Fanny Zilch
Fanny Zilch is an animated cartoon character, part of the Terrytoons series. She made her debut in 1933.[1] Her cartoons were musical spoofs of melodrama serials like The Perils of Pauline, in which blonde sweetheart Fanny -- "the Banker's Daughter" -- was pursued by the villainous Oil Can Harry, and protected by the heroic J. Leffingwell Strongheart.[2]
Terrytoons later used the melodrama spoof as a running theme in the Mighty Mouse cartoons, beginning with A Fight to the Finish in 1947. The endangered heroine was renamed Pearl Pureheart in Mighty Mouse, and Oil Can Harry became Mighty Mouse's cat archvillain.[3]
Fanny Zilch also inspired a series of Betty Boop melodrama spoofs, beginning in 1934 with She Wronged Him Right.[4]
Development
Fanny's character design originated in the 1933 cartoon King Zilch,[5] as a dancing girl who made romantic gestures toward the King.
Her first starring role was in 1933's The Banker's Daughter,
In Episode II, The Oil Can Mystery,[7] Fanny is once again in Oil Can Harry's power, with Strongheart tied to a railroad track.
Episode III, Fanny in the Lion's Den,[8] has Harry lock Fanny up in a dungeon filled with lions, but over the course of several months, she befriends the lions, and they try to help her escape.
In Episode IV, Hypnotic Eyes,[9] Harry has gained power over Fanny through hypnosis.
In the final episode of the 1933 series, Fanny's Wedding Day,[10] Harry tries to interrupt Fanny and Strongheart's wedding day.
The characters were brought back in 1935 for a simpler, cheaper followup, Foiled Again.[11] In this cartoon, Strongheart leads a gang in pursuit of Harry, who's got Fanny in yet another sawmill. This cartoon has less music and dialogue than the previous series; Harry is the only character with dialogue.
In 1937, the series was revived again as "Oil Can Harry"[12] in The Villain Still Pursued Her[13] with new character designs, including a dark-haired Fanny. The characters were brought back for one more cartoon in 1937's The Saw Mill Mystery.[14]
Reception and legacy
The 1933 episodes were deemed a success, with Film Daily writing a glowing review of The Banker's Daughter: "The opera idea combined with the burlesque meller makes this a real laugh number that will appeal to grown-ups with its cleverness and be received with delight by the kids. It is the first of a series of four. If the new technique catches on, it is liable to create a new slant in the animated field."[2]
Happy with the results, Paul Terry went on to create a variety of musical and operetta cartoons over the next couple years, including Jealous Lover, Robin Hood, Gypsy Fiddler, and The Pirate Ship in 1933, and A Mad House and Holland Days in 1934.[2]
Filmography
Dates of the eight Fanny Zilch cartoons:[2]
- The Banker's Daughter (June 25, 1933)
- The Oil Can Mystery (July 9, 1933)
- Fanny in the Lion's Den (July 23, 1933)
- Hypnotic Eyes (August 11, 1933)
- Fanny's Wedding Day (September 22, 1933)
- Foiled Again (October 14, 1935)
- The Villain Still Pursued Her (September 3, 1937)
- The Saw Mill Mystery (October 29, 1937)
Restoration
Fanny's first cartoon, The Banker's Daughter, was restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive in 2019.[15]
Further reading
- "Melodramatic Villainy (just) After the Victorians" by Guy Barefoot, in Neo-Victorian Villains: Adaptations and Transformations in Popular Culture, Koninklijke Brill (2017)
References
- ^ "Paul Terry". Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-0861967292.
- ISBN 978-0823030415. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
- ISBN 978-1476663678. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
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- ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- YouTube
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- ^ "Restored Classic Animation". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved 10 February 2020.