Krazy Kat (1920-1921)
by David Gerstein, ©2011
ZIP-POW! George Herriman's classic brick-victim Krazy Kat returned to cinema screens as part of Bray's IFS revival. More recently, some scholars have remembered the Bray-era Krazys as the most faithful cartoons made with the character. Not only do Krazy, Ignatz Mouse, and Officer Pupp appear, but so do the rest of their retinue - including Kolin Kelly the brickmaker, Walter Cephus Austridge, and even Ignatz's wife and bratty sons. While the 1916 IFS shorts showed fairly few characters on screen at once, the Bray Krazy Kats teem with exuberant crowds of Coconino critters.
Like the earlier IFS Krazy cartoons, several of the Bray/IFS Krazy shorts were adapted from comic strips - including the oft-seen AWFUL SPOOK and HOW I BECAME CRAZY, a sort of origin story for the character. You'd be "krazy" too, apparently, if you'd been abandoned in a "krazy quilt" as a kitten.
Not every Bray/IFS Krazy cartoon stuck close to Herriman. While most featured the original gender-ambiguous, obstinately affectionate cat - complete with obsessive crush on Ignatz - A FAMILY AFFAIR showed Krazy as the mouse's rival, mocking him for his large family.
In 1932, when Bray sold some cartoon rights to the Keystone Manufacturing Company, the ten IFS/Bray Krazy Kat shorts were included in the package. For fifteen years, Keystone sold prints unimpeded. Then in 1947, Columbia Pictures - producers/licensors of sound-era Krazy Kat cartoons - complained to King Features Syndicate, the legal successor of IFS, about the Keystone Krazy shorts' presence on the market. Did Keystone have a right to sell them? King Features reacted as if Keystone's films might be unlicensed. King hotly inquired with Keystone. Keystone directed King to Bray.
At first, Bray denied ever having worked with Krazy Kat. But when King forwarded Bray's denial to Keystone (May 20) and Keystone upbraided Bray (May 21), Bray belatedly recalled having purchased the shorts from IFS (May 27). King demanded he prove it by producing the contracts. The last surviving correspondence indicates that Bray could not find them.
In lieu of further evidence, it seems King must have halted Bray's and Keystone's distribution of the IFS/Bray Krazy shorts; if for no other reason than that they never became part of the Bray TV package later on. Neither did any other IFS/Bray cartoons, though no surviving records show King as having complained to Keystone about them.
Ironically, the contracts that went missing in 1947 do survive today, confirming that Bray actually had every right to exploit his Krazy Kat films in perpetuity.
Like the earlier IFS Krazy cartoons, several of the Bray/IFS Krazy shorts were adapted from comic strips - including the oft-seen AWFUL SPOOK and HOW I BECAME CRAZY, a sort of origin story for the character. You'd be "krazy" too, apparently, if you'd been abandoned in a "krazy quilt" as a kitten.
Not every Bray/IFS Krazy cartoon stuck close to Herriman. While most featured the original gender-ambiguous, obstinately affectionate cat - complete with obsessive crush on Ignatz - A FAMILY AFFAIR showed Krazy as the mouse's rival, mocking him for his large family.
In 1932, when Bray sold some cartoon rights to the Keystone Manufacturing Company, the ten IFS/Bray Krazy Kat shorts were included in the package. For fifteen years, Keystone sold prints unimpeded. Then in 1947, Columbia Pictures - producers/licensors of sound-era Krazy Kat cartoons - complained to King Features Syndicate, the legal successor of IFS, about the Keystone Krazy shorts' presence on the market. Did Keystone have a right to sell them? King Features reacted as if Keystone's films might be unlicensed. King hotly inquired with Keystone. Keystone directed King to Bray.
At first, Bray denied ever having worked with Krazy Kat. But when King forwarded Bray's denial to Keystone (May 20) and Keystone upbraided Bray (May 21), Bray belatedly recalled having purchased the shorts from IFS (May 27). King demanded he prove it by producing the contracts. The last surviving correspondence indicates that Bray could not find them.
In lieu of further evidence, it seems King must have halted Bray's and Keystone's distribution of the IFS/Bray Krazy shorts; if for no other reason than that they never became part of the Bray TV package later on. Neither did any other IFS/Bray cartoons, though no surviving records show King as having complained to Keystone about them.
Ironically, the contracts that went missing in 1947 do survive today, confirming that Bray actually had every right to exploit his Krazy Kat films in perpetuity.
Krazy Kat Filmography (10)
Green: Project Print or Video
Gray: Print Known Elsewhere
Red: No Known Print
The Great Cheese Robbery 1/16/1920
Love's Labor Lost 1/30/1920
The Best Mouse Loses 3/3/1920
Kats is Kats 6/4/1920
The Chinese Honeymoon 7/3/1920
A Family Affair 10/25/1920
The Hinges on the Bar Room Door 1/8/1921
How I Became Krazy 1/26/1921 [clip only]
The Awful Spook 1/21/1921
The Wireless Wire Walkers 2/26/1921
Gray: Print Known Elsewhere
Red: No Known Print
The Great Cheese Robbery 1/16/1920
Love's Labor Lost 1/30/1920
The Best Mouse Loses 3/3/1920
Kats is Kats 6/4/1920
The Chinese Honeymoon 7/3/1920
A Family Affair 10/25/1920
The Hinges on the Bar Room Door 1/8/1921
How I Became Krazy 1/26/1921 [clip only]
The Awful Spook 1/21/1921
The Wireless Wire Walkers 2/26/1921