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<HEAD><TITLE>Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Gabby </TITLE> <script language="JavaScript"></script> <META name = "author" content = "Donald D. Markstein"> <META name = "description" content = "Hypertext encyclopedia of comics and animation"> <META name = "subject" content = "Hypertext encyclopedia of comics and animation"> <META name = "keywords" content = "comic books animated cartoons animation comics comix syndicated comic strips"> <META name = "publisher" content = "Donald D. Markstein"> <META name = "format" content = "text/html"> <META name = "language" content = "EN"> </HEAD><BODY> <body onload="if (self!= top) top.location = self.location"></body> <BODY BGCOLOR="FFFFFF" TEXT="000000" LINK="0000EE" VLINK="551A8B"> <TABLE><TR><TD WIDTH=310 VALIGN="CENTER"><IMG GALLERYIMG="NO" ALIGN="LEFT" HEIGHT=331 WIDTH=300 ALT="Gabby checks out goings-on at the waterfront." SRC="gabby.jpg"> <TD VALIGN="CENTER"><H1>GABBY</H1><FONT SIZE=4> <B>Medium:</B> Theatrical Animation <BR><B>Produced by:</B> Fleischer Studio <BR><B>First Appeared:</B> 1939 <FONT SIZE=3> <! BEGIN DONATION CODE> <HR><FONT SIZE=2 COLOR="993366"><CENTER> If this site is enjoyable or useful to you, <BR>Please contribute to its necessary financial support. <BR><A HREF="http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/pay/T1237L0BCY25QA" TARGET="_blank">Amazon.com</A> or <A HREF="https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=don%40toonopedia.com&no_note=1&tax=0&currency_cod e=USD" TARGET="_blank">PayPal</A> </FONT></CENTER><HR> <! END DONATION CODE> <P><A NAME="cont"> Dozens of cartoon stars have been spun off from animated features — <A HREF="scamp.htm">Scamp</A> from <I><A HREF="ladytrmp.htm">Lady & the Tramp,</A></I> <A HREF="carioca.htm">José Carioca</A> from <I>Saludos Amigos,</I> <A HREF="figaro.htm">Figaro the Cat</A> from <I><A HREF="pinochio.htm">Pinocchio</A></I> — to say nothing of <A HREF="jiminy.htm">Jiminy Cricket</A> — but those are all <A HREF="disney.htm">Disney</A> characters, and the first  <P ALIGN="RIGHT"><A HREF="#cont"><FONT SIZE=2><I>continued below</A></FONT> </TABLE> <CENTER><! BEGIN ADSENSE "LEADERBOARD" CODE> <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> <! END ADSENSE CODE></CENTER> <P><TABLE><TR><TD VALIGN="TOP"> guy to start in a feature and go on to other cartoons came from somewhere else. <A HREF="fleischr.htm">Max Fleischer's</A> <I><A href="gulliver.htm">Gulliver's Travels,</A></I> released December 22, 1939, introduced an incidental Lilliputian named Gabby, voiced by Pinto Colvig (<A HREF="goofy.htm">Goofy</A>). Less than a year later — October 18, 1940, to be exact — Gabby was the star of his very own cartoon short, <I>King for a Day.</I> <P> The thinking behind making a star out of Gabby might have had something to do with Disney having marketed Dopey the Dwarf, from <I><A HREF="snowhite.htm">Snow White,</A></I> as a separate character. (Dopey didn't appear as an animated star, which is why he doesn't qualify for Gabby's distinction.) Both were short (Gabby, even by Lilliputian standards), cute, and seemed equally appealing. But just as <I>Gulliver's Travels</I> didn't go over as well as <I>Snow White</I> had, Gabby didn't make as big a splash as Dopey. <P> In fact, film critic Leonard Maltin, no great fan of the <I>Gulliver</I> characters in general, called him "Just plain annoying — a characters with all the frustrations of <A HREF="donald.htm">Donald Duck</A> but none of his inherent humor." Audiences in general may not have gone as far, but apparently didn't entirely disagree. <P> A total of eight Gabby cartoons were made over the next few months. The last one, released August 15, 1941, was <I>It's a Hap-hap-happy Day.</I> In it, Gabby reprised the most popular song from the movie, but that didn't save his series. The following year, the studio died — largely as a result of the staggering losses it took on <I>Gulliver.</I> Paramount Pictures absorbed its carcass, and renamed the operation <A HREF="famous.htm">Famous Studios.</A> <P> Famous never made a Gabby cartoon, and that was the end of him. But he still retains his little footnote in the history of animation, as the first feature character move into other cartoons. <P ALIGN = "RIGHT">— DDM <P><A HREF="index.htm">BACK</A> to <I>Don Markstein's Toonopedia</I> Home Page <BR><A HREF="today.htm">Today in Toons:</A> Every day's an anniversary! <P><! BEGIN ADSENSE BANNER CODE><CENTER> <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </CENTER><! END ADSENSE CODE> <TD WIDTH=10><TD WIDTH=180 VALIGN="TOP"> <! BEGIN ADLINKS CODE><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><! END ADLINKS CODE> <P><! BEGIN ADSENSE REFERRAL CODE><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script><! 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