This Day, That Year – August 16

This day in history we feature Fiddlesticks. Fiddlesticks is the first complete sound cartoon to be photographed in color on this day in 1930.

Trivia – Fiddlesticks

Fiddlesticks was the first in the Flip the Frog series. It is a Celebrity Pictures theatrical cartoon short directed and animated by Ub Iwerks, in his first cartoon since he departed from Walt Disney’s studio. The short features Iwerks’ character Flip the Frog. The sound system was Powers Cinephone, the same system used for Disney’s Steamboat Willie (1928). The unnamed mouse in the cartoon bears a striking resemblance to Mortimer Mouse, the original concept behind Mickey Mouse, both of whom were first animated by Ub Iwerks.

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The film went into the public domain after the copyright owner failed to renew the copyright after the film’s 28 year term. It was simultaneously released with King of Jazz, a musical revue, and was released with a cartoon depicting how Paul Whiteman, the music director of the film, “became the King of Jazz”. The cartoon appeared on a television set in the music video for Eminem’s song “The Real Slim Shady”, which the viewer laughs at.

Source – Wikipedia

This day in history – Fiddlesticks