George Pal Puppetoons

Madcap Models (1941-1943)
Nickname: "The Print Logo Opening", "Cult Opening"

Opening Logo: On the print logo mountain, bordered by 25 stars are the words "Paramount Pictures" followed by Paramount presents GEORGE PAL's mAdcaP mOdELs in TECHNICOLOR (Actually, there's only 1 "m" and it's tall enough to represent the "m" on both words).

Closing Logo: At the end of a cartoon, it would change to a different print logo mountain, with the words "A Paramount Picture". Sometimes it would also say "A George Pal Puppetoon" on the bottom of the mountain.

FX/SFX: Either none or fade in and out.

Variants: Here are a couple examples: A 3D Puppetoon version with thunder clapping in the beginning of "Hoola Boola". The logo placed on the pie pan in "Japser and the Haunted House". The bark of tree with the logo in "Mr. Strauss Takes a Walk". Often in cartoons like "Sky Princess", it would be on the cover of a storybook. Some cartoons, such as "Rhythm in the Ranks" say "A Paramount Picture" in the beginning.

Music/Sounds: The opening music of a cartoon. Often at the end would be a 4-note fanfare.

Availability: Often, U.M.&M. and sometimes NTA would plaster these openings with a retitled opening or black bars, similar to the jobs done on color Fleischer/Famous cartoon shorts. Depending on the PD tape you buy, you probably will get a TV print, but if you're lucky enough, you'd get a Paramount opening. If you really want to see these logos in action, rent the Special Expanded Edition DVD of "The Puppetoon Movie", and search through some of the Puppetoons.

Editor's Note: None.

George Pal Puppetoons (1941-1943)
Nicknames: "The Marching Puppets", "The Marching Puppetoons", "The Marching Puppetoon Characters"

Opening Logo: On a brown snowcapped mournain bordered by 24 stars in a red background are the words "Paramount Pictures". Then, it would fade out and what fades in is a rapidly zooming down of an Oscar on a green statue holder, saying: "Paramount presents a GEORGE PAL PUPPETOON in TECHNICOLOR". Under it are the characters including Mr. Strauss, Jasper, Professor Scarecrow, Speedy, a Screwball, Jim Dandy, a duck, a dog, etc., then a robot is last in line and runs to join the marching, which then fades out to the production credits of the cartoon.

Closing Logo: At the end of a cartoon would be a superimposed print logo with the words "A Paramount Picture".

FX/SFX: The zooming down shot of the statue and the stop-motion animation of the marching characters.

Music/Sounds: An introduction fanfare followed by a lively march piece called the "Puppetoon Signature".

Music/Sounds Variant: In "Rome-meow and Juile-Cat", the opening notes to the soundtrack plays.

Availability: On UM&M prints, the opening is completely plastered by refilmed title cards with the UM&M logo, common on PD tapes. However some PD tapes have prints with this opening intact. In the Paramount Puppetoons compiled on the "Puppetoon Movie", the Paramount references are eliminated and you only hear the cymbal note of the introduction notes because the Paramount logo is cut out at the beginning, and the end title is replaced by the main title of the cartoon. If you really want to see the original opening, rent the Special Expanded Edition DVD of "The Puppetoon Movie" and watch the bonus Puppetoons compiled instead of the ones complied on the feature film. Notable Puppetoons to use it are "Jasper in a Jam" and "Tubby the Tuba". All cartoons from all two volumes of The Puppetoon Movie released on Blu-Ray had all of original titles intact.

Editor's Note: None.

Puppetoon Cold Opening (1940s)
Nickname: "Cult Opening #2"

Opening Logo: On the print logo or custom logo mountain, bordered by 25 stars is the words "Paramount Pictures" (again, it would sometimes say "A Paramount Picture" instead), followed by: "Paramount presents a GEORGE PAL PUPPETOON in TECHNICOLOR".

Closing Logo: At the end of a cartoon it would change to "A Paramount Picture" sometimes it would also say "A George Pal Puppetoon" on the bottom of the mountain.

Variant: "Date With Duke" has the logo and titles on a book, and we see the Paramount print mountain superimposed next to Duke Ellington at the end. Also this cartoon has the byline "Paramount Pictures presents" on the series title card.

Music/Sounds: The opening music to the cartoon.

Availability: Appeared on later George Pal Puppetoons, most notably "John Henry and the Inky-Poo" and "Date With Duke". UM&M prints have the refilmed title cards obscuring Paramount references while NTA has the black bars eliminating references to Paramount. "The Puppetoon Movie" version of "John Henry" has just the main title card. If Paramount or Lionsgate properly restores the cartoons, the UM&M/NTA prints would be more and more rare. Can be seen on various PD tapes.

Editor's Note: None.