The Fox and the Crow
The Fox and the Crow are a pair of anthropomorphic cartoon characters created by Frank Tashlin for the studio.
The characters, the refined but gullible Fauntleroy Fox and the streetwise Crawford Crow, appeared in a series of animated short subjects released by Screen Gems through its parent company, Columbia Pictures.
Columbia cartoons
Tashlin directed the first film in the series, the 1941 Color Rhapsody short The Fox and the Grapes, based on the Aesop fable of that name. Warner Bros. animation director Chuck Jones later acknowledged this short, which features a series of blackout gags as the Fox repeatedly tries and fails to obtain a bunch of grapes in the possession of the Crow, as one of the inspirations for his popular Road Runner cartoons.Although Tashlin directed no more films in the series, Screen Gems continued producing Fox and the Crow shorts, many of them directed by Bob Wickersham, until the studio closed in 1946. Screen Gems had acquired enough of a backlog of completed films that the "Fox and Crow" series continued through 1949.
By this time, Columbia had signed a distribution deal with a new animation studio, United Productions of America, to produce three "Fox and the Crow" shorts, Robin Hoodlum, The Magic Fluke, and Punchy DeLeon. All three UPA Fox and the Crow cartoons were directed by John Hubley. The first two each received an Academy Award nomination for Animated Short Subject.
An unrelated, six-minute, silent animated short titled The Fox and the Crow, produced by Fables Studio, was released in 1921.
List of shorts
Screen Gems
1941
Note: Fox and Grapes are a part of the Color Rhapsodies and not the Fox and the Crow series until 1943 and the first appearance of the Fox and the Crow in Cartoons.1942
Note: Woodman, Spare That Tree and TollBridge Troubles are a part of the Color Rhapsodies and not the Fox and the Crow series until 1943.| Film | Original release date |
| Woodman, Spare That Tree | July 2, 1942 |
| TollBridge Troubles | November 27, 1942 |
1943
Note: Until 30 Sepetmber of 1943, the cartoons: Slay It With Flowers, Plenty Below Zero, Tree for Two and A-Hunting We Won't Go are a part of the Color Rhapsodies and not the Fox and the Crow series. In 30 Sepetmber of 1943 release of the first cartoon of the Fox and the Crow series Room and Bored.| Film | Original release date |
| Slay It With Flowers | January 29, 1943 |
| Plenty Below Zero | April 23, 1943 |
| Tree for Two | June 21, 1943 |
| A-Hunting We Won't Go | August 23, 1943 |
| Room and Bored | September 30, 1943 |
| Way Down Yonder in the Corn | November 25, 1943 |
1944
| Film | Original release date |
| The Dreams Kids | April 28, 1944 |
| Mr. Moocher | September 8, 1944 |
| Be Patient, Patient | November 30, 1944 |
| The Egg-Yegg | December 8, 1944 |
1945
| Film | Original release date |
| Ku-Ku Nuts | July 26, 1945 |
| Treasure Jest | August 30, 1945 |
| Phoney Baloney | November 1, 1945 |
1946
Note: This year is of Last year for the Fox and the Crow Series with last three cartoons.| Film | Original release date |
| Foxy Flatfoots | April 11, 1946 |
| Unsure Runts | May 16, 1946 |
| Mysto-Fox | August 29, 1946 |
1947
Note: Tooth or Consequences are a part of the Phantasy and not the Fox and the Crow series until the last Cartoon of Fox and Crow in Color Rhapsodies in 1949 Grape Nutty.1949
UPA
1948
Note: The First Cartoon of the Fox and the Crow series made by United Productions of America and went received an Academy Award nomination for Animated Short Subject.1949
Note: The Second and Final Cartoon of the Fox and the Crow series made by United Productions of America and went received other Academy Award nomination for Animated Short Subject.1950
Note: Punchy de Leon are a part of the Jolly Frolices and not the Fox and the Crow series and the last appearance of the Fox and the Crow in Cartoons.In other media
Comic books
The Fox and the Crow starred in several funny animal comic books published by DC Comics, from the 1940s well into the 1960s. They starred with other characters in DC's Columbia-licensed funny animal anthology Real Screen Comics beginning in 1945, then did likewise when DC converted the superhero title Comic Cavalcade to a funny-animal series in 1948.The duo received its own title, The Fox and the Crow, which ran 108 issues. Until the 1954 demise of Comic Cavalcade, Fox and Crow were cover-featured on three DC titles. They continued on the cover of Real Screen Comics through its title change to TV Screen Cartoons from #129-138, the final issue.
The Fox and the Crow itself was renamed Stanley and His Monster beginning with #109, after the back-up feature, begun in #95, that had taken over in popularity. For the last ten years of its existence, The Fox and the Crow was written by Cecil Beard, assisted by his wife, Alpine Harper. The illustrator was Jim Davis, although it was generally unsigned.