Sound Car-Tunes

Ko-Ko Song Car-Tunes, Song Car-Tunes, or (some sources erroneously say) Sound Car-Tunes, is a series of short three-minute animation films produced by Max Fleischer and Dave Fleischer between May 1924 and September 1927, pioneering the use of the "Follow the Bouncing Ball" device used to lead audiences in theater sing-alongs. The Song Car-Tunes also pioneered the application of sound film to animation, four years before Paul Terry's Dinner Time (released October 14, 1928) and Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie (released November 18, 1928).

Between 45 and 50 Song Car-tunes were produced and released between 1924 and 1927. The first, Come Take a Trip on My Airship was released March 9, 1924. Beginning in 1925, an estimated 16 Song Car-tunes were produced using the Phonofilm sound-on-film process developed by Lee DeForest beginning with Come Take a Trip on My Airship. The remaining 31 titles were released silent, designed to be played with live music in theaters.

The Fleischer brothers partnered with DeForest, Edwin Miles Fadiman, and Dr. Hugo Riesenfeld to form Red Seal Pictures Corporation, which owned 36 theaters on the East Coast, extending as far west as Cleveland, Ohio. In September 1926, the U.S. division of DeForest Phonofilm and Red Seal Pictures Corporation filed for bankruptcy, and the Fleischers ended their use of the Phonofilm system, releasing their last sound Song Car-Tune, By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1927), just as the sound era was about to begin. In early 1929, the Fleischers signed a Paramount Pictures contract. Former Fleischer partner, Alfred Weiss re-released some of the silent Song Car-Tunes between 1929 and 1932 with new soundtracks, new animation, and new main titles that exploited the reputation of the popular song films with the elimination of the names of Max and Dave Fleischer.

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