Screen Gems (1921-1946)

Background: Charles B. Mintz and his wife Margaret J. Winkler opened their animation studio in 1929 to produce animated film shorts, using various vanity cards, which include "Color Rhapsody", "Phantasy", and "Fable" among others. Columbia Pictures Corporation released their cartoons and then later acquired a stake in the company in 1933 and launched "Screen Gems". However, when Mintz became indebted to Columbia in 1939, he ended up selling his studio to them. Under new management, the Screen Gems became a full time animation studio in 1940 until 1946 when Columbia closed its animation unit.

The "Screen Gems" name was inspired by an early Columbia Pictures slogan, "Gems of the Screen", itself based on an old American patriotic song entitled "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean".

1st Logo (1929-1930)
Note: Krazy Kat was the first cartoon series ever to be produced at the Mintz-Winkler studio.

Logo: In the first screen, we see a big screen surrounded by curtains while a weird-looking creature conducts an orchestra totally full of animals. The screen says "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. presents KRAZY KAT" with the episode title and the "A Winkler Picture" logo below, the credits for the animators (Ben Harrison and Manny Gould in this case) and the copyright disclaimer. The second screen is the credits for the comic book version's creator, George Herriman, and the music composer (Joe De Nat) with the Columbia Pictures' print logo barely seen.

Closing Title: Same as the opening, but instead of the credits, we can now see clearly the Columbia Pictures print logo overlapped by the "The End" written in script and "A KRAZY KAT COMIC" below. Later in 1930, the disclaimer changed to "A WINKLER KRAZY KAT COMIC".

FX/SFX: The whole orchestra. We don't know if the curtains were also animated.

Music/Sounds: The intro/outro of the cartoon's music.

Availability: Rare, as many of the Krazy Kat shorts were reissued by Samba Pictures, Inc.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1930-1933)
Logo: Krazy Kat and his girlfriend are hammering a wood banner. On the banner are the words: "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. presents KRAZY KAT" with the episode title and the "A Winkler Picture" logo below, the credits for the animators (Ben Harrison and Manny Gould in this case), and the copyright stamp.

Closing Title: TBA

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.

Availability: Rare since many Krazy Kat shorts were reissued by Samba Pictures, Inc.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (1932-1933)
Logo: On a background with triangles, we see Krazy Kat on the left and his girlfriend on the right. In the middle of them are the words: "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. presents". Below are the big letters "KRAZY KAT" with the episode name below. Below is the Charles Mintz Production logo and the credits for the animators (Ben Harrison and Manny Gould in this case) and the copyright disclaimer.

Closing Title: TBA

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.

Availability: Rare.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (1933-1934)
Logo: On the same background as the 3rd logo, Krazy Kat appears on the right. There are the words "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. presents KRAZY KAT". Below is the Charles Mintz Production logo and the credits for the story, musical scores, and animation. Below is the copyright stamp.

Closing Title: TBA

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.

Availability: Rare.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (1934-1939)
Logo: Now, on the same background as the 3rd and 4th logos, Krazy Kat appears on a slightly different design. On the top of the screen, only "KRAZY KAT" appears in big bold letters without the Krazy Kat Title (1934-39)Columbia script and the Charles Mintz Production logo. The copyright stamp is also different.

Closing Title: On a black background with an outline looking like a TV screen, the words "A KRAZY KAT CARTOON" appear in big bold letters on the top of the screen. On the middle is the Columbia Pictures print logo overlapped by the "The End" written in script and below are the words "Recorded by RCA Victor "HIGH FIDELITY" Sound System". On the bottom of the screen is the Charles Mintz Production logo.

Variant: When the cartoons were re-released by Samba Pictures, Inc., a variation of this logo was used with the words "SAMBA PICTURES PRESENTS" on the top of the screen.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.

Availability: Rare.

Editor's Note: None.

1st Logo (1930-1933)
Logo: On a curtains background, we see the words "CHARLES MINTZ presents", the big word "SCRAPPY", and below it, "by DICK HEUMOR". Below are the credits for the animation and musical scores. On the bottom of the screen is the copyright disclaimer. Scrappy appears on the right.

Closing Title: TBA

Later Variant: From 1932, some changes were made to the logo. The Charles Mintz disclaimer was replaced with the words "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. presents" and instead, the words "a Charles Mintz Production" appear below the "SCRAPPY" big letters. The words "by DICK HEUMOR" were moved on the same place above the credits. Also, Scrappy appears on a slightly different design along with his puppy.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.

Availability: Ultra rare, as the majority of the Scrappy cartoons were re-released by Samba Pictures.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1934-1939)
Logo: Nearly same as the 1934-1939 Krazy Kat, but Scrappy appears with the hands on a fence instead of Krazy Kat and the big words "SCRAPPY" appear.

Closing Title: Same as the 1934-1939 Krazy Kat closing title, but the words "A SCRAPPY CARTOON" appear in big bold letters on the top of the screen.

Variant: When the cartoons were re-released by Samba Pictures, Inc., a variation of this logo was used with the words "SAMBA PICTURES PRESENTS" on the top of the screen.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The theme of the cartoon.

Availability: Ultra rare.

Editor's Note: None.

1st Logo (November 9, 1934)
Note: This is the first opening title of the short-lived series of animated shorts named "Color Rhapsody", created by Charles B. Mintz.

Logo: On a black background with red, gray and blue bubbles, are the words "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORP. PRESENTS A" and below, in huge fonts, "COLOR RHAPSODY". Underneath, the credits and the copyright stamp. There are two characters and a pup with a cello.

Closing Title: Following an iris-out, on an orange background, we see "A Color Rhapsody" very above in a red majestic font and the 1930s Columbia Pictures print logo with the world-famous "The End" words overlapping the Torch Lady. Underneath has the following: the logo for RCA Victor; seen on nearly all the 1930s shorts from many other companies, and the text"A CHARLES MINTZ PRODUCTION" very below.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The opening/closing theme of a short.

Availability: Rare, as it was seen only on the very first Color Rhapsody short, named Holiday Land.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1934-1936)
Note: These were the last titles for the two-strip Technicolor era.

Logo: On a light cyan background, we see the words "Color Rhapsody" in big, bold, red-outlined white letters below the "Columbia Pictures Corporation" banner. It is overlapping a partiture with musical notes and all. It has credits for the producer, writer, animator, and music composer (respectively: Charles Mintz, Arthur Davis (credited as Art Davis), Sid Marcus, and Joe de Nat).

Closing Title: Same as the last one, with three differences. The light cyan background, the Color Rhapsody font is different, and the print logo has the "Columbia Pictures" banner in green instead of black. Little Rover (1935), however, has the end title superimposed over a city-at-night background.

FX/SFX: None if you don't want to count the iris-out.

Music/Sounds: See the first logo.

Availability: Very rare, although Totally Tooned In had these opening titles uncut.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (1936-1938)
Note: These are the final titles from the Charles Mintz era and also the first titles shown in three-strip Technicolor.

Logo: On a curtain background, the words "SCRAPPY PRESENTS" in little letters appear above blocks with "A COLOR RHAPSODY" written. Then, the opening cuts off to the credits.

Closing Titles: Three closing titles were used during this period:
 * 1st Closing Title (1935-1937): The first closing title was on white background. There are the words "A COLOR RHAPSODY" in red on a "musical diagram", with "IN TECHNICOLOR" in yellow. Underneath, a simplified drawing of the Columbia Pictures' Torch Lady, with the words "COLUMBIA PICTURES" in bold inside a circle. Below the Columbia logo is the text "A CHARLES MINTZ PRODUCTION" in red. No "THE END", though.
 * 2nd Closing Title (1937-1938): The second closing title was nearly the same as the 1935-1937 end title. Nearly, because the Columbia Pictures logo is inside a square this time, with the Torch Lady more detailed compared to the first closing title. Again, no "THE END".
 * 3rd Closing Title (1938): This closing title is different. It's Columbia Pictures' official logo, with the words "COLUMBIA" in chiseled letters, with the clouds behind the Torch Lady (who is holding an American flag) drawn in blue. It also has, "A COLOR RHAPSODY" and "IN TECHNICOLOR" overlapping the pedestal. Still, no "THE END".

Closing Variant: The early variant of the third closing title has been spotted recently on Totally Tooned In. It is the same concept, but the "A COLOR RHAPSODY" and "IN TECHNICOLOR" text were pulled from below to the middle of the screen to give space to another text: "a CHARLES MINTZ production", with "CHARLES MINTZ" in uppercase lettering and everything else in script. The title is very dark due to print deterioration and it was only seen on Window Shopping (1938).

FX/SFX: None, except for the iris-out in the opening and the ending.

Music/Sounds: Again, the theme of the short.

Availability: Some recent prints only show the "Blocks" opening without the credits and the Torch Lady ending. Totally Tooned In has shown the 1937-1938 end title. The Little Match Girl (1937) had the first end title before it was replaced by the UPA's "A Columbia Favorite" reissue end title. Fortunately, these titles (except the Charles Mintz variant of the third closing title) were recently restored and shown uncut on DVD.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (1938-1942)
Note: This is the first opening title from the Frank Tashlin era.

Logo: On a majestic background, with a castle above the clouds, the "COLUMBIA PICTURES CORPORATION PRESENTS" opening title above "A COLOR RHAPSODY" in huge letters, with "IN TECHNICOLOR" arched above the copyright stamp. Then, it cuts off to the opening credits.

Early Variant: A rare early variant has Scrappy's name instead of the "Columbia Pictures Corporation" banner. It was the last opening title to bear his name. This particular variant was seen from 1938 to 1940.

Closing Title: Same as the third closing title from the previous logo. In 1940, it added the "The End" in white script below the "COLUMBIA" lettering. It was only seen on one cartoon: Cinderella Goes to a Party.

FX/SFX: Only the iris-in during the opening and the iris-out at the end.

Music/Sounds: The theme of a short or a customized fanfare.

Availability: Shorts on Totally Tooned In only show the "Castle" opening title without the credits and the Torch Lady ending. The early variant was very tough to find, as many of the cartoons from this era were reissued by UPA. However the titles (except the Scrappy variant) were recently restored and shown uncut on DVD.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (1942-1946)
Note: Cartoons from this era were produced by former Paramount animator Dave Fleischer.

Logo: The logo is nearly the previous closing title, but the clouds are orange instead of blue, although some shorts do have the opening with blue clouds. Below we see "Presents" in script. It also has a difference in the Torch Lady. Instead of an American flag, she is grabbing a pink (or purple due to print deterioration) drape. Then it cuts off to the opening credits.

Series Title: On a red background on a yellow placard are the words "A Color Rhapsody" in white letters and below "IN TECHNICOLOR" in black letters. On the top of the placard is the copyright disclaimer. Surrounding it are several characters from the Columbia cartoons including The Fox and The Crow, the baby and the bulldog from The Bulldog and the Baby (1942) and Professor Small and Mr. Tall among others.

Series Title Variant: On cartoons featuring The Fox and The Crow, the words read "a Color Rhapsody THE FOX AND THE CROW".

Closing Titles: Two end titles were used during this period:
 * 1st Closing Title (1942-1945): The 1938-1942 Torch Lady ending, only with two differences:
 * It has the "The End" words in white script.
 * The pink (or purple) drape explained above.
 * 2nd Closing Title (1945-1946): This title is much simplified from the previous one. It was only the "The End" in script, "A COLOR RHAPSODY" in bold, and "In Technicolor" (also in script) on a blue background.

Closing Title Variants:
 * A rare variant without the "THE END" exists only on one cartoon: Fox and Crow's Woodsman Spare that Tree (1942).
 * In 1942, a special opening variant was shown in the cartoon Song of Victory. On a blue background, we see the V of Victory overlapped by the "Columbia Pictures Corporation presents" banner and "A Color Rhapsody" in the exact same font. This was the very first cartoon directed by Dave Fleischer since he left Paramount. This was also the last cartoon of the Frank Tashlin era.

FX/SFX: The iris-out and the characters moving in the opening credits.

Music/Sounds: Again, the theme of a short or a customized fanfare.

Availability: The opening is quite rare. On TV, via Totally Tooned In, only the end titles survive. The titles were recently restored on DVD.

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo (1947-1949)
Logo: On a background with red and metallic stripes, zooms in rapidly a "TV Tube" with the opening "A COLOR RHAPSODY" in yellow bold and "Cartoon" in red script. Underneath, the text "IN TECHNICOLOR".

Closing Titles: Two end titles were used in the last years of the Color Rhapsodies:
 * 1st Closing Title (1947): Nearly the same as the 1945-1946 closing title, but it has a background that resembles the Merrie Melodies ending from the late 1930s.
 * 2nd Closing Title (1947-1949): Again the Merrie Melodies-like bullseye, but with two blue rings and yellow-red outline.

FX/SFX: The zooming in on the opening title.

Music/Sounds: The theme of a short or a customized fanfare. It also had an exclusive theme for the ending.

Availability: Saved on many cartoons on Totally Tooned In. These titles were recently restored on DVD.

Editor's Note: The zoom in in the opening title is too fast-paced and rough.

1st Logo (1939-1942)
Studio Logo: Nothing but the Columbia Pictures logo from the 1930s, only with two changes:
 * It has "Presents" in white script below. A variant shows the logo with "Presents" fading in after a few seconds.
 * The shining of the torch is a bit different.

Series Logo: On a special background, we see the words "A Phantasy Cartoon" and the copyright stamp. The words "A Phantasy" is in huge script font and "CARTOON" is in stylized font. It had three variants used in tandem with each other:

Variants:
 * In the first variant, it had the "Columbia Pictures Corporation presents" banner above "A Phantasy cartoon" and "featuring Scrappy" below. And it had credits for story, animation, and music.
 * In the second variant, the "Columbia Pictures Corporation presents" banner is absent, and it doesn't have Scrappy's name, only the credits.
 * The third variant has no credits at all, only the "A Phantasy Cartoon" banner in a stylized background.

Closing Title: Same as the opening, but with "The End" in white script instead of "Presents". The text, "A COLUMBIA PHANTASY" is seen below "The End".

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The theme of a short or a customized fanfare.

Availability: Very tough to find, specially the Scrappy variant, as many of these cartoons were reissued by Official Films in the 1950s.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1942-1944)
Studio Logo: Same as the first logo.

Series Logo: Even though the words and the text haven't changed (not counting the production year), the title has been overhauled. The font is different and there are characters from various Columbia cartoons including The Fox and the Crow.

Closing Title: Same as the first logo.

FX/SFX: The characters moving in the series logo.

Music/Sounds: Again, the theme of the respective short or customized fanfare.

Availability: Same as the first logo.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (1944-1945)
Studio Logo: Again, same as the first logo.

Series Logo: Same as the second series logo, but with changes. The characters are inside papers and there is no animation.

Closing Title: Again, same as the first logo.

Alternate Closing Title: On a black background, we see the "The End" words in white script with "A PHANTASY CARTOON".

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Again, the theme of a short or a customized fanfare.

Availability: Same as the first logo.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (1945-1946)
Logo: This time, no Torch Lady opening. Only the words "A Phantasy Cartoon" opening on a simplified background.

Closing Title: Same as the alternate ending for the third logo.

 Alternate Closing Title: Again, same as the third logo, but with the "Bullseye" background of the 1947 short-lived ending.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Once again, either the theme of a respective short or a customized fanfare.

Availability: Same as the first logo.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (1947)
Note: These were the last titles from the Phantasy cartoons, which used the two-color Cinecolor process for this era.

Logo: Same as the 1947-1949 Color Rhapsody opening title, only with "Phantasy" replacing "Color Rhapsody" and "IN CINECOLOR" replacing "IN TECHNICOLOR".

Closing Title: We see the "The End" in a different script over a bullseye background with two teal rings and a teal-white outline. Below, "A PHANTASY CARTOON" in red and "In Cinecolor" in teal are seen.

FX/SFX: Same as the 1947-1949 Color Rhapsody opening title.

Music/Sounds: See above.

Availability: Extremely rare. Tough to find, but Totally Tooned In did show the titles on Leave Us Chase It.

Editor's Note: None.

Barney Google
Background: Barney Google is the name of a comic strip (later Barney Google and Snuffy Smith) created by Billy De Beck in 1919. From 1935 to 1936, Charles B. Mintz created a cartoon with him. The series only had four episodes.

1935-1936
Logo: On a blue background are the titles "SCRAPPY PRESENTS" with "SCRAPPY" in yellow. Below is the name of the character and Barney himself. The title cuts off to the credits.

Closing Title: On a light blue background, following an iris-out, we see the 1935-1937 ending for the Color Rhapsodies only with a few changes: The text "A CHARLES MINTZ PRODUCTION" are also in blue rather than red.
 * Instead of "A COLOR RHAPSODY" with musical diagram, the title reads "A BARNEY GOOGLE CARTOON".
 * The drawing of the Torch Lady is a bit cheap.
 * The words "COLUMBIA PICTURES" are in blue instead of red and the inside of the circle is also blue.

FX/SFX: Nothing but the iris-out.

Music/Sounds: Probably the theme of a short.

Availability: Extremely rare. If you find it, then you're as lucky as everyone can get. It's way too hard to find.

Editor's Note: The drawing of the Torch Lady in the ending title is choppy.

1943-1946
Studio Logo: The Torch Lady opening from the 1942-1946 Color Rhapsodies, orange clouds, "Presents" and all.

Series Logo: We see the Fox and the Crow on a dark background with their names written with wood sticks.

Closing Title: Same as the 1942-1945 closing title of the Color Rhapsodies, but with "A FOX AND CROW" below "The End".

Alternate Closing Title: Same as the 1945-1946 end title of the Color Rhapsodies, but with the difference explained above.

FX/SFX: None, if you don't want to count the iris-out.

Music/Sounds: As usual, the theme of a short or a customized fanfare.

Availability: Rare. Very hard to find as UPA has reissued the shorts with their "A Columbia Favorite" opening and ending. However, the original Torch Lady closing title has been spotted on some cartoons via Totally Tooned In.

Editor's Note: None.

1943-1946
Studio Logo: The Torch Lady opening from the 1942-1946 Color Rhapsodies, orange clouds, "Presents" and all.

Series Logo: On a blue background, we see Li'l Abner inside a yellow circle, his name in huge letters, and "IN TECHNICOLOR" in white. It cuts off to the opening credits seconds later.

Closing Title: The 1942-1945 Torch Lady ending from the Color Rhapsodies, only with "A L'IL ABNER" below "The End". The title is also a bit darker.

FX/SFX: None if you don't want to count the iris-out.

Music/Sounds: The theme of a short or its own fanfare.

Availability: Rare. The Torch Lady ending is easy to find, as it was used in all Li'l Abner shorts. The same can't be said about the opening.

Editor's Note: None.

1939-1945
Studio Logo: The same Torch Lady as the first two "Phantasies".

Series Logo: On a stylized dark background, we see "A Fable" in huge fancy script letters, and a small "Cartoon" below". In the corners, we see the MPPDA seal and an odd RCA logo. And sandwiched between those two logos, the credits of the director, the writer, and the music composer (respectively: Arthur Davis (billed as "Art Davis"), Frank Tashlin (billed as "Tish Tash") and Paul Worth). At the very bottom, we see a small copyright text.

Closing Title: The "Torch Lady" logo. This end title has three variants:
 * The first variant has no "THE END" below the Torch Lady. Instead the text says "A FABLE CARTOON" in a Times New Roman-ish font.
 * The second variant has the "The End" title in the same white script as the Color Rhapsody's Torch Lady ending from 1942-1945. Below, the text reads, "A COLUMBIA FABLE".
 * The third variant has the "The End" in the same script, but without the "A COLUMBIA FABLE" disclaimer.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: If you read those descriptions above, you'll know where this is going.

Availability: Very hard to find, as some of these "Fables" were reissued by Official Films in the 1950s.

Editor's Note: None.

Reissue Titles
Background: As with Warner Bros. and MGM, Columbia too reissued a large portion of its color cartoon library beginning roughly when the studio closed in 1946.

1st Logo (1940s)
Logo: On a blue background with white stars is a yellow shape. On the shape are the red words "a COLUMBIA FAVORITE" and below, the name of the cartoon and "Color by TECHNICOLOR" on a rainbow print. Several characters from the Columbia cartoons are surrounding the logo (a la the 1942-1946 Color Rhapsodies logo and the 1942-1944 Phantasies logo) including Li'l Abner's pig Salami from Porkuliar Piggy (1944), the buffalo and Indian from Lo the Poor Buffal (1948), the turkey and moose from Topsy Turkey (1948), the Daffy-esque duck and the hunter from Wacky Quacky (1947), and the dog and cat from Flora (1948) among others.

Closing Title: Early reissued cartoons had the original end titles. On later cartoons, the words "A COLUMBIA FAVORITE" and (below) "The End" (in script) appear on a background which varies depending on the cartoon (along with the fonts for the text).

Variant: On cartoons directed by Ub Iwerks like Skeleton Frolic (1937), the black words "Directed by UB IWERKS" were added below the title of the cartoon.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: The intro of the cartoon theme.

Availability: Can be found on reissue prints of cartoons like: The Way of all Pests (1941), Bon Bon Parade (1935), Window Shopping (1938), Frog Pond (1938), Mr. Moocher (1944), The Fox and The Grapes (1941), Skeleton Frolic (1937), The Herring Murder Mystery (1943), Mountain Ears (1939) and Rocky Road To Ruin (1943) among others.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1950s)
Logo: On a background with colorful rombs, on the top of the screen are the words "A COLUMBIA FAVORITE" in white letters. Below it's the cartoon name in big yellow letters and below it "COLOR BY TECHNICOLOR". On the bottom of it the words "REPRINT" are written in an inflated bottom script.

Closing Title: Same as the previous logo.

Trivia: This title was designed by United Productions of America.

Variants:
 * On UPA-reissued cartoons like The Magic Fluke (1949), the copyright stamp was added below "COLOR BY TECHNICOLOR". This is followed by the credits and then the UPA logo appears.
 * On Totally Tooned In, the "REPRINT" script is blacked out.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo.

Availability: Can be found on reissue prints of cartoons like: Kitty Caddy (1947), Boston Beanie (1947), Up 'n Atom (1947), Concerto in B Flat Minor (1942), The Magic Fluke (1949), Mother Hubba-Hubba Hubbard (1947), Be Patient, Patient (1944), Foxy Flatfoots (1946), and Kuku Nuts (1945), among others.

Editor's Note: Same as the previous logo.