# 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. 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 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

| # | 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. |