My Old Kentucky Home (1926 film)

My Old Kentucky Home is a short animation film originally released in June 1926, by Max and Dave Fleischer of Fleischer Studios as one of the Song Car-Tunes series.[1] The series, between May 1924 and September 1926, eventually totaled 36 films, of which 19 were made with sound. This cartoon features the original lyrics of "My Old Kentucky Home" (1853) by Stephen Foster, and was recorded in the Lee de Forest Phonofilm sound-on-film system.

My Old Kentucky Home
The title card.
Directed byDave Fleischer
Produced byMax Fleischer
Music byLou Fleischer
song "My Old Kentucky Home" by Stephen Foster
Production
company
Distributed byRed Seal Pictures
Release date
June 1926
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

My Old Kentucky Home appears to be the first attempt at animated dialogue in cartoon history, as an unnamed dog, an early prototype of future studio mascot Bimbo, in the film mouths the words "Follow the ball, and join in, everybody" in remarkable synchronization though the animation was somewhat limited, making sure that lip-synch was synchronized perfectly. The Fleischers had previously started the follow the bouncing ball gimmick in their Song Car-Tune My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean (released September 15, 1925).

This film came two years after the Fleischers started the Song Car-Tune series in May 1924, and two years before Paul Terry's Dinner Time (September 1928) and Disney's Steamboat Willie (November 1928).

A clip from the film is used in the opening credits of the Futurama episode "Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?"

Reception

Motion Picture News (March 23, 1926): "The old familiar favorite 'My Old Kentucky Home' furnishes the subject for this Max Fleischer Song Car-Tune. The verses are shown in the usual manner and the comedy handling of the chorus shows a darky girl leaping from word to word doing stunts... This should prove one of the most popular of the series."[2]

The Film Daily (March 28, 1926): Ko-Ko and his quartet render this time the old southern classic 'My Old Kentucky Home', with the help of the audience of course. Fleischer has a new instruction for the opening, showing the quartet as a band marching and playing, and winding up on the stage of the theatre. There is always a humorous touch added to the chorus of the song. This time in the shape of a little pickaninny who dances along on top of the words."[2]

References
  1. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 44–45. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  2. Sampson, Henry T. (1998). That's Enough, Folks: Black Images in Animated Cartoons, 1900-1960. Scarecrow Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0810832503.


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