Rainbow Parade

Rainbow Parade is a series of 26 animated shorts produced by Van Beuren Studios and distributed to theaters by RKO between 1934 and 1936.^[1] This was the only color cartoon series produced by Van Beuren, and the final series of the studio.

Rainbow Parade
The opening title card in "The Sunshine Makers".
Directed by	Burt Gillett Ted Eshbaugh Steve Muffatti Tom Palmer Shamus Culhane Dan Gordon
Produced by	Amadee J. Van Beuren
Music by	Winston Sharples
Production company	Van Beuren Studios
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date	July 27, 1934 — October 2, 1936
Running time	7–8 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

History

The Van Beuren Corporation was struggling to make successful cartoon series and had multiple production struggles throughout the early 1930s, with a lawsuit from Walt Disney Productions over copyright infringement, and ill-fated attempts at cartoon series like Tom and Jerry and Cubby Bear. In 1933, when Walt Disney received universal praise for the cartoon short Three Little Pigs, the short's director, Burt Gillett, was also seen as a top commodity in the animation industry.^[2]

Gillett was lured by the Van Beuren studio with prospects of higher pay and full creative control over the animation staff, and he joined around April 1934.^[3] Right away, the animation output of Van Beuren's studio took a drastic change. Older series ended and were replaced with the short-lived series Toddle Tales, notable for including live-action wraparounds with child actors interacting with animated characters, and the Rainbow Parade cartoons, which became their main series throughout the rest of the studio's existence.

Production was troubled, as Gillett was known for being hard to work with, having large emotional outbursts and mood swings, constantly firing crew members, as well as demanding harsh work environments for animators. This caused the constant rejection of large chunks of animation or full cartoons well into production, resulting in enormous overtime hours to compensate and replace animation, voices, and music, often gone unpaid. Because of this, animators working at the studio called for union action and held strikes against the studio, which Gillett and Van Beuren combated long throughout production.^[4]

In addition, Disney held a contract with Technicolor for exclusive use of their three-strip process when the Rainbow Parades started, so Van Beuren opted for the cheaper two-color Cinecolor process for their first season, a process which featured a somewhat more limited but still appealing palette of hues. Once Disney's contract expired in 1935, Van Beuren quickly switched to Technicolor for the rest of the series.

Many of the Rainbow Parade cartoons were one-shot stories with no recurring characters, but some of the films featured originally created characters like the Parrotville Parrots and Molly Moo-Cow, or established characters repurposed for color animation like the Toonerville Folks and Felix the Cat. Notable cartoon directors like Shamus Culhane and Dan Gordon contributed to this series when they were still establishing themselves in the industry.

Ultimately, production on the cartoons was cancelled in 1936 when Disney, long a rival of the Van Beuren cartoon studio, signed an exclusive deal to produce cartoons with Van Beuren's distributor, RKO Radio Pictures. The Rainbow Parade cartoons wrapped production with the staff let go in May 1936^[5] and the final cartoons distributed until October of the same year, with some cartoons still unproduced.^[6]

Aftermath

The producer Amedee J. Van Beuren died in 1938, not long after the studio's closure, and copyrights on the series lapsed shortly after. This prompted independent distributors like Walter O. Gutlohn^[7] and Commonwealth Pictures^[8] to pick up rights for the films to be sold in home movie catalogues and syndicated for television throughout the decades. Low-budget home video distributors used any film prints of these cartoons they could find to cheaply include in cartoon compilations in the wakes of VHS and DVD.

Efforts have been taken in recent years to restore these cartoons as in 2021, Thunderbean Animation, in association with Blackhawk Films and the UCLA, released a Blu-ray collection of the first 13 Rainbow Parade cartoons from the existing master materials, updating their DVD collection from 2009. The second half of the series is also in the process of being restored by Thunderbean, and is currently available from the best existing prints released by Image DVD/Blackhawk Films/Film Preservation Associates.

Filmography

#	Title	Characters	Original release date	Director	Notes
1	Pastry Town Wedding	Bride, Groom, Pastry Chefs	July 27, 1934	Burt Gillett Ted Eshbaugh	First Rainbow Parade series short. First short in two-strip Cinecolor. First short co-directed by Burt Gillett and Ted Eshbaugh. Later reissued as a promotional film for Cushman's Sons, Inc. This reissue adds extra animated scenes advertising the bakery, along with special title cards.
2	The Parrotville Fire Department	The Flasher, Firefighters	September 14, 1934	Burt Gillett Steve Muffatti	Only short co-directed by Steve Muffatti. The first of three "Parrotville" cartoons in the Rainbow Parade series. Original MPPDA production code #148.
3	The Sunshine Makers	Gnomes, Goblins	January 11, 1935	Burt Gillett Ted Eshbaugh	Re-issued in 1940 as a promotional film for Borden's Milk, with the "Borden" script on the title card. The original 1935 Rainbow Parade titles have been found. Runner-up on The 50 Greatest Cartoons list. Original MPPDA production code #242.
4	Parrotville Old Folks	Mrs. Birdkins, Captain, Friend, Old Folks	January 25, 1935	Burt Gillett Tom Palmer	First short co-directed by Tom Palmer. The second of three "Parrotville" cartoons in the Rainbow Parade series.
5	Japanese Lanterns	Japanese Children, Father, Stork	March 8, 1935	Burt Gillett Ted Eshbaugh	Renamed Chinese Lanterns by Official Films during World War II. Final short co-directed by Ted Eshbaugh. Original MPPDA production code #317.
6	Spinning Mice	Wizard/Rabbit, Lizards/Doves, Toad/Squirrel, Throwback Mice/Devils, Girl, Boy, Mice	April 5, 1935	Burt Gillett Tom Palmer	Contains a live-action prologue and epilogue sequences.
7	The Picnic Panic (a.k.a. The Stupid Teapot)	Molly Moo-Cow, Teapots, Flashback Teapots, Teacups	May 3, 1935	Burt Gillett Tom Palmer	First appearance of Molly Moo-Cow. Contains a live-action prologue and epilogue with animated wraparounds. Original MPPDA production code #374.
8	The Merry Kittens	Three Kittens, Terrier	May 31, 1935	Burt Gillett Shamus Culhane	Only short co-directed by Shamus Culhane. Original MPPDA production code #392, listed on credits instead of its standalone screen.
9	Parrotville Post-Office	Captain, Black Parrot, Mrs. Birdkins, Mr. Birdkins' Children	June 28, 1935	Burt Gillett Tom Palmer	The last of three "Parrotville" cartoons in the Rainbow Parade series.
10	The Rag Dog	Three Kittens, Two Terriers	July 19, 1935	Burt Gillett	First short solely directed by Burt Gillett.
11	The Hunting Season	Molly Moo-Cow, Ducks, Hunters	August 19, 1935	Burt Gillett Tom Palmer
12	Scotty Finds a Home	Scotty, Family, Bully	August 23, 1935	Burt Gillett
13	Bird Scouts	Birds, Cat	September 20, 1935	Burt Gillett Tom Palmer	Final short in two-strip Cinecolor.
14	Molly Moo-Cow and the Butterflies	Molly Moo-Cow, Collector, Butterflies	November 15, 1935	Burt Gillett Tom Palmer	First short in three-strip Technicolor.
15	Molly Moo-Cow and the Indians	Molly Moo-Cow, Indian Squaw, Papoose, Indian Brave, Two Ducks	November 15, 1935	Burt Gillett Tom Palmer
16	Molly Moo-Cow and Rip Van Winkle	Molly Moo-Cow, Rip Van Winkle, Little Men	December 17, 1935	Burt Gillett Tom Palmer
17	Toonerville Trolley	Toonerville Trolley, Skipper, Katrinka, Molly Moo-Cow (cameo), Bull	January 17, 1936	Burt Gillett Tom Palmer	The first of three Rainbow Parade cartoons based on the Toonerville Trolley comic strip. Cameo by Molly Moo-Cow. Only Toonerville short co-directed by Tom Palmer.
18	Felix the Cat and "The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg"	Felix the Cat, Goldie, Captain Kidd, Pirates	February 7, 1936	Burt Gillett Tom Palmer	First Felix the Cat cartoon in the Rainbow Parade series. Also the first three-strip Technicolor appearance of Felix the Cat.
19	Molly Moo-Cow and Robinson Crusoe	Molly Moo-Cow, Robinson Crusoe, Cannibals	February 28, 1936	Burt Gillett Tom Palmer	Molly Moo-Cow's final appearance.
20	Neptune Nonsense	Felix the Cat, King Neptune, Annabelle, Octopus, Electric Eel, Mermaid	March 20, 1936	Burt Gillett Tom Palmer	Final short co-directed by Burt Gillett and Tom Palmer.
21	Bold King Cole	Felix the Cat, Old King Cole, Ghosts	May 29, 1936	Burt Gillett	Final Felix the Cat released cartoon in the Rainbow Parade series. Only Felix short solely directed by Burt Gillett.
22	A Waif's Welcome	Orphan, Mother, Father, Son	June 19, 1936	Tom Palmer	First of two shorts solely directed by Tom Palmer.
23	Trolley Ahoy	Toonerville Trolley, Skipper, Mr. Bang, Katrinka	July 3, 1936	Burt Gillett	The second of three Rainbow Parade cartoons based on the Toonerville Trolley comic strip.
24	Cupid Gets His Man	Dan Cupid, Edna May Oliver, W.C. Fields	July 24, 1936	Tom Palmer	One source suggests that the spinster actually is a dead ringer for Margaret Hamilton (who would later gain fame as the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz). Second and final of two shorts solely directed by Tom Palmer.
25	It's a Greek Life	Centaur, Mercury, Two Ducks	August 2, 1936	Dan Gordon	Only short directed by Dan Gordon.
26	Toonerville Picnic	Toonerville Trolley, Skipper, Mr. Bang, Katrinka, Dog, Octopus	October 2, 1936	Burt Gillett	Final Rainbow Parade series short. The last of three Rainbow Parade cartoons based on the Toonerville Trolley comic strip. Final short solely directed by Burt Gillett.