A to Z of Animation Studios: V Is for Van Beuren Studios
The 1930s studio whose cartoons feel like a dream you can't quite explain at breakfast.
V is for Van Beuren Studios
Who they were: A New York studio run by producer Amedee J. Van Beuren in the late 1920s and early '30s. It sat somewhere between Disney and Fleischer, with less polish than either and a lot more strange ideas.
The vibe: Logic was optional. A Van Beuren cartoon could start as a simple fable and end somewhere nobody planned.
The weirdest hits
Aesop's Fables (1920s–1933). REAL: the studio grew out of this long-running series of talking-animal cartoons. Each one was supposed to end with a moral. Often the moral had nothing to do with the cartoon.
The Little King (1933–1934). Based on a newspaper comic about a small, silent king who would rather have fun than rule.
Tom and Jerry (1931–1933). REAL: not the cat and mouse. This Tom and Jerry were two human friends, one tall and one short, years before MGM used the same names.
The Sunshine Makers (1935). Cheerful little gnomes bottle sunshine and use it to cheer up a gloomy neighbor. REAL: it was made as an advertisement for a milk company, and the "sunshine" is milk.
Molly Moo-Cow (1935–1936). A friendly cow who wanders into adventures.
Why Van Beuren was unique
Surreal on purpose, or by accident. Nobody's quite sure which.
Rough, rubbery animation that has its own odd charm.
Fearless experimenting. Late in its life, the studio tried color cartoons and new characters to compete with Disney.
How it ended
REAL: in 1936, the studio's distributor, RKO, signed a deal to release Disney's cartoons instead. Without a distributor, Van Beuren closed.
A note for parents and teachers: like many cartoons of the 1930s, some Van Beuren shorts include racist caricatures. If you go looking for them online, watch with that history in mind.
Honorable mention: Will Vinton Studios
Who: Will Vinton, a pioneer of clay animation. REAL: he trademarked the word "Claymation."
Closed Mondays (1974). REAL: won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short.
The California Raisins (1986). Singing, dancing raisins from TV commercials that became a pop-culture craze.
A Claymation Christmas Celebration (1987). A holiday special full of carols and very expressive camels.
REAL: in the late 1990s, Nike co-founder Phil Knight invested in Vinton's studio and became its majority owner. By 2002, Vinton had been forced out of the company that carried his name. The studio was relaunched as Laika, the studio behind Coraline. Vinton said for the rest of his life that his studio had been taken from him. (More in our Laika post.)
The lesson
Van Beuren had talent and ideas, but no control over how its cartoons reached audiences. When the distributor left, the studio was gone. Owning your path to your audience matters as much as the art.
Up next
W is for Warner Bros. Animation.
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