Editing Merian C. Cooper (section)

===Pioneer Pictures, Selznick International Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer===
Cooper helped the Whitney cousins form [[Pioneer Pictures]] in 1933, while he was still working for RKO.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|254}} He was named vice president in charge of production for Pioneer Pictures in 1934.<ref name="wall street journal">{{cite news|title=Pioneer Plans Color Films|agency=The Wall Street Journal|date=5 Nov 1934}}</ref> He would use Pioneer Pictures to test his technicolor innovations. The company contracted with RKO in order to fulfill Cooper's obligations to the company, including ''[[She (1935 film)|She]]'' and ''[[The Last Days of Pompeii (1935 film)|The Last Days of Pompeii]]''. Cooper later referred to ''She'' as the "worst picture I ever made."<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|259,263}}

After these disappointments, Pioneer Pictures released a short film in three-strip [[technicolor]] called ''La Cucaracha'', which was well-received. The film won an Academy Award in 1934. Pioneer released the first full-length technicolor film, ''[[Becky Sharp (film)|Becky Sharp]]'' in 1935.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|267–269}} Cooper helped to advocate and pave the way for the ground-breaking technology of technicolor,<ref name="american polish" /> as well as the widescreen process called [[Cinerama]].<ref name="TCM">{{cite web|title=Merian C. Cooper Productions Sunday, July 3|url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/107434|website=TCM|access-date=11 July 2016}}</ref>

Selznick formed [[Selznick International Pictures]] in 1935, and Pioneer Pictures merged with it in June 1936.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|269,274}} Cooper became the vice president of Selznick International Pictures that same year.<ref name="DArc"/> Cooper did not stay long; he resigned in 1937 due to disagreements over the film ''[[Stagecoach (1939 film)|Stagecoach]]''.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|275}}

After resigning from Selznick International, Cooper went to [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] (MGM) in June 1937. A noteworthy project that Cooper was involved in was the fantasy film ''War Eagles''. The film, which would have used extensive special effects, was abandoned in approximately 1939 and never finished. Cooper was to return to the Army Air Force.<ref name="living dangerously" />{{rp|276–281}}