Paramount's History with Cartoons (Part 2)

The History of Famous Studios

As Famous Studios, the company continued producing Popeye shorts but replaced the Superman series with another comic-to-screen adaptation - this time, of Marjorie Henderson Buell's Little Lulu. Also joining their filmography was a Screen Songs revival and an anthology series similar to Fleischer's Color Classics.

The latter series, known as Noveltoons, paved the way for Famous staff to create an entire cast of cartoon stars. Of them were:

• Casper the Friendly Ghost (inspired by an unpublished children's book from two Famous staff), 
• Herman and Katnip (a cat & mouse duo known for their extreme amount of violence), 
• Baby Huey (a large, dimwitted duck),
• and Little Audrey (an early-20th century folklore character who Famous adopted as a replacement for Little Lulu).

However, there was a noticeable shift in the audience during the transition from Fleischer to Famous. Whereas Max and Dave's work included surrealism, dark humor, and near-psychological elements, Famous's work became more child-oriented as the years went on. This change was especially noticeable when compared to the more general- and adult-themed Disney and Warner Bros. animations of the time.

Famous was later downsized significantly and renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios before closing in 1967. However, Paramount Pictures would strike a deal twelve years before this development that not only sealed Famous Studios' place in history but the Fleischers' as well. 

From the Big Screen to the Little Screen

Between 1955 and 1962, Paramount sold off its animation library to various TV distributors. As a result of these sales, most Fleischer & Famous Studios shorts had their original titles lost and eventually fell into the public domain in the 1960s.

• The Popeye shorts went to Associated Artists Productions (A.A.P.) in June 1956, which was also the owner of Warner Bros.'s pre-1948 cartoons. A.A.P. went through several acquisitions before being acquired in the 1980s by Turner Entertainment, a Warner Bros. company.

• The Superman shorts went to DC Comics, another Warner Bros. company, after Paramount's licensing rights to the character expired.

• Everything else in the pre-October 1950 library went to the U.M. & M. TV Corporation in 1956, which later became National Telefilm Associates (NTA) in the following year. NTA changed its name to Republic Pictures in the 1980s and ironically ended up in Paramount's control a decade later through Viacom.

• Finally, shorts made between October 1950 and March 1962 - as well as the rights to all original characters from Famous Studios - went to Harvey Comics. That company was acquired by Classic Media in 2001, which later became a DreamWorks Animation property in 2012.

These deals were made so that Paramount's shorts could be presented on TV, though nowadays they are best remembered for popping up on various public domain VHS tapes and DVDs during the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s.

Conclusion

And now, a long-overdue explanation for why I'm bringing this up in the first place.

Much like how HBO Max offers restored prints of various Warner Bros. cartoons, Paramount+ could've drawn more attention to their service by presenting restorations of Fleischer & Famous-produced shorts. The only major roadblock is that a good chunk of their shorts are no longer in their control (hence the list above).

It's honestly frustrating because the Paramount brand as a whole hasn't been doing its best for a long time. The movie studio routinely falls behind its competitors at Disney and Warner Bros., all of which embrace their Golden Age heritage to this day.

What are your thoughts on the matter?