The Hearst-Vitagraph News Pictorial (also known as the Hearst-Vitagraph News Reel) was a short-lived company producing newsreel

Newsreel

A newsreel was a form of short documentary film prevalent in the first half of the 20th century, regularly released in a public presentation place and containing filmed news stories and items of topical interest. It was a source of news, current affairs and entertainment for millions of moviegoers...

s which were coupled with animated cartoon

Animated cartoon

An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...

s. It was established on 29 October 1915 by Vitagraph Studios

Vitagraph Studios

American Vitagraph was a United States movie studio, founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York. By 1907 it was the most prolific American film production company, producing many famous silent films. It was bought by Warner Bros...

 and the Hearst Corporation

Hearst Corporation

The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...

, and produced its first reel in February 1916, but folded in 1916. Previously, Hearst had produced newsreels together with the Selig Polyscope Company

Selig Polyscope Company

The Selig Polyscope Company was an American motion picture company founded in 1896 by William Selig in Chicago, Illinois. Selig Polyscope is noted for establishing Southern California's first permanent movie studio, in the historic Edendale district of Los Angeles...

 from 1914 on, and after the deal with Vitagraph ended Hearst teamed up with Pathé

Pathé

Pathé or Pathé Frères is the name of various French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France.-History:...

.
The cartoons which were added to the newsreels were created by Hearst's animation studio International Film Service

International Film Service

International Film Service was an American animation studio created to exploit the popularity of the comic strips controlled by William Randolph Hearst.- History :...

, lead by Gregory La Cava

Gregory La Cava

Gregory La Cava was an American film director best known for his films of the 1930s, including My Man Godfrey and Stage Door....

, which converted popular comic strips from the Hearst newspapers to the big screen. Included in the News Pictorial were Parcel Post cartoons created by Frank Moser (who animated most of the other ones as well), George Herriman

George Herriman

George Joseph Herriman was an American cartoonist, best known for his classic comic strip Krazy Kat.-Early life:...

's Krazy Kat

Krazy Kat

Krazy Kat is an American comic strip created by cartoonist George Herriman, published daily in newspapers between 1913 and 1944. It first appeared in the New York Evening Journal, whose owner, William Randolph Hearst, was a major booster for the strip throughout its run...

(at least eight shorts), And Her Name Was Maud

And Her Name Was Maud

And Her Name Was Maud was a comic strip by Frederick Burr Opper. It first appeared in the Hearst newspapers on July 24, 1904. After work as a magazine cartoonist, Opper was hired by Hearst in 1899 to draw comic strips for the New York Journal, launching Happy Hooligan, Alphonse and Gaston and And...

and Happy Hooligan

Happy Hooligan

Happy Hooligan was a popular and influential early American comic strip by Frederick Burr Opper.Happy Hooligan, the first major comic strip by already celebrated cartoonist Opper, debuted with a Sunday strip on March 11, 1900 in the William Randolph Hearst newspapers, and was one of the first...

by Frederick Burr Opper

Frederick Burr Opper

Frederick Burr Opper is regarded as one of the pioneers of American newspaper comic strips, best known for his comic strip Happy Hooligan...

, Daffydil and Judge Rummy by Tad Dorgan, The Katzenjammer Kids by Harold Knerr

Harold Knerr

Harold Hering Knerr was an American comic strip creator, who signed his work H. H. Knerr. He was best known as the writer-artist of The Katzenjammer Kids for 35 years....

, Bringing Up Father

Bringing up Father

Bringing Up Father was an influential American comic strip created by cartoonist George McManus . Distributed by King Features Syndicate, it ran for 87 years, from January 12, 1913 to May 28, 2000....

by George McManus

George McManus

George McManus was an American cartoonist best known as the creator of Irish immigrant Jiggs and his wife Maggie, the central characters in his syndicated comic strip, Bringing Up Father....

, Joys and Glooms by T. E. Powers, and Jerry on the Job by Walter Hoban

Walter Hoban

Walter C. Hoban was an American cartoonist best known for his comic strip Jerry on the Job.Born in Philadelphia, Hoban came from a newspaper family...

.

The newsreels were created by a staff of about 56 cameramen, and produced a number of scoops, including images of the sinking of the British ship HMS Audacious

HMS Audacious (1912)

HMS Audacious was a King George V-class battleship of the Royal Navy. The vessel did not see any combat in the First World War, being sunk by a German naval mine off the northern coast of Donegal, Ireland in 1914.- Design :...

 in 1914, and the sinking of the German ship SMS Blücher

SMS Blücher

SMS Blücher was the last armored cruiser to be built by the German Imperial Navy . She was designed to match what German intelligence incorrectly believed to be the specifications of the British s...

in 1915.

External links

• Library of Congress collection of silent animated films, including some from the Hearst-Vitagraph News Pictorial