Singing Saps

Singing Saps

February 7, 1930 Theatrical Series Aesop's Fables

Studio
Van Beuren Studios
Distributor
RKO Radio Pictures

Credits

Directing

Director
John Foster, Mannie Davis

Producing

Producer
Amadee J. Van Beuren

Crew

Synchronization
Gene Rodemich
Sound Recording
RCA Photophone System

Production notes

A series of animated short subjects created by Paul Terry and actor-turned-writer Howard Estabrook. Estabrook suggested making a series of cartoons based on Aesop's Fables. Although Terry claimed he had never heard of Aesop, he felt that Estabrook's idea was something worthwhile. Terry immediately began to set up a new studio called Fables Studios and received backing from the Keith-Albee Theatre circuit.

The earliest films were loose adaptations of the actual fables. Later entries usually revolved around cats, mice, and the disgruntled Farmer Al Falfa. Each short concluded with a "moral" that usually had nothing to do with the actual cartoon itself.

In 1929, Terry quit to start his own TerryToons Studios and John Foster took over the series under Amadee J. Van Beuren's brand new Van Beuren Corporation, a renamed Fable Studios. The series finally came to a close in 1933.

Pictures