Let's All Go To The Lobby

Prior to the 1960s, a trip to your local Bijou lasted several hours, because along with the double feature there were cartoons, short subjects, coming attractions and a thrilling serial chapter. At intermission there was likely to be a short promo prompting the audience to visit the snack bar and spend money.

Snack bar ads were a unique art form and fascinating part of movie history. Many consider the Cadillac (Tucker Torpedo?) of snack bar ads to be "Lets All Go To The Lobby", animated in 1953 by the great Dave Fleischer for Filmack Studios of Chicago. Filmack Trailer Company began producing theatre ads, designed to inform, promote or advertise to motion picture audiences, as far back as 1919.

In a telephone interview, Robert Mack said that Filmack founder Irving Mack created the 37 second "Lobby" trailer with director Fleischer, staff animators and some singers brought in to perform the lyrics. In 2000, the Library of Congress deemed the Lobby ad "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. (Click here to go to the Filmack site and view the video.)

BTW, the derivation of "trailer" comes from the fact that originally these ads (the term originally refered to any kind of short promotional film, not just "coming attractions"), were designed to "trail' the feature, but theater owners discovered that people would leave the theater as soon as the main attraction was over. Predictably they began to play the "trailers" before the feature film.

Coca Cola, Orange Crush, Dr. Pepper, Eskimo Pie and candy manufacturers all produced snack bar ads promoting their own brands. PBS has informed us that Matinee at the Bijou cannot include snack bar ads with currently marketed products, as it would constitute product placement. (Unless, of course, that product were to become a sponsor of Matinee at the Bijou. Coca Cola, please take note...)

Bijou Bob does, however, have access to lots of terrific unbranded snack bar ads which will be featured on the series. And you can bet Matinee at the Bijou producers will be negotiating with Filmack to borrow their 35mm original Lets All Go To The Lobby camera negative when transferring this classic cinematic treasure to Hi Def.

Cartoons At The Bijou

Who can resist a great cartoon? Whether crafted to be hysterically funny or charming cinematic poetry - the cartoon is a unique art form. American cartoonists were at their creative zenith during the 1930s, 40s and 50s, and Matinee at the Bijou is dedicated to bringing back the matinee movie-going experiences of those bygone days.

Bijou Bob and the crew are currently screening and considering many hours of animated gems for inclusion in the sequel series. Savvy fans of the original series know that due to budget constraints, all of the cartoons, shorts, serials and features had to be public domain. The sequel series has a serious budget that permits licensing many of our films from the major studios, as well as independent and private collections. Which means you’ll be able to see some of the best cartoons ever made, and in HD.

Of course, Matinee at the Bijou will continue to feature a selection of rare and rarely seen public domain cartoons. But these will be limited to such classic toons as POOR CINDERELLA, starring Bijou Bob’s favorite vamp, Betty Boop. This is the only Betty Boop cartoon produced in color (the Cinecolor process).

Also new and different with the sequel series, is that fans - as well as the newly initiated - will have the opportunity to contribute to the programming process. When it comes to the cartoons we’ll be showing, Bijou Bob wants to know what *you* want to see. In the weeks and months ahead we will be seeking your participation in the selection process. Tell us about some of your favorite cartoons, cartoon characters, and cartoon directors - Tex Avery or Bob Clampett, for example - and we’ll be listening. Meanwhile, Bijou Bob will soon be posting clips from the sequel series on YouTube as well. So be sure to watch for them in the new year.