Other Cartoons
Raoul Barre Cartoons (1915-1919)
Raoul Barre was an early prominent figure in the animation field. Barre opened his first cartoon studio months before Bray opened his; alas, Barre's efforts to maintain his studio were futile. Barre moonlighted at the Bray Studios while working for others as well - such as the Edison studio, for whom he produced a well-known series called The Animated Grouch Chasers. Barre would later work on Felix the Cat and other series throughout the silent era.
Raoul Barre Filmography (2)
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Romiet and Julio 1/9/1915
The High Cost of Living 9/13/1919
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Romiet and Julio 1/9/1915
The High Cost of Living 9/13/1919
[Director Unknown] (16)
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The Boomerang 2/17/1915
Our Defenses 2/24/1915
Hands Across the Sea 3/3/1915
The Presidential Chair 3/10/1915
A New Method of Fighting Submarines 3/31/1915
The Resourceful Dachshund 4/24/1915
The Reward of Patience 5/8/1915
When Kitty Spilled the Ink 6/26/1915
Uncle Sam Gets Wise at Last 8/7/1915
Grandmothers of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow 9/4/1915
Dr. Worsen Plummer 10/2/1915
Dumba's Departure 10/23/1915
Dr. Worsen Plummer Starts a Drug Store 10/30/1915
Bubbling Bill 12/18/1915
Troubles of a Pacifist 12/22/1915
Patience is a Virtue 5/13/1916
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The Boomerang 2/17/1915
Our Defenses 2/24/1915
Hands Across the Sea 3/3/1915
The Presidential Chair 3/10/1915
A New Method of Fighting Submarines 3/31/1915
The Resourceful Dachshund 4/24/1915
The Reward of Patience 5/8/1915
When Kitty Spilled the Ink 6/26/1915
Uncle Sam Gets Wise at Last 8/7/1915
Grandmothers of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow 9/4/1915
Dr. Worsen Plummer 10/2/1915
Dumba's Departure 10/23/1915
Dr. Worsen Plummer Starts a Drug Store 10/30/1915
Bubbling Bill 12/18/1915
Troubles of a Pacifist 12/22/1915
Patience is a Virtue 5/13/1916
W.C. Morris Filmography (6)
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The Dove of Peace 7/31/1915
The Pilot of Peace 8/14/1915
Some Presidential Possibilities 9/11/1915
Wilson Surrenders 11/13/1915
The Black List 9/2/1916
Responsibility For the War 9/23/1916
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The Dove of Peace 7/31/1915
The Pilot of Peace 8/14/1915
Some Presidential Possibilities 9/11/1915
Wilson Surrenders 11/13/1915
The Black List 9/2/1916
Responsibility For the War 9/23/1916
Emil Flohri Filmography (2)
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Patriotism 3/17/1915
The Wily Jap 4/14/1915
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Patriotism 3/17/1915
The Wily Jap 4/14/1915
Vincent Colby Filmography (1)
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I Should Worry 11/6/1915
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I Should Worry 11/6/1915
Miss Nanny Goat (1916-1917)
Miss Nanny Goat was a sporadic, short-lived series directed by Clarence Rigby. Rigby was a comic artist in the early 20th century and had worked on strips like Toyland (1900-1902). Very little is known about how Rigby became involved with Bray and what story - if any - lies behind the creation of his goat character. Sadly, none of the three Nanny Goat cartoons are currently known to exist.
An interesting anecdote from the series' production is that one of the shorts was filmed twice. A contemporary press piece stated that "static, the cameraman's hoodoo, ruined an entire release of the Paramount-Bray Animated Cartoons. So disastrous were its effects in the J. R. Bray studios that it necessitated changes in the releases of the Paramount programme for two weeks. Miss Nanny Goat on the Rampage was the ruined film. It was the work of Clarence Rigby, and it goes without saying that the accident 'got his goat.' It will not be shown now until May 18th. The original release for the later date, The Police Dog in the Park by C. T. Anderson, has been transferred to fill 'Miss Nanny's' place."
Left: Period advertisement for Miss Nanny Goat at the Circus
An interesting anecdote from the series' production is that one of the shorts was filmed twice. A contemporary press piece stated that "static, the cameraman's hoodoo, ruined an entire release of the Paramount-Bray Animated Cartoons. So disastrous were its effects in the J. R. Bray studios that it necessitated changes in the releases of the Paramount programme for two weeks. Miss Nanny Goat on the Rampage was the ruined film. It was the work of Clarence Rigby, and it goes without saying that the accident 'got his goat.' It will not be shown now until May 18th. The original release for the later date, The Police Dog in the Park by C. T. Anderson, has been transferred to fill 'Miss Nanny's' place."
Left: Period advertisement for Miss Nanny Goat at the Circus
Miss Nanny Goat Filmography (3)
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Miss Nanny Goat Becomes an Aviator 2/17/1916
Miss Nanny Goat on the Rampage 5/14/1916
Miss Nanny Goat at the Circus 4/6/1917
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Miss Nanny Goat Becomes an Aviator 2/17/1916
Miss Nanny Goat on the Rampage 5/14/1916
Miss Nanny Goat at the Circus 4/6/1917
Plastiques (1916)
The Plastiques were a series of shorts featuring plaster models, animated with the stop motion technique. The series was directed and animated by artist Ashley Miller; alas, little is currently known to us about the artist or the series.
Plastiques Filmography (6)
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Priscilla and the Pesky Fly 2/?/1916
The Law of Gravitation 2/?/1916
Fifty-Fifty 3/?/1916
The High Cost of Living 4/?/1916
Did Sherman Say Law or War 5/7/1916
Why the Sphinx Laughed 7/9/1916
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Priscilla and the Pesky Fly 2/?/1916
The Law of Gravitation 2/?/1916
Fifty-Fifty 3/?/1916
The High Cost of Living 4/?/1916
Did Sherman Say Law or War 5/7/1916
Why the Sphinx Laughed 7/9/1916
Charles Wilhelm Filmography (1)
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At It Again 3/8/1916
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At It Again 3/8/1916
Frank Moser Filmography (1)
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Kid Casey the Champion 6/10/1916
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Kid Casey the Champion 6/10/1916
A.D. Reed Filmography (2)
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The Wild and Wooly West 7/7/1916
Are We Prepared for the International Trade Hunt 10/21/1916
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The Wild and Wooly West 7/7/1916
Are We Prepared for the International Trade Hunt 10/21/1916
Leighton Budd Cartoons (1916-1919)
One of the less prolific Bray Studios directors, Leighton Budd produced 18 cartoons at Bray between 1916 and 1919. Nearly all of Budd's animated shorts were political in theme, inspired by topical news items relating to World War I.
In an interview conducted by historian Mark Langer*, J. R. Bray reminisced about Budd and his work at the studio. Bray opined that alcoholism dogged the early animation business, and his staff was no exception to the trend. Bray claimed that in the mid-1910s, he had a room with four animators and they were all "drunks." Budd in particular suffered from alcoholism; Bray called him unreliable and his animation work crude—perhaps the result of working while intoxicated.
Paul Bray Jr., J. R.'s grandson and later studio president, remembered that the studio paid employees on Mondays simply to ensure that they came in to work. In those days of animator alcoholism, staffers might otherwise have been more likely to stay home, nursing hangovers!
Sadly, none of Leighton Budd's cartoons have yet surfaced for this project.
*Mark Langer's "John Randolph Bray: Pioneering Animator" in American silent film: discovering marginalized voices (Gregg Bachman and Thomas J. Slater, eds.; Southern Illinois University Press, 2002)
In an interview conducted by historian Mark Langer*, J. R. Bray reminisced about Budd and his work at the studio. Bray opined that alcoholism dogged the early animation business, and his staff was no exception to the trend. Bray claimed that in the mid-1910s, he had a room with four animators and they were all "drunks." Budd in particular suffered from alcoholism; Bray called him unreliable and his animation work crude—perhaps the result of working while intoxicated.
Paul Bray Jr., J. R.'s grandson and later studio president, remembered that the studio paid employees on Mondays simply to ensure that they came in to work. In those days of animator alcoholism, staffers might otherwise have been more likely to stay home, nursing hangovers!
Sadly, none of Leighton Budd's cartoons have yet surfaced for this project.
*Mark Langer's "John Randolph Bray: Pioneering Animator" in American silent film: discovering marginalized voices (Gregg Bachman and Thomas J. Slater, eds.; Southern Illinois University Press, 2002)
Leighton Budd Filmography (18)
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In Lunyland 7/28/1916
The Courtship of Miss Vote 10/28/1916
The Mexican Border 12/9/1916
Uncle Sam's Christmas 12/16/1916
Stung 4/30/1917
Evolution of the Dachshund 6/11/1917
Sic 'Em Cat 7/23/1917
Uncle Sam's Dinner Party 8/20/1917
The Peril of Prussianism 1/28/1918
Putting Fritz on the Water Wagon 2/4/1918
A Tonsorial Slot Machine 4/22/1918
The Third Liberty Loan Bomb 4/29/1918
The Kaiser's Surprise 8/12/1918
The Greased Pole 10/22/1918
A German Trick That Failed 11/6/1918
Uncle Sam's Coming Problem 11/27/1918
In 1998 A.D.: The Automatic Reducing Machine 5/28/1919
My How Times Have Changed 10/25/1919
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In Lunyland 7/28/1916
The Courtship of Miss Vote 10/28/1916
The Mexican Border 12/9/1916
Uncle Sam's Christmas 12/16/1916
Stung 4/30/1917
Evolution of the Dachshund 6/11/1917
Sic 'Em Cat 7/23/1917
Uncle Sam's Dinner Party 8/20/1917
The Peril of Prussianism 1/28/1918
Putting Fritz on the Water Wagon 2/4/1918
A Tonsorial Slot Machine 4/22/1918
The Third Liberty Loan Bomb 4/29/1918
The Kaiser's Surprise 8/12/1918
The Greased Pole 10/22/1918
A German Trick That Failed 11/6/1918
Uncle Sam's Coming Problem 11/27/1918
In 1998 A.D.: The Automatic Reducing Machine 5/28/1919
My How Times Have Changed 10/25/1919
John C. Terry Filmography (5)
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Misadventures of the Bull Moose 10/7/1916
Hands Across the Sea 10/14/1916
Somewhere in America 11/11/1916
Now You See it Now You Don't 11/25/1916
Our Merchant Marine 12/2/1916
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Misadventures of the Bull Moose 10/7/1916
Hands Across the Sea 10/14/1916
Somewhere in America 11/11/1916
Now You See it Now You Don't 11/25/1916
Our Merchant Marine 12/2/1916
H.C. Greening Filmography (1)
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Percy, Brains He Has Nix 12/18/1916
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Percy, Brains He Has Nix 12/18/1916
Hugh M. Shields (Jerry Shields) Filmography (1)
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In Verdun Forests 12/30/1916
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In Verdun Forests 12/30/1916
Picto-Puzzles (1917)
Sam Loyd directed this obscure Bray cartoon series. A period newspaper piece explains that Loyd would present a puzzle of sorts in each film, then offer a due date by which theater patrons were to solve it - and send their solutions to Loyd by postal mail. Contestants who solved the puzzle correctly - and made Loyd's deadline - were rewarded with a "very handsome puzzle book." There are currently no known surviving samples of the Picto-Puzzles.
Picto-Puzzles Filmography (8)
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Picto-Puzzles 3/19/1917
No. 1 4/2/1917
No. 2 4/16/1917
No. 3 5/14/1917
No. 4 5/21/1917
No. 5 7/2/1917
No. 6 7/30/1917
No. 7 8/27/1917
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Picto-Puzzles 3/19/1917
No. 1 4/2/1917
No. 2 4/16/1917
No. 3 5/14/1917
No. 4 5/21/1917
No. 5 7/2/1917
No. 6 7/30/1917
No. 7 8/27/1917
Santry Filmography (2)
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A Watched Pot 9/9/1918
Pictures in the Fire 12/18/1918
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A Watched Pot 9/9/1918
Pictures in the Fire 12/18/1918
Lampoons by Burt Gillett (1920)
by Charlie Judkins, ©2011
Burt Gillett toiled as a Bray staffer in 1920—and perhaps, uncredited, earlier and later as well. Gillett's credited Bray work was on the Shenanigan Kids series, a Hearst property, as well as the lesser-known Lampoons. Little is known about the latter, though historian Denis Gifford has referenced it as a "series of joke cartoons redrawn from the magazines Judge andLeslie's Weekly."
Gillett had been with Hearst’s failed International Film Service studio at its 1916 inception, so it seems likely that as Hearst moved the production of the cartoons elsewhere, Gillett and his peers simply followed. In the mid-1920s, Gillett would join Dick Huemer, Manny Gould, and Ben Harrison to form Associated Animators, an ambitious but unsuccessful effort at producing animation via the artist-supported United Artists model.
Gillett would go on to manage the Van Beuren studio in the mid-1930s. He remains infamous for his unstable behavior while in charge there: displaying a wild temper and firing employees without warning. Gillett apparently suffered from bi-polar disorder, although we don't know whether it also manifested itself during his early years with Bray.
Gillett had been with Hearst’s failed International Film Service studio at its 1916 inception, so it seems likely that as Hearst moved the production of the cartoons elsewhere, Gillett and his peers simply followed. In the mid-1920s, Gillett would join Dick Huemer, Manny Gould, and Ben Harrison to form Associated Animators, an ambitious but unsuccessful effort at producing animation via the artist-supported United Artists model.
Gillett would go on to manage the Van Beuren studio in the mid-1930s. He remains infamous for his unstable behavior while in charge there: displaying a wild temper and firing employees without warning. Gillett apparently suffered from bi-polar disorder, although we don't know whether it also manifested itself during his early years with Bray.
Lampoons Filmography (23)
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Lampoons (23 editions with same title) 4/17/1920 to 10/9/1920
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Lampoons (23 editions with same title) 4/17/1920 to 10/9/1920
Jean Gic Filmography (4)
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Ze American Girl 9/18/1920
Stories in Lines 10/21/1920
A Continuous Line of Thought 11/2/1920
A Tragedy in One Line 1/15/1921
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Ze American Girl 9/18/1920
Stories in Lines 10/21/1920
A Continuous Line of Thought 11/2/1920
A Tragedy in One Line 1/15/1921
The Debut of Thomas Cat (1920)
by Jack Theakston, ©2011
The one-shot Debut of Thomas Cat (general release Feb. 20, 1920) was for many years regarded as the first color cartoon. Earlier examples have turned up in modern times, butThomas Cat remains the first color cartoon to have been widely distributed. The short was processed by Brewster Color of Newark, New Jersey, a company run by Percy Douglas Brewster (1883-1952), a 1905 Cornell alumnus.
The Brewster Camera Company formed in 1906, when Brewster left Cornell and met fellow inventor Hoyt Miller (1883-1957), a Harvard graduate and color chemist. Brewster and Miller developed and patented the first commercially viable camera capable of capturing natural colors, albeit in a two-color form. Fame came to the company when the Royal Society of London cited Brewster's work; later, Brewster was the first to shoot a color photograph of President Wilson. Brewster's camera took two negatives: one sensitive to red light, the other to green, with a half-mirror being used to split the the white light to two negatives. The two negatives were processed onto black and white photographs, toned red and green appropriately. Then the two elements were combined, with the red images and the green images superimposed on a single sheet of paper.
Starting in 1916, Brewster filed for several patents that would form the basis of the Brewster Color Motion Picture Co. Brewster applied his still-photograph method to 35mm motion picture film, utilizing two strips of film in a specially-built camera that recorded both red and green light simultaneously. The next step required a new duplitized (two-emulsion) film stock that Kodak had put on the market the previous year. The red negative was printed on one side of the stock; the green side on the other, with each toned red and blue-green respectively. This technique would remain the primary method for natural color printing during the 1920s, and became the staple of the more successful Prizma Company.
The one-shot Debut of Thomas Cat (general release Feb. 20, 1920) was for many years regarded as the first color cartoon. Earlier examples have turned up in modern times, butThomas Cat remains the first color cartoon to have been widely distributed. The short was processed by Brewster Color of Newark, New Jersey, a company run by Percy Douglas Brewster (1883-1952), a 1905 Cornell alumnus.
The Brewster Camera Company formed in 1906, when Brewster left Cornell and met fellow inventor Hoyt Miller (1883-1957), a Harvard graduate and color chemist. Brewster and Miller developed and patented the first commercially viable camera capable of capturing natural colors, albeit in a two-color form. Fame came to the company when the Royal Society of London cited Brewster's work; later, Brewster was the first to shoot a color photograph of President Wilson. Brewster's camera took two negatives: one sensitive to red light, the other to green, with a half-mirror being used to split the the white light to two negatives. The two negatives were processed onto black and white photographs, toned red and green appropriately. Then the two elements were combined, with the red images and the green images superimposed on a single sheet of paper.
Starting in 1916, Brewster filed for several patents that would form the basis of the Brewster Color Motion Picture Co. Brewster applied his still-photograph method to 35mm motion picture film, utilizing two strips of film in a specially-built camera that recorded both red and green light simultaneously. The next step required a new duplitized (two-emulsion) film stock that Kodak had put on the market the previous year. The red negative was printed on one side of the stock; the green side on the other, with each toned red and blue-green respectively. This technique would remain the primary method for natural color printing during the 1920s, and became the staple of the more successful Prizma Company.
Green: Project Print or Video
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The Debut of Thomas Cat 2/8/1920
Gray: Print Known Elsewhere
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The Debut of Thomas Cat 2/8/1920