“Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane has turned his passion for cartoons into a multi-franchise empire. He is taking the journey one step further onto the preservation side. The Seth MacFarlane Foundation is partnering with Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation to fund the first-ever restoration of historically significant animated shorts from the 1920s through the 1940s.
The foundations are committed to honoring some of animation’s earliest work, paving the way for the work MacFarlane is doing today.
“I’m so grateful to Seth MacFarlane for his enthusiasm and his support on these restorations,” Scorsese said in a statement. “What an astonishing experience, to see these remarkable pictures that I experienced for the first time as a child brought back to their full glory. Imagine the reactions of children today! Because the films now seem as fresh as they did when they were newly made.”
The Restored Shorts
The restoration effort includes nine animated films from Max and Dave Fleischer, who created Betty Boop and Koko the Clown. The brothers also shared MacFarlane’s love of Jazz music. Their soundtracks include collaborations with Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, and Don Redman, adding to their historical significance.
“The work Martin Scorsese and his Film Foundation have been doing is essential cinematic preservation,” MacFarlane explained. “I’m honored to partner with them in restoring their first-ever collection of storied animation.”
This project also includes two stop-motion animation shorts directed by George Pal (“Puppetoons”). As well as a “Terrytoon,” produced by Paul Terry. These twelve films were selected for restoration by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation, in collaboration with Paramount Pictures Archives. They were funded by MacFarlane and completed using unique original pre-print elements and/or print sources. Most of these consisted of highly volatile nitrate films, housed at the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Premiering to The Public
Nine of these restorations will play during the TCM Classic Film Festival on Saturday, April 20th at 6:30 PM. The shorts will include an in-person introduction by MacFarlane. Seven out of the nine Fleischer shorts will air including 1928’s “Koko’s Tattoo,” 1935’s “Little Nobody,” and 1936’s “The Little Stranger.” 1936’s “Greedy Humpty Dumpty,” 1937’s “Peeping Penguins,” 1939’s “The Fresh Vegetable Mystery,” and 1939’s “So Does An Automobile.” Alongside 1939’s Terrytoon “The Three Bears,” directed by Mannie Davis, and 1944’s “Two-Gun Rusty,” by George Pal Puppetoon.
We hope that Scorsese is right and that these shorts will bring as much joy to kids today as they brought him as a child.
