We've had such enthusiastic reaction to the various reminiscent stories about the animated cartoon business, written by I. KLEIN for CARTOONIST PROfiles, that we're publishing a new article here by Kleiny.
When I abandoned the animated cartoon field to devote my cartoon activities to published cartoons, the movies were as yet without sound. This was in the Autumn of 1925. About two years later, 1927, sound arrived on the movie screens with Al Jolson in "The Jazz Singer". Another year went by and young Walt Disney"s "Steamboat Willie", with sound, created a sensation. It knocked the older animated cartoon producers off their complacent seats. They had to reorganize their studios to make their cartoons talk. In 1932 Walt Disney made a giant stride with his " 3 Little Pigs." This cartoon short made Disney world famous. I learned that this cartoon was directed by Burt Gillett, an animator I had worked with on the old "Krazy Kat" and "Mutt and Jeff" films. I knew him well.
Some of the fellows I had worked with at animation kept in touch with me, particularly Ted Sears, Sid Marcus and Bill Tytla. They kept me informed about the progress of the business. There was talk about my returning to the animation board. But I was not tempted to leave the freedom of free-lance magazine cartooning for a staff job at a studio. Sometime in 1931, an animation cameraman, Clyde Gillett, brother of Burt Gillett, came up to my place. He told me a studio was being organized to produce an animated cartoon series of Peter Arno's "Whoop Sisters". ("The Whoop Sisters" was a famous cartoon series in "The New Yorker"
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