Mel-O-Toons
Encyclopedia
Mel-O-Toons sometimes erroneously called "Mello Toons", was a series of animated cartoons
produced in 1960 by New World Productions and syndicated by United Artists
. It featured various folk tales, Greco-Roman myths
, Biblical stories, some original stories by author Thornton Burgess
, classic stories, even adaptations of classical music and ballet
. The soundtracks were often taken from existing children's records, licensed from the original labels. 104 cartoons, each about 6 minutes long, were produced in limited animation
.
After many years out of circulation, public domain prints have turned up on videotape
and DVD
.
On July 28, 2009, Edutainment World, owned by Fizul Sima, bought mel-o-toons.com to develop new cartoons and comics.
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
produced in 1960 by New World Productions and syndicated by United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
. It featured various folk tales, Greco-Roman myths
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
, Biblical stories, some original stories by author Thornton Burgess
Thornton Burgess
Thornton Waldo Burgess was a conservationist and author of children's stories. Burgess loved the beauty of nature and its living creatures so much that he wrote about them for 50 years in books and his newspaper column, "Bedtime Stories". He was sometimes known as the Bedtime Story-Man...
, classic stories, even adaptations of classical music and ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
. The soundtracks were often taken from existing children's records, licensed from the original labels. 104 cartoons, each about 6 minutes long, were produced in 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...
.
After many years out of circulation, public domain prints have turned up on videotape
Videotape
A videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
.
On July 28, 2009, Edutainment World, owned by Fizul Sima, bought mel-o-toons.com to develop new cartoons and comics.
Partial episode list
- The Enchanted Horse
- The Trojan HorseTrojan HorseThe Trojan Horse is a tale from the Trojan War about the stratagem that allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy and end the conflict. In the canonical version, after a fruitless 10-year siege, the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse, and hid a select force of men inside...
- Ali BabaAli BabaAli Baba is a fictional character from medieval Arabic literature. He is described in the adventure tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves...
- SinbadSinbadSinbad or Sindbad may refer to:* Sinbad the Sailor, from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, also known as Arabian Nights* Sinbad the Sailor, an alias of Edmond Dantes in the novel The Count of Monte Cristo...
- PanchitoPanchitoPanchito may refer to:*Panchito Alba, Screen Name of the late German Filipino actor Alfonso Tagle Sr.*Panchito Pistoles, Mexican cartoon characterpanchito has no cat...
- Hansel and GretelHansel and Gretel"Hansel and Gretel" is a well-known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister threatened by a cannibalistic hag living deep in the forest in a house constructed of cake and confectionery. The two children...
- Robin HoodRobin HoodRobin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
- The Emperor's NightingaleThe Emperor's NightingaleThe Emperor's Nightingale is a 1949 Czechoslovak animated film directed by Jiří Trnka and Miloš Makovec. The film is based on the fairy tale The Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen. Boris Karloff provides the voice of the narrator in an American dubbed version.-Cast:* Helena Patočková as the...
- El ToritoEl ToritoEl Torito is a Mexican restaurant chain, consisting of 69 restaurants which are located primarily in California. Some of the restaurants are located in Oregon, Arizona, and overseas. El Torito is one of several Mexican cuisine restaurant chains operated by Real Mex Restaurants...
- HiawathaHiawathaHiawatha was a legendary Native American leader and founder of the Iroquois confederacy...
- The Magic Clock
- Noah and the ArkNoah's ArkNoah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...
- PinocchioPinocchioThe Adventures of Pinocchio is a novel for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi, written in Florence. The first half was originally a serial between 1881 and 1883, and then later completed as a book for children in February 1883. It is about the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio , an...
- Sleeping BeautySleeping BeautySleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault or Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm is a classic fairytale involving a beautiful princess, enchantment, and a handsome prince...
- Diana and the Golden ApplesAtalantaAtalanta is a character in Greek mythology.-Legend:Atalanta was the daughter of Iasus , a Boeotian or an Arcadian princess . She is often described as a goddess. Apollodorus is the only one who gives an account of Atalanta’s birth and upbringing...
- Dinky Pinky
- Flying Carpet
- Peer Gynt's Adventures in ArabiaPeer GyntPeer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. It is the most widely performed Norwegian play. According to Klaus Van Den Berg, the "cinematic script blends poetry with social satire and realistic scenes with surreal ones"...
- Little Johnny Everything
- Miguel the Mighty Matador
- Penny Possum
- Sir Lancelot
- Rumplestiltskin
- Snow WhiteSnow White"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...
- Peer Gynt in the Hall of the Mountain KingPeer GyntPeer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. It is the most widely performed Norwegian play. According to Klaus Van Den Berg, the "cinematic script blends poetry with social satire and realistic scenes with surreal ones"...
- The Seasons
- Treasure IslandTreasure IslandTreasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island; or, the...
- Peer Gynt in the Stormy SeaPeer GyntPeer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. It is the most widely performed Norwegian play. According to Klaus Van Den Berg, the "cinematic script blends poetry with social satire and realistic scenes with surreal ones"...
- CinderellaCinderella"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
- The Red ShoesThe Red Shoes (fairy tale)"The Red Shoes" is a fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen first published by C.A. Reitzel in Copenhagen 7 April 1845 in New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Third Collection. 1845....
- Omicron and Sputnik
- Hunters of the sea
- Christopher ColumbusChristopher ColumbusChristopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
- Peter and the WolfPeter and the WolfPeter and the Wolf , Op. 67, is a composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936 in the USSR. It is a children's story , spoken by a narrator accompanied by the orchestra....
- Little HawkLittle HawkLittle Hawk , , Oglala Lakota War Chief and a half brother of Worm, father of Crazy Horse . In the Lakota extended family scheme, Crazy Horse was thus a son of Little Hawk....
- David and Goliath
- AladdinAladdinAladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....
- Daniel BooneDaniel BooneDaniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
- Knights of Old
- Paul BunyanPaul BunyanPaul Bunyan is a lumberjack figure in North American folklore and tradition. One of the most famous and popular North American folklore heroes, he is usually described as a giant as well as a lumberjack of unusual skill, and is often accompanied in stories by his animal companion, Babe the Blue...
- The King's Trumpet
- Peter CottontailPeter CottontailPeter Cottontail is a fictional rabbit in the works of Thornton Burgess, an author from Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1910, when Burgess began his Old Mother West Wind series, the cast of animals included Peter Rabbit...
- Tom SawyerTom SawyerThomas "Tom" Sawyer is the title character of the Mark Twain novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . He appears in three other novels by Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , Tom Sawyer Abroad , and Tom Sawyer, Detective .Sawyer also appears in at least three unfinished Twain works, Huck and Tom...
- The Eagle and the Thrush
- Paddy the Beaver
- Little SamboLittle Black SamboThe Story of Little Black Sambo is a children's book written and illustrated by Helen Bannerman, and first published by Grant Richards in October 1899 as one in a series of small-format books called The Dumpy Books for Children....
- Waltz of the Flowers