Amadee J. Van Beuren
Founder of early animation studio Van Beuren Studios. He was the producer of Frank Buck's first three films, as well as many cartoons and short films.
Works
Pencil Mania
This Tom and Jerry cartoon (the human versions, not the cat and mouse) is an opportunity for the animators to have fun with the medium. There is no specific plot. One of the boys uses a pencil to create a myriad number of animated illusions that could only work in a cartoon. For example, a short vertical line is drawn, which when held by both ends suddenly becomes a saxophone. When played, the notes pop out of the bell of the instrument to suddenly grow legs and transform into ducks. After the song, the saxophone itself quickly follows suit and becomes a goose. The entire short consists of these disjointed, though often creative and humorously unlikely events.
Release Date1932-12-08
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count4
Gay Gaucho
Cubby the Bear as a young, dapper Gaucho and his adventures as a South American cowboy.
Release Date1933-11-02
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count5
Tumble Down Town
Dancing animals in a depression-era shanty town.
Release Date1933-01-26
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count2
White Elephant
Silent cartoon.
Release Date1928-12-27
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Wild Cargo
A documentary film about adventures in the jungle featuring Frank Buck, a well-known American hunter, animal collector, writer, and actor in the 1930s. Buck demonstrates his ingenious methods for catching wild birds, mammals, and reptiles. Many scenes were shot on the vast Malay estates of Buck's friend, Sultan Ibrahim of Johor, who appears in the film himself.
Release Date1934-03-29
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count1
Ship Ahoy
Silent cartoon.
Release Date1930-01-01
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Laundry Man
Aesop's Fable from Paul Terry & VanBeuren.
Release Date1928-11-04
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Singing Saps
In this Van Beuren cartoon a quartet of singers kidnap a girl and the mouse has to try and save the day.
Release Date1930-02-07
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count1
Circus Romance
At a circus, the ring master and a clown both love Kitty the high-wire artist.
Release Date1932-06-25
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Ball Park
An animated short film, and part of Paul Terry's Aesop's Film Fables, in which some animals play a game of baseball.
Release Date1929-05-19
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count2
Wot a Night
Two passengers, Tom and Jerry (not to be confused with the cat and mouse duo) refuse to pay their cab fare, so the taxi drives chase after them.
Release Date1931-08-01
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count7
Animated Aesop's Fables
Release Date1983-03-06
DepartmentCreator
JobCreator
Vote Count1
Opening Night
Cubby Bear sneaks into the Roxy Opera House on its opening night and ends up conducting an epic, animal-enacted version of Faust.
Release Date1933-02-09
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count5
Bold King Cole
Felix the Cat is perched in a tree playing his guitar and serenading himself and a canary with a little ditty called "Nature and Me." It is a beautiful day in cartoon-land but Mother Nature, perhaps not a music lover, whips up a lightning-laden thunderstorm and Felix is soon seeking shelter. He finds it at the castle of King Cole, a boastful, fabricating blow-hard. The King's ancestors, tired of hearing the braggart, come out of their pictures as ghostly specters and take the King to the dungeon and pump the gassy hot-air out of him.
Release Date1936-05-29
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count10
Good Old Schooldays
A Aesop's Fables cartoon with the animals going to school and causing mischief.
Release Date1930-03-06
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count1
Barnyard Melody
A cat and mouse nonchalantly dance on roller skates and comically harass Farmer Gray.
Release Date1929-11-23
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count1
Old Hokum Bucket
A slow farm life is turned upside-down thanks to some magic pills....
Release Date1931-03-28
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count1
The Fly Guy
An Aesop's Fables cartoon about a musical fly.
Release Date1931-05-09
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count1
Adventure Girl
Faux documentary told in first-person narration, about an "adventuress" who sets sail to Guatemala with her father and two male crewmen, rescues them when their fresh-water supply is compromised, finds a treasure map, and attempts to steal a fabulous emerald from a ruined temple, much to the aggrevation of a worshipful native princess and her subjects.
Release Date1934-08-17
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count3
Presto-Chango
In this entry in the Aesop's Fables series, a boy and girl cat cannot keep their eyes- and paws- off each other.
Release Date1929-04-13
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count3
The Golden Goose
The old woman who lives in the shoe is a cat. Her son Jack climbs the beanstalk and gets the golden goose.
Release Date1932-12-01
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Skating Hounds
A series of animated short subjects created by Paul Terry and actor-turned-writer Howard Estabrook.
Release Date1929-04-27
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count3
Sunday on the Farm
Silent cartoon.
Release Date1928-09-16
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
The Animal Fair
An ordinary fair, but run by animals.
Release Date1931-01-31
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count4
The Wild Goose Chase
In this Van Beuren cartoon, various animals are singing "Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella" before we go to a couple of cats-one male, one female-looking for the gold pot at the end of the rainbow.
Release Date1932-08-11
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count2
House Cleaning Time
Farmer Alfalfa and his cat are having a wash day and mice starts a soap war.
Release Date1929-07-20
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count2
Japanese Lanterns
5th Cartoon in the Van Beuren Rainbow Parade Series. Retitled "Chinese Lanterns" during World War II.
Release Date1935-03-07
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count5
The Haunted Ship
Waffles the Cat and Don the Dog explore a sunken ship where they meet drunk turtles singing "Sweet Adeline" and a skeletal Davy Jones.
Release Date1930-04-26
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count6
Christmas Night
On Christmas Eve, the Little King sneaks two tramps into the castle. The next morning, the three men are thrilled by the presents Santa left behind.
Release Date1933-12-22
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count4
Cupid Gets His Man
A look into the whole cupid operation; we see how the process is supposed to work, with cupids practicing their archery, and the couples handed off to the stork. But there's one particularly resistant couple (the man is a W.C. Fields caricature) who takes the whole crew to finally corral.
Release Date1936-07-23
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count1
A Lad and His Lamp
Another Van Beuren's mouse cartoon variation of Aladdin's lamp, with a soundtrack added in the late 1940s.
Release Date1929-03-10
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count2
The Bully's End
A farmer, his family and all the barnyard animals are bullied by the rooster, who is vain and mean to everyone. He thinks one of his hens has cheated on him and knocks out the peacock. He can't stand to see 2 ducks in love and beats up the boy duck to steal his girl. The rooster is challenged to a fight by Runty Duck. Bully Rooster gets drunk on gasoline while the rest of the barnyard animals a partying because of the upcoming fight. The fight starts and Runty Duck seems to be getting the best of Bully Rooster. In the last moments, Runty KOs the Rooster and wins. Every one celebrates the win and carries Runty on their shoulders.
Release Date1933-06-15
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count1
Cinderella Blues
The Cinderella story as told by the Van Beuren Studios.
Release Date1931-04-11
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count3
Goode Knight
The classic story of Robin Hood, with Cubby Bear as the prince of thieves.
Release Date1934-03-06
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Deep South
Short subject from Pathe based on the writings of Grantland Rice, primarily remembered for his elegant approach to sportswriting. This was one of the last of the Van Beuren Corporation’s “Song Sketches,” along with another “The Voice of the Sea.”
Release Date1930-10-04
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
The King of Bugs
Early sound cartoon with an all-insect cast. An eager-to-please young bugler inadvertently annoys the king during a parade and tournament, but redeems himself by rescuing the king's daughter, who's been abducted by a really horrid-looking spider.
Release Date1930-12-20
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count2
Silvery Moon
As two feline sweethearts sail along Moonlight Bay, the moon invites them up for a visit. They discover the moon is not made of green cheese, as is rumored, but is actually a land of candy, ice cream and cake.
Release Date1933-01-13
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count5
Bird Scouts
13th Cartoon in the Van Beuren Rainbow Parade Series.
Release Date1935-09-19
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
A Toytown Tale
Late night in the toy shop. The toymaker goes up to bed, leaving his wind-up policeman to guard the shop, and the other toys come to life. First order of business: throw that pesky cop into the glue pot. The wind-up soldiers march around. They pass a doll, and the lead soldier stops them so he can go woo her. He has some success, until they are threatened by an elephant; he sucks up the other soldiers, and our hero cowers in fear. Then a monkey attacks, and our soldier continues not to be brave.
Release Date1931-01-03
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count4
Horses, Horses, Horses
Milton Mouse, the demon rider, stages a one-man round-up, puts the horses into the barn and then calls on Rita, the rancher's daughter. They are getting along famously until terrible Thomas sneaks up, lassos the barn, knocks out Milton, steals Rita, and drives away with his booty.
Release Date1927-05-21
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count1
Radio Racket
The Aesop Sound Fables, while almost forgotten today, produced some of the strangest cartoons during the Depression with dream-like backgrounds, surreal imagery and some of the best cartoon scores.
Release Date1931-03-01
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer
Vote Count3
Gridiron Demons
Cartoon short.
Release Date1928-12-28
DepartmentProduction
JobProducer