Classic Animation at the New England Animation Film Festival 2026
TICKETS $10/$9 – Two Showings
Friday, Nov 20 at 6:45pm in the King 4K Screening Room
Saturday, Nov 21, 2:15pm in the King 4K Screening Room
A Compliation Screening of Some of The Most Unique Examples of Animation from the 1920s to the 1940s and World War II.
Many have been beautifully restored.
Total runtime is approximately 1hr 15mins.
It’s the Cats (1926, United States) 9min.
Ko-Ko the Clown and his dog Fitz put on a vaudeville show for a theater full of neighborhood kittens. The two animated performers do stunts onstage, while real kittens and remarkably lifelike cat puppets fill the seats. When Ko-Ko lets loose a barrel of drawn mice, the audience joins the action. The American Film Institute credits brothers Dave and Max Fleischer as directors and Max as producer, with Out of the Inkwell Films and Red Seal Pictures as the production companies. The short captures the Fleischers’ delight in letting drawn characters and live performers share the same world. Originally silent, it survives in a version with sound added later.
The Ducktators (1942, United States) 8min.
A barnyard becomes a miniature theater of World War II when caricatures of Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito rally the flock and try to take over. A peace-loving dove finally fights back, and the cartoon closes with an appeal to buy war bonds and stamps. Directed by Norman McCabe from a story by Melvin Millar, with music by Carl Stalling, this black-and-white Looney Tunes short was produced by Leon Schlesinger’s studio for Warner Bros. Released in August 1942, it shows how quickly Hollywood cartoons turned the war into topical satire. Its depiction of the Japanese character uses racist caricature common in American wartime propaganda.
Falling Hare (1943, United States) 8.5 min.
Bugs Bunny is reading about gremlins at a military airfield when he catches one trying to set off a bomb with a mallet. Bugs gives chase and winds up aboard a runaway bomber, where the little saboteur gets the better of him at nearly every turn. Directed by Bob Clampett and produced by Leon Schlesinger’s studio for Warner Bros., the Merrie Melodies short features Mel Blanc as both Bugs and the gremlin. It takes a bit of wartime aviation folklore, the idea that mischievous creatures were responsible for mechanical trouble, and gives Bugs a rare turn as the flustered victim.
Winter (1930, United States) 7min.
When the wind lets up, woodland animals venture out into the snow to dance and skate. Even the little trees get into the rhythm before threatening clouds send the animals scrambling back to shelter. Directed by Burt Gillett and produced by Walt Disney, this black-and-white Silly Symphony was released by Columbia Pictures and completed Disney’s four-season cycle after Springtime, Summer and Autumn. Bert Lewis’s score drives the action, turning a simple change in the weather into a miniature ballet. It’s an early example of how Disney used the series to build cartoons around music and movement.
One More Time (1931, United States) 7min.
Foxy is a policeman on the beat in a city where even a routine patrol can turn into a musical number. He and Roxy make music together until a thief snatches a man’s watch, sending Foxy and his fellow officers after the robbers. One of only three Merrie Melodies shorts starring Foxy, it came from Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising’s production company, with Ising supervising, Leon Schlesinger producing and Warner Bros. distributing. Friz Freleng and Paul J. Smith animated, and Abe Lyman’s orchestra performed the music. The short comes from the series’ first year, when a featured song could set the pace for a whole cartoon.
Fétiche (The Mascot) (1933, France – Reconstructed 2012) 38min.
A little stuffed dog comes to life and sets out to bring an orange to a sick girl. His search leads him into a strange nocturnal world where he crosses paths with the devil. Stop-motion pioneer Ladislas Starewitch and his daughter Irène made the film independently in France, sharing writing, directing and production duties. Their puppets give the story its distinctive tone, moving from the tenderness of the dog’s mission to the macabre comedy of his nighttime adventures. Distributors substantially shortened the film for its original release. In 2012, Starewitch’s granddaughter Léona Béatrice Martin-Starewitch and François Martin reconstructed the filmmakers’ longer cut, which runs 38 minutes.