Noveltoons is a series of animated cartoon short films produced by Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios from 1943 to the end of the studio during 1967. The series originated characters such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Herman and Katnip, Little Audrey, and Baby Huey, all of whom later became stars of Harvey Comics, which purchased the characters in 1959. The series was the successor to the series Color Classics produced by Famous’ predecessor Fleischer Studios. Several Noveltoons feature characters which originated in Color Classics, like Spunky or Raggedy Ann. This series was also similar to the two series from Warner Bros., Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, in that it features several recurring characters with one general title.
In 1956, Paramount sold all of the pre-October 1950 Noveltoons (ending with Saved by the Bell) to television distributor U.M. & M. TV Corporation. Shortly afterward, U.M. & M.'s assets were acquired by National Telefilm Associates. In the 1980s, NTA changed its name to Republic Pictures, and after a brief period of ownership by Spelling Entertainment in 1994, was acquired by Paramount's parent company Viacom, which placed the cartoons back in Paramount's control (Republic Pictures has been renamed to Melange Pictures since 2006, which in turn was placed in the revived Republic Pictures subsidiary).
In 1959, and again in late 1962, Paramount sold the post-October 1950 to pre-March 1962 Noveltoons (beginning with The Voice of the Turkey and ending with T.V. or No T.V.) to Harvey Films, which in turn was purchased by Classic Media in 2001. Classic Media was purchased by DreamWorks Animation in 2012 (and briefly renamed it DreamWorks Classics), which was purchased by Comcast's NBCUniversal in 2016 and currently distributed by NBCUniversal Syndication Studios.
Paramount continues to own the post-March 1962 Noveltoons (beginning with Yule Laff).
Some pre-October 1950 Noveltoons, including Cilly Goose and Gabriel Churchkitten, had their copyrights renewed. The others have fallen into the public domain, including a few post-1950 ones that were owned by Harvey Comics.
Contents
Filmography
Home media
In January 2012, Thunderbean Animation released a restored collection of public domain Noveltoons on DVD entitled Noveltoons Original Classics with the following cartoons. It was released on Blu-ray in 2019. Cilly Goose was included despite having its copyright renewed.
Cilly Goose
Suddenly It's Spring
Yankee Doodle Donkey
Scrappily Married
A Lamb in a Jam
Cheese Burglar
Sudden Fried Chicken
The Stupidstitious Cat
The Enchanted Square
Much Ado About Mutton
The Wee Men
Naughty But Mice
Flip Flap
The Bored Cuckoo
Leprechauns Gold
Quack-a-Doodle Doo
Teacher's Pest
Ups an' Downs Derby
Pleased to Eat You
Saved by the Bell.
Paramount Home Entertainment released a restored print of Space Kid on the "Paramount Presents" Blu-ray re-release of the 1982 film 48 Hrs. in July 2021, making it the first Paramount cartoon from the 1960s decade to be restored on any form of home media.