Aesop's Fables (film series)

Aesop's Fables (later renamed Aesop's Sound Fables) is a series of animated short subjects, created by American cartoonist Paul Terry. Produced from 1921 to 1933, the series includes Closer than a Brother (1925), The Window Washers (1925), Small Town Sheriff (1927), Dinner Time (1928), and Gypped in Egypt (1930). Dinner Time is the first cartoon with a synchronized soundtrack ever released to the public. The series provided inspiration to Walt Disney to found the Laugh-O-Gram Studio in Kansas City, Missouri, where he created Mickey Mouse.

History
Terry was inspired to make the series by young actor-turned-writer Howard Estabrook, who suggested making a series of cartoons based on Aesop's Fables. Although Terry later claimed he had never heard of Aesop, he said that Estabrook's idea was worthwhile. Terry immediately began to set up a new studio called Fables Studios, Inc. and received backing from the Keith-Albee Theatre circuit.

The series launched on May 13, 1921, with The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs. Only the earliest films are loose adaptations of the actual fables and later entries usually revolve around cats, mice, and the disgruntled Farmer Al Falfa. Terry had developed Farmer Al in the previous decade, and this series would be his most prolific appearance.

Each short concludes with a moral that usually has nothing to do with the actual cartoon itself. Terry staffer Mannie Davis once remarked that the morals were even "funnier than the whole picture itself" and Terry said "The fact that they're ambiguous is the thing that made 'em funny". Morals include "Go around with a chip on your shoulder and someone will knock your block off" or "Marriage is a good institution, but who wants to live in an institution?"

The series proved to be enormously popular with the public during the 1920s. Walt Disney admitted that his earliest ambition was to produce cartoons of comparable quality to Paul Terry. With the popularity of Al Jolson's part-talkie The Jazz Singer in 1927, as well as the huge success of the first all-talkie Lights of New York in 1928, producer Amadee J. Van Beuren realized the potential of sound films and bought Fables Studios to produce sound animation films. Van Beuren, now owner of the newly-named Van Beuren Studios, urged Terry to add the innovation to his films. Terry argued that adding sound would only complicate the production process, but ended up doing so anyway, and the series would now be renamed Aesop's Sound Fables.

Released in October 1928, Dinner Time is the first cartoon with a synchronized soundtrack ever released to the public. However, the film was overshadowed by the release of Disney's Steamboat Willie on November 18, 1928. Fable Studios did not cease production of silent cartoons until the release of Presto-Chango on April 14, 1929. The series also includes Closer than a Brother (1925), The Window Washers (1925), Small Town Sheriff (1927), Gypped in Egypt (1930), Cinderella Blues (1931), The Wild Goose Chase (1932), and Silvery Moon (1933).

In 1929 Terry quit, starting his own TerryToons Studios, and John Foster took over the series under the Van Beuren Corporation, formerly Fable Studios, Inc. The series finally came to a close in 1933. The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) lists 447 titles from 1920 to 1929 under the production company name of Aesop Fables Studio, and 279 titles under Van Beuren Studios from 1928 to 1936. <!-- Incomplete list, and is obvious copy/paste:

Filmography
1921 The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg Mice In Council The Rooster And The Eagle The Ants and the Grasshopper Cats at Law The Lioness And The Bugs The Country Mouse And City Mouse The Cat And The Canary The Fox And The Crow The Donkey In Lion's Skin Mice at War The Hare And Frogs The Fashionable Fox The Hermit And The Bear The Hare And The Tortoise The Wolf And The Crane The Fox and the Goat Venus And The Cat The Frog And The Ox The Dog And The Bone The Cat And The Monkey The Owl And The Grasshopper The Woman And The Hen The Fly And The Ant The Frogs That Wanted A King The Conceited Donkey The Wolf And The Kid The Wayward Dog The Cat And The Mice

1922 The Dog And The Flea The Bear And The Bees The Miller And His Donkey The Fox And The Grapes The Villain In Disguise The Dog And The Thief The Tiger And The Donkey The Cat And The Swordfish The Spendthrift The Farmer And The Ostrich The Dissatisfied Cobbler The Lion And The Mouse The Rich Cat And The Poor Cat The Wolf In Sheep's Clothing The Wicked Cat The Boy and His Dog The Eternal Triangle The Model Diary Love at First Sight The Hunter And His Dog The Dog And The Wolves The Maid And The Millionaire The Farmer And His Cat The Cat And The Pig Crime In A Big City The Brewing Trouble The Dog And The Fish The Mischievous Cat The Worm That Turned The Boastful Cat The Country Mouse And City Cat The Farmer And The Mice The Fearless Fido The Mechanical Horse The Boy and the Bear Chemistry Lesson The Two Explorers The Two Slick Traders The Two Of A Trade The Big Flood The Romantic Mouse The Henpecked Henry The Hated Rivals The Elephant's Trunk The Enchanted Fiddle The Rolling Stone Friday The Thirteenth The Fortune Hunters The Man Who Laughs Henry's Busted Romance Two Trappers The Dog's Paradise The Frog And The Catfish

1923 Cheating the Cheaters A Stone Age Romeo A Fisherman's Jinx A Raisin and a Cake of Yeast The Gliders Troubles On The Ark The Mysterious Hat The Traveling Salesman The Spider And The Fly The Sheik The Alley Cat Farmer Al Falfa's Bride Day By Day in Every Way One Hard Pull The Gamblers The Jolly Rounders Pharaoh's Tomb The Mouse Catcher A Fishy Story Smart Salesman Spooks Amateur Night On The Ark The Stork's Mistake Springtime The Burglar Alarm The Beauty Parlor The Covered Pushcart The Pace That Kills Mysteries Of The Seas The Marathon Dancers The Pearl Divers The Bad Bandit The Great Explorers The Nine Of Spades The Cat That Failed The Walrus Hunters The Cat's Revenge Love In A Cottage Derby Day The Cat's Whiskers Aged In The Wood The High Flyers The Circus A Barnyard Rodeo Do Women Pay? Farmer Al Falfa's Pet Cat Happy Go Luckies The Five Fifteen The Best Man Wins A Dark Horse The Cat That Came Back The Morning After

1924 Five Orphans Of The Storm The Good Old Days The Animals' Fair The Black Sheep Good Old College Days The Rat's Revenge Wild West A Rural Romance The African Huntsman Captain Kidder Herman The Great Mouse All Star Cast Why Mice Leave Home From Rags to Riches and Back Again The Champion Runnin' Wild If Noah Lived Today A Trip to the Pole An Ideal Farm Homeless Pups When Winter Comes The Jealous Fisherman The Jolly Jail Bird One Good Turn Deserves Another The Flying Carpet The Organ Grinder That Old Can Of Mine Home Talent The Body In The Bag Desert Sheiks A Woman's Honor The Sport of Kings Flying Fever Amelia Comes Back House Cleaning The Barnyard Olympics A Message From the Sea In The Good Old Summer Time The Mouse That Turned A Lighthouse By the Sea Hawks Of The Sea Noah's Outing Black Magic The Cat And The Magnet Monkey Business She Knew Her Man Good Old Circus Days Lumber Jacks Noah's Athletic Club Mysteries Of Old Chinatown Down On The Farm On The Ice Sharp Shooters She's In Again One Game Pup

1925 African Huntsman Hold That Thought Biting The Dust A Transatlantic Flight Bigger And Better Jails Fisherman's Luck Clean Up Week In Dutch Jungle Bike Riders The Pie Man At The Zoo The Housing Shortage S.O.S. The Adventures Of Adenoid Permanent Waves Deep Stuff Darkest Africa A Fast Worker Echoes From the Alps Hot Times in Iceland The Runt The End of the World Runaway Balloon Wine, Women And Song When Men Were Men Bugville Field Day Office Help Over The Plate A Yarn About Yarn Bubbles Picnic Soap For the Love of a Gal The Window Washers Barnyard Pollies The Ugly Duckling Hungry Hounds Nuts And Squirrels The Lion And The Monkey The Hero Wins Air-Cooled Closer Than A Brother Wild Cats Of Paris The Honor System The Great Open Spaces More Mice Than Brains A Day's Outing The Bonehead Age The Haunted House

1926 The English Channel Swim Noah Had His Troubles Though Thick and Thin The Gold Push Three Blind Mice Lighter Than Air Little Brown Jug The June Bride The Wind Jammers The Wicked City China Doll Hunting In 1950 The Mail Coach Spanish Love The Fire Fighters Fly Time Up in the Air The Merry Blacksmith Big Hearted Fish The Shootin' Fool Farm Hands Rough And Ready Romeo An Alpine Flapper Liquid Dynamite A Bumper Crop The Big Retreat The Land Boom Plumber's Life Chop Suey and Noodles Jungle Sports Red Hot Sands Pirates Bold Venus of Venice Her Ben Dough Boys The Little Parade The Last Ha Ha Scrambled Eggs A Knight Out A Buggy Ride Pests Watered Stock The Charleston Queen Why Argue The Road House Gun Shy Home Sweet Home Phoney Express Thru Thick and Thin In Vaudeville Buck Fever Radio Controlled Hitting The Rails Sink or Swim Bars And Stripes

1927 School Days The Musical Parrot Where Friendship Ceases Plowboy's Revenge Chasing Rainbows In The Rough Tit For Tat The Mail Pilot Cracked Ice Taking The Air All For A Bride Stars of the Circus The Magician The Crawl Stroke Kid The Medicine Man Keep Off the Grass Anti-Fat The Honor Man Pie-Eyed Piper Short Vacation Bubbling Over A Fair Exchange When Snow Flies A Dog's Day Horses, Horses, Horses Hard Cider Digging For Gold Died In The Wool One Man Dog Big Reward Riding High The Love Nest The Bully Subway Sally Ant Life as It Isn't The Baby Show A Hole in One Hook, Line and Sinker A Small Town Sheriff Cutting A Melon Human Fly River Of Doubt In Again, Out Again All Bull and a Yard Wide The Big Tent Lindy's Cat A Brave Heart Signs of Spring The Fox Hunt Flying Fishers Carnival Week Rats In His Garret

1928 The Junk Man High Stakes The Home Agent The Horse's Tale The Wandering Minstrel Mouse's Bridge The Good Ship Nellie Everybody's Flying The Spider's Lair A Blaze of Glory The County Fair The Sea Shower Jungle Days Scaling the Alps A Battling Duet Barnyard Artists A Jungle Triangle Coast To Coast The War Bride The Flying Age The Flight That Failed Happy Days Puppy Love City Slickers The Huntsman The Early Bird Our Little Nell Outnumbered Sunny Italy A Cross Country Run Static Sunday on the Farm Short Circut Alaska Or Bust High Seas The Magnetic Bat Kill or Cure Monkey Love The Big Game Grid Iron Demons The Laundry Man On The Links Day Off Barnyard Politics

1929 Flying Hoofs Dinner Time A White Elephant Land o' Cotton Break of the Day Snapping the Whip Wooden Money Sweet Adeline The Queen Bee The Water Cure In the Bag Grandma's House Back To The Soil The Black Duck A Lad and His Lamp The Big Burg The Under Dog The Cop's Bride The Big Shot The Fight Game Homeless Cats The Little Game Hunter The Ball Park Concentrate The Faithful Pup The Family Album The Jail Breakers Fish Day Custard Pies The Wood Choppers Prest-o-Chang-o The Polo Match Snow Birds Skating Hounds Stage Struck Bughouse College Days Kidnapped April Showers Farmer's Goat The Cold Steel In His Cups By Land and Air Enchanted Flute Wash Day The Cabaret House Cleaning Time A Stone Age Romance 3 Games Guys The Big Scare Fruitful Farm Jungle Fool The Fly's Bride Summer Time Mill Pond The Barnyard Melody Tuning In The Night Club A Close Call A Midsummer's Day ---End of likely copy/paste list --->

Legacy
Aesop's Fables provided inspiration to Walt Disney to found the Laugh-O-Gram Studio in Kansas City, Missouri, where he and Ub Iwerks co-created Mickey Mouse and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.