How to spot a Disney re-release hack job

[Vdubdavid]

Looking at the shorts on the Disney Treasure sets from the RKO period (1938-1953), I've begun wondering just what the policy was on preparing shorts for reissue at Disney. I know on some the original sequence was removed entirely ("Symphony Hour" is an example, I believe) but some cartoons I've seen have jump cuts to the short's title (usually when it contains the MPAA number) or in the case of postwar shorts, to a slate of credits that dissolves to the title. So was Disney a bit more generous in allowing us to see the original title art, like the post-1956 Blue Ribbons?

 

[JDWeil]

When Disney started re-issuing his cartoon back beginning in 1947 he changed some of the title cards on many of the cartoons that had been originally issued by United Artists and Columbia and in some cases changed the the original series designations (e.g. Lend A Paw and Squatter's Rights were origanlly released as Pluto cartoons, were re-issued as Mickey Mouse shorts)

 

[Vdubdavid]

Something new has been added! I thought "Lend a Paw" still had its original titles because it still had the RKO credit line. In that case, is there any way to tell if a Disney short has never been reissued if it still has the RKO mention (or at least retains the original title art)? I thought that cartoons with the reference on the Treasures like "Tugboat Mickey", "Officer Duck", or "Polar Trappers" were all-original, but now I'm not so sure.

 

[J Lee]

Check for jump cuts instead of dissolves during the opening title credit sequences. The jumps usually indicate where the new titles end and the original print begins (similar to the jumps on the 1956-64 BR re-releases by Warners). Also, look at the Technicolor credits. The Klamus family made sure all the studios ran the credit as "In Technicolor" between 1936 and 1948. From 1948-56, the credit was "Color by Technicolor" and in 1957 that changed to simply Technicolor with the U.S. Copyright office's registration mark. Checking to see which version the cartoon has and comparing it with the actual release date shows if the print is an original or re-release version.

 

[Vdubdavid]

Hmmm, I just went and watched "Lend A Paw" again, and going by the system you describe JLee, it should have its original credit sequence because the opening says "In Technicolor" which matches up with its original release year (1941). So either it's an extremely early reissue from 1947 or perhaps the people at Disney goofed the opening music on the original release.

 

[Tom41]

The few classic Disney cartoons that are shown on the UK Disney Channels go something like this for the intro:

1. Distributed by Buena Vista
[fade to black then jump cut]
2. Mickey/Donald/Goofy etc face
[dissolve]
3. A Disney Silly Symphony (with RKO Radio Pictures line, partially obscured by Disney Channel logo)
[dissolve]
4. Credits screen inc. director and animators
[dissolve]
5. Title of cartoon
[fade to black]
6. Cartoon starts.
Occasionally, Disney Channel cuts off the Buena Vista screen and starts with the character face.

Are these re-release prints, or original prints, or what?

 

[mac]

Most shorts beginning with the Buena Vista card must be reissues because most of the Disney shorts were originally released through other distibutors. While Disney does a good job of preserving and restoring their mateial they don't seem to be too interersted in locating and replacing the original titles. Maybe this is because in most cases (at least for the R.K.O colour cartoons) the titles are very similar and the card with the actual title of the short on is retained. For example my old "Here's Donald" VHS contains "Donald's Ostrich" complete with original R.K.O titles, but on the "Chronological Donald" DVD it has the Beuna Vista ones. The latter one merely adds a preceding Buena Vista card and does not mention R.K.O on the "A Donald Duck" card - The original music and "Donald's Ostrich" card are retained so they are very similar.

Some cartoons, however, have annoyingly different titles and the illustrated card with the cartoon's title has been replaced with a rather generic red one. E.G the reissued "On Ice" has titles like these, but the book "The Art of Walt Disney" shows the original card which has a title painted to look like ice, complete with reflection.

 

[Vdubdavid]

That's interesting about "Donald's Ostrich", mac. Was the actual title card the same on each version? I wonder just how many original titles exist that Disney apparently isn't reattaching, besides "On Ice". It would seem that if the actual title card still exists on film or as the art itself, then for the RKO shorts at least, they would be easy to restore, because there wouldn't appear to be any legal problems (unlike with Columbia or United Artists) as RKO no longer exists, and somewhere there seems to be a RKO opening for each of the major characters and teamings (such as Donald and Goofy).

 

[Jack]

That's interesting about "Donald's Ostrich", mac. Was the actual title card the same on each version? I wonder just how many original titles exist that Disney apparently isn't reattaching, besides "On Ice". It would seem that if the actual title card still exists on film or as the art itself, then for the RKO shorts at least, they would be easy to restore, because there wouldn't appear to be any legal problems (unlike with Columbia or United Artists) as RKO no longer exists, and somewhere there seems to be a RKO opening for each of the major characters and teamings (such as Donald and Goofy).

There seems to be a new RKO. They haven't made many movies, and that site doesn't look like it is updated frequently, but that might still cause legal problems.

You're right about how easy it would be to fix the titles to "ON Ice" since their reissues didn't mess with the title music. It would be as easy as refilming the surviving art.

 

[Philo & Gunge]

I don't understand this thread at all.

 

[mac]

That's interesting about "Donald's Ostrich", mac. Was the actual title card the same on each version? I wonder just how many original titles exist that Disney apparently isn't reattaching, besides "On Ice". It would seem that if the actual title card still exists on film or as the art itself, then for the RKO shorts at least, they would be easy to restore, because there wouldn't appear to be any legal problems (unlike with Columbia or United Artists) as RKO no longer exists, and somewhere there seems to be a RKO opening for each of the major characters and teamings (such as Donald and Goofy).

Yes, The "Donald's Ostrich" card (with the picture of Hortense the Ostrich against the red background) was the same in both versions.

Sadly, there does not seem to be much interest in restoring the original titles to Disney cartoons. There are quite a few colour shorts which I imagine would have had nice illustrated title cards which now have generic ones (Clock Cleaners would be one example). I'd love to see the original titles restored for "The Band Concert" since it's the first colour Mickey cartoon.

BTW, Philo and Gunge, we're talking about the opening sequences to the short Disney cartoons and how, when the cartoons were rereleased, these opening sequences were often changed - hope this helps clear things up!

 

[Jave]

What about "Der Fuehrer's Face"? It has the RKO titles but it jump cuts to the title card. If that cartoon was never reissued (which is what I think) the jump cut theory isn't always accurate.