Noveltoons is a series of cartoons produced by Paramount Animation from 1943 to 1975. The series was known for bringing to life characters from Harvey Comics, such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Wendy the Good Little Witch, Herman and Katnip, Little Audrey, and Baby Huey, as well as Paramount's own original characters Friendly Fox, Susan, Maria and David, Clippy and Winkie, Chompy Alligator, and Wander. All shorts from Baby Huey and Little Audrey are included. It was the successor to the series Color Classics produced by Fleischer Studios. Several Noveltoons feature characters which originated in Color Classics. This series was also similar to the two series from Warner Bros., Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, in that it features several recurring characters with one general title.
In 1956, Paramount sold all of the pre-October 1950 Noveltoons (ending with Saved by the Bell) to television distributor U.M. & M. TV Corporation. Shortly afterward, UM&M's assets were acquired by National Telefilm Associates. In the 1980s, NTA changed its name to Republic Pictures, and after a brief period of ownership by Spelling Entertainment in 1994, was acquired by Paramount's parent company Viacom, which placed the cartoons back in Paramount's control (Republic Pictures has been renamed Melange Pictures since 2013).
Later in 1962, Paramount sold most of the post-Oct 1950 to pre-March 1962 Noveltoons (beginning with Mice Meeting You and ending with T.V. or No T.V., expect for Nancy Farwell-directed/produced Noveltoons) to Harvey Comics, which was in turn purchased by Classic Media in 2001. Classic Media was purchased by DreamWorks Animation in 2012 (and briefly renamed it DreamWorks Classics), who in 2016 was purchased by Comcast's NBCUniversal and currently distributed by Universal Pictures. Paramount continues to own the post-March 1962 Noveltoons.
Noveltoons has since become a worldwide media franchise due to the huge success of Farwell-directed shorts, spawning several television series, feature films, comic books, music albums, video games, and amusement park rides, as well as serving as Paramount Pictures' flagship franchise. The most famous Noveltoons character, Friendly Fox, is regarded as a cultural icon and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
As of 2016, the series is currently focused to be produced mostly for television and internet, particularly on Netflix, YouTube, Pluto TV, Paramount+ (since 2020), and occasionally theaters and film festivals.
History[]
Early days[]
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Famous Studios era (1943–1955)[]
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Paramount Cartoon New York era (1955–1967)[]
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DePatie-Freleng Enterprises era (1967–1975)[]
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Paramount Animation era (1980–present)[]
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Home media[]
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Shorts[]
- Blackie the Lamb (1943-1947)
- Herman and Katnip (1944-1954)
- Raggedy Ann (1944-1947)
- Dog Face (1945-1949)
- Casper the Friendly Ghost (1945-1949)
- Friendly Fox (1946-1975; 1980-present)
- Barry Bird & Felipe Beaver (1949-1975; 1980-present)
- Buzzy the Crow (1950-1954)
- Little Audrey (1947-1958)
- Baby Huey (1950-1959)
- Tommy Tortoise and Moe Hare (1953-1957)
- Susan, Maria and David (1957-1975; 1980-present)
- Blake the Cat (1957-1975; 1980-present)
- Max Quiz (1958-1975; 1980-present)
- Jackal and Border Collie (1959-1975; 1980-present)
- Dilly & Daria (1960-1975; 1980-present)
- Skit and Skat (1960-1963)
- Goodie the Gremlin (1961-1963)
- Sylvia Barker (1961-1975; 1980-present)
- Mr. Rabbit (1962-1975; 1980-present)
- Clippy and Winkie (1963-1975; 1980-present)
- Chompy Alligator (1963-1975; 1980-present)
- Wander (1964-1975; 1980-present)
- Lovely Miss Donna (1964-1975; 1980-present)
- Nack Wombat (1965-1975; 1980-present)
- Groovy Cow (1966-1975)
- Sandwich Cookers (1967-1975)
Filmography[]
- Main article: Noveltoons filmography
Accolades[]
Inducted into the National Film Registry[]
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Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Cartoon)[]
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Academy Award nominations[]
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Related media[]
Television series[]
Series/movies marked with * are compilations of earlier shorts.
Movies marked with ^ are live-action/animated hybrids.
- The Friendly Fox Show* (1969-1998)
- The Adventures of Sylvia Barker* (1971-1976)
- The Misadventures of Clippy and Winkie (1973-1980)
- The Adventures of Wander* (1977-1981)
- The Noveltoons Show (1981-1983)
- Susan, Maria and David: Mission Rescue (1986-1991)
- Hoppy Tales (1990-1994)
- Toonatics (1992-1999)
- The All-New Modern Madcaps (1993-1996)
- Life of the Noveltoons (1994-1999)
- Friendly & Barry* (1995–1998)
- Noveltoons Mania (2001-2006)
- Noveltoons Kids (2003-2006)
- Nack Wombat's Wacky World (2004-2009)
- The Paramount Live! (2006-2012)
- Friendly's Funhouse (2010-2020)
- The Noveltoons Show (2016-2020)
- The Wackiest World of Noveltoons (2021-2023)
- Maria's Playhouse (2021-present)
- Toonatics Unleashed (2022-present)
Television specials and films[]
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Feature films[]
- Musical Stories (1952)
- Noveltoons: The Very First Movie (1973)*
- Friendly's Island of Wonders (1985)*
- Barry's Frighting Stories (1987)*
- Susan, Maria and David: The Secret Mission (1989)
- Friendly Fox's Wish Quest (1993)
- Toonatics: Journey Around Hollywood (1996)
- Animated Quest^ (1997)
- Hoppy's Big Movie (2000)
- Musical Stories 90th (2002)
- Noveltoons: Wacky & Out!^ (2004)
- Musical Stories: A New Revival (2012)
- Susan, Maria and David: Mission Rescue^ (2021)
- Noveltoons: All Together Now (2022)
Direct-to-video[]
- Noveltoons: Maria and the Magic Lamp (1996)
- Noveltoons: Town Hero (1997)
- A Toonatics Summer Vacation (1998)
- Noveltoons: Friendly of the West (1998)
- Noveltoons: The Lost Treasure (1999)
- Toonatics: The Zany Quest Begins (2000)
- Noveltoons: Biggest Day Ever (2001)
- Noveltoons: The Epic Christmas (2002)
- Noveltoons: Blast in Space (2004)
- Noveltoons: Ooh La La (2005)
- Noveltoons: Hit the Road! (2006)
- Noveltoons: Meet the Past (2013)
More coming soon!
Comic books[]
Gold Key Comics/Whitman[]
- Friendly Fox #1–146 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1964–1984)
- Barry Bird #1–126 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1965–1984)
- Susan, Maria and David #1–87 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1965–1983)
- Felipe Beaver #1–76 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1966–1984)
- Clippy and Winkie #1–56 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1970–1981)
- Sylvia Barker #1–78 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1972–1984)
- Noveltoons #1–42 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1976–1984)
Paramount Comics[]
- Noveltoons #1–TBD (Paramount Comics, 1993–2005)
IDW Publishing[]
- Noveltoons #TBD-TBD (IDW Publishing, 2007–2018)
Worldwide Comics[]
- Noveltoons #274-present (Worldwide Comics, 2020–present)
Video games[]
- Friendly Fox (1983; Atari 2600)
- Sylvia Barker (1984; Atari 2600)
More coming soon!
Broadcast[]
United States[]
- ABC (1969-1984)
- NBC (1984-1986)
- CBS (1986-1998)
- VToons/Nicktoons (1996-present)
- Nickelodeon (1999-present)
- UltraToons (2007-2021)
- NickRewind (2020-present)
- Paramount Kids (2018-present)
- Pluto TV (2019-present)
- MeTV (2021-present)
More coming soon!
Gallery[]
Coming soon!
Trivia[]
- Friendly Fox is officially Paramount Pictures' mascot, although some fans think that position currently belongs to SpongeBob SquarePants.