In 1938, the comic strip The Captain and the Kids (Rudolph Dirks' parallel version of his own strip The Katzenjammer Kids) was adapted by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, becoming the studio's first self-produced series of theatrical cartoon short subjects, directed by William Hanna, Bob Allen, and Friz Freleng. The short-lived series was unsuccessful, ending after one year and a total of 15 cartoons.[1] Following that cancellation, Freleng returned to Warner Bros., where he had earlier been an animation director. The Captain was voiced by Billy Bletcher, Mama was voiced by Martha Wentworth, the kids were voiced by Shirley Reid and Jeanne Dunne,[2] and John Silver was voiced by Mel Blanc.[3]
| The Captain and the Kids | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | William Hanna Robert Allen Friz Freleng Burt Gillett |
| Produced by | Fred Quimby |
| Starring | Billy Bletcher Martha Wentworth Shirley Reid Jeanne Dunne Mel Blanc |
| Music by | Scott Bradley |
| Color process | Black-and-white Technicolor (The Captain's Christmas and Petunia Natural Park) |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date | February 19, 1938 – February 11, 1939 |
Running time | 7–9 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Titles
| # | Title | Directed by | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleaning House[4] | Robert Allen | February 19, 1938 |
| 2 | Blue Monday | William Hanna | April 2, 1938 |
| 3 | Poultry Pirates | Friz Freleng | April 16, 1938 |
| 4 | The Captain's Pup | Robert Allen | April 30, 1938 |
| 5 | A Day at the Beach | Friz Freleng | June 25, 1938 |
| 6 | What a Lion! | William Hanna | July 16, 1938 |
| 7 | The Pygmy Hunt | Friz Freleng | August 6, 1938 |
| 8 | Old Smokey | William Hanna | September 3, 1938 |
| 9 | Buried Treasure | Robert Allen | September 17, 1938 |
| 10 | The Winning Ticket | Burt Gillett | October 1, 1938 |
| 11 | The Honduras Hurricane | Friz Freleng | October 15, 1938 |
| 12 | The Captain's Christmas[a][5] | December 17, 1938 | |
| 13 | Petunia Natural Park[a] | January 14, 1939 | |
| 14 | Seal Skinners | January 28, 1939 | |
| 15 | Mama's New Hat | February 11, 1939 |