| ComiColor | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Directed by | Shamus Culhane Al Eugster Ub Iwerks |
| Produced by | Pat Powers |
| Music by | Carl Stalling |
| Color process | Cinecolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Celebrity Productions |
Running time | 6–7 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
ComiColor Cartoons is a series of twenty-five animated short subjects produced by Ub Iwerks from 1933 to 1936. The series was the last produced by Iwerks Studio; after losing distributor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1934, the Iwerks studio's senior company Celebrity Pictures (run by Pat Powers) had to distribute the films itself. The series was shot exclusively in Cinecolor.
Most of the ComiColor entries were based upon popular fairy tales and other familiar stories, including Jack and the Beanstalk, Old Mother Hubbard, The Bremen Town Musicians, and The Headless Horseman.
Production
Grim Natwick, Al Eugster, and Shamus Culhane were among the series' lead animators/directors, and a number of the shorts were filmed using Iwerks' multiplane camera, which he built himself from the remains of a Chevrolet automobile.
In the 1940s, the ComiColor cartoons received home-movie distribution through Castle Films. Cinecolor produced the 16 mm film prints for Castle Films, with red emulsion on one side and blue emulsion on the other. Later, in the 1970s, Blackhawk Films released these for home use, but this time using conventional Eastmancolor film stock.1 They are now in the public domain in the United States and are widely available on physical and digital media.
Filmography
| No. | Title | Director | Release date | Distributor | Film | Original work | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack and the Beanstalk2 | Shamus Culhane, AI Eugster, & Ub Iwerks | November 25, 1933 | Celebrity Productions | "Jack and the Beanstalk", an English fairy tale | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use From 1945 - 1977. | |
| 2 | The Little Red Hen2 | February 17, 1934 | "The Little Red Hen", an American fable | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use Exclusively For The 1948 Season In 16mm B&W Sound Prints Only. | |||
| 3 | The Brave Tin Soldier2 | April 7, 1934 | "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", by Hans Christian Andersen, 2 October 1838 | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use Exclusively For The 1948 Season In 16mm B&W Sound Prints Only. | |||
| 4 | Puss in Boots2 | May 19, 1934 | "Puss in Boots", a French fairy tale | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use From 1942 - 1969. | |||
| 5 | The Queen of Hearts2 | June 22, 1934 | “The Queen of Hearts”, a english poem and nursery rhyme | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use, Renamed To “Queen Of Hearts”, Exclusively For The 1948 Season In 16mm B&W Sound Prints Only. | |||
| 6 | Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp2 | Shamus Culhane & Ub Iwerks | August 10, 1934 | "Aladdin", a Middle-Eastern folk tale | Renamed To Aladdin’s Lamp By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use, Distributed From 1942 - 1972. | ||
| 7 | The Headless Horseman2 | Shamus Culhane, Al Eugster, & Ub Iwerks | September 29, 1934 | "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", by Washington Irving, 1820 | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use From 1942 - 1948. | ||
| 8 | The Valiant Tailor2 | October 27, 1934 | “The Brave Little Tailor” by the Brothers Grimm, 1812 | Renamed To “The King’s Tailor” By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use, Distributed From 1942 - 1948. | |||
| 9 | Don Quixote2 | November 24, 1934 | Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes, 1605–1615 | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use From 1942 - 1953. | |||
| 10 | Jack Frost2 | December 22, 1934 | Jack Frost and Old Man Winter, the latter from ancient Greek mythology and Old World pagan beliefs | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use From 1942 - 1948. | |||
| 11 | Little Black Sambo2 | February 2, 1935 | The Story of Little Black Sambo, a children's book by Helen Bannerman, 1899 | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use From 1942 - 1968. Though, The Color Version Was Discontinued After 1949. | |||
| 12 | The Bremen Town Musicians2 | March 2, 1935 | "Town Musicians of Bremen", a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use Exclusively For The 1948 Season In 16mm B&W Sound Prints Only. | |||
| 13 | Old Mother Hubbard2 | March 30, 1935 | "Old Mother Hubbard", an English nursery rhyme | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use From 1942 - 1968. | |||
| 14 | Mary's Little Lamb2 | April 27, 1935 | “Mary Had a Little Lamb” by Sarah Josepha Hale, 1830 | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use From 1942 - 1968 | |||
| 15 | Summertime2 | June 15, 1935 | N/A | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use Exclusively For The 1948 Season In 16mm B&W Sound Prints Only. | |||
| 16 | Sinbad the Sailor2 | July 26, 1935 | Sinbad the Sailor, Middle Eastern origin, 8th and 9th centuries A.D. | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use From 1942 - 1977. | |||
| 17 | The Three Bears2 | August 30, 1935 | “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”, an English fairy tale | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use Exclusively For The 1948 Season In 16mm B&W Sound Prints Only. | |||
| 18 | Balloon Land2 | Ub Iwerks | September 30, 1935 | N/A | Renamed To “The Pincushion Man” By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use, Distributed From 1942 - 1948. | ||
| 19 | Simple Simon2 | November 15, 1935 | "Simple Simon", an English-language children's song | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use From 1942 - 1968. | |||
| 20 | Humpty Dumpty2 | Al Eugster, Ub Iwerks | December 27, 1935 | “Humpty Dumpty”, an English nursery rhyme | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use Exclusively For The 1948 Season In 16mm B&W Sound Prints Only. | ||
| 21 | Ali Baba2 | Shamus Culhane, Al Eugster, & Ub Iwerks | January 31, 1936 | “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”, Arabic folk tale | |||
| 22 | Tom Thumb2 | Ub Iwerks | March 27, 1936 | “Tom Thumb”, English folklore | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use Exclusively For The 1948 Season In 16mm B&W Sound Prints Only. | ||
| 23 | Dick Whittington's Cat2 | May 29, 1936 | “Dick Whittington and His Cat”, English folklore | Distributed By Castle Film’s For Home Movie Use From 1942 - 1948. | |||
| 24 | Little Boy Blue2 | July 31, 1936 | “Little Boy Blue”, English nursery rhyme | Renamed To “The Big Bad Wolf” By Castle Film’s To Not Confuse Customers With The Terrytoon Cartoon (Which They Also Sold From 1940 - 1942) Titled “Little Boy Blue”. Distributed From 1942 - 1977. | |||
| 25 | Happy Days2 | September 25, 1936 | Reg'lar Fellers, a newspaper comic strip by Gene Byrnes, 1917 |
Copyright status
All of the ComiColor cartoons are in the public domain due to copyright not being renewed.
Home media
All of the ComiColor cartoons are now available in the 2004 Region 2 ComiColor DVD set released by Mk2/Lobster in France. Many are available in Region 1, in particular on the Cartoons That Time Forgot series.
Steve Stanchfield of Thunderbean plans on releasing the restored versions of the shorts across two Blu-ray sets called ComiColor Cartoons Collection V.1 & 2.3
See also
See also
- Golden Age of American animation
- Color Classics – a series of animated short films produced by Fleischer Studios for Paramount Pictures from 1934 to 1941
- Color Rhapsody
- Happy Harmonies
- Merrie Melodies
- Noveltoons
- Phantasies
- Rainbow Parade
- Silly Symphonies
- Swing Symphony
- Modern Madcaps
- Puppetoons
References
References
- "Little Boy Blue: Using a Cinecolor Print for Color Reference |". cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
- Leonard Maltin, Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons, Penguin Books, 1987)
- ""Jack Frost" (1934) from the Original Camera Negs |".
Other sources
- Leslie Iwerks and John Kenworthy, The Hand Behind the Mouse (Disney Editions, 2001) and documentary of the same name (DVD, 1999)
- Jeff Lenburg, The Great Cartoon Directors (Da Capo Press, 1993)