chapter 158 part 1
Chapter 158: Animation Premiere
May 2, 2023 Author: Yue Shang Xintou
"Extra, extra!"
"Superman movie to be screened at the New York Theater!"
New York, early morning.
Newsboys waved their copies of The Messenger Newspaper, weaving through the streets and alleys.
"Superman movie?"
Colin pulled out two cents and bought a newspaper from a street vendor.
The first thing that caught his eye was the headline printed in large, bold font on the front page: "Superman and Mickey!"
Following the title, he could see Superman, clad in a blue bodysuit and red cape, with a large "S" shield symbol on his chest, standing tall and proud. Beside him was Disney's iconic cartoon character, Mickey, being pulled by an excited Pluto as they floated in mid-air.
After Walt Disney's efforts for over half a month, the crossover animation film of Superman and Mickey was finally completed.
According to news from Disney, the film received a warm reception after its screening in Los Angeles. Although Hollywood wasn't particularly enthusiastic about animated shorts, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences acknowledged it as Disney's second color animated short, following "Flowers and Trees."
And, unlike "Flowers and Trees,"
"Superman and Mickey" featured more modern characters, and its setting shifted from the forest to Superman's home city of Metropolis. Furthermore, the animation's character designs and detailed portrayals were more vivid and lifelike compared to the previous color short, "Flowers and Trees."
If not for the fact that the Oscars had already decided to present the first Best Animated Short Film award to "Flowers and Trees" – a decision meant to acknowledge Walt Disney's efforts and experiments in producing Disney's first color film – then "Superman and Mickey" might very well have replaced "Flowers and Trees" for this honor.
Regarding the short film award, Walt had specifically written to Colin to express his apologies.
Colin, however, didn't mind.
The Oscars at this time were merely an awards ceremony held in Los Angeles, with influence limited to Hollywood.
Even if they awarded him a prize, it would only be a slightly special title for Colin, a case of "better than nothing."
Moreover, his involvement in the entire "Superman and Mickey" was not extensive. Apart from providing the Superman character and some story plot points, Walt himself completed all the remaining animation production. So, even if it won an award, Walt would be the one accepting it on stage, not him.
Therefore, instead of focusing on the outcome of the Oscar short film award, it was more worthwhile to pay attention to how "Superman and Mickey" performed in its New York premiere.
"Will you go to see the Superman movie?"
That morning, countless listeners tuned into CBS's "The Mercury Theatre on the Air," hosted by Orson Welles, heard this question.
Welles himself was a loyal reader of "Superman." He had already raised a question on the radio when the comic series introduced "Batman."
Furthermore, CBS had recently made contact with Colin and confirmed their intention to produce a radio drama.
Therefore, it was natural for CBS to promote the short film's screening.
After all, the higher the popularity of the short film, the more beneficial it would be for CBS's upcoming radio drama production.
Compared to newspapers, radio ultimately had a greater influence.
Especially since CBS had consistently held the top viewership rating among the three major broadcasting companies. With Welles's promotion, many readers who were previously unaware of the short film learned about its upcoming release.
Of course, the vast majority of radio listeners at this time likely didn't have much money to go to the cinema.
Perhaps the only valuable item in their homes was the radio used to listen to broadcasts.
However, when they heard on the radio that the ticket price for "Superman and Mickey" was only 10 cents, they couldn't help but feel tempted.
Hit by the Great Depression, the entire film industry's business was in a slump that year.
In New York City alone, over a dozen movie theaters had closed down, and the rest were struggling to survive.
With a decrease in audience numbers, theaters had to drastically cut ticket prices to attract viewers. The price for a feature-length film had been reduced from 30 cents to 20 cents, and even then, a large number of viewers were drifting away.
Considering "Superman and Mickey" was an animated short film, the theaters offered a ticket price of 10 cents. This price was already a significant concession for the theaters. Although "Superman and Mickey" was a short film with a brief runtime, the cost of color animation and sound production was not low.
If not for the positive reception during its Los Angeles premiere, and their confidence in the popularity of Superman, one of the main characters featured in the short film, the theaters might not have dared to offer such a price.
Of course, even with this ticket price, the theaters had no certainty about the short film's box office performance.
1932 was an extremely difficult year for the film industry, not only due to the sharp decline in audience numbers but also because many anticipated blockbuster films had repeatedly failed at the box office.
Paramount, currently suffering the most severe losses, was close to losing $20 million and on the brink of bankruptcy.
The situations of other film studios were similar. Although their losses were not as severe as Paramount's, they were all experiencing losses, with the smallest being nearly $4 million.
"The movies are dead!"
This had become a slogan circulating in Hollywood recently, a cry echoing the despair of over ten thousand unemployed staff and extras.
The movie theaters were prepared for the animated short film to potentially incur losses.
Even mainstream feature films were experiencing losses, let alone a short animation lasting just over ten minutes.
However, on the premiere night.
A large number of viewers surrounded the movie theater, eager to catch a glimpse of Superman on the big screen.
The movie theater had clearly not anticipated this, or rather, no one at this time expected an animated short film to be so highly sought after.
The unprepared movie theater was immediately overrun by the vast crowd of ticket-buyers.
Many uninformed citizens even mistook it for another protest.
It was reported that dozens of police officers were on-site that night to maintain order, and it took a full two to three hours for the situation to ease.
Shop windows around the cinema were shattered due to the large crowd, resulting in minor injuries to several people.
The last time such an incident occurred was during the premiere of Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights."
Meanwhile, various disturbances also occurred within the cinema.
Because they hadn't anticipated so many viewers, the cinema didn't have enough tickets prepared. Moreover, "Superman and Mickey" was an animated short film with a relatively short viewing time.