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Some of the best shorts and Another regular was Qua Qua,in Victorian-era architecture and a Bugs
cartoons returned time and again. which a French horn-honking unicyclist Bunny cartoon as supports; a good
Greater Union screened films and entertains the rich in Saint Tropez. example of the eclectic mix of film.
shorts from Universal, Paramount, Blowing Out caught windsurfers at During this period Hoyts exhibited
MGM, Disney and BEF - later Greater sunset in a huge swell that catapulted films from Fox, Columbia, United
Union Film Distributors. them metres into the air. Artists and Hoyts Distribution.
Almost every MGM show had a The Absent Minded Waiter launched It seemed almost every Columbia
Tom and Jerry and the Academy Award Steve Martin’s career and it made more feature was supported by the Three
winners in this series returned often. returns than Nellie Melba. Stooges. They ran old Curly’s from the
Disney had the best line-up of Even new travelogues appeared; A 30s and 40s along with later Shemp
shorts and cartoons. Audiences would Toast To Melbourne had several seasons Howard’s from the 50s up to the last
thrill when Goofy or Donald Duck hit at the Rapallo. The Palace Of Dreams with Joe Besser, often teamed with a
the screen. Disney’s True-Life was an interesting short on the history Mr. Magoo cartoon.
Adventures in Technicolour seemed of the GU flagship, the State Sydney. Columbia, more than most, relied
ageless, even though some of them on re-issues during this era. Even the
dated from the 1950s. sci-fi blockbuster Ghostbusters (1984)
New Disney shorts of this era were was supported by a 1930s Three
also excellent and often introduced a Stooges two-reeler.
new film-maker. The feature Splash Fox had the Mighty Hero cartoons,
was upstaged by the brilliant stop- yet I can’t remember any Mighty
frame animated short Vincent, directed Mouse in later years. Fox would also
by a young Tim Burton and narrated by on occasion dig up a classic
Vincent Price. CinemaScope title.
Some shorts were sourced from United Artists probably had the best
Film Australia, Pyramid Films and late-era cartoons: the Pink Panther, The
other independents, and sometimes Inspector, Hoot Klute and Tijuana
blown-up from 16mm to 35mm for Toads.
theatrical release. The major Later shorts from these distributors
distributors bought up this product, as it varied in quality, but they could always
was rarely supplied from their own be relied on for a raid of their vaults.
studios.
Village had the Warner Bros’
Standouts included Floating Free - cartoons and these were always
a slow motion masterpiece of a Frisbee favourites. As the years went by, there
competition in which greyhounds catch were fewer good quality prints of the
frisbees in their mouths mid-air in an classics like 1958 Oscar winner
American Football Stadium! Knightly Knight Bugs or Robin Hood
The Three Stooges were not everyone’s Daffy. It meant that the best played
cup of tea, but Columbia milked the series with greater frequency, and often
for all it was worth. supported Australian featurettes that
were a Roadshow specialty. Their logo
The Monty Python crew made many
at the time was Roadshow - The
shorts. One screened before the
Australian Company.
Python’s The Meaning Of Life even
broke into the feature! In 1984, with the VCR reaching
critical mass, Hoyts and Village
Musical shorts became popular; the
decided to drop shorts. City theatres
70mm season of Pink Floyd The Wall,
went from running four sessions per
was supported by The Who in a short
day to six, and the suburbans went from
about the making of their album Face
one to two. With the stroke of a pen,
Dances. A short featuring Dire Straits
shorts were rarely seen again at Hoyts
made many returns to the Russell. It
or Village.
was a pity that these rock group shorts
often played in mono sound. Greater Union watched public
reaction, then began to remove shorts
Cinema 6 had possibly the best
from their programs. By the end of the
sound in Australia (Dolby CP200 six-
1980’s, hardly a theatre in Australia
channel stereo) but in some others the
was booking shorts. Executives
sound was basic.
commented that the “boring old shorts”
Greater Union sometimes ran
had had their day.
Warner Bros. product instead of it going
Ten years on Disney and Warner
to Village. This occurred with 70mm
Bros. resurrected classic cartoons on
films like Gremlins and Greystoke: The
selected features and both produced
Legend Of Tarzan Lord of the Apes or
several new cartoons at this time.
revivals like Mad Max 2. Mad Max 2 in
fact had an interesting short on local
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