Warner Bros.-Seven Arts

Warner Bros.-Seven Arts was formed in 1967 when Seven Arts Productions acquired Jack Warner's controlling interest in Warner Bros. for $32 millionWarner Sperling, Cass (Director) (2008). The Brothers Warner (DVD film documentary). Warner Sisters, Inc. and merged with it. The deal also included Warner Bros. Records, Reprise Records, and the Sunset Productions library. Later that same year, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts purchased Atlantic Records. The head of production was Kenneth Hyman, son of Seven Arts co-founder Eliot Hyman. Warner Bros.-Seven Arts was acquired in 1969 by Kinney National Company, who renamed the studio to Warner Bros. in 1970 and closed the cartoon studio along with it.
The studio produced the final set of cartoons during the series' theatrical run. New creations featured during the W-7 Arts era included Cool Cat and his nemesis Colonel Rimfire, as well as Merlin the Magic Mouse and his appropriately named sidekick Second Banana.
== Logo ==
When the merger happened, a new corporate logo was unveiled with a stylized combination of the letter "W" and the number "7", usually in a stylized shield outline. The first three cartoons produced by the studio utilized the same title sequences from DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and Format Films, although the last two would carry the Warner Bros.-Seven Arts copyright notice. Starting with "Cool Cat", this new logo design was incorporated into a revised version of the "Abstract WB" logo sequences originally designed for "Now Hear This" and in regular use by this time. This version of the logo sequence is often referred to by Looney Tunes fans as the "Abstract W7" sequence. The first three cartoons using this new logo sequence used the same color scheme as the prior logo sequence, with a black background and purple "W7" shield, but with shorts beginning in 1968, the background was changed to blue, and anything purple (including the "W7" shield) was changed to yellow.
William Lava also revised his atonal arrangement of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" to go with the "Abstract W7" opening sequence, sounding more lighter than the previous version, and once in a while experimenting with alternate arrangements. The closing theme music remained the same as the DePatie-Freleng Enterprises shorts from 1963-1967.
== Sound Effects ==
The sound effects used in the W7 cartoons were unusual compared with earlier Warner Bros. cartoons, typically using the same small amount of Hanna-Barbera and WB/Looney Tunes sound effects (the latter being mostly sounds rarely used in the Termite Terrace cartoons). This was possibly due to the limitations and budget at that time. The film editors were Hal Geer and Donald A. Douglas, the latter also a film editor at Hanna-Barbera Productions.
Most of the cartoons except "Norman Normal" and "The Door" used such sound effects. "Flying Circus" and "The Great Carrot-Train Robbery" were very limited in its main sound effects.
== Filmography ==
=== Theatrical Shorts ===
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== Notes ==
* Some copies of the 1935-1943 redrawn-colorized Looney Tunes cartoons from the Sunset Productions package have the Warner Bros. Seven Arts opening titles plastering over the altered Sunset Productions opening titles which in return are plastering over their original WB opening logos.
* As of currently, all of the shorts produced from this studio have been restored, except "Hocus Pocus Powwow" and "Injun Trouble".
* The Looney Tunes Cartoons short "Crumb and Get It" pays homage to the 1960s era of the classic Looney Tunes shorts, and as part of this, concludes with a parody of the "Abstract W7" closing logo, complete with the Warner Bros.-Seven Arts corporate logo, but with the text reading "A Warner Bros. Animation Cartoon" (with the jumping "OO" animation recycled from the actual 1967 closing).
=== Scrapped pitches ===
The studio notably had several plans for the cartoon series had it not shut down during 1969, with various pitches being made while Alex Lovy was the director of the studio.Cartoon Research The Last Warner Bros. Cartoons These pitches include:
* A cartoon series adaption of Mack Sennett's "Keystone Cops" and "Puff the Magic Dragon" (which would have presumably been another collaboration with Peter, Paul and Mary as "Norman Normal" was).
* A Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote animated/live-action half-hour special with a bird watcher examining the behaviors of the two, likely using stock footage from the previous cartoons.
* Another such animated/live-action half-hour special named "Innocents Abroad" that would have featured Merlin the Magic Mouse and Second Banana taking a live-action Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn on a tour across the animated world (similar to Hanna-Barbera's The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn TV series).
* An animated Warner Bros.- Seven Arts "Christmas Special", with one half focusing on a serious and realistic musical retelling of the birth of Baby Jesus, and the other being a comical story about Santa Claus at the North Pole. Whether it was to be a television special or a theatrical featurette was not stated.
* An action-adventure series called "Lost Atlantis". It starred Captain Bravo and Billy, and was presumably to be an animated TV series (and would have been the studio's first action cartoon, predating Batman: The Animated Series by two and a half decades).
* A prime-time TV series based on Al Capp's "L'il Abner" was planned for the 1969-70 television season.
* An Aladdin-based series called "The Arabian Nights".
* A TV series called "The Villain Still Pursues Her" that would be a spoof of the "damsel-in-distress" melodramas.
* A TV cartoon adaptation of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
* A one-off cartoon called "Toyland" that would likely be a musical.
* A cartoon series called "Time Train" featuring Captain Blazer battling space monsters from other planets.
* A cartoon series called "Hawaii? I'm Okay" that would star two Hawaiian kids and their antics around their island.
* There were also plans for newer characters for the cartoons prior to the studio's closure, which included:
** A bumbling secret agent Super Snooper.
** A young prodigy girl Jeanie the Genius.
** Railroad engineer Choo-Choo Jones.
** The forgetful senile Absent-Minded Mr. Memo.
** A troubled alcoholic married couple called the Lovey Doveys.
** A Yosemite Sam-resemblant pirate named Jolly Roger.
** A parody of Butch Cassidy named Butch Catsidy, who would likely replace Daffy Duck as Speedy Gonzales's rival.
* Additionally, there were plans for characters that were featured in the released cartoons to have their own series of cartoons. These characters included:
** Norman from "Norman Normal".
** Lo, the Poor Indian from "Hocus Pocus Powwow".
** Spooky from "Big Game Haunt".
** The Hatfields and the McCoys (the Feudin' Mountain Boys) from "Feud with a Dude".
** Ace Dee Patrol and Fritz Von Cluckner (would've been named Captain Dee Patrol and Count Von Cluckner, respectively) from "Flying Circus".
** Lonzo and his blue-tailed simian from "Chimp & Zee".
** Rapid Rabbit and Quick Brown Fox from "Rabbit Stew and Rabbits Too!". Notably, the early pitch depicted Quick Brown Fox as brown instead of orange and Rapid Rabbit as gray instead of brown while being called "Jack Rabbit".
* Some concepts of the pitches would be implemented or reworked for the theatrical cartoons:
** A cartoon series called "Time Flies" that would've featured two Colonel Rimfire-esque explorers named Hap and Stance traveling through different time periods. It would later be reworked into the Daffy and Speedy cartoon "See Ya Later Gladiator".
** A cartoon series called "The Big Top" that would feature visual gags around a circus. The Cool Cat cartoon "3 Ring Wing-Ding" would be themed after this pitch.
** A western cartoon series called "Way Out West". Although most of its main concepts were scrapped, the idea of a western cartoon series would be done with "Bunny and Claude (We Rob Carrot Patches)" and "The Great Carrot-Train Robbery".
** A new character called Hobo Bo, a homeless hobo who often gets into adventures from the outside world. His character design would be reworked by Robert McKimson into an unnamed outlaw in "Fistic Mystic", and later another outlaw named Gower Gulch in "Injun Trouble".
** Another new character called Paddy O., a mystical leprechaun that would've served as a sidekick for Daffy and Speedy. His character design would be reworked by McKimson into O'Reilly in "Shamrock and Roll".
== Gallery ==
Screenshot 20200831-191326.png|1967
AbstractW7remastered1968.jpg|1968
Looney Tunes W7 redrawn title card.png|Used by W7 prints of redrawn colorized B&W Looney Tunes cartoons
Wb-lt1968.jpg|1969
Warner-bros-animation-1968.jpg|The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show (1968)
Warner-bros-television-1969.jpg|The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour (1969)
=== Scrapped pitches ===
KeystoneKopsPitch.jpg|Pitch for "Keystone Kops"
InnocentsAbroadPitch.jpg|Pitch for "Innocents Abroad", which would've starred Merlin the Magic Mouse and Second Banana
ArabianNightsPitch.jpg|Pitch for "The Arabian Nights"
LoveyDoveysPitch.jpg|Pitch for "Lovey Doveys"
LostAtlantisPitch.jpg|Pitch for "Lost Atlantis"
ChristmasStoryPitch.jpg|Pitch for "Christmas Story"
SteamboatPhilPitch.jpg|Pitch for "Steamboat Phil"
File:RockandRovellPitch.jpg|Pitch for "Rock and Rowel"
File:GulliverPitch.jpg|Pitch for "Go Go Gulliver"
File:VillianPursuesHerPitch.jpg|Pitch for "The Villain Pursues Her"
File:ConnecticutCourtPitch.jpg|Pitch for "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court"
File:HawaiiPitch.jpg|Pitch for "Hawaii? I'm Okay!"
File:ToylandPitch.jpg|Pitch for "Toyland"
File:TimeTrainPitch.jpg|Pitch for "Time Train"
File:SuperSnooperPitch.jpg|Pitch for the Super Snooper character
File:JeaniePitch.jpg|Pitch for the Jeanie the Genius character
MrMemoPitch.jpg|Pitch for the Mr. Memo character
ChooChooJonesPitch.jpg|Pitch for the Choo Choo Jones character
SeeYaLaterGladiatorPitch.jpg|Pitch for "Time Flies", which would be reworked into "See Ya Later Gladiator"
3RingWingDingPitch.jpg|Pitch for "The Big Top", which would be the main setting of "3 Ring Wing-Ding"
WayOutWestPitch.jpg|Pitch for "Way Out West", which would be somewhat reworked into the Bunny and Claude cartoons
HoboBoPitch.jpg|Pitch for the Hobo Bo character, who would be redesigned as an outlaw in "Fistic Mystic" and "Injun Trouble"
PaddyOPitch.jpg|Pitch for the Paddy O. character who would've starred in a Speedy Gonzales and Daffy Duck cartoon, but would be redesigned as O'Reilly in "Shamrock and Roll"
LoThePoorIndianPitch.jpg|Pitch for a Lo, the Poor Indian (from "Hocus Pocus Powwow") cartoon series
SpookyandhisBuddyPitch.jpg|Pitch for a Spooky cartoon series
FeudinMountainBoysPitch.jpg|Pitch for a Feudin' Mountain Boys (from "Feud with a Dude") cartoon series
FlyingCircusPitch.jpg|Pitch for a "Flying Circus" cartoon series
ChimpAndZeePitch.jpg|Pitch for a "Chimp & Zee" cartoon series
RabbitStewandRabbitsTooPitch.jpg|Pitch for a Rapid Rabbit and Quick Brown Fox series
== References ==
== External Links ==
* A blog post showing pitches of largely-unproduced Warner Bros.- Seven Arts Animation projects.
Category:Companies
Category:Animation Studios
Category:1967
Category:1968
Category:1969