''Jasper and the Haunted House'' is a 1942 American animated short film in the '' Madcap Model'' series by

George Pal George Pal (born György Pál Marczincsak; ; February 1, 1908 – May 2, 1980) was a Hungarian-American animator, film director and producer, principally associated with the fantasy and science-fiction genres. He became an American citizen after ...

. It is an early entry that features the popular yet controversial Paramount

Puppetoons Puppetoons is a series of animated puppet films made in Europe (1930s) and in the United States (1940s) by George Pal. They were made using replacement animation: using a series of different hand-carved wooden puppets (or puppet heads or limbs) for ...

characters Jasper and his friend/nemesis Professor Scarecrow and Blackbird.

Plot

The original Paramount opening titles show features vocals singing the preparation of the pie and the credits displayed as part of the pie's ingredients. Jasper walks with a

gooseberry Gooseberry ( or (American and northern British) or (southern British)) is a common name for many species of ''Ribes'' (which also includes currants), as well as a large number of plants of similar appearance. The berries of those in the genu ...

pie and Professor Scarecrow (aka Mr. Scarecrow) and Blackbird notice the aroma. Both ask Jasper what he is doing with the pie; Jasper says that he is going to deliver it to

Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

Jones as ordered by his mammy. Professor Scarecrow opens Jasper's pie (by unzipping and zipping the crust) and finds out it is gooseberry. Jasper walks away, irritated by Professor Scarecrow and Blackbird's curiosity. Professor Scarecrow switches a nearby sign (one pointing to the Deacon's home and the other pointing to a haunted house) to trick Jasper so he can get his hands on Jasper's pie. Jasper comes back, then Professor Scarecrow and Blackbird lie about the sign. Jasper doesn't believe him at first and says "There ain't nothin' down that way but a ha-haunted house". Professor Scarecrow and Blackbird lie again and say that the house is no longer haunted as the "haunts" were drafted for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Jasper is now convinced, so he thanks Professor Scarecrow for showing him the right way; however, Professor Scarecrow and Blackbird laugh once Jasper has left. The next scene begins as Jasper arrives at the (obviously) haunted house. He enters and yells for the Deacon, but instead the door slams shut and locks behind him. Trapped and frightened, Jasper walks forward into the room (with a gag where his shadow walks back), and Professor Scarecrow and Blackbird scare Jasper into leaving the pie on a table by the staircase; Jasper then hides in an old piano. It seems as if the plan worked, but when Professor Scarecrow gets in an argument with Blackbird about sharing the pie, the pie itself is taken by a ghost. Professor Scarecrow then accuses Blackbird of taking the pie, but the argument ends when they find that it was a ghost who took it. Frightened, Professor Scarecrow and Blackbird hide in the piano with Jasper after the pie is eaten and the invisible ghost tosses back the pan ("There ya' are, boys. Get you a refund on the tin.") The ghost walks across to the piano and gets ready to play it. ("Nothin' like a little music after dinner", says the ghost.) The three characters whisper that they cannot see him, and there's a swing boogie-woogie piece played (possibly influenced by ''Thanks for the Boogie Ride'') and every inanimate object begins to dance, from the grandfather clock to the bookshelf to the pie pan. Meanwhile, the piano keys hit the main characters as the music plays. The ghost's vigorous playing sends the trio out of the piano, out through the roof of the haunted house, and they hit a

billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

. Jasper, afraid he will get in trouble, asks "What am I gonna tell my mammy about that pie?" Professor Scarecrow gives Jasper the empty pie pan as a way to prove that the pie was delivered. Jasper, furious, begins hitting the pie pan on their heads. The camera zooms out with a controversial advertisement for a fake brand of pie that says "Next Time Try Spook's

Gooseberry Gooseberry ( or (American and northern British) or (southern British)) is a common name for many species of ''Ribes'' (which also includes currants), as well as a large number of plants of similar appearance. The berries of those in the genu ...

Pie". Jasper drops the pan onto the ground revealing the

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

print logo of the time on it.

Later releases

''Jasper and the Haunted House'' has not been seen on TV for many years because it was deemed racist. It was retitled by U.M. & M. TV Corporation and the Paramount pie pan was cut out and was replaced by the same "The End" title used in

Little Lulu ''Little Lulu'' is a comic strip created in 1935 by American author Marge (cartoonist), Marjorie Henderson Buell. The character, Lulu Moppet, debuted in ''The Saturday Evening Post'' on February 23, 1935, in a single panel, appearing as a flower ...

films. The only official video releases were on

the Puppetoon Movie ''The Puppetoon Movie'' is a 1987 animated film written, produced, and directed by Arnold Leibovit. It is based on the Puppetoons characters created by George Pal in the 1930s and 1940s which feature the eponymous Puppetoon animation, and features ...

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

released by

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 340 ...

, and again later the Blu-ray of the same film. The film has also fallen into the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

as NTA failed to renew the copyrights on the film, except possibly underlying music rights issues with

Famous Music Famous Music Corporation was the worldwide music publishing division of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global since 1994. Its copyright holdings span several decades and includes music from such Academy Award-winning motion pictures ...

, as well as the eventual Arnold Leibovit's later trademarking of

. Because of this, ''Jasper and the Haunted House'' found its way to numerous public domain video collections.

References

External links

''Jasper and the Haunted House''
at bcdb *
''Jasper and the Haunted House'' video
at Like Television {{DEFAULTSORT:Jasper And The Haunted House 1942 animated films 1940s American animated films Short films directed by George Pal Paramount Pictures short films 1942 films American animated short films African-American animated films American haunted house films Puppetoons 1940s English-language films