Fanny Zilch

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Fanny Zilch is an animated cartoon character, part of the Terrytoons series. She made her debut in 1933.[1] Her cartoons were musical spoofs of melodrama serials like The Perils of Pauline, in which blonde sweetheart Fanny -- "the Banker's Daughter" -- was pursued by the villainous Oil Can Harry, and protected by the heroic J. Leffingwell Strongheart.[2]

Terrytoons later used the melodrama spoof as a running theme in the Mighty Mouse cartoons, beginning with A Fight to the Finish in 1947. The endangered heroine was renamed Pearl Pureheart in Mighty Mouse, and Oil Can Harry became Mighty Mouse's cat archvillain.[3]

Fanny Zilch also inspired a series of Betty Boop melodrama spoofs, beginning in 1934 with She Wronged Him Right.[4]

Development[edit]

Fanny's character design originated in the 1933 cartoon King Zilch,[5] as a dancing girl who made romantic gestures toward the King.

Her first starring role was in 1933's The Banker's Daughter,[6] which begins with an opening crawl: "EPISODE I: Fanny Zilch, the banker's daughter, has been captured by the bootleggers (the dirty skunks). She has had nothing to eat but fried chicken for a week... poor Gal. "Oil Can Harry" her third husband by a former marriage is the fly in the beer can. Will her lover arrive in time?" The cartoon opens with Fanny tied up in a sawmill by the sneering, silk-hatted villain. Oil Can Harry telegraphs her father with a ransom note, but her somewhat effeminate lover Strongheart rides a white horse to her rescue. When Fanny refuses to go along with Harry's plans, he sends her down a chute towards a spinning saw. Strongheart arrives and beats up the villain, saving Fanny from her dreadful fate.

In Episode II, The Oil Can Mystery,[7] Fanny is once again in Oil Can Harry's power, with Strongheart tied to a railroad track.

Episode III, Fanny in the Lion's Den,[8] has Harry lock Fanny up in a dungeon filled with lions, but over the course of several months, she befriends the lions, and they try to help her escape.

In Episode IV, Hypnotic Eyes,[9] Harry has gained power over Fanny through hypnosis.

In the final episode of the 1933 series, Fanny's Wedding Day,[10] Harry tries to interrupt Fanny and Strongheart's wedding day.

The characters were brought back in 1935 for a simpler, cheaper followup, Foiled Again.[11] In this cartoon, Strongheart leads a gang in pursuit of Harry, who's got Fanny in yet another sawmill. This cartoon has less music and dialogue than the previous series; Harry is the only character with dialogue.

In 1937, the series was revived again as "Oil Can Harry"[12] in The Villain Still Pursued Her[13] with new character designs, including a dark-haired Fanny. The characters were brought back for one more cartoon in 1937's The Saw Mill Mystery.[14]

Reception and legacy[edit]

The 1933 episodes were deemed a success, with Film Daily writing a glowing review of The Banker's Daughter: "The opera idea combined with the burlesque meller makes this a real laugh number that will appeal to grown-ups with its cleverness and be received with delight by the kids. It is the first of a series of four. If the new technique catches on, it is liable to create a new slant in the animated field."[2]

Happy with the results, Paul Terry went on to create a variety of musical and operetta cartoons over the next couple years, including Jealous Lover, Robin Hood, Gypsy Fiddler, and The Pirate Ship in 1933, and A Mad House and Holland Days in 1934.[2]

Filmography[edit]

Dates of the eight Fanny Zilch cartoons:[2]

  • The Banker's Daughter (June 25, 1933)
  • The Oil Can Mystery (July 9, 1933)
  • Fanny in the Lion's Den (July 23, 1933)
  • Hypnotic Eyes (August 11, 1933)
  • Fanny's Wedding Day (September 22, 1933)
  • Foiled Again (October 14, 1935)
  • The Villain Still Pursued Her (September 3, 1937)
  • The Saw Mill Mystery (October 29, 1937)

Restoration[edit]

Fanny's first cartoon, The Banker's Daughter, was restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive in 2019.[15]

Further reading[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Paul Terry". Lambiek Comiclopedia. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Hamonic, W. Gerald (2017). Terrytoons: The Story of Paul Terry and His Classic Cartoon Factory. John Libbey Publishing. pp. 150–151. ISBN 978-0861967292.
  3. ^ Grant, John (2001). Masters of Animation. Watson-Guptill. p. 189. ISBN 978-0823030415. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  4. ^ Pointer, Ray (2017). The Art and Inventions of Max Fleischer: American Animation Pioneer. McFarland & Co. p. 106. ISBN 978-1476663678. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  5. ^ King Zilch on YouTube
  6. ^ The Banker's Daughter on YouTube
  7. ^ The Oil Can Mystery on YouTube
  8. ^ Fanny in the Lion's Den on YouTube
  9. ^ Hypnotic Eyes on YouTube
  10. ^ Fanny's Wedding Day on YouTube
  11. ^ Foiled Again on YouTube
  12. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 114. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  13. ^ The Villain Still Pursued Her on YouTube
  14. ^ The Saw Mill Mystery on YouTube
  15. ^ "Restored Classic Animation". UCLA Film & Television Archive. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
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