Sean Bradley, Staff Writer

2025 is a great year to be a classic animation fan because on Jan. 1, 2025, all copyrighted works from 1929 entered the public domain in the United States. In this article, we’ll look at some animated films from 1929 that recently entered the public domain.

Starting with Disney, last year we saw the first versions of Mickey and Minne Mouse from “Steamboat Willie” enter the public domain. This year, we welcome a dozen more Mickey Mouse films from 1929, including some important films, like “The Opry House” and “The Karnival Kid.” “The Opry House” marked the first time Mickey wore his iconic white gloves as well as the first time Franz Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2” was used in an animated cartoon. The melody has since been a staple of animated cartoons and was notably featured in cartoons, such as the “Merrie Melodies” short “Rhapsody Rabbit,” starring Bugs Bunny, and the “Tom and Jerry” cartoon “The Cat Concerto.” “The Karnival Kid” is noteworthy for marking the first time Mickey spoke his first words “Hot dogs! Hot dogs!”

 “Mickey’s Follies” is another important film because it marked the debut of Mickey’s first theme song “Minnie’s Yoo Hoo”, which was first performed by Mickey in that short and was written and composed by Carl Stalling, who later went on to score music for the Warner Bros. cartoons in the 1940s. Not only do we now have access to more Mickey Mouse films, but we also have access to an additional 5 Disney films from the “Silly Symphony” series, which debuted in 1929, including the series’ debut film “The Skeleton Dance.” Unlike the Mickey Mouse shorts, which were character-driven, the “Silly Symphonies” were musical shorts that focused on combining music and storytelling. The idea of the series was first suggested to Walt Disney by Carl Stalling while working on the scores for the first Mickey Mouse films. Initially, Walt was uninterested in the idea. However, after hearing Stalling’s idea of a musical cartoon about dancing skeletons, Walt opened to the idea and thus the “Silly Symphonies” were born and would last for 10 years until 1939.

Also in the public domain is the pilot film that launched the Looney Tunes series. As the Disney films grew in popularity in 1929, around this time in Hollywood, two young animators, Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, were interested in creating their own cartoon star. The two had previously worked for Disney on the “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit” series, but were hired away in 1928 by producer Charles Mintz to make new Oswald shorts at a new studio  when Disney lost control of the character to Universal, who owned the character’s copyright (Disney bought the rights back to Oswald from Universal in 2006). However, Universal was displeased with the new Oswald shorts and fired Mintz and formed its own in-house animation studio run by Walter Lantz, who later went on to produce the “Woody Woodpecker” cartoons. Out of jobs, Harman and Ising decided to start their own studio and produced a live-action/animated sound short titled “Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid,” starring a black minstrel character named Bosko, to sell to film distributors. After being turned down by a few distributors, the two eventually found a distributor with Warner Bros. after Leon Schlesinger, head of Pacific Title and Art Studio, took an interest in Bosko and used his connections  to get the two a distribution deal for a cartoon series. That cartoon series was Looney Tunes, which was a play on Disney’s “Silly Symphonies” and has since grown to be one of most famous cartoon series of all time, starring iconic characters like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.

Additionally, many cartoons from animation producer Max Fleischer are now public domain too. These include the last few silent “Inkwell Imps” (formerly “Out of the Inkwell”) films starring Koko the Clown and Fitz the Dog, several sing-along films in the Screen Songs series, and most importantly, the short “Noah’s Lark,” which was the first entry in the Talkartoons series which launched the career of popular character Betty Boop. Another notable Fleischer cartoon in the public domain is an educational film titled “Finding His Voice,” which was produced for Western Electric and showed how sound was put on films and reproduced in theaters. The film stars Billy Murray and Walter Van Brunt, who were both popular singers in the 1910s and early 1920s and lent their singing voices for some of the early Screen Song cartoons from 1929. Murray also voiced the character Bimbo the Dog in some of the early Talkartoons shorts.

Other cartoons now in the public domain include a few of the misbegotten sound Felix the Cat shorts made by producer Pat Sullivan and animator Otto Messmer (Felix, once a cartoon superstar during the silent film era in the 1920s, was losing popularity with audiences due to the series’ failure to embrace the new sound technology at the time), many Krazy Kat shorts made by animators Ben Harrison and Manny Gould for Charles Mintz (including the first sound entry “Ratskin,” a play on the 1929 Paramount film “Redskin” (Note: the term “redskin” is a derogatory term for indigenous peoples of America.)  The Prohibition Era short “Farm Relief,” the Mintz “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit” shorts (including the now-lost, first sound short “Hen Fruit”) as well as the first ones by Walter Lantz (including the horse race-themed short “Race Riot”), several silent and sound Aesop’s Fables cartoons starring Farmer Alfalfa from the Van Beuren Studios, and much more.

If you’re ever bored and looking for something cool to watch, next time take some time to check out some of these public domain animated cartoons.

Lucas Alven, Staff Writer

The holiday season is in full swing! Christmas lights illuminate the winter skies while game consoles illuminate underneath entertainment centers. Here are three new video game releases that gamers and their families can play this holiday break.

Super Mario Party™ Jamboree – (Nintendo Switch)

Super Mario Party Jamboree is the newest addition to the long running Super Mario Party franchise. Like in previous titles, players dash across a board aiming to collect the most stars and be declared the winner. After each roll, there are opportunities to win coins in mini games which can be exchanged later to cause mischief among the competition in ways such as stealing stars.

Players can choose what character to play as from a roster of 22 characters from the Mario franchise, which is the largest selection in any Mario Party game. Jamboree also features six unique game boards and over 110 mini games for players to aim for the top spot in.

Tetris Forever – (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC)

Tetris Forever is the newest release in the Tetris series. This title was made to celebrate the 40-year anniversary of when the game was originally created by Alexey Pajitnov.

This title is a collection of more than 15 previous Tetris games, including some that were unavailable outside of their Japan release. Additionally, a historically accurate rendition of the original Tetris prototype for the Electronika 60 computer was developed for players to experience.

Included in Tetris Forever is a new 90-minute documentary that covers the evolution of Tetris from the game’s development at a Soviet Union computer research center to it becoming the series it is today. This game is a part of Digital Eclipse’s gold master series which the development company describes as “independently-produced projects that celebrate key designers, studios and games that changed our world.”

Metaphor: ReFantazio – (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, PC)

Metaphor: ReFantazio is a role-playing game produced by Studio Zero. The game’s development team included Katsura Hashino (director), Shigenori Soejima (character designer) and Shoji Meguro (composer) who are known to have all worked together on the recent titles of the critically acclaimed game franchise, Persona.

The story of this game takes place in the fictional land known as The United Kingdom of Euchronia, where the king’s assassination and the discovery of a previously hidden royal magic creates turmoil over who will take the throne. Despite this, your protagonist must save Euchronia by breaking a curse that was put on the prince, who people assume is dead, and winning a tournament for the throne. 
It’s worth noting that these games are only just a few of many that have recently come out. November and December are known to be a busy time for new releases within the gaming industry, so it’s easier for a title to get lost in the shuffle. So hopefully this list helped bring attention to some games you may not have known about. Happy holidays and happy gaming to you and your families!

Jack Wagner, Editor

“Arcane,” a hit animated series released by Netflix in partnership with Riot Games, is officially the most expensive animated show ever released.

According to a report by Variety, it cost approximately $250 million to produce and promote all 18 episodes of the show. This boils down to roughly $14 million per episode. The report also mentions that the series was seemingly originally budgeted for a five-season arc, but costs forced the showrunners to end it after only two seasons. Some have commented that the show was so expensive due to Riot Games’s inexperience in Hollywood.

Riot Games, which owns the game “League of Legends” that “Arcane” is based on, has had previous missteps in their foray into the entertainment industry. The Variety report also details a deal that the company had made with the Russo brothers, known for directing four Marvel movies, in 2020 to develop a film set in the “League of Legends” universe. However, due to a poorly designed agreement, Riot Games was forced to pay the Russo brothers $5 million when they split due to creative differences.

However, some at Riot Games have come out to defend the expense.

“The ‘lol @ the cost’ of Arcane arguments are silly from our perspective,” said Riot co-founder and chief product officer Marc Merrill in a Reddit post. “People have correctly pointed out the cost per minute of Arcane is about 1/3 to 1/4 of what Illumination / Pixar films cost.”

Merrill also commented that “Arcane was always meant to be two seasons. The confusion is because internally there was a budget conversation about ‘approving 5 seasons’ – which simply means we were setting aside a bunch of money for lots of development and is completely irrelevant to the Arcane creative.”

Arcane season one was a massive critical success. The show won multiple primetime Emmy awards including “Outstanding Animated Program,” “Outstanding Sound Editing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation,” and several “Outstanding Individual Achievement In Animation” awards.

Season one also holds a 100% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as a 96% audience score.

IGN said it was a “once-in-a-generation masterpiece that is sure to inspire both fans and storytellers alike for years to come.” TIME Magazine also said it had “transcendent animation.”

The reactions to season two so far have also been largely positive, with it also holding a 100% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.

“Arcane” also seems to be serving as an effective advertisement for “League of Legends.” According to an article on thespike.gg, a website focused on competitive esports news, “League of Legends” reached an all-time player high of 14 million concurrent players and 180 million total players across League related games. 

It still remains to be seen if “Arcane” season two will reach the heights of success that season one did, or if the investment will be worth it to Riot Games. What is certain is that the show is a unique milestone in animation and Riot Games is not done with its entertainment efforts.

Jessica Perez-Salinas, Writer

“I get money, I’m a star, star, star, star, star, star, star”

On Oct. 25, American rapper Megan Thee Stallion released a remix of her newest song “Mamushi” with one of South Korea’s biggest girl groups, Twice. The song appears on Megan’s album “MEGAN: ACT II” and is a remix of the song originally performed with Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba. The remix is chill, fun and you can’t even tell that there are 13 people in one song. Twice, the South Korean Girl Group, is composed of 12 members and each member has a chance to shine in this remix. This is not Megan’s first collaboration with a South Korean artist, as she released a song with BTS member “RM” titled, “Neva Play” earlier this year. Still, it might seem like this collaboration is unexpected. 

To understand the importance of these collaborations and what they represent, we must travel further back. The term Hallyu, or Korean wave, might not sound familiar to many of you, especially those outside the K-pop space. However, it has been an ongoing phenomenon since the mid 1990s. Hallyu refers to the expansion of South Korean culture in explosive ways. 

Hallyu can be intentional or a gradual effect of globalization. The Hallyu is often seen as an example of soft power diplomacy, in which a country will use culture, values and non-coercive tactics to gain allies. A good way to visualize this is to think of a company’s “brand image.”

Countries want to be perceived in a positive manner and will use soft diplomacy to drive political and economic ideas. South Korea has embraced this wave of popularity, especially as it has had a significant impact on the tourism industry and the Korean group BTS has generated $4.6 billion towards the country’s GDP. This phenomenon has also been driven by globalization, which refers to the increased global interconnectedness through political, economic and social structures. Therefore, it can be intentional or driven by the increased accessibility of foreign media nowadays.

We see this through the popularity of Korean food, music, shows and webcomics. Hallyu was coined back in the mid 1990’s to describe the boom of Korean media into China and later Japan. A decade later, another boom would occur, but this time it extended beyond Asia. Everyone remembers the global hit “Gangnam Style” by PSY, but it became more ingrained than that. In 2013, I became a fan of the groups Girl’s Generation and EXO before knowing they were under the same entertainment company. Since those days, K-pop has exploded in the West with artists selling out stadiums around the world. Charlie Puth, Bruno Mars, and Rosalia are just a couple of the major western artists that have embraced the Korean Music scene and released recent collaborations.

In fact, Megan Thee Stallion was not the first rapper to collaborate with a South Korean artist. I still remember the shock of playing my first Girl’s Generation album. I was so excited that I did not bother to check the track list. I put the CD into the player as I studied and let myself get carried away by the music. Suddenly I heard a very distinct voice, but also the last person I expected in a 2012 K-pop album:Snoop Dogg. I heard the delicate tones of all the Girl’s Generation members followed by the melodic lyrics of Snoop Dogg singing “Girls, Girls Generation.” That would be enough to stop anyone in their tracks. If you wanted to check it out, it is track 14 on the album, “The Boys,” and is truly a masterpiece.

Now we are in 2024 where we get Megan Thee Stallion and Twice. It is highly unlikely that while they were in the studio, they were considering the cultural and political implications between theU.S. and South Korea. It is a fun song that anyone can listen to and feel like a baddie. There might not be any deeper meaning to the song, but I believe it is an interesting example of how interconnected we are becoming. We can also see this occur in many different genres. Latin music and Afro beats have become more common in mainstream music, receiving love and well-deserved praise. “Mamushi” is one song, but it builds on decades of cross-cultural exchange. So, pop in an earbud and listen to Twice and Megan.

Jack Wagner, Editor

In a stunning shift for the entertainment industry, the Grammy awards have signed a deal with the Walt Disney company to move the awards to Disney-owned cable and streaming services. This includes the ABC network as well as the streaming services Disney+ and Hulu.

“As The Walt Disney Company combines forces with The Recording Academy to open this exciting new chapter in the history of the Grammys, we do so with pride and gratitude,” said Dana Walden, Co-Chairman of Disney Entertainment. “Live events have never been more important to our culture and industry, and we just acquired one of the crown jewels, adding to our portfolio of world-class programming across all genres.”

The deal comes as a major upset as CBS, the current host of the Grammys, has hosted them for over 50 years. The network took the rights from ABC in 1973. The awards show had also been on NBC prior to this, but its tenure on these networks was significantly shorter.

In 2016, CBS signed a deal with the Recording Academy of the United States to continue hosting the Grammys for the next 10 years. However, the two organizations were unable to come to a new agreement during their exclusive negotiation window about the awards, allowing Disney to capitalize on the opportunity. This means that the awards will continue to be on CBS in 2025 and 2026, before officially moving to Disney-owned services in 2027. The Recording Academy’s deal with Disney is also reportedly 10 years long, meaning the Grammys will be up for grabs again around 2036.

This comes after CBS took the American Music Awards from ABC this spring, the two networks essentially swapping music award shows. 

The Grammys are the most recent in a series of major television events that are now being hosted on Disney-owned networks. ABC is also the host of the Academy Awards, or Oscars, the Country Music Awards, and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. In sports, ESPN will air the Super Bowl alongside ABC in 2027.

The details of the deal are currently unclear, though Variety reports that Disney is likely paying roughly $500 million over the 10-year contract, about the same as CBS during their 2016 contract.

This year the Grammys had a viewership of 16.9 million, a 34% rise from last year. This is the highest viewership that the Grammys have had since their 2020 show, with viewership beginning to climb back to pre-pandemic levels. Other awards shows have also seen improvement with the Oscars reporting a four-year high in viewership this year and the Emmys viewership jumping 54% from 2023.

Exactly how this deal will play out and whether or not it was a worthwhile pickup for Disney is yet to be determined. What is certain, however, is that this move was a major shakeup in the world of entertainment awards.

Sean Bradley, Staff Writer 

When people think of Halloween animation, the first thing that comes to mind is probably the 1966 Peanuts TV special “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” However, today I would like to introduce you to a short that’s gained a cult following in recent years titled “Swing You Sinners!”

Released in 1930 by Paramount Pictures, “Swing You Sinners!” was produced by Fleischer Studios, a studio run by two brothers, Max and Dave, that made cartoons in the 1930s for Paramount and introduced iconic characters, like Betty Boop and Popeye the Sailor. “Swing You Sinners!” was produced as an entry in the “Talkartoons” series, which was a series of animated shorts that ran from 1929 to 1932.

The short stars Bimbo the Dog, who was the studio’s flagship character until Betty Boop’s creation and who eventually became Betty Boop’s lover. Unlike the light-hearted Disney cartoons of the day, Fleischer cartoons were darker and grittier and focused on adult themes. In the case of “Swing You Sinners!,” the theme is racial injustice.

The cartoon’s title has double meaning because not only does swing refer to dancing, but it also refers to hanging from a noose. Many modern viewers have interpreted the cartoon as a metaphor for the racially motivated lynchings of the time, due to Bimbo being a dark colored character tormented and threated with hanging by white ghosts for a petty crime of chicken theft.

In an episode about the cartoon from a former podcast called “Cartoon Logic,” hosts Thad Komorowski and Bob Jacques talk a little about the cartoon’s racial element before doing a scene-by-scene analysis. In it, Komorowski refers to Bimbo as “the ultimate morphing character” because early on Bimbo didn’t have a consistent design and his look varied from each short.

It wasn’t until the production and release of the short “The Herring Murder Case” (1931) that the studio finally settled on a standard design for Bimbo: a short, round, black dog with shoes, a sweater and gloves. Many of the early Bimbo shorts often reflected the poverty and harsh experience of gaining and losing jobs during the Great Depression because in each short, Bimbo is seen working a different job. Some of these jobs seen in the shorts include construction, lumberjacking and mail carrying.

In “Swing You Sinners!,” Bimbo is cast as a poor black man, who attempts to steal a chicken out of hunger and desperation only to get caught by a policeman, whom he escapes only to end up in a cemetery where he’s reprimanded and threatened with death by ghosts and demons for his crime.

During the cartoon’s climax, there are references to lynching. “Cartoon Logic” host Bob Jacques notes the lyrics, “For making chicken elope, you’re at the end of your rope. So, just give up all hope! Swing, you sinners! We’ll stretch you like a giraffe, maybe cut you in half. Just to give us a laugh! Swing, you sinners!”

Interestingly, in his debut short “Hot Dog” (1930), Bimbo, who’s cast as a womanizing white man, gets away with his crime of harassing women by entertaining the judge and jury with a banjo rendition of W.C. Handy’s “The Saint Louis Blues”. The shorts “Swing You Sinners!” and “Hot Dog” are two good animated companion films in understanding how race was a determining factor in the outcome of crimes in America. 

Despite the cartoon’s dark theme, the animation and music are still worthy of praise. Upon initial viewing, one might not think that most of the animation was done by rookie animators. However, that is the case. In 1930, many of the Fleischer’s top animators left for opportunities in Hollywood; and out of desperation, the Fleischers promoted many assistant animators to full animators as well as hired experienced animator, Grim Natwick, to train the new crew.

The results are quite impressive. Natwick, in particular, was responsible for designing and animating the hordes of scary ghosts and monsters that chase Bimbo into hell during the cartoon’s climax. Each monster design is strange and unique in its own bizarre way. The short’s dark, gray tone backgrounds also give it an eerie, spooky vibe.

Regarding the music, the cartoon’s title is a pun on a song, “Sing, You Sinners,” by W. Franke Harling and with lyrics by Sam Coslow, which first appeared in a 1930 Paramount film, “Honey.” The song is heard over the cartoon’s opening titles and climax. Several famous jazz musicians, including Bob Effros (trumpet) and Tommy Dorsey (trombone) can also be heard playing on the soundtrack.

In recent years, the cartoon has gained a cult following. Many of the cartoon’s visuals as well as other 1930s cartoons inspired the look of the popular video game Cuphead. Additionally, in March 2024, a new 4K restoration of the cartoon was shown at a Fleischer Studios retrospective hosted by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.So if you’re looking for a spooky film for your Halloween watchlist this year, consider “Swing You Sinners!” Additionally, if you’re interested in seeing and learning more about the history of the cartoon, feel free to join the Classic Cartoons Club on Halloween for a screening of spooky, Halloween-themed cartoons in Holroyd Hall Room 190 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.

Jack Wagner, Editor

The leaves are changing, the air is getting colder, but Hollywood hasn’t slowed down. Here’s a quick look at some of the biggest titles being released in theaters before the end of the year.

SUPERHEROS:

Joker – Folie a Deux – Juaquin Phoenix reprises his Oscar-winning role in this sequel to the 2019 blockbuster Joker. He is joined by Lady Gaga in the role of Harley Quinn. The film is said to have some musical elements as well. The film is set to be released Oct. 4.

Venom: The Last Dance –The final film in Sony’s Venom franchise will be Tom Hardy’s final time playing Eddie Brock/Venom, a Spider-Man anti-hero. Rumors are flying about the actor who will play the movie’s villain, Knull, but nothing has been confirmed. The film is set to be released Oct. 25.

Kraven the Hunter – Another film featuring a classic Spider-Man Villain by Sony, Kraven stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as its titular character alongside Russell Crowe. The film is going to be Sony’s first R-rated Marvel movie, earning its rating through “strong bloody violence and language.” The film is set to be released Dec. 13.

KIDS AND FAMILY:

The Wild Robot – This animated film by Universal Studios is based on a picture book with the same name and features stars such as Lupita Nyong’o as the robot Roz, of whom gets stranded on a remote island. Nyong’o is joined by other big names such as Pedro Pascal, Bill Nighy, Mark Hamill, and more. The film is set to be released Sep. 27.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 – The third installment in Paramount Pictures follows Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) as he fights against a mysterious new foe, Shadow the Hedgehog (voiced by Keanu Reeves). The previous film in the franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, holds the third highest box office opening for a video game adaptation, making 72 million dollars during opening weekend. The film is set to be released Dec. 20.

Mufasa: The Lion King – This photorealistic animated Disney film is both a prequel and sequel to the 2019 remake of the 1994 animated classic “The Lion King.” The film stars Aaron Pierre as Mufasa, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Taka, with Donald Glover returning to voice Simba. The film is set to be released Dec. 20.

Moana 2 – The sequel to the 2016 Disney film follows Moana as she ventures to distant seas after receiving a call from her ancestors. Auli’i Cravalho returns as the voice of Moana, and Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson returns as the voice of Maui. This film is set to be released Nov. 27.

OTHER NOTABLE TITLES:

Megalopolis – This film by Francis Ford Coppola, director of the Godfather trilogy, follows a political battle in the Sci-fi city of New Rome between artist Caesar Catilinia, played by Adam Driver, and Mayor Franklyn Cicero, played by Giancarlo Esposito. The film is set to be released Sep. 27.

Wicked – The movie adaptation of the popular Broadway musical follows a young Elphaba, played by Cynthia Erivo, through her life in Oz before she became the Wicked Witch of the West. She is joined by Ariana Grande, who is playing Glinda the Good Witch. The film is set to be released Nov. 22.

Gladiator 2 – This sequel to the 2000 Oscar best picture winner “Gladiator” follows Lucius, played by Paul Mescal, a young man forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is brutally conquered. Mescal is joined by Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, and more in this film directed by Ridley Scott. The film is set to be released on Nov. 22.

This is, of course, nowhere near a comprehensive list. It is just a run-down of some of the biggest titles yet to be released this year. If one of these interests you, or even if none of them do, consider taking a trip to your local movie theater. Chances are, you will find something great to watch.