George Pal Puppetoons
Madcap Models
Logo (1941-1944)
Opening Visuals: On the print logo mountain which is bordered by 25 stars, there is the stacked name "Paramount Pictures" followed by Paramount presents GEORGE PAL's mAdcaP mOdELs in TECHNICOLOR (Actually, there's only 1 "m" and it's tall enough to represent the "m" on both words).
Closing Visuals: At the end of a cartoon, it would change to a different print logo mountain, with the words "A Paramount Picture". Sometimes it would also say "A George Pal Puppetoon" on the bottom of the mountain.
Variants: Here are a couple examples:
- A 3D Puppetoon version with thunder clapping in the beginning of Hoola Boola.
- The logo placed on the pie pan in Japser and the Haunted House.
- The bark of tree with the logo in Mr. Strauss Takes a Wal.
- Often in cartoons like Sky Princess, it would be on the cover of a storybook.
- Some cartoons, such as Rhythm in the Ranks say "A Paramount Picture" in the beginning.
Technique: A painting filmed by a camera.
Audio: The opening music of a cartoon. Often at the end would be a 4-note fanfare.
Availability: Often, U.M.&M. and sometimes NTA would plaster these openings with a retitled opening or black bars, similar to the jobs done on color Fleischer/Famous cartoon shorts. Depending on the PD tape, there is a TV print, but with a bit of luck, a Paramount opening would appear. To see these logos in action, the Special Expanded Edition DVD of The Puppetoon Movie would have them in some of the Puppetoons.
George Pal Puppetoons
Logo (1944-1947)
Opening Visuals: On a brown snowcapped mournain bordered by 24 stars in a red background, there is the name "Paramount Pictures". Then, it would fade out and what fades in is a rapidly zooming down of an Oscar on a green statue holder, saying: "Paramount presents a GEORGE PAL PUPPETOON in TECHNICOLOR". Under it are the characters including Mr. Strauss, Jasper, Professor Scarecrow, Speedy, a Screwball, Jim Dandy, a duck, a dog, etc., then a robot is last in line and runs to join the marching, which then fades out to the production credits of the cartoon.
Closing Visuals: At the end of a cartoon would be a superimposed print logo with the words "A Paramount Picture".
Technique: Live-action.
Audio: An introduction fanfare followed by a lively march piece called the "Puppetoon Signature".
Audio Variant: In Rome-meow and Juile-Cat, the opening notes to the soundtrack plays.
Availability: On UM&M prints, the opening is completely plastered by refilmed title cards with the UM&M logo, common on PD tapes. However some PD tapes have prints with this opening intact. On the Paramount Puppetoons compiled in the Puppetoon Movie, the Paramount references are eliminated and there is only the cymbal note of the intro because the Paramount logo is cut out at the beginning, and the end title is replaced by the main title of the cartoon. To watch the original opening, the Special Expanded Edition DVD of The Puppetoon Movie contains the bonus Puppetoons compiled here instead of the ones complied on the feature film. Notable Puppetoons to use it are Jasper in a Jam and Tubby the Tuba. All cartoons from all two volumes of the aforementioned movie released on Blu-Ray had all of original titles intact.
Puppetoon Cold Opening (1946-1947)
Opening Visuals: On the print logo or custom logo mountain, bordered by 25 stars, there is the name "Paramount Pictures" (again, it would sometimes say "A Paramount Picture" instead), followed by: "Paramount presents a GEORGE PAL PUPPETOON in TECHNICOLOR".
Closing Visuals: At the end of a cartoon it would change to "A Paramount Picture" sometimes it would also say "A George Pal Puppetoon" on the bottom of the mountain.
Variant: Date With Duke has the logo and titles on a book, and we see the Paramount print mountain superimposed next to Duke Ellington at the end. Also this cartoon has the byline "Paramount Pictures presents" on the series title card.
Technique: A painting filmed by a camera.
Audio: The opening music to the cartoon.
Availability: Appeared on later George Pal Puppetoons, most notably John Henry and the Inky-Poo and Date With Duke. UM&M prints have the refilmed title cards obscuring Paramount references while NTA has the black bars eliminating references to Paramount. The Puppetoon Movie version of John Henry has just the main title card. If Paramount or Lionsgate properly restores the cartoons, the UM&M/NTA prints would be more and more rare. Can be seen on various PD tapes.
