Famous Studios

A Lamb in a Jam is a 1945 Noveltoons cartoon from Famous Studios, directed by Isadore Sparber and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It features Blackie the Lamb, who is chased by a wolf trying to shear Blackie's wool for a winter coat. The short is part of the Noveltoons series, which ran from 1943 to 1967 and produced over 140 cartoons. The film is in the public domain through non-renewal of copyright.

Animation · Comedy

A Hunky and Spunky cartoon from Famous Studios, the successor to Fleischer Studios. The mischievous young donkey Spunky gets into trouble when he won't stop kicking, and his mother Hunky must teach him a lesson. The Hunky and Spunky series was one of several cartoon properties Famous Studios continued after the Fleischers lost control of their studio. The film is in the public domain.

Animation · Family

Popeye is overjoyed about marrying Olive tomorrow, but she dreams of their future twin sons running wild and gives him a frosty reception the next morning. A Famous Studios Popeye cartoon directed by Izzy Sparber. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

Herman the mouse outwits a hungry cat and a dim-witted dog by pitting them against each other in a battle over the cheese he covets. A Famous Studios Noveltoon, the first solo cartoon for the Herman and Katnip series. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

A tour through a topsy-turvy town where fish swim in the fire hydrants, babies deliver their own stork, and the laws of physics are suggestions at best. A Famous Studios Noveltoon directed by Izzy Sparber. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy

A hapless hound dog's pursuit of a clever bird leads him through a gauntlet of slapstick mishaps in this late Famous Studios Noveltoon. One of the last Noveltoons before the studio was reorganized as Paramount Cartoon Studios. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy

Little Audrey tries to avoid a spanking from her teacher by hiding in a magical storybook world, where she encounters storybook characters and comic mischief. A Bill Tytla-directed Noveltoons short featuring Little Audrey. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

A beleaguered dog named Hector endures a chaotic household in this Noveltoons short, as his attempts to find peace are constantly thwarted by his rambunctious family. A Bill Tytla-directed Famous Studios cartoon. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

A jazz-loving cat sneaks into a music shop after hours to conduct a symphony of instruments, only to be tormented by the mischievous mouse Katnip. A Seymour Kneitel-directed Noveltoons short. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Music

Popeye battles an army of hungry insects that descends on his vegetable garden, using his spinach-fueled strength to save his harvest. A Famous Studios Popeye cartoon directed by Morey Reden and Dave Tendlar. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy

Confined to the corner with a dunce cap after flubbing a history quiz, Lulu dozes off and dreams of chasing Tubby through the pages of the history book — dodging Indians, meeting pirates, and taking a dip in the Fountain of Youth. One of the best-regarded of Famous Studios' Little Lulu cartoons for Paramount, directed by Bill Tytla with Cecil Roy voicing Lulu and Arnold Stang as Tubby. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

Much Ado About Mutton is a 1947 Noveltoons cartoon from Famous Studios, directed by Isadore Sparber and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It features Blackie the Lamb in his final appearance in the Noveltoon series, once again matching wits with Wolfie the Wolf. The short is part of the long-running Noveltoons series that produced over 140 cartoons between 1943 and 1967. The film is in the public domain.

Animation · Comedy

Naughty but Mice is a 1947 Noveltoons cartoon from Famous Studios, directed by Seymour Kneitel and distributed by Paramount Pictures. City mouse Herman visits his country cousins and helps them deal with a menacing cat. The short features animation by Dave Tendlar and Al Eugster, with music by Winston Sharples. Herman the Mouse would become a recurring character in the Noveltoons series, often paired with Katnip the cat. The film is in the public domain.

Animation · Comedy

Pest Pupil is a 1957 Noveltoons cartoon from Famous Studios, directed by Dave Tendlar and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The short features Baby Huey, the oversized and dimwitted duckling, who causes chaos on his first day of school. Baby Huey was one of the most popular characters in the Noveltoons series, debuting in 1950's Quack-a-Doodle-Doo. The film is in the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy

Pleased to Eat You is a 1950 Noveltoons cartoon from Famous Studios, directed by Isadore Sparber and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The short features a hungry lion who escapes from the zoo and attempts to find a meal, encountering various animals and people along the way. The cartoon features animation by Myron Waldman and William Pattengill, with music by Winston Sharples. The film is in the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy

Cooking with Gags is a 1954 Popeye cartoon from Famous Studios, directed by I. Sparber and distributed by Paramount Pictures. On April Fool's Day, Bluto plays a series of practical jokes on Popeye and Olive Oyl — including a prank picnic that goes wrong for the prankster. Jack Mercer, Mae Questel, and Jackson Beck voice Popeye, Olive, and Bluto. The cartoon is in the public domain through non-renewal of copyright.

Animation · Comedy

Floor Flusher is a 1954 Popeye cartoon from Famous Studios, directed by Izzy Sparber and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Olive Oyl's kitchen sink won't stop running, so Popeye volunteers to fix the plumbing — but rival plumber Bluto is determined to sabotage the job and flood the house in the process. The escalating water damage builds to the usual spinach-powered showdown, with Jack Mercer, Mae Questel, and Jackson Beck supplying the classic voices. It is in the public domain in the United States.

Animation · Comedy

Gopher Spinach is a 1954 Popeye cartoon from Famous Studios, directed by Seymour Kneitel and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Popeye plants his spinach bed, only to discover a gopher stealing his baby plants. What follows is a battle of wits between Popeye and the resourceful rodent. The cartoon was the first entry of the 1954-55 film season. The film is in the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy

Popeye's four nephews — Pipeye, Peepeye, Poopeye, and Pupeye — refuse to eat their spinach, so Popeye tells them the story of his great Uncle Hercules, the legendary strongman of ancient Greece. In the flashback, Hercules battles the Bluto-like Brutus in a series of mythological contests, powered by a can of "spinachus." A Famous Studios Popeye cartoon directed by Seymour Kneitel and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is in the public domain through non-renewal of copyright.

Animation · Comedy

Parlez Vous Woo is a 1956 Popeye cartoon from Famous Studios, directed by Izzy Sparber and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Olive Oyl has fallen for "The International," a suave, romantic television personality — who turns out to be Bluto in disguise. When the smooth-talking rival invites Olive to his penthouse for dinner, a jealous Popeye follows to expose the phony, and the evening erupts into the usual spinach-fueled brawl. One of the later entries in the long-running series, it features the classic voice trio of Jack Mercer, Mae Questel, and Jackson Beck. It is in the public domain in the United States.

Animation · Comedy

Shuteye Popeye is a 1952 Popeye cartoon from Famous Studios, directed by Izzy Sparber and distributed by Paramount Pictures. A very tired Popeye retires for the night, but his window-rattling snoring disturbs a small mouse trying to sleep in the same room. The mouse's escalating attempts to silence the sailor — and Popeye's oblivious, sleepwalking responses — drive the escalating gag structure typical of the studio's early-1950s output. The cartoon is in the public domain in the United States through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy

Spree Lunch is a 1957 Popeye cartoon from Famous Studios, directed by Seymour Kneitel from a story by Jack Mercer and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Popeye and Bluto run rival restaurants and compete aggressively for the patronage of Wimpy, whose legendary appetite for hamburgers — and reluctance to pay for them — makes him a challenging customer. The short is notable as the final theatrical film appearance of both Bluto and Wimpy before the Popeye series moved to television. It is in the public domain in the United States.

Animation · Comedy

Popeye and Bluto run rival taxi services and race across the city to pick up fares, wrecking each other's cabs at every turn. When both drivers compete for the same passenger — Olive Oyl — the feud escalates until spinach decides the outcome. A Famous Studios Popeye cartoon directed by Seymour Kneitel and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is in the public domain through non-renewal of copyright.

Animation · Comedy

Quack-a-Doodle-Doo is a 1950 Noveltoons cartoon from Famous Studios, directed by Isadore Sparber and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The short marks the very first appearance of Baby Huey, the oversized and dimwitted duckling who would become one of the most popular Noveltoons characters. A fox attempts to make a meal of the newly hatched Huey, but the enormous duckling's innocent clumsiness inadvertently foils the predator's plans. The film is in the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy

Saved by the Bell is a 1950 Noveltoons cartoon from Famous Studios, directed by Seymour Kneitel and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The short features Blackie the Lamb and Wolfie the Wolf in one of their recurring confrontations, this time set in a school context. The Blackie and Wolfie characters were staples of the Noveltoons series throughout the 1940s and 1950s. The film is in the public domain.

Animation · Comedy

Scrappily Married is a 1945 Noveltoons cartoon from Famous Studios, directed by Seymour Kneitel and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The short features Herman the Mouse and Henry the Rooster in a domestic comedy. Henry is a henpecked rooster whose overbearing wife drives him to despair, while Herman schemes to help him. The cartoon was the first Noveltoons entry to use the "Featuring" title card and fanfare. The film is in the public domain.

Animation · Comedy

Destruction, Inc. is a 1942 Superman animated short, the tenth in the Paramount series and the second made by Famous Studios after the Fleischer brothers' reorganization. Saboteurs infiltrate the Metropolis Munitions Works, murdering the elderly night watchman and planting explosives throughout the plant. Lois Lane follows the story undercover and is captured by the gang, leaving Superman to stop the destruction and rescue her before the whole works goes up. Released on Christmas Day 1942, the short leans hard into wartime sabotage paranoia. I. Sparber directs, with Bud Collyer and Joan Alexander voicing Superman and Lois. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Action · Adventure

Lois Lane's plane is shot down over Africa and she's captured by a German force occupying a jungle temple, where they use the natives' drums to signal strikes on Allied convoys. Superman follows her trail and turns the drums' own warning system against the occupiers. The fifteenth of the Paramount Superman cartoons, made by Famous Studios after the Fleischer brothers' departure, and the series' most direct piece of wartime propaganda. It is in the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Action · War

Lois Lane is taken prisoner by a race of bird-men living in caverns beneath the earth after a mining expedition discovers their hidden world, and Superman has to burrow down to rescue her before she is thrown to a lake of lava. The last of the seventeen Fleischer/Famous Studios Superman shorts and one of the strangest — directed by Seymour Kneitel with Bud Collyer and Joan Alexander voicing Superman and Lois. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Action · Adventure

Teacher's Pest is a 1950 Noveltoons cartoon from Famous Studios, directed by Isadore Sparber and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The short features Junior Owl on his way to his first day of kindergarten, trying to live up to the reputation of owls being wise. But Mr. Wolf knows a few tricks of his own, and Junior ends up in the wolf's pot of boiling water before Mama Owl saves him. This was Wolfie's final appearance in the Noveltoon series. The film is in the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy

A bored cuckoo bird in a clock grows restless with his repetitive routine and ventures out into the world for adventure, with comic results. A Bill Tytla-directed Noveltoons short from Famous Studios. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy

Little Audrey dreams of a fantastic adventure through a surreal dreamscape, only to find her dream turning into a comic nightmare before she wakes up. A Bill Tytla-directed Noveltoons short featuring Little Audrey. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

Clark Kent and Lois Lane investigate the mysterious death of an Egyptologist at the Metropolis Museum, where Superman must battle the undead guards of an ancient king. An Izzy Sparber-directed Superman cartoon from Famous Studios. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Action · Adventure

A wolf and a lamb engage in a classic shell game con, each trying to outwit the other in a series of escalating tricks. A Seymour Kneitel-directed Noveltoons short. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy

A superstitious cat tries to catch Buzzy the Crow for breakfast, but the clever crow uses the cat's belief in bad luck omens to outwit him at every turn. A Seymour Kneitel-directed Noveltoons short, marking the first appearance of Buzzy the Crow. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy

Paddy the Leprechaun emerges from his fairy shoe shop to mend shoes for the townsfolk at night, until he is discovered by a little girl who befriends him. A Bill Tytla-directed Noveltoons short. The film entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Animation · Comedy · Family

A Noveltoons short from Famous Studios, directed by Seymour Kneitel. Lightning is said to be the fastest horse around and a sure bet for the Ups and Downs steeplechase, but when race time comes, the horse decides to take a nap instead. The jockey tries everything to wake him, and the real fun begins as he devises a plan to enter the race with a sleeping horse. Released June 9, 1950, the cartoon was produced by Famous Studios for Paramount Pictures. The film is in the public domain.

Animation · Short · Comedy · Family

A Noveltoons short from Famous Studios, directed by Isadore Sparber. Spunky the donkey tries to enlist in the WAGS, an elite corps of Army dogs, but is rejected after a series of physical tests deem him unfit for service. When a flea attack cripples the dog unit, Spunky proves his worth by saving the day. Released October 27, 1944, the cartoon is a wartime morale piece wrapped in barnyard comedy, produced by Famous Studios for Paramount Pictures. The film is in the public domain.

Animation · Short · Comedy · Family