Editing Screen Gems (animation studio) (section)

=== Decline and closure (1942–1946) ===
Tashlin's tenure at Screen Gems, despite being an influential figure, would be short-lived as he left in June 1942 following an argument with Columbia higher-ups.<ref name=":5" /><ref name="Sigall3">Sigall (2005), pp. 71–72</ref> When interviewed by Michael Barrier, he said that the management "can't stay happy long when things are going well, so we ended up in another fracas and I left."<ref name=":3" /> He soon returned to [[Warner Bros. Cartoons|Leon Schlesinger Productions]], joining several ex-Columbia artists who successfully made the transition. Meanwhile, Schwalb was replaced by Dave Fleischer, previously the co-founder and head supervisor of [[Fleischer Studios]]. Fleischer had already been hired as an executive producer in April of that year, with him producing the 1942 WWII short ''Song of Victory'' under Tashlin's supervision. By the end of the year, though, he took full control of studio amid Tashlin's absence. To further increase cartoon production, Hubley and animator Paul Sommer were teamed up as co-directors, though Hubley later left when he enlisted in the [[United States Army]], leaving Sommer to direct solo.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 11, 2023 |title=The National Archives |url=https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=3&cat=all&tf=F&q=John+hubley&bc=&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=1775207&rlst=3604667,3969509,1775207}}</ref>

Hubley described Fleischer as being very detached from his employees, and called him "one of the world's intellectual lightweights".  Howard Swift also recalled how Fleischer fancied himself as a good editor by editing completed cartoons in a way that broke continuity.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=MichaelBarrier.com -- Interviews: John Hubley |url=http://michaelbarrier.com/Interviews/Hubley/Hubley.html |access-date=2023-08-01 |website=michaelbarrier.com}}</ref> Fleischer's hands-off involvement gave the staff having more creative freedom, albeit without a clear direction to where the studio should go. He was fired in late-1943 and was succeeded by a revolving door of producers.<ref name=":7" /> Initially, Fleischer was replaced by studio musician Paul Worth, who was then replaced by ''[[Three Stooges]]'' producer [[Hugh McCollum]] after Worth was convicted of [[forgery]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yowp |date=2021-04-24 |title=Tralfaz: Finding a Columbia Favorite |url=https://tralfaz.blogspot.com/2021/04/finding-columbia-favorite.html |access-date=2025-08-25 |website=Tralfaz}}</ref> and then by ex-Schlesinger assistants Ray Katz and Henry Binder. Geiss was also fired following a series of poorly received cartoons, with his role as director given to Swift. The studio also created several more recurring characters during this time period, including ''Tito and His Burrito, [[Flippity and Flop|Flippy and Flop]], Igor Puzzlewitz, [[Willoughby's Magic Hat|Willoughby Wren]], Professor Small and Mr. Tall'', and an adaptation of [[Al Capp|Al Capp's]] comic series ''[[Li'l Abner]]'', with varying levels of success.

Tashlin's departure had an immediate effect to the studio's direction, with animation historians noting that the quality of their cartoons had declined soon after. Film historian [[Leonard Maltin]] claimed that after Tashlin left, the studio "tried to maintain some spirit on-screen, with varying results. Screen Gems cartoons of the 1940's feature some of the least-endearing cartoon characters ever created and suffer from misguided story direction."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maltin |first=Leonard |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Of_Mice_and_Magic/xp9PEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA219&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> Hubley later told Barrier that he disliked his work at the studio, and alluded that Columbia did not like the cartoons they were making.<ref name=":4" /> Capp was also reportedly displeased with the quality of the ''Li'l Abner'' cartoons, which were discontinued after five cartoons.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maltin |first=Leonard |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Of_Mice_and_Magic/xp9PEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA220&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> Beginning in 1945, all mentions of Columbia were removed in any future cartoons released.

In addition to Tashlin's departure, several of the more daring ex-Disney animators that were hired also left for other studios, including Duncan, Davidovich, Schwartz, Hawkins, and Patterson. Columbia was unable to find any more experienced artists who were willing to stay for the long term, but the studio did manage to gain some leverage. [[Bob Clampett]] was brought in as a gag writer before setting up his own brief animation studio for [[Republic Pictures]], while Warner writers [[Michael Maltese]] and [[Tedd Pierce]] were said to have moonlighted for a few cartoons.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leonard. |first=Maltin |url=https://archive.org/details/ofmicemagic00leon |title=Of mice and magic : a history of American animated film |date=1980 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=0070398356 |oclc=702546548}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Beck |first=Jerry |author-link=Jerry Beck |author2=Amidi, Amid |author2-link=Amid Amidi |title=It's a Grand Old Nag |url=http://www.cartoonbrew.com/brewtv/grandoldnag-8686.html |access-date=2026-03-06 |website=Cartoon Brew |publisher=}}</ref> Sid Marcus also returned as a storyman in 1943, before being promoted to director in 1945 after Bob Wickersham’s departure. [[Alex Lovy]] would succeed director Howard Swift. Walter Lantz composer [[Darrell Calker]] was also brought in to score music when [[Eddie Kilfeather]] retired after suffering a stroke in 1946.<ref>''The Oregonian'', January 14, 1950, page seven, obituary</ref>

Screen Gems, in an attempt to keep costs low, was the last American animation studio to stop producing black-and-white cartoons. The final black-and-white Phantasy shorts appeared in 1946, over three years after the second-longest holdouts ([[Famous Studios]] and [[Leon Schlesinger Productions]]), with the subsequent shorts being produced in [[Cinecolor]]. Columbia, still dissatisfied with the studio's output, decided to shut its doors for good in November, while continuing to release a backlog of shorts until 1949.<ref>{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Bob |author-link=Bob Thomas (reporter) |date=November 28, 1946 |title=Future of Movie Cartoons Gloomy As Costs Increase |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3206620/future_of_movie_cartoons_gloomy_as/ |access-date=September 11, 2015 |work=[[Paris News|The Paris News]] |page=13 |via=Newspapers.com |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> The studio name was later reused for a television division, while the former Seward Street facility, which Screen Gems occupied since 1940, was briefly taken over by [[Walter Lantz Productions]] in 1947.<ref>{{cite web |date=March 3, 2019 |title=The 861 Seward Story |url=https://www.scrappyland.com/blog/2019/03/03/the-861-seward-story/}}</ref>