Kartunes is a series of 12 theatrical short subjects produced by Famous Studios and released by Paramount Pictures from 1951 to 1953. These were identical in format to the studio's previous Screen Songs cartoons. The first half of each subject had various blackout gags related to the premise of the film, and the second half invited the audience to sing along "with the bouncing ball" as song lyrics were shown on the screen. The opening theme of each cartoon was "Sing a Song of Sixpence".
After Paramount Pictures lost the rights to the Screen Songs name, and the term "Bouncing Ball" couldn't be used anymore, the series became known as Kartunes. Even though the series ended in 1953, Famous quietly made two more "bouncing ball" shorts, Candy Cabaret (released in 1954) and Hobo's Holiday (released in 1963), as part of the Noveltoons series.
Filmography FilmSongDirectorStoryAnimationScenicsOriginal release dateVegetable Vaudeville"Yes! We Have No Bananas"Isadore SparberLarz BourneMyron WaldmanNick TafuriRobert LittleNovember 9, 1951Snooze Reel"I Got Spurs that Jingle Jangle Jingle"Seymour KneitelJoe StultzAl EugsterWm. B. PattengillRobert OwenDecember 28, 1951Off We Glow"The Glow-Worm"Isadore SparberLarz BourneTex HensonDave TendlarTom GoldenRobert LittleFebruary 29, 1952Fun at the Fair"Wait 'Till the Sun Shines, Nellie"Larz BourneAl EugsterWm. B. PattengillRobert OwenMay 9, 1952Dizzy Dinosaurs"Sweet Adeline"Seymour KneitelIsadore KleinMyron WaldmanGordon WhittierRobert LittleJuly 4, 1952Gag and Baggage"I've Been Working on the Railroad"Isadore SparberLarz BourneDave TendlarTom GoldenAugust 8, 1952Forest Fantasy"By the Light of the Silvery Moon"Seymour KneitelIsadore KleinMyron WaldmanLarry SilvermanAnton LoebNovember 14, 1952Hysterical History"Yankee Doodle Boy"Isadore SparberIrving SpectorAl EugsterGeorge GermanettiRobert OwenJanuary 23, 1953Philharmaniacs"Alexander's Ragtime Band"Seymour KneitelIsadore KleinTom JohnsonJohn GentilellaJack HeneganApril 3, 1953Aero-Nutics"Come Josephine in My Flying Machine"Irving SpectorAl EugsterGeorge GermanettiRobert OwenMay 8, 1953Invention Convention"Let Me Call You Sweetheart"Isadore SparberIsadore KleinAl EugsterWm. B. PattengillAnton LoebJune 10, 1953No Place Like Rome"Oh Ma-Ma (The Butcher Boy)"Irving SpectorAl EugsterGeorge GermanettiJack HeneganJuly 31, 1953
Note: Hysterical History is the only Kartunes short in the public domain.Note 2: Dizzy Dinosaurs and Forest Fantasy are the only Kartune films which featuring Inchy the Worm.
TV distribution The cartoons were later sold to TV distribution by Harvey Films to replace the original titles with the Harvey reissued ones, later being syndicated by Worldvision Enterprises. Currently, the Harvey reissued cartoons are distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution through its DreamWorks Animation subsidiary and their DreamWorks Classics unit.
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