Rainbow Parade
Series of short films
title: "Rainbow Parade" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["animated-film-series", "film-series-introduced-in-1934", "american-animation-anthology-series", "van-beuren-studios", "american-animated-short-films"] description: "Series of short films" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Parade" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Series of short films ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox film"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Rainbow Parade |
| image | Rainbow Parade.png |
| caption | The logo of the Rainbow Parade series. |
| director | Burt Gillett |
| Ted Eshbaugh | |
| Steve Muffatti | |
| Tom Palmer | |
| Shamus Culhane | |
| Dan Gordon | |
| producer | Amadee J. Van Beuren |
| music | Winston Sharples |
| studio | Van Beuren Studios |
| distributor | RKO Radio Pictures |
| released | July 27, 1934 — October 2, 1936 |
| runtime | 7–8 minutes |
| country | United States |
| language | English |
| :: |
| name = Rainbow Parade | image = Rainbow Parade.png | caption = The logo of the Rainbow Parade series. | director = Burt Gillett Ted Eshbaugh Steve Muffatti Tom Palmer Shamus Culhane Dan Gordon | producer = Amadee J. Van Beuren | story = | starring = | music = Winston Sharples | studio = Van Beuren Studios | distributor = RKO Radio Pictures | released = July 27, 1934 — October 2, 1936 | runtime = 7–8 minutes | country = United States | language = English Rainbow Parade is a series of 26 animated shorts produced by Van Beuren Studios and distributed to theaters by RKO between 1934 and 1936. This was the only color cartoon series produced by Van Beuren, and the final series of the studio.
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.
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. 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.
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 and the final cartoons distributed until October of the same year, with some cartoons still unproduced.
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 and Commonwealth Pictures 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
::data[format=table title=""]
| # | Title | Release | Distributor | Character's | Director's | Films | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pastry Town Wedding | July 27, 1934 | RKO Radio Pictures | Bride, Groom, Pastry Chefs | Burt Gillett | ||
| Ted Eshbaugh | [[File:Pastry Town Wedding (1934).webm | thumb | 1st Rainbow Parade]] | ||||
| 2 | The Parrotville Fire Department | September 14, 1934 | The Flasher, Firefighters | Burt Gillett | |||
| Steve Muffatti | [[File:Parrotville Fire Department (1934).webm | thumb]] | |||||
| 3 | The Sunshine Makers | January 11, 1935 | Gnomes, Goblins | Burt Gillett | [[File:The Sunshine Makers (1935) (video-converter.com).webm]] | ||
| 4 | Parrotville Old Folks | January 25, 1935 | Mrs. Birdkins, Captain, Friend, Old Folks | Burt Gillett | [[File:Parrotville_Old_Folks_(1935).webm]] | ||
| 5 | Japanese Lanterns | March 8, 1935 | Japanese Children, Father, Mother, Stork | Burt Gillett | [[File:Japanese_Lanterns_Aka_Chinese_Lanterns_(1935).webm]] | ||
| 6 | Spinning Mice | April 5, 1935 | Wizard/Rabbit, Lizards/Doves, Toad/Squirrel, Throwback Mice/Devils, Girl, Boy, Mice | Burt Gillett | [[File:Spinning_Mice_(1935).webm]] | ||
| 7 | Picnic Panic | May 3, 1935 | Molly Moo-Cow, Teapots, Teacups | Burt Gillett | [[File:Picnic_Panic_Aka_The_Stupid_Teapot_(1935).webm | thumb]] | |
| 8 | The Merry Kittens | May 31, 1935 | Three Kittens, Terrier | Burt Gillett | [[File:The_Merry_Kittens_(1935).webm]] | ||
| 9 | Parrotville Post-Office | June 28, 1935 | Captain, The Black Parrot, Mrs. Birdkins, Mr. Birdkins' Children | Burt Gillett | [[File:Parrotville_Post_Office_(1935).webm | thumb]] | |
| 10 | The Rag Dog | July 19, 1935 | Three Kittens, Two Terriers | Burt Gillett | [[File:The_Rag_Dog_(1935).webm]] | ||
| 11 | The Hunting Season | August 19, 1935 | Molly Moo-Cow, Ducks, Hunters | Burt Gillett | [[File:The_Hunting_Season_(1935).webm | thumb]] | |
| 12 | Scotty Finds a Home | August 23, 1935 | Scotty, Family, Squatter | Burt Gillett | [[File:Scotty_Finds_A_Home_(1935).webm]] | ||
| 13 | Bird Scouts | September 20, 1935 | Birds, Cat | Burt Gillett | [[File:Bird_Scouts_(1935).webm]] | ||
| 14 | Molly Moo-Cow and the Butterflies | November 15, 1935 | Molly Moo-Cow, Collector, Butterflies | Burt Gillett | [[File:Molly_Moo-Cow_and_the_Butterflies_(1935).webm]] | ||
| 15 | Molly Moo-Cow and the Indians | November 15, 1935 | Molly Moo-Cow, Indian Squaw, Papoose, Indian Brave, Two Ducks | Burt Gillett | [[File:Molly_Moo-Cow_and_the_Indians_(1935).webm]] | ||
| 16 | Molly Moo-Cow and Rip Van Wrinkle | December 17, 1935 | Molly Moo-Cow, Rip Van Winkle, Little Men | Burt Gillett | [[File:Molly_Moo-Cow_and_Rip_Van_Winkle_(1935).webm]] | ||
| 17 | Toonerville Trolley | January 17, 1936 | Toonerville Trolley, Skipper, Katrinka, Molly Moo-Cow (cameo), Bull | Burt Gillett | [[File:Toonerville_Trolley_(1936).webm | thumb]] | |
| 18 | The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg | February 7, 1936 | Felix the Cat, Goldie, Captain Kidd, Pirates | Burt Gillett | [[File:The_Goose_that_Laid_the_Golden_Egg_(1936)_Features_Felix_The_Cat.webm | thumb]] | |
| 19 | Molly Moo-Cow and Robinsoe Cruesoe | February 28, 1936 | Molly Moo-Cow, Robinson Crusoe, Cannibals | Burt Gillett | [[File:Molly_Moo-Cow_And_Robinson_Crusoe_(1936).webm]] | ||
| 20 | Neptune Nonsense | March 20, 1936 | Felix the Cat, King Neptune, Annabelle, Octopus, Electric Eel, Fish, Mermaid | Burt Gillett | [[File:Neptune_Nonsense_(1936).webm]] | ||
| 21 | Bold King Cole | May 29, 1936 | Felix the Cat, Old King Cole, Ghosts | Burt Gillett | [[File:Bold_King_Cole_(1936)_Features_Felix_The_Cat.webm | thumb]] | |
| 22 | A Waif's Welcome | June 19, 1936 | Orphan, Mother, Father, Son | Tom Palmer | [[File:A Waif’s Welcome (1936).webm]] | ||
| 23 | Trolley Ahoy | July 3, 1936 | Toonerville Trolley, Skipper, Mr. Bang, Katrinka | Burt Gillett | [[File:Trolley_Ahoy_(1936).webm]] | ||
| 24 | Cupid Gets His Man | July 24, 1936 | Dan Cupid, Edna May Oliver, W. C. Fields | Tom Palmer | [[File:Cupid_Gets_His_Man_(1936).webm]] | ||
| 25 | It’s a Greek Life | August 2, 1936 | Centaur, Mercury, Two Ducks | Dan Gordon | [[File:It's a Greek Life (1936).webm]] | ||
| 26 | Toonerville Picnic | October 2, 1936 | Toonerville Trolley, Skipper, Mr. Bang, Doctor, Katrinka, Dog, Octopus | Burt Gillett | [[File:Toonerville_Picnic_(1936).webm | thumb]] | |
| :: |
References
References
- (1999). "The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons". Checkmark Books.
- (November 1987). "Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons". Plume.
- (October 3, 2018). "Animator Profiles: Burt Gillett". Jerry Beck.
- (October 6, 2006). "Drawing the Line: The Untold Story of the Animation Unions from Bosko to Bart Simpson". University Press of Kentucky.
- "Jack Zander, 99, On Golden Age of Animation". Animation World Network.
- (August 24, 2023). "Technicolor "Rainbow Parade" Model Sheets". Jerry Beck.
- (1939). "Selected Shorts Adapted to Very Young Groups". Walter O. Gutlohn, Inc..
- (September 22, 1941). "An All-Time High.. in 16mm Entertainment". The Educational Screen, Inc..
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