Gerald McBoing-Boing
Encyclopedia
Gerald McBoing-Boing is an animated short film produced by United Productions of America
United Productions of America
United Productions of America, better known as UPA, was an American animation studio of the 1940s through present day, beginning with industrial films and World War II training films. In the late 1940s, UPA produced theatrical shorts for Columbia Pictures, most notably the Mr. Magoo series. In...

 (UPA) and given wide release by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...

 on November 2, 1950. The winner of the 1950 Academy Award for Best Animated Short
Academy Award for Animated Short Film
The Academy Award for Animated Short Film is an award which has been given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as part of the Academy Awards every year since the 5th Academy Awards, covering the year 1931-32, to the present....

, Gerald McBoing-Boing is the story of a little boy who speaks through sound effects instead of spoken words.

It was adapted by Phil Eastman and Bill Scott from a story by Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....

, directed by Robert Cannon, and produced by John Hubley
John Hubley
John Hubley was an American animation director, art director, producer and writer of traditional animation films known for both his formal experimentation and for his emotional realism which stemmed from his tendency to cast his own children as voice actors in his films.- Biography :Hubley was...

. In 1994, it was voted #9 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons
The 50 Greatest Cartoons
The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals is a 1994 book by animation historian Jerry Beck, consisting of articles about, and rankings of fifty highly-regarded animated short films made in North America, as well as many other notable cartoons. It generated a significant...

 of all time by members of the animation field. In 1995, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...

 by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...

 as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Original recording, UPA film and sequels

Dr. Seuss's story had originally appeared on a children's record in 1950, scored by Gail Kubik
Gail Kubik
Gail Thompson Kubik was an American composer, motion picture scorist, violinist, and teacher. He studied at the Eastman School of Music, the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago with Leo Sowerby, and Harvard University with Walter Piston and Nadia Boulanger...

, issued by Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...

, and read by radio personality Harold Peary
Harold Peary
Harold Peary was an American actor, comedian and singer in radio, film, television and animation remembered best as Throckmorton P...

.

This film was the first successful theatrical cartoon produced by UPA, after their initial experiments with a short series of cartoons featuring Columbia Pictures stalwarts The Fox and the Crow
The Fox and the Crow
The Fox and the Crow are a pair of anthropomorphic cartoon characters created by Frank Tashlin for the Screen Gems studio. The characters, the refined but gullible Fauntleroy Fox and the streetwise Crawford Crow, appeared in a series of animated short subjects released by Screen Gems through its...

. It was an artistic attempt to break away from the strict realism in animation that had been developed and perfected by Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...

. While Disney's animation methods produced lush and awe-inspiring images, it was felt that realism in the medium of animation was a limiting factor. Cartoons did not have to obey the rules of the real world (as the short films of Tex Avery
Tex Avery
Frederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...

 and their cartoon physics
Cartoon physics
Cartoon physics is a jocular system of laws of physics that supersedes the normal laws, used in animation for humorous effect. Normal physical laws are referential , but cartoon physics are preferential ....

 proved), and so UPA experimented with a non-realistic style that depicted caricatures rather than lifelike representations.

This was a major step in the development of limited animation
Limited animation
Limited animation is a process of making animated cartoons that does not redraw entire frames but variably reuses common parts between frames. One of its major trademarks is the stylized design in all forms and shapes, which in the early days was referred to as modern design...

—though despite the abuse of the form that would arise in the future because of cost-cutting, Gerald McBoing-Boing was meant as an artistic exercise rather than merely a way of producing cheap cartoons.

The story describes one Gerald McCloy, who at the age of 2 years old begins "talking" in the form of sound effects, his first word being the titular "boing boing." His panicked father calls the doctor, who informs him that there's nothing he can do about it. As the boy grows up, he picks up more sounds and is able to make communicative gestures, but is still incapable of uttering a single word of the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

. Despite this, he is admitted to a general public school, where he is chided by his peers and given the derogatory name "Gerald McBoing-Boing." After startling, and angering, his father, he decides to run away and hop a train to an unknown location. However, just before he catches the train, a talent scout from the NBC Radio Network
NBC Red Network
The NBC Red Network was one of the two original radio networks of the National Broadcasting Company. After NBC was required to divest itself of its Blue Network , the Red Network continued as the NBC Radio Network.It, along with the Blue Network, were the first two commercial radio networks in the...

 (as identified by the NBC chimes
NBC chimes
The NBC chimes, named for the radio and television network on which they have been used, consists of a succession of three distinct pitches: G3, E4, and C4 , sounded in that order, creating an arpeggiated C-major chord in the second inversion, within about two seconds time, and reverberating for...

) discovers him. He is then hired as NBC's foley artist
Foley artist
Foley is the reproduction of everyday sounds for use in filmmaking. These reproduced sounds can be anything from the swishing of clothing and footsteps to squeaky doors and breaking glass. The best foley art is so well integrated into a film that it goes unnoticed by the audience. It helps to...

, performing shows for a division of the company labeled "XYZ" on the microphones, and becomes very famous, with the last scene showing him riding with his parents in a very expensive automobile among throngs of fans.

UPA produced three follow-up McBoing-Boing shorts: Gerald McBoing-Boing's Symphony (1953), How Now Boing Boing (1954), and Gerald McBoing-Boing on the Planet Moo (1956), an Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

 nominee. The second and third films maintained the Dr. Seuss-style rhyming narration, but were not based on his work. The final film abandoned this approach.

All four Gerald McBoing-Boing shorts were released in 1980 on home video under the title Columbia Pictures Presents Cartoon Adventures Starring Gerald McBoing Boing. The shorts looked far from their best, especially "On Planet Moo", which was squeezed to fit the CinemaScope frame to standard TV screen size. It was reissued in 1987 as part of RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video's "Magic Window" series of children's videotapes and fell out of print in 1995.

The first short was included as a special feature on Sony's 2001 DVD release of The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. is a musical fantasy film, the only feature film ever written by Theodor Seuss Geisel , who was responsible for the story, screenplay and lyrics...

. All but the second were included in the special features of the two-disc special edition of the DVD Hellboy
Hellboy (film)
Hellboy is a 2004 supernatural superhero film, starring Ron Perlman, John Hurt and Selma Blair, directed by Guillermo del Toro. The film is based on the Dark Horse Comics work Hellboy: Seed of Destruction by Mike Mignola. It was produced by Revolution Studios, and distributed by Columbia Pictures...

(released July 27, 2004), as the cartoon can be seen playing on TV monitors in the background in several scenes. In January 2006, Sony reissued the four shorts on DVD, featuring cleaned-up prints and all presented in their original aspect ratio.

A revised reprint of the 1952 book adaptation of Gerald McBoing-Boing appeared in 2000 (ISBN 0-679-89140-4).

McBoing-Boing is also featured as Tiny Tim in the 1962 NBC Television Special Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol, a rare speaking part for the character. On the 2001 DVD release, an animated short was included that features Mr. Magoo
Mr. Magoo
Quincy Magoo is a cartoon character created at the UPA animation studio in 1949. Voiced by Jim Backus, Quincy Magoo is a wealthy, short-statured retiree who gets into a series of sticky situations as a result of his nearsightedness, compounded by his stubborn refusal to admit the problem...

 babysitting for McBoing-Boing.

The Gerald McBoing-Boing Show (1956–1957)

In 1956, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 created a half-hour Gerald McBoing-Boing Show, with well-known radio announcer Bill Goodwin
Bill Goodwin
Bill Goodwin was for many years the announcer and regular character of the Burns and Allen radio program, and subsequently The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show on television from 1950-51...

 narrating. Broadcast at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday evenings, it was a showcase for UPA's cartoons, including Dusty of the Circus, the Twirlinger Twins, and Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy is a traditional, popular puppet show featuring the characters of Mr. Punch and his wife, Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically the anarchic Punch and one other character...

. The program proved too expensive to continue and lasted only three months.

The episodes were repeated on Friday nights in the summer of 1957. Thus, The Gerald McBoing-Boing Show apparently became the first cartoon series broadcast regularly during prime time
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...

, preceding The Flintstones
The Flintstones
The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...

by two seasons.

The "actor" Gerald McBoing-Boing, as opposed to the "character", also appeared in the 1962 TV special Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol
Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol
Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol is a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous short story A Christmas Carol starring the character Mr. Magoo...

, playing the part of Tiny Tim
Tiny Tim (A Christmas Carol)
Timothy Cratchit, called "Tiny Tim", is a fictional character from the 1843 novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. He is a minor character, the young son of Bob Cratchit, and is seen only briefly, but serves as an important symbol of the consequences of the protagonist's choices...

. As Tiny Tim, he sang and spoke in a normal, child-like voice. Later, during curtain calls, he still uses the normal voice, showing that it is the "character" of Gerald that "speaks in boings and whistles", not the "real" boy.

There is also a Mr Magoo short in the bonus features of the Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol dvd that features Gerald McBoing-Boing being babysat by the clumsy Magoo. The short is titled "Magoo Meets McBoing-Boing".

Gerald McBoing-Boing (2005–2007)

A series based on the original cartoon started airing on Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (United States)
Cartoon Network is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting which primarily airs animated programming. The channel was launched on October 1, 1992 after Turner purchased the animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1991...

 (United States) on August 22, 2005, as part of their Tickle-U programming block, and aired on Teletoon/Télétoon (Canada) on August 29, 2005. Each eleven-minute episode features a series of vignettes with Gerald, of which the "fantasy tales" are done in Seussian rhyme. There are also sound checks, gags, and "real-life" portions of the show.

Gerald still only makes sounds, but now has two speaking friends, Janine and Jacob, as well as a dog named Burp, who only burps ( and someone always says "excuse me" after burp burps) Gerald's parents (names unknown) complete the regular cast, although his mother has black hair in this series instead of blonde. The series was produced in Canada by Cookie Jar Entertainment
Cookie Jar Entertainment
The Cookie Jar Group is an American and Canadian producer of children’s entertainment, consumer products and educational materials...

, and directed by Robin Budd and story edited/written by John Derevlany
John Derevlany
John Derevlany is a writer, director, and performer best known for playing "Crackers the Corporate Crime Fighting Chicken" in Michael Moore's TV Nation. He also created the preschool dance and movement show Animal Jam for Jim Henson Productions and the Discovery Channel, wrote many episodes of...

. The animation was done by Mercury Filmworks in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

.

External links

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