Toby the Pup

Toby the Pup is an animated cartoon character created by animators Sid Marcus, Dick Huemer, and Art Davis. He starred in a series of early sound shorts produced by Charles B. Mintz for RKO Radio Pictures. The series lasted from 1930 to 1931.[1] Twelve cartoons were produced, though only seven still survive today. The character was voiced by Dick Huemer.[2]

A Toby the Pup promotional poster

History

In 1930, Charles Mintz, while simultaneously producing the Krazy Kat cartoon series for Columbia, decided to create an additional series to be distributed through RKO Radio Pictures. He hired two Fleischer animators, Dick Huemer and Sid Marcus, and assigned them to work with Art Davis to create the new series. Marcus, who worked for the Mintz studio when it was still located in New York City, devised Toby the Pup. Toby was very similar to Fleischer's Bimbo in both personality and character design. He wore a custodian hat and a pair of shoes that looked like dog feet.

Despite the series' success, it concluded after only twelve films; most likely because of RKO's ties with the Van Beuren studio. However, by the time the series ended, Mintz was already negotiating with Columbia for backing on a second cartoon series to be headed again by Huemer, Marcus, and Davis. For this series, Huemer devised a new character, a small boy named Scrappy.

Today, only seven of the Toby cartoons are known to exist.

  • A fragment of The Museum is held by the Library of Congress. Prints of the short have turned up in a few private film collections in the United States and four were discovered in Europe.
  • UCLA currently owns a sound print of Circus Time.
  • Cartoon Factory, a syndicated compilation of public domain cartoons distributed throughout Europe by Lobster Films, features three Toby cartoons: The Milkman, Down South, and Halloween.
  • In 2005, a full 16mm print of The Brown Derby was found in a private collection in San Marcos, Texas, by Toby Heidel. The print is currently housed at UCLA and restoration is being attempted by Jere Guldin.
  • A substantial fragment of The Showman has also surfaced.

Toby can be seen dancing in one of the scenes of the movie, Cool World.

Filmography

1930
# Film Original release date Notes
1 The Museum August 19, 1930 First Toby the Pup cartoon.
2 The Fiddler September 1, 1930 Lost cartoon-
3 The Miner October 1, 1930 Lost cartoon-
4 The Showman November 22, 1930 A silent print with no opening or ending titles was found in 2010.
5 The Bug House December 7, 1930 Lost cartoon-

1931
# Film Original release date Notes
6 Circus Time January 25, 1931 A sound unedited print is held by UCLA in 35mm.
7 The Milkman February 25, 1931 A French 35mm release print survives, held by Lobster Films.
8 The Brown Derby March 22, 1931 A full 16mm print was found in 2005 in San Marcos, Texas.
9 Down South April 15, 1931 A French 16mm release print survives, held by Lobster Films.
10 Hallowe'en May 1, 1931 A French 35mm release print survives, held by Lobster Films.
11 Aces Up May 16, 1931 Lost cartoon
12 The Bull Thrower June 7, 1931 Last Toby the Pup cartoon. Lost cartoon.

See also

References
  1. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 147–148. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  2. Scott, Keith (3 October 2022). Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, 1930-70 Vol. 1. BearManor Media. p. 272.
  • Maltin, Leonard (1987): Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. Penguin Books.


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