Famous Studio
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Famous Studio was the animation studio owned by Paramount Pictures after the company foreclosed on Fleischer Studios and ousted Max and David Flesicher in 1942.
Although the studio still carried much of the staff from the previous regime, animation fans and historians note that its films soon diverged from the previous style. Many of them deride the company style for being being highly formualic and largely oriented towards a children's audience with none of the artistic ambition or sophistication that the previous management strove for.
Major series started under the new management included:
- Baby Huey
- Casper the Friendly Ghost
- Herman and Katnip
- Little Lulu (which was eventually replaced with an imitation called Little Audrey)
In 1955, Paramount sold most of their pre-1951 shorts and cartoons, except for Popeye and Superman, to U.M. & M. T.V. Corp. for television distribution. The Popeye cartoons were acquired by Associated Artists Productions, and the Superman library went to Motion Pictures for Television, producers of the Superman television series.
In 1959, Paramount sold their remaining cartoon film library and the copyrights to their established characters to Harvey Comics. Unfortunately, their attempts at replacement characters proved unsuccessful. By the end in 1967, even the hiring of the promising young Ralph Bakshi seemed to only to give a chance for some abortive experimental subjects before attending to his primary task of closing the studio down.