What Else? Futurama New Zealand

Thanks to Dave for the following information:

The cartoons seen in the opening of each episode of Futurama come from a time when cartoons were produced to be shown in movie theatres. The first commercial cartoon series was produced around 1913. Cartoons were billed in the trade journals of the day as a way to increase audience size and profits for theatre owners. Most of the cartoon studios in the silent era were located in New York City. Futurama has used the work of two studios from the silent era. The first was the Pat Powers studio which produced Felix the Cat cartoons. Felix was the first cartoon star, appearing in about 175 cartoons from 1919 to 1929. The second studio was the Max Fleischer studio, which produced "Out of the Inkwell" cartoons starring Ko-Ko the Clown.

The silent era ended not with a roar, but a squeak. The squeak, of course, came from Mickey Mouse. Mickey's debut in "Steamboat Willie" (1928) brought sound to cartoons. Throughout the 1930's, Disney led the way with the first 3-color Technicolor cartoon and then the first feature-length cartoon (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). Other studios followed in Disney's footsteps, but Disney was clearly the industry leader. In fact, Disney won every Oscar for Best Animated Short Subject from 1931 to 1939. Also, by the 1930's most cartoon studios were located in Hollywood. Futurama has used cartoons from the 1930s and 40s from several Hollywood studios. Warner Brothers cartoons (Daffy Duck, Porky Pig) have been frequently used, as has the work of the Max Fleischer studio (Betty Boop, Grampy). Futurama has also used cartoons from two of the most obscure Hollywood studios: Van Beuren and Ub Iwerks. These studios produced few cartoons, no famous characters, and both of these studios closed in 1936.

The years following World War II saw a gradual decline in the production of cartoons for the silver screen. A major factor in this decline was the rising cost of production. Starting in the 1950's, Hollywood studios began to close. MGM closed in 1957 and Warner Brothers followed in 1963. The last studio, Walter Lantz, closed in 1972.

New studios rose from the ashes to produce cartoons for a new medium, Television. The first television cartoons appeared in the late 1940s. Joe Barbera and Bill Hanna, jobless when MGM closed, opened their own studio and produced dozens of cartoon series for television. The Hanna-Barbera studio dominated Saturday morning children's programming in the U.S. from the 1960s into the 80s. Other studios such as DePatie-Freleng (Pink Panther) and Jay Ward (Rocky and Bullwinkle) also produced Saturday morning fare. Most of this animation was forgettable (to be charitable), and now serves only to fill time on the Cartoon Network.

Fortunately, programs such as the Simpsons, King of the Hill, and Futurama showed that animation didn't have to be mindless children's fare. Let's hope Futurama has a long and entertaining run.