Editing Walter Lantz Productions (section)

== History ==
=== 1928–1935: Early years as Universal Cartoon Studios ===
Lantz began his career at the art department of [[William Randolph Hearst]]'s ''[[New York American]]'' during the 1910s, having his start in the cartoon industry at Hearst's [[International Film Service]], which in 1918 transferred its entire staff to [[Bray Productions]]. By the mid-1920s, Lantz was directing (and acting in) the studio's top cartoon, ''[[Dinky Doodle]]'', also becoming a producer as Bray attempted to compete with [[Hal Roach]] and [[Mack Sennett]] by making live-action comedies. Bray Productions closed shop in 1928, and Lantz moved to Hollywood, trying to start a studio while trying to make a living in a succession of odd jobs, including driving Universal owner [[Carl Laemmle]]'s limousine. The chauffeur job also landed Lantz at the Winkler Studio, which produced cartoons for Universal.

In early 1929, Universal was distributing the ''[[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit]]'' cartoons by [[Charles Mintz]] and George Winkler (but created by [[Walt Disney]]). However, the popularity of the series was beginning to decline because of the lower quality of the output. Laemmle then fired Mintz and Winkler and was now looking for someone to head an in-house animation studio. Lantz won the studio in a poker bet with Laemmle. The first Lantz-produced "Oswald" cartoon was ''[[Race Riot (film)|Race Riot]]'', released on September 2, 1929. The first animators for the studio included Winkler veterans Rollin Hamilton, Tom Palmer and "rubber-hose" pioneer Bill Nolan. Bert Fiske scored the first cartoons, having done this for the few Winkler sound "Oswalds". Additions to the staff included [[Pinto Colvig]] and [[Tex Avery]].

The earliest Lantz cartoons from 1928 were built around set plots and stories, in the tradition of the earlier [[Walt Disney Animation Studios|Disney]] and [[Margaret J. Winkler|Winkler Productions]] shorts. The conversion of ''Oswald'' cartoons into musicals was a different matter, but by mid-1930, Lantz and his staff achieved this goal. In the process however, Oswald's personality became less consistent. It could and did change drastically to fit a particular gag. Lantz's musical directors changed as well. To replace David Broekman, Lantz brought in James Dietrich, a member of the [[Paul Whiteman]] Orchestra, making the jazz-era sound of the 1920s a quintessential element in the early Lantz cartoons. He remained as the permanent studio musical director until 1937. Lantz and Nolan worked in a character called "Fanny the Mule" for a 13-cartoon series announced by Laemmle in early 1930; these cartoons were never produced.

In 1931, Lantz faced economic difficulties and was forced to make cutbacks, shortening the lengths of his films and post-synchronizing a handful of the early Disney Oswald's cartoons. Another way out of the hole was to gain attention by creating a secondary series of shorts featuring a new star, [[Pooch the Pup]]. Lantz and Nolan divided the studio into two separate units. Lantz directed the Pooch cartoons, while Nolan worked on the Oswalds, with both series referencing the dire straits of [[the Depression]]. Pooch never became very popular and the series was dropped in 1933. The following year, Nolan left the studio, and the ''Cartune Classics'' series of Technicolor shorts began, lasting for a year.

=== 1935–1940: The decline of Oswald and new stars ===
Control of Universal by founder Carl Laemmle and his family was slipping away because of financial difficulties and came to an end in 1936. [[John Cheever Cowdin]] became Universal's new president. With the change in management, Lantz seized the opportunity to ask Universal for permission to make his studio independent. Universal agreed, and on November 16, 1935, Lantz broke off and claimed the studio for his own, even though it remained on the Universal lot.

During the mid-to-late 1930s, Oswald's popularity declined, and Lantz experimented with other characters to replace him. After a succession of failed attempts, the 1939 cartoon ''Life Begins for Andy Panda'' became an instant hit, and [[Andy Panda]] became a successful substitute for Oswald, who was retired in 1938. Lantz also switched to all-color production in 1939, shortly before Andy's debut.

In 1940, the Walter Lantz studio was in trouble. Universal once again was facing severe financial difficulties and possible bankruptcy and decided to cut their weekly advance to the now-independent Lantz studio. This left Lantz scrambling for alternative sources for funds, forcing him to shut down the studio for a while. Lantz was able to gain the rights to the characters of his films (including Oswald the Lucky Rabbit) and an Andy Panda cartoon, ''[[Crazy House (cartoon)|Crazy House]]'', was developed into Lantz's first independently financed film. Lantz used the film as a final appeal to the heads of Universal and, in the end, was able to reach a satisfactory settlement with them. By autumn 1940, Lantz's studio was back in business again. The year also marked the debut of Lantz's biggest star: [[Woody Woodpecker]], who debuted in the Andy Panda cartoon ''[[Knock Knock (1940 film)|Knock Knock]]''.

=== 1940–1947: Continued success ===
Woody quickly became extremely popular, being given his own series in early 1941, and became one of the most famous examples of the "brash bird" cartoon characters of the late 1930s/early 1940s such as [[Donald Duck]] (also created by Disney). The success of ''[[Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat|Scrub Me Mama With A Boogie Beat]]'' and ''Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy'' (the former becoming subject to controversy and even protest soon after its release over racial stereotypes and the latter earning an [[Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film|Academy Award]])<ref>Sampson, Henry T. (1998). That's Enough, Folks: Black Images in Animated Cartoons, 1900–1960. Scarecrow Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-8108-3250-3.</ref> also led to the introduction of the ''[[Swing Symphony]]'' series that fall, often featuring popular musicians of the time. The series ended in 1945 at the twilight of the big band era. 

After the studio's 1930s cartoons were scored by a succession of composers, including James Dietrich, Victor Records producer Nat Shilkret and Harman-Ising veterans Frank Marsales and Darrell Calker took over in late 1940. Calker's arrangements became noted for their distinctive swing flavor.

After Disney's success with ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]'' (1937), the Lantz studio planned to make a feature, ''Aladdin and His Lamp'', featuring the ascendant comedy duo of [[Abbott and Costello]], but after ''[[Mr. Bug Goes to Town]]'' (1941) failed at the box-office, ''Aladdin'' never made it to actual production.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.harrymccracken.com/theme.htm|title=The Ones that Didn't Make it|website=www.harrymccracken.com}}</ref> Late in the decade, Lantz attempted to do a feature-length cartoon again, but it never came to fruition.

The Lantz unit was perhaps considered the smallest major animation studio at that time, as Lantz and animator [[Alex Lovy]] produced cartoons with a single unit. In 1943, Lovy was drafted into the [[US Navy|Navy]] and was replaced by [[James Culhane|James "Shamus" Culhane]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alex Lovy is All Aces, 1942 {{!}} |url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/alex-lovy-is-all-aces-1942/ |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=cartoonresearch.com}}</ref> Culhane quickly developed a distinct direction and art style characterized for its use of [[Russian avant-garde]] influences, minimalistic backgrounds and fast cutting.<ref name="klein">{{cite web |last=Klein |first=Tom |date=July 23, 2016 |title=Woody Woodpecker and the Avant-Garde |url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/woody-woodpecker-the-avant-garde/ |access-date=25 November 2021 |website=cartoonresearch.com |publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Cieply |first=Michael |date=2011-04-10 |title=That Noisy Woodpecker Had an Animated Secret (Published 2011) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/arts/design/woody-woodpecker-and-shamus-culhanes-animation.html |access-date=2020-12-07 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Culhane eventually left Lantz in late-1945 over pay disputes.

=== 1947–1949: United Artists and first closure ===
In 1947, Lantz renegotiated his seven-year Universal contract with Matty Fox, the new vice-president of Universal. The deal was interrupted when new ownership transformed the company into Universal-International and did away with most of Universal's company policies. The new management insisted on getting licensing and merchandising rights to Lantz's characters. Lantz refused and withdrew from the parent company in 1947, vacated [[Universal City, California|Universal City]], moving into the former [[Screen Gems]] cartoon studio at 861 Seward Street in Hollywood<ref>https://www.scrappyland.com/blog/2019/03/03/the-861-seward-story/</ref> and releasing 12 cartoons independently through United Artists during 1947 and early 1949.

The cartoons from this period stand out for their slicker animation compared to the previous Universal releases, mostly because of the influence of the studio's latest director, Ex-Disney animator [[Dick Lundy (animator)|Dick Lundy]], as well as the addition of Disney veterans, such as [[Ed Love]] and [[Fred Moore (animator)|Fred Moore]]. This era also marked the end of the Andy Panda cartoons, whose popularity was waning.

Under the deal with United Artists, Lantz was supposed to receive percentages of box-office receipts to pay for the production costs of his cartoons. UA however attributed a tiny portion of the dollar amounts to Lantz's shorts from the features. This was because UA was, at the time, a struggling studio attempting to re-establish the position in the industry it had in the 1920s. The result was that Lantz exceeded his standing loan of $250,000 from [[Bank of America]] (he had left [[Irving Trust]] in 1942). At the recommendation of BAC president Joe Rosenberg, Lantz decided to shut down his studio temporarily at the end of 1949 until the loan was reduced. He asked Universal to reissue his older films during the hiatus, a request accepted by Universal president [[Nate Blumberg]].

In the interim, Lantz made a series of film ads for Coca-Cola and introduced "The Woody Woodpecker Song" as the theme song for the character. He also went to Europe to look for studios that could animate his films there, approaching government incentives not found stateside, and lower labor costs. However, the postwar economic situation of these countries as well as the presence of stronger unions than in Hollywood led him to back out and keep making films in America.

=== 1950–1967: Reopening and venture to television ===
In 1950, the Walter Lantz studio opened its doors once again. The first effort the studio produced was a brief sequence featuring Woody Woodpecker for the [[George Pal]] feature ''[[Destination Moon (film)|Destination Moon]]'', released on June 27 the same year. Lantz then renegotiated with Universal-International for seven cartoons to be released the following year, provided that they all feature Woody Woodpecker. Lantz and his crew immediately set to work on the new batch of shorts. Two of these new films — ''[[Puny Express]]'' and ''[[Sleep Happy]]'' — were previously storyboarded by [[Ben Hardaway]] and [[Heck Allen]] during the United Artists period. In 1951, the new cartoons were finally released and became instant hits with audiences. They were so successful that U-I commissioned six more shorts for the following year. Overall, 1951 marked the beginning of a new era for the Walter Lantz studio. Lantz served as the director, writer and producer for these new shorts until the roles were given to animator [[Don Patterson (animator)|Don Patterson]], and writer [[Homer Brightman]]. Patterson's shorts were often praised for showing a level of ambition despite the meager budgets.<ref name="Maltin">{{cite book |last1=Maltin |first1=Leonard |title=Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons |date=1987 |publisher=Plume |isbn=0-452-25993-2 |edition=Revised |page=177}}</ref>

The 50s brought changes to other studios that helped benefit Lantz' own output. In 1953, [[MGM]] closed [[Tex Avery]]'s unit while [[Warner Bros.]] briefly closed there entire animation facility over the immense popularity of 3-D films. Lantz was able to hire some of the displaced staff to the point he was able to open a second unit, with animator [[Paul J. Smith (director)|Paul J. Smith]] placed as director. Some of the men he was able to hire include writer [[Michael Maltese]], animators Herman Cohen, [[Gil Turner (animator)|Gil Turner]] and [[Robert Bentley (animator)|Robert Bentley]], and Avery himself, who replaced Patterson from his role of director. Smith  created the studio's second most popular star, [[Chilly Willy]], in 1953, and the character was refined by Avery the following year.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=razMCgAAQBAJ&q=chilly%20willy%20inspiration&pg=PT66 Animation: A World History: Volume II: The Birth of a Style - The Three Markets-Google Books]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-09-28 |title=Chilly Willy-"I'm Cold" |url=https://klangley.wordpress.com/2006/09/28/chilly-willy-im-cold/ |access-date=2021-11-09 |website=Cartoons, Comics & Model Sheets |language=en}}</ref> Former MGM animators [[Ray Patterson (animator)|Ray Patterson]] and Grant Simmons also directed two shorts before they left to form [[Grantray-Lawrence Animation]] in 1954.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Irv Spence's "Rugged Rangers" {{!}} |url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/irv-spences-rugged-rangers/ |access-date=May 19, 2021 |website=cartoonresearch.com}}</ref>

During the mid-50s, the film industry was suffering and losing money, meaning lower budgets for cartoons. Avery left Lantz in 1955 over pay disputes,<ref name="Adamson">Adamson, Joe, ''Tex Avery: King of Cartoons'', New York: Da Capo Press, 1975.</ref> and was succeeded by a returning Alex Lovy. By 1956, there were only seven animation producers in the short-subjects business, and by the end of the decade that number dwindled to three. Walter Lantz and his distributor, Universal-International Pictures, knew that the only way to subsidize the rising costs of new shorts was to release their product to television. Norman Gluck, from U-I's short-subjects department, made a deal with the [[Leo Burnett Agency]] to release some older Lantz product on television. Burnett handled the [[Kellogg's]] cereal account and Lantz soon met with the Kellogg's people to sign the contract. At first, Lantz was not very eager and admitted that he was only working in the medium because he was "forced into TV" and "cartoons for theaters would soon be extinct".

''[[The Woody Woodpecker Show]]'' debuted on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] on the afternoon of October 3, 1957, and lasted until September 1958. The series was seen once a week, on Thursday afternoons, replacing the first half hour of the shortened ''[[The Mickey Mouse Club]]''. Lantz integrated his existing cartoons with new live-action footage, giving the show an updated look that satisfied both viewers and Lantz himself. The live-action and animation segments created for the show, called 'A Moment with Walter Lantz', featured an informative look at how the animation process for his "cartunes" worked and how the writers came up with stories and characters. The live-action segments were directed by [[Jack Hannah]], who was fresh from the Disney Studio, where he had done similar live-action/animation sequences for the Disney show. 

Hannah eventually directed theatrical shorts in 1960 after Lovy left for [[Hanna-Barbera]]. His shorts were regarded for having a level of sophistication comparable to Dick Lundy, and created characters such as ''[[Fatso the Bear]]'' and ''[[The Beary Family]]'' before he left too in 1962. His role was assumed by writer Sid Marcus. In 1964, with new Universal owner [[MCA Inc.]] dropping the International name, the cartoons were introduced with the new Universal presents open.  Lantz eventually reduced the number of units back to one, leaving Smith as the sole director of all theatrical shorts by 1966.

=== 1967–1972: Official final years ===
By 1969, other film studios had discontinued their animation departments, leaving Walter Lantz as one of the only two producers still making cartoons for theaters. The other one was the start-up [[DePatie–Freleng Enterprises]], working for Lantz' former contractor, United Artists. <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-final-days-of-the-theatrical-cartoon-short/|title=The Final Days of The Theatrical Cartoon Short|access-date=2021-10-24}}</ref> 

From 1967 until the studio's second and official closure in 1972, Universal distributed the Lantz cartoons as packages, and theaters would play them in no particular order. Lantz finally closed up the studio in 1972; he later explained that by then, it was economically impossible to continue producing them and stay in business, as rising inflation had strained his profits, and Universal serviced the remaining demand with reissues of his older cartoons. ''[[Bye Bye Blackboard]]'', a Woody Woodpecker cartoon, was part of the final slate of cartoons made at the Walter Lantz studio. Thirteen were completed for the 1972 season: one with Chilly Willy, four starring the Beary Family, and the rest with Lantz' star character, Woody Woodpecker. Upon discovering that it would take a decade for his shorts to show a profit, Lantz himself decided to shut down company operations, and threw a farewell luncheon with his staff at the announcement on March 10 the same year, with him handing Woody watches to them.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Animation Anecdotes #134|url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/animation-anecdotes-134/|last=Korkis|first=Jim|date=2013-11-01|access-date=2021-10-24|work=Cartoon Research}}</ref>

=== 1972–1985: Aftermath ===
In 1985, [[Walter Lantz|Lantz]] sold everything outright to [[MCA Inc.]] He painted landscapes in retirement and still lifes of his cartoon characters.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVShFCjVzvIC&q=retirement+lantz&pg=PA199 |title=Who's Who in Animated Cartoons |publisher=Hal Leonard |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-55783-671-7 |page=199}}</ref> Since then, [[Universal Pictures|Universal]] has continued to used Woody and also used Woody in the [[Universal Destinations & Experiences|Theme Parks]] or merchandising. [[Universal Pictures|Universal]] has since produced new projects, including television series and movies.