United Productions of America
United Productions of America, better known as UPA, was an American
Universal Pictures currently owns majority of the UPA library after their acquisition of DreamWorks Animation in 2016.
History
Origins
UPA was founded in the wake of the
In 1941, Zack Schwartz,
Initially, UPA contracted with the
Columbia Pictures and success
UPA entered the crowded field of theatrical cartoons to sustain itself and gained a contract with
With a unique, sparse drawing style that contrasted greatly with other cartoons of the day, not to mention the novelty of a human character in a field crowded with talking cats, mice, and rabbits, the Mr. Magoo series won accolades for UPA. Two Magoo cartoons won the
UPA scored another hit with
Turning to television
In 1955, Steve Bosustow secured a CBS contract for UPA to produce a television series (The Boing-Boing Show aka The Gerald McBoing Boing Show),
UPA's style of
One bright moment in the UPA television era came with Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962), which inspired the format of Magoo's next television endeavor, the 1964 series The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo. Christmas Carol captures the spirit of Charles Dickens's 1843 book and is considered a holiday classic, ranking alongside A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.[7][8]
UPA produced only two full-length feature films in their tenure: a 1959 feature starring Mr. Magoo entitled 1001 Arabian Nights, directed by ex-Disney animator Jack Kinney; and Gay Purr-ee in 1962, written by Chuck Jones and his wife Dorothy and directed by a friend of Jones, Abe Levitow.
Abandoning animation and Toho Studios
Saperstein kept UPA afloat in the 1960s and beyond by abandoning animation production completely after the animation studio closed permanently in 1970 and sold off UPA's library of cartoons, although the studio retained the licenses and copyrights on Mr. Magoo, Gerald McBoing-Boing and the other UPA characters. This led to UPA contracting with
Columbia Pictures retained ownership of UPA's theatrical cartoons. The studio's TV cartoon library was licensed by Classic Media in New York, and then in 2007 merged into Entertainment Rights in London.
In 1970, Saperstein led UPA into a contract with
When Toho began producing a new generation of monster movies in the late 1980s, beginning with Godzilla 1985, UPA capitalized on its Toho contract and helped introduce the new kaiju features to the Western world.
Because of its long association with Toho, UPA is better known to cult-movie fans today as Toho's American distributor rather than a pioneer of animated cartoons, but the legacy of UPA is an important chapter in the history of American animation. UPA continues to license the American library of
Henry Saperstein died in 1998. On January 1, 2000, UPA shuttered its operations, with the assets sold by the Saperstein family, which would later result in the founding of
DVD releases
The Jolly Frolics Collection was released on March 15, 2012 through Turner Classic Movies' website. Extras included audio commentaries and an introduction by film critic Leonard Maltin.
Legacy
UPA Pictures' legacy in the history of animation has largely been overshadowed by the commercial success and availability of the cartoon libraries of
Both Gerald McBoing-Boing and The Tell-Tale Heart were inducted into the National Film Registry.[14]
Filmography
See also
References
- ISBN 0-452-25993-2.
- ^ "MichaelBarrier.com -- Essays: UPA 1944-1952". www.michaelbarrier.com.
- ^ Archer Winsten, "UPA, Media and James Thurber," New York Post, 6 December 1950.
- ^ "Priceless Gift of Laughter". Time Archive: 1923 to the Present. Time Inc. 1951-07-09. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-31.
- ^ "The Unicorn In The Garden". The Big Cartoon Database. Archived from the original on July 19, 2012. Retrieved 2007-01-31.
- ^ Adam Abraham, When Magoo Flew: The Rise and Fall of Animation Studio UPA (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2012), 178.
- ^ Hill, Jim (November 28, 2006). "Scrooge U: Part VI -- Magoo's a musical miser". JimHillMedia.com. Retrieved 2006-12-25.
- National Public Radio. Retrieved 2007-01-03.
- ^ "Classic Media Acquires Harvey Entertainment". Animation World Network. August 25, 2000. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ^ Oddball Films: Mid-Century Modern Animation - Thur. Jun 26 - 8PM
- ^ UPA Cartoons - TCM.com
- ISBN 9781349067367.
- Sight & Sound. 31 (1): 17.
- ^ 13 Amazing Cartoons from the National Film Registry|Mental Floss
Bibliography
- Abraham, Adam (2012): When Magoo Flew: The Rise and Fall of Animation Studio UPA. Wesleyan University Press.
- Amidi, Amid (2006): Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in Fifties Animation. Chronicle Books.
- Barrier, Michael (1999): Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age. Oxford University Press.
- Maltin, Leonard (1980): Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. McGraw Hill.
- Solomon, Charles (1989): Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation. Alfred A. Knopf.
- Shapiro, Susan P (1980): Detecting Illegalities: A Perspective on the Control of Securities Violations. Yale University
External links
- UPA Cartoons at BCDB.com
- UPA: Mavericks, Magic, and Magoo
- A Brief History of UPA Pictures by Adam Abraham
- The Columbia Crow's Nest
- Bill Paolucci's Gerald McBoing Boing Page
- Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Mr. Magoo
- Interview with Henry G. Saperstein
- A series of posts criticising UPA's artistic style by John Kricfalusi
- When Magoo Flew: A Web Site Dedicated to the Artistry and Achievement of UPA