Editing Screen Gems (animation studio) (section)

=== Becoming Screen Gems (1933–1942) ===
Charles Mintz Productions was renamed '''Screen Gems, Inc.''' in 1933, although the name had been used in copyrights as early as 1931<ref>{{Cite book |last=Office |first=Library of Congress Copyright |url=https://books.google.com.au/books?redir_esc=y&id=Yc5DAAAAIAAJ&q=Gems#v=snippet&q=Gems&f=false |title=Catalog of Copyright Entries. New Series: 1931 |date=1931 |publisher=Copyright Office, Library of Congress |language=en}}</ref>. The name was originally used in 1933, when [[Columbia Pictures]] acquired a stake in Charles Mintz's animation studio.<ref>{{cite news |date=June 12, 1999 |title=History of Gems |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-jun-12-ca-45573-story.html |access-date=September 17, 2020 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> The name was derived from an early Columbia Pictures slogan, "Gems of the Screen", itself a takeoff on the song "[[Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean]]".<ref>{{cite news |date=October 8, 1939 |title=Juvenile Stars Of These Movies Work As Long As Asked |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3206549/juvenile_stars_of_these_movies_work_as/ |access-date=September 17, 2020 |newspaper=[[Independent Record|The Helena Daily Independent]] |page=4 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> Mintz was nominated for two [[Academy Awards]] for Best Short Subject. His first nomination was in 1934 for ''[[Holiday Land]]'', and he was nominated again in 1937 for ''[[The Little Match Girl#Adaptations|The Little Match Girl]]''. For about a decade, [[Charles Mintz]] produced ''[[Krazy Kat]]'', ''[[Scrappy (cartoon character)|Scrappy]]'', and the ''[[Color Rhapsody]]'' animated short series for Columbia Pictures. Also between 1936 to 1940, several Color Rhapsody films were subcontracted to former contractor Ub Iwerks and produced by his [[Iwerks Studio|animation studio]]. 

The studio's color cartoons were well received, while some other cartoons were not, mainly the later ''Krazy Kat'' and ''Scrappy'' shorts. Animator Isidore Klein was particularly frustrated with the ''Krazy Kat'' cartoons, as they bore little resemblance to Herriman's comic strip by the mid-1930s (despite attempting to make a more faithful cartoon with the 1936 short ''[[Lil' Ainjil]]'', with which Klein was disappointed by the final product).<ref>Maltin 210–11.</ref> Furthermore, Columbia gave Mintz strict financial obligations where they advanced a certain amount of money, resulting in Mintz repeatedly running [[over budget]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maltin |first=Leonard |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Of_Mice_and_Magic/xp9PEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA217&printsec=frontcover |title=Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons; Revised and Updated |last2=Beck |first2=Jerry |date=1987-12-01 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-452-25993-5 |language=en}}</ref> In 1939, after becoming indebted to Columbia and suffering from declining health, Mintz relinquished ownership of his studio and the Screen Gems name to Columbia to settle longstanding financial problems.<ref name="Dobson2010">{{cite book |last=Dobson |first=Nichola |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JVeK2elZxTcC&pg=PA47 |title=The A to Z of Animation and Cartoons |date=April 1, 2010 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-1-4616-6402-4 |pages=47–48}}</ref> He would later pass away on December 30, 1939, from a heart attack. Both ''Krazy Kat'' and ''Scrappy''’s series ended that year and were replaced by the [[Phantasies|Phantasy]] and [[Columbia Fables|Fable]] cartoons in which they were both featured.

By 1940, Columbia oversaw management of the studio following ownership. Director Ben Harrison was let go while the studio's production manager, Jimmy Bronis, became the general manager, but was shortly replaced by Mintz's brother-in-law, George Winkler. In March 1941, Columbia hired [[Frank Tashlin]], previously a writer for [[Walt Disney Productions]] and director for [[Leon Schlesinger Productions]], as the studio's producer.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Barrier |first=Michael |title=MichaelBarrier.com -- Interviews: Frank Tashlin |url=http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Interviews/Tashlin/tashlin_interview.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415163731/http://michaelbarrier.com/Interviews/Tashlin/tashlin_interview.htm |archive-date=April 15, 2019 |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=www.michaelbarrier.com}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Barrier |first=Michael |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hollywood_Cartoons/zDJXnzMh7bkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Home+Explore+Hollywood+Cartoons+American+Animation+in+Its+Golden+Age&pg=PA383&printsec=frontcover |title=Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age |date=2003-11-06 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-802079-0 |language=en}}</ref> Tashlin had a profound effect to the studio, as he planned to revitalize it as a serious rival to other West Coast studios. He hired a large number of displaced animators from the 1941 [[Disney animators' strike]], which included artists such as Phil Duncan, Grant Simmons, Louie Schmitt, [[Volus Jones]], William Shull, Howard Swift, [[John Hubley]], Zack Schwartz, Chic Otterstrom and Basil Davidovich, and returning animators such as [[Emery Hawkins]] and [[Ray Patterson (animator)|Ray Patterson]]. He also directed the short ''The Fox and the Grapes''. Based on the [[The Fox and the Grapes|Aesop fable of the same name]]; the short inadvertently spawned Columbia's most successful characters with ''[[The Fox and the Crow (animated characters)|The Fox and the Crow]]'', a comic duo of a refined Fox and a streetwise Crow. 

Later in October, Columbia reorganized the studio by dismissing the rest of its Mintz-era staff (including Arthur Davis, Manny Gould, [[Lou Lilly]], [[Sid Marcus]], Allen Rose and George Winkler).<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=Animator Profiles: ARTHUR DAVIS {{!}} |url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/animator-profiles-arthur-davis/ |access-date=2025-08-25 |website=cartoonresearch.com}}</ref> Ben Schwalb replaced Winkler as general manager and later Tashlin as producer in April 1942.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=2022-08-13 |title=Pegbar Profiles : Pegbar Profile: Emery Hawkins (Part 2) |url=https://pegbarprofiles.blogspot.com/2022/08/pegbar-profile-emery-hawkins-part-2.html |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=Pegbar Profiles}}</ref> Tashlin delegated directorial duties to Bob Wickersham and Alec Geiss, but would act as a creative supervisor for their cartoons.<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=MOONLIGHTING ANIMATORS IN COMICS: Bob Wickersham {{!}} |url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/moonlighting-animators-in-comics-bob-wickersham/ |access-date=2025-08-25 |website=cartoonresearch.com}}</ref><ref name=":5" />