Flippy and Flop
1946 American film
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Flippy and Flop are a cartoon yellow canary and black-and-white cat duo that appeared in theatrical shorts from 1945 to 1947 by Screen Gems for Columbia Pictures.[1] The canary and cat made their debut in 1945's Dog Cat and Canary.
Bob Wickersham
company
| Flippy | |
|---|---|
Cropped still of Flippy from title card | |
| Directed by | Howard Swift Bob Wickersham |
| Starring | Harry E. Lang |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates | February 14, 1946 – March 6, 1947 |
Running time | 6 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Starting in 1946, Flippy and Flop would star in his own series starting in the short Catnipped.
Biography
The antics of the two characters were similar to that of other cat-vs-canary cartoons commonly made at the time. However, Flippy relies on Sam the household dog to protect him from Flop. The first cartoon of the series, the Color Rhapsody short Dog, Cat, and Canary (1945), was successful enough to be nominated for an Academy Award. Flippy and Flop appeared in four more cartoons before Screen Gems was replaced by United Productions of America in 1948, with Screen Gems' final cartoon releasing the following year. Their popularity never reached that of Columbia's biggest cartoon stars, The Fox and the Crow.
Following the release of Flippy and Flop's last cartoon Big House Blues in 1947, Warner Bros. Cartoons would release the Merrie Melodies short Tweetie Pie, the first cartoon to pair Tweety and Sylvester the Cat together and the first to redesign the titular character as a canary. The cartoon not only helped win the studio its first Academy Award, but also overshadow Flippy and Flop in popularity. Flippy (renamed "Flippity") and Flop would lived on only in comic books published by DC Comics until 1962.
Voices
The characters were mostly voiced by Harry E. Lang. (Flop and Sam also has a speaking role in Cagey Bird and Silent Tweetment by Frank Graham, and Flippy in the end of Big House Blues by Bill Shaw.)[2]
Filmography
| No. | Short | Director | Release | Series | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dog, Cat, and Canary | Howard Swift | January 5, 1945 | Color Rhapsody | Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film in 1944. |
| 2 | Catnipped | Bob Wickersham | February 14, 1946 | Flippy | First cartoon of the Flippy series. |
| 3 | Cagey Bird | Howard Swift | July 18, 1946 | ||
| 4 | Silent Tweetment | Bob Wickersham | September 19, 1946 | ||
| 5 | Big House Blues | Howard Swift | March 6, 1947 |
