Hysterical History
About Hysterical History
A Kartunes short runs American history as a string of anachronisms. Columbus steps ashore into a Paramount newsreel crew. John Alden delivers Miles Standish's proposal and says he would rather have Dorothy Lamour. John Smith, faced with an enormous Pocahontas, climbs back onto the stake. Peter Stuyvesant's peg leg fires like a machine gun. Benjamin Franklin is struck by lightning when he uses the kite key to open his door. At Sutter's creek the Internal Revenue Service arrives by helicopter. Alexander Graham Bell's first call is a pay phone that wants fifty cents. The Statue of Liberty then leads a sing-along of "The Yankee Doodle Boy."
Cast & crew
More about Hysterical History
Isadore Sparber directed. Irving Spector wrote the story. Al Eugster and George Germanetti animated. Robert Owen did the scenics. Winston Sharples wrote the music. Jackson Beck narrates. Jack Mercer, Mae Questel, and Beck supply voices. Paramount released the short on 23 January 1953. It is one of twelve Kartunes, each built toward a community sing.
Themes
Making
Famous Studios made the Kartunes after Paramount lost the Screen Songs name and the bouncing-ball trademark. The series theme was "Sing a Song of Sixpence."
Music
Winston Sharples scored the cartoon. The sing-along is "The Yankee Doodle Boy."
Preservation
Copyright was not renewed. Wikipedia dates the U.S. public-domain status to 1 January 1982. Classic Media's HarveyToons: The Complete Collection (2006) includes the short.
Notes
- The song is George M. Cohan's "The Yankee Doodle Boy.
- In the uncut ending, fireworks form the Paramount mountain. Harvey Films cut that shot from its television print.
- Wikipedia says this is the only Kartunes short in the public domain in the United States.
Scenes
- John Alden shows Priscilla a picture of Dorothy Lamour.
- The IRS helicopter takes James Marshall's gold nugget.
- The Statue of Liberty starts the bouncing-ball chorus.
Also available
- Internet Archive (HystericalHistory)
- HarveyToons: The Complete Collection (Classic Media DVD, 2006)
