the Kickstarter campaign itself—has led to general confusion among some onlookers.

To be clear: The other entity's Kickstarter campaign, and overall project, are not affiliated with Cartoons On Film, nor any of our ongoing efforts. In fact, the other entity had been informed about Cartoons On Film's pre-existing long term plans and work on the Mutt and Jeff cartoons, on multiple occasions over the past year, to no avail. The other entity essentially observed and learned from Cartoons On Film's activities for some time, and has decided to actively compete with our projects. On top of it all, the other entity has been misinforming the public about the current status of the Mutt and Jeff cartoons—even going to the extent of denigrating our ongoing work.

Cartoons On Film's success relies not only on quality work and quality projects—it also relies on the good faith and kindness of all the supporters we've had over the years. In addition to that much appreciated support, we're also grateful for the patience you've shown us as our various Cartoon Roots home video projects have been produced. It takes considerable time, effort, and funding for this highly specialized and niche work to be done satisfactorily.

Although imposters or competitors may try to ride a wave that has already been established by others, all we can say is that we hope you like the results of our Mutt and Jeff cartoon restorations—as they become available to the public in new Cartoon Roots Blu-ray and DVD volumes. Beyond our own product, always keep the old Latin phrase “caveat emptor” in mind.

Below are examples of just *some* of the Mutt and Jeff prints that have been or will soon be going through our restoration pipeline. In addition to our own archive of rare 16mm and 35mm prints, we're including surviving examples from all sorts of private collections and institutional archives from around the globe. We've got this covered. Stay tooned!

24/08/2022

There is SO much cool stuff in the Cartoons On Film restoration pipeline here. Sharing an excerpt from our upcoming Kickstarter update; this bit is about Flies (1922)...

"First, enjoy a clip from a composite version made from several sources, with color tinting added for demonstration purposes only—so you can tell the different sources apart:

What you're seeing in this clip are three different prints spliced together. The regular black and white element is the best looking one and the physical source print resides at a major archive. It's a 1920s print from Kodascope Libraries, and their mostly excellent prints are usually considered to be the best of the best.

Unfortunately, though, careful inspection shows that this physical print is missing a lot of footage! The old print has physical splices in it from wear and tear. I also learned last year while restoring another early inkwell film—Reunion (1922) that Kodascope's negatives were sometimes incomplete to begin with. That was also true with Flies.

So that's where my own two 16mm prints have come in to save the day, tinted here in red and green. The green footage comes from a print I own that was struck from a sound reissue version created in the 1930s. Sadly this particular print was silent, and didn't have its track—but it did look good, and it had some footage missing from the Kodascope!

Even more footage, tinted red in the excerpt above, comes from another print in my archive—a 1970s dupe of another 1920s Kodascope print, this one made from a different master element. This third print looks a bit softer and dupier than the others, but it contained lots of important footage that was missing from the first two elements.

The next step for Flies will be for my team to match the quality of all the different elements to the best of their abilities and then steady and clean up the entire thing, which won't take terribly long.

In any case, this is just one of many examples showing how much effort our Cartoons On Film team puts into comprehensively restoring these neglected early silents—something they, and I, are honored to be sharing. We're lucky to have multiple prints of some of these very rare films. If we didn't, and if we'd only restored Flies using the print we started with, we'd have so much less of it!"

23/08/2022

Important notice to our Friends and Followers:

There is currently a Kickstarter campaign underway, in which the organizer seeks funding to restore silent Mutt & Jeff cartoons and re-release them on home video.

Long story short: That organizer's concept & planned end product are based off of a pre-existing and more comprehensive Cartoons On Film/Cartoon Roots project, which has already been in the works for several years. In short, the current Kickstarter campaign is funding a competing project.

If you are a fan of our silent animation restorations and Cartoon Roots Blu-rays & DVDs, you might want to reconsider any funds you've pledged to the current Mutt & Jeff Kickstarter.

Thanks for understanding, everyone.

22/07/2022

THIS SUNDAY at The City Reliquary in Williamsburg, Brooklyn! Backyard screening! It's our 101st 16mm Cartoon Carnival, with a shopping theme. Grab advance tickets NOW:
https://withfriends.co/event/14662547/cartoon_carnival

08/04/2022

THIS SUNDAY at Rubulad in Bushwick, Brooklyn! *Two* unique programs of 'reel' 16mm films—it's our 100th Cartoon Carnival! Grab advance tickets NOW! More info:
https://withfriends.co/event/13863937/16mm_cartoon_carnival_100_whoopee_time

25/02/2022

Hey wait a minute, Uncle Max!

17/02/2022

Ko-Ko gives himself a makeover! 🤩

17/12/2021

THIS SUNDAY at Rubulad in Bushwick, Brooklyn! *Two* unique programs of 'reel' Christmasy 16mm cartoons! Grab advance tickets NOW! More info:
https://withfriends.co/event/13216751/16mm_cartoon_carnival_99_xmas_fun

11/11/2021

Happening *this* Friday at the Society of Illustrators in NYC! *Reel* 16mm film! Seating is limited, so grab advance tickets now:
https://societyillustrators.org/event/ny-animation/

20/10/2021

THIS SUNDAY at Rubulad in Bushwick, Brooklyn! *Two* unique programs of 'reel' spooky 16mm cartoons! All of our 2021 events have sold out before showtime, so grab advance tickets NOW! More info and tix:
https://withfriends.co/event/12774931/16mm_cartoon_carnival_98_scary_town

29/09/2021

This Saturday evening on TCM! Catch the world premiere of Cartoon Carnival: The Documentary—followed by *two* blocks of newly-restored Fleischer Studios animation from the 1920s and 1930s. Ko-Ko, Betty, and Popeye? They'll all be appearing on TCM that evening! More info at the Cartoon Research blog:
https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/cartoon-carnival-and-fleischer-tribute-on-tcm-saturday-oct-2nd/

29/09/2021

This Saturday evening on Turner Classic Movies! Catch the world premiere of Cartoon Carnival: The Documentary—followed by *two* blocks of newly-restored Fleischer Studios animation from the 1920s and 1930s. Ko-Ko, Betty, and Popeye? They'll all be appearing on TCM that evening! More info at the Cartoon Research blog: https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/cartoon-carnival-and-fleischer-tribute-on-tcm-saturday-oct-2nd/

26/08/2021

The 16mm Cartoon Carnival is happening again this Sunday, 8/29/21 at 7:30pm in the backyard of The City Reliquary in Brooklyn, NY! Advance tix highly recommended...space is limited! Purchase now: https://withfriends.co/.../cartoon_carnival_97_out_to_sea/

24/07/2021

The 16mm Cartoon Carnival is happening again in New York City on Sunday, 7/25/21 at 7:30pm in the backyard of The City Reliquary! Advance tix highly recommended...space is limited! Purchase now: https://withfriends.co/event/12182136/cartoon_carnival_96_animalistics

14/06/2021

The 16mm Cartoon Carnival is finally returning to New York City on Sunday, 6/27/21 at 7pm in the backyard of The City Reliquary! Visit our event page for more info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1465971860407596
Advance tix highly recommended...space is limited! Purchase now: https://withfriends.co/event/11111110/cartoon_carnival

01/02/2021

It's official! The next Cartoons On Film crowdfunding project will now also cover a group of rare 1919-1923 Out of the Inkwell films from Max Fleischer. Max's famous Inkwell Clown, in his earliest rotoscoped form, will come to you in brand new 2K scans and restorations from rare archival prints in the Stathes Collection—and only if YOU help make this a reality by pledging on Kickstarter by Sunday, Feb. 7th 2020. It's all or nothing...so don't wait!
Help us out here: http://kck.st/2X19BdH

10/01/2021

We’re always adding more 16mm silent-era cartoons to the archive. This fun Aesop’s Fable cartoon with Farmer Alfalfa recently joined the ranks...School Days (1928) from Paul Terry’s studio.

25/12/2020

24/12/2020

Presenting our latest release in the Cartoon Roots series! Available NOW on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R5XNPGL

History's most famous cat has "kept on walking" for generations: from 1919 right down to the present day! But nobody drew him like his creator drew him—and here's your chance to meet New Jersey-born cartoon genius Otto Messmer for yourself! From Messmer's rare "Charley" Chaplin cartoons to the seminal FELINE FOLLIES (1919) and even some wild, inspired cat tales all-new to home video, we're bringing you a fully-remastered HD anthology worth its weight in catnip!

Cartoons included in this collection (all directed by Otto Messmer for the Pat Sullivan Studio):

CHESTNUTS (c. 1916)
CHARLEY AT THE BEACH (1919)
CHARLEY AT THE CIRCUS (1919)
FELINE FOLLIES (1919)
FELIX MAKES GOOD (1922)
FELIX IN LOVE (1922)
FELIX WAKES UP (1922)
FELIX MINDS THE KID (1922)
FELIX TURNS THE TIDE (1922)
FELIX LENDS A HAND (1922)
FELIX FIFTY-FIFTY (1922)
FELIX WINS OUT (1923)
FELIX TRIES FOR TREASURE (1923)
FELIX REVOLTS (1923)
FELIX STRIKES IT RICH (1923)

Extras! Booklet, archival galleries, and new music by Charlie Judkins

Featuring Films from the Stathes Collection

23/12/2020

At long last! After a long hiatus, our classic Cartoon Roots: The Bray Studios—Animation Pioneers Blu-ray/DVD collection is now available again for sale on Amazon!

Cartoon Roots: The Bray Studios - Animation Pioneers (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

09/12/2020

Great news! Our first Cartoon Roots release, chock full of fun & rare silent and early sound cartoons, is now back in stock! Shipping in time for Christmas, too...

Cartoon Roots (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

06/08/2020

Catch our next livestream of 16mm cartoons and celebrate Betty's 90th with us on Saturday, 8/15/20 at 3pm eastern! More info at cartoonsonfilm.info/online-carnival.html

18/07/2020

Brand new to the Stathes Archives & Cartoons On Film holdings: an original 35mm nitrate print of the Paul Terry Aesop’s Fable cartoon, Sweet Adeline (1929). A late silent-era release. Many thanks to Louie Despres, who helped with this acquisition by driving an hour to Rhode Island to pick it up from its previous owner, who was threatening to have a bonfire in his backyard...