Sunset Productions

Sunset Productions opening title card

A Guild Films Presentation end title card

Sunset Productions, Inc. was a subsidiary of Warner Bros. that licensed the television distribution rights to 191 black-and-white Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies to Guild Films in February 1955. Jack Warner, Jr. was in charge of Sunset Productions during its existence. The package included all black-and-white Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons except the Merrie Melodies cartoons produced by the Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising team solely directed by Rudolf Ising (the very first, "Lady, Play Your Mandolin!", was directed by both Harman and Ising and part of the Sunset package).

Unlike the sale of the copyrights of the remaining cartoons released before July 24, 1948, to Associated Artists Productions (a.a.p.) in 1956, Warner Bros. did not sell the copyrights to the cartoons in the Sunset package. Instead, they transferred them to Sunset Productions to facilitate the licensing to Guild Films, while also using the Sunset name on the cartoons' copyright notices, supposedly because studio executives feared that theater owners would not be pleased if the "Warner Bros." name was used on television. New opening and closing titles were made to remove any references to Warner Bros., and any Warner Bros. references in the cartoons themselves were removed. One example is in "Porky in Wackyland", where Yoyo Dodo zooms up with the WB shield to hit Porky Pig with a slingshot, then zooms back out. Additionally, the Leon Schlesinger Productions building sign from the start of "You Ought to Be in Pictures" and the ending gag from "Porky's Duck Hunt" are cut from these television prints for the same reason. The copyright dates on the new title cards use incorrect Roman numerals, with the first part rendered as "MXM" instead of the correct "MCM".

In April 1957, Sunset Productions was turned into a subsidiary for the production of TV commercials, with Jack Warner Jr. remaining in charge.

Guild Films shut down amid a financial scandal in 1961. The TV rights to the Sunset package were sold to Seven Arts Productions instead. Eliot Hyman, who had previously been president of a.a.p. when it acquired the copyrights to that company's package of cartoons, was the president of Seven Arts at the time. In 1967, Seven Arts bought Warner Bros. and became Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, resulting in Warner Bros. regaining the TV distribution rights to the Sunset package.

Colorization

Soon after the WB-7A merger was complete, the studio had 78 of these black-and-white cartoons redrawn in color. These colorizations were produced by Fred Ladd. In almost all cases, the Sunset TV prints were used as the source material, resulting in their titles being redrawn in color. In some cases, the Sunset titles are altered, usually with the WB-7A (or, in some cases, Warner Communications) opening logos plastered over these titles. Similarly, prints distributed by Kit Parker Films replace them with proper (non-Seven Arts) Warner Bros. cards.

The same 78 cartoons were colorized again in the early 1990s (along with approximately 24 other cartoons not previously redrawn in 1968). This time, computer software was used to add color to the cartoons. Unlike the retraced colorizations that preceded them, however, the Sunset TV prints were not used here; instead, the original master negatives, which preserve their original titles, were used.

Some of the computer-colorized versions of 1937–43 cartoons use the 1936–37 Looney Tunes theme (also known as the "Porky Signature") instead of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down".

Purported public domain status

The hand-redrawn color versions of the cartoons that were in the Sunset package are claimed by some to be in the public domain and are often seen in public domain compilations (be it from home video releases or online sources). However, the reasoning for this purported legal status is somewhat dubious.

When the copyrights of the original black-and-white cartoons were transferred to Sunset Productions, the new prints created that replaced the original Warner Bros. title cards with ones assigning copyright to Sunset featured incorrect Roman numeral dates on their title cards, reading "MXM[....]" instead of the proper "MCM[....]", which results in nonsensical numbers.

Prior to the Copyright Act of 1976, any work that failed to properly disclose the year of its copyright would, effectively, instantly fall into the public domain. However, this did not affect the original black-and-white shorts, as the date errors on the new prints had no effect on their still-valid original 1930s–40s copyrights.

Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, however, registered every redrawn-in-color cartoon under a new copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office. As the color versions were redrawn from Sunset prints, they also contain the dating error, and conceivably, their copyright registrations would be invalid. (This is likely why subsequent Warner-issued prints of the colorized shorts replaced the Sunset title cards, with the replacements featuring a proper 1968 copyright.) However, as the U.S. Copyright Office accepted the registrations in the first place, the dating mistake was not considered to be a forfeiture of rights. Also, copyrights extend to "derivative works" under international law, and the colorized copies are considered "derivative works" for these purposes.

Therefore, claims that every Sunset-package cartoon that was redrawn in color is in the public domain are based on faulty reasoning, and only cartoons in which the black-and-white equivalent is also in the public domain for other reasons are legally clear.

List of cartoons in the "Sunset Productions" package

Notes:

• All cartoons are from the Looney Tunes series, except the Merrie Melodies shorts noted with "MM".
• Titles in boldface are available on DVD as part of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection.
• All cartoons released in 1930, 1931, 1942, and 1943 are in the public domain. For the other listed years, public domain cartoons are marked with an asterisk.
• Cartoons that were redrawn in color in 1968 and then computer colorized a second time in the early 1990s are marked with a double dagger (‡). Ones that were computer-colorized for the first time in the 1990s are marked with a dagger (†).

1930

• "The Booze Hangs High"
• "Box Car Blues"
• "Congo Jazz"
• "Hold Anything"
• "Sinkin' in the Bathtub"

1931

• "Ain't Nature Grand!"
• "Big Man from the North"
• "Bosko Shipwrecked!"
• "Bosko the Doughboy"
• "Bosko's Fox Hunt"
• "Bosko's Holiday"
• "Bosko's Soda Fountain"
• "Dumb Patrol"
• "The Tree's Knees"
• "Lady, Play Your Mandolin!" (MM)
• "Ups 'n Downs"
• "Yodeling Yokels"

1932

• "Battling Bosko"*
• "Big-Hearted Bosko"*
• "Bosko and Bruno"*
• "Bosko at the Beach"*
• "Bosko at the Zoo"*
• "Bosko the Drawback"
• "Bosko the Lumberjack"*
• "Bosko's Dizzy Date"
• "Bosko's Dog Race"*
• "Bosko's Party"*
• "Bosko's Store"*
• "Bosko's Woodland Daze"
• "Ride Him, Bosko!"

1933

• "Beau Bosko"
• "Bosko in Dutch"
• "Bosko in Person"
• "Bosko the Musketeer"
• "Bosko the Sheep-Herder"
• "Bosko the Speed King"
• "Bosko's Knight-Mare"
• "Bosko's Mechanical Man"
• "Bosko's Picture Show"
• "Buddy's Beer Garden"
• "Buddy's Day Out"
• "Buddy's Show Boat"
• "I've Got to Sing a Torch Song" (MM)
• "Sittin' on a Backyard Fence" (MM)

1934

• "Buddy and Towser"
• "Buddy of the Apes"
• "Buddy the Dentist"
• "Buddy the Detective"
• "Buddy the Gob"
• "Buddy the Woodsman"
• "Buddy's Adventures"
• "Buddy's Bearcats"
• "Buddy's Circus"
• "Buddy's Garage"
• "Buddy's Trolley Troubles"
• "The Girl at the Ironing Board" (MM)
• "Goin' to Heaven on a Mule" (MM)
• "How Do I Know It's Sunday" (MM)
• "The Miller's Daughter" (MM)
• "Pettin' in the Park" (MM)
• "Rhythm in the Bow" (MM)
• "Shake Your Powder Puff" (MM)
• "Those Were Wonderful Days" (MM)
• "Viva Buddy"
• "Why Do I Dream Those Dreams" (MM)

1935

• "Buddy in Africa"
• "Buddy of the Legion"
• "Buddy Steps Out"
• "Buddy the Gee Man"
• "Buddy's Bug Hunt"
• "Buddy's Lost World"
• "Buddy's Pony Express"
• "Buddy's Theatre"
• "A Cartoonist's Nightmare"
• "The Fire Alarm"
• "Gold Diggers of '49"†
• "Hollywood Capers"*

1936

• "Alpine Antics"‡
• "The Blow Out"‡
• "Boom Boom"*‡
• "Fish Tales"‡
• "Little Beau Porky"†
• "Milk and Money"‡
• "The Phantom Ship"
• "Plane Dippy"†
• "Porky in the North Woods"‡
• "Porky the Rain-Maker"†
• "Porky's Moving Day"†
• "Porky's Pet"‡
• "Porky's Poultry Plant"†
• "Shanghaied Shipmates"‡
• "The Village Smithy"†
• "Westward Whoa"*‡

1937

• "The Case of the Stuttering Pig"†
• "Get Rich Quick Porky"*†
• "Picador Porky"†
• "Porky and Gabby"†
• "Porky the Wrestler"†
• "Porky's Badtime Story"†
• "Porky's Building"‡
• "Porky's Double Trouble"†
• "Porky's Duck Hunt"†
• "Porky's Garden"*†
• "Porky's Hero Agency"†
• "Porky's Railroad"*†
• "Porky's Road Race"†
• "Porky's Romance"†
• "Porky's Super Service"†
• "Rover's Rival"†

1938

• "The Daffy Doc"†
• "Injun Trouble"†
• "Porky & Daffy"†
• "Porky at the Crocadero"‡
• "Porky in Egypt"‡
• "Porky in Wackyland"‡
• "Porky the Fireman"†
• "Porky the Gob"†
• "Porky's Five & Ten"†
• "Porky's Hare Hunt"†
• "Porky's Naughty Nephew"
• "Porky's Party"
• "Porky's Phoney Express"†
• "Porky's Poppa"†
• "Porky's Spring Planting"†
• "What Price Porky"‡
• "Wholly Smoke"†

1939

• "Chicken Jitters"†
• "The Film Fan"†
• "It's an Ill Wind"†
• "Jeepers Creepers"†
• "Kristopher Kolombus Jr."†
• "The Lone Stranger and Porky"†
• "Naughty Neighbors"†
• "Pied Piper Porky"†
• "Polar Pals"†
• "Porky and Teabiscuit"†
• "Porky the Giant Killer"†
• "Porky's Hotel"†
• "Porky's Movie Mystery"†
• "Porky's Picnic"†
• "Porky's Tire Trouble"†
• "Scalp Trouble"†
• "Wise Quacks"‡

1940

• "Africa Squeaks"†
• "Ali-Baba Bound"*†
• "Calling Dr. Porky"†
• "The Chewin' Bruin"†
• "Patient Porky"†
• "Pilgrim Porky"‡
• "Porky's Baseball Broadcast"†
• "Porky's Hired Hand"†
• "Porky's Last Stand"‡
• "Porky's Poor Fish"‡
• "Prehistoric Porky"†
• "Slap Happy Pappy"†
• "The Sour Puss"†
• "The Timid Toreador"*†
• "You Ought to Be in Pictures"‡

1941

• "A Coy Decoy"*†
• "The Haunted Mouse"*
• "The Henpecked Duck"*†
• "Joe Glow, the Firefly"*
• "Meet John Doughboy"*‡
• "Notes to You"*†
• "Porky's Ant"*†
• "Porky's Bear Facts"*†
• "Porky's Midnight Matinee"*†
• "Porky's Pooch"*†
• "Porky's Preview"*‡
• "Porky's Prize Pony"*†
• "Porky's Snooze Reel"†
• "Robinson Crusoe Jr."*†
• "We, the Animals - Squeak!"*†

1942

• "The Daffy Duckaroo"†
• "Daffy's Southern Exposure"†
• "The Ducktators"
• "Eatin' on the Cuff or The Moth Who Came to Dinner"
• "Gopher Goofy"
• "Hobby Horse-Laffs"
• "The Impatient Patient"†
• "Nutty News"
• "Porky's Cafe"†
• "Porky's Pastry Pirates"‡
• "Saps in Chaps"
• "Wacky Blackout"
• "Who's Who in the Zoo"‡

1943

• "Confusions of a Nutzy Spy"‡
• "Hop and Go"
• "Porky Pig's Feat"†
• "Puss n' Booty"†
• "Scrap Happy Daffy"‡
• "Tokio Jokio"

Notes

• Given that there are exactly 78 redrawn-colorized cartoons, they were likely (at least in part) designed to act as a syndication package; as the cartoons could air for 26 half-hours. This would be the same syndication format used for The Porky Pig Show, which the colorized shorts are known to have aired on in certain regional dubs.
• The artwork used for the Sunset Productions opening/closing screen appears to be comprised of cutouts from theater lobby cards. In particular, the dog in the bottom-right corner is taken from the lobby card for "Shake Your Powder Puff".

External links

• Sunset Productions and Guild Films