Perennial Pictures Film Corporation (partially found productions and pitches from Indianapolis animation studio; 1979-present)
This article has been tagged as Needing work due to its lack of concrete references.
The company's logo.
Status: Partially Found
Perennial Pictures Film Corporation was an animation studio located in Indianapolis that was founded in 1979 by Russ Harris and G. Brian Reynolds. While the studio animated commercials for different companies in its early beginnings, they were best known for Crawford the Cat and their animated specials, most of them center around Christmas. While most of the studio's productions can be found online like streaming services, others (including series pitches) either remain lost or have its existence confirmed by news media outlets or the company themselves.
Perennial Pictures Filmography
Mirthworms
- A Merry Mirthworms Christmas (1984)
- A Mirthworms Masquerade (1987)
- Mirthworms on Stage (1988)
Christmas
- Jingle Bell Rap (1990)
- Aliens First Christmas (1991): Follow-up to the studio's "Aliens Next Door" pilot episode.
- Up on the Housetop (1992)
- Deck the Halls (1994)
- Jolly Ol' St. Nicholas (1994)
- O Christmas Tree (1994)
- We Wish You a Merry Christmas (1994)
- The Ugly Duckling's Christmas Wish (1996): The studio's first, and only, movie so far.
Seasonal
- The First Easter Egg (1997)
- Witches in Stitches (1997)
Crawford the Cat
- Crawford's Corner (2002-present)
- Crawford Washes His Hands
- Crawford Brushes His Teeth
- Crawford Puts His Toys Away
- Crawford Does His Exercises
- Crawford is a "Sneezer-Pleaser"
- Crawford Lets Everyone Play
- Crawford and Harriet Work Together
- Crawford's Good Table Manners
- Crawford Puts On His Coat
- Crawford's Try-A-Bite Club
- Crawford's Please and Thank You
- Crawford is a "Good Nighter"
- Crawford's "Practice Makes Perfect"
- Crawford and the Bully: Millow's Story (released exclusively on the Crawford the Cat website)
- Crawford the Cat's Minute Moves (interstitials; 2000's): Scroll down for more details.
- Crawford the Cat's Christmas (2018)
Pilots
- Aliens Next Door (1989)
- O.Ratz With David D. Fly: Rat in a Hot Tin Can (1995)
- HandyCat: Bees-Ness as Usual (2006)
- Five Days (year unknown): Scroll down for more details.
Miscellaneous
- Scuddle Mutt (interstitials; 1982): Perennial's first-ever series. Scroll down for more information.
- The Three Fishketeers (1987)
- Just Me and My Dad (1993): Adapted and based on the book with the same name.
- Baby Songs (animated interstitials only; 1999)
- Fat Tuezday (interstitials; 2007)
- The Mr. Men Show (as an overseas animation house, additional animation only with Renegade Animation; uncredited; 2008-2009)
- MAD: The Taylor Swiffer (With Warner Bros. Animation for Cartoon Network; 2010's)
Lost Perennial Productions and Production Details
Scuddle Mutt (1982)
Status: Lost
Scuddle Mutt was a series of interstitials that premiered in 1982 on ABC affiliate WXYZ aimed at preschoolers. It was the company's first (and only) series until the aforementioned Crawford the Cat in 2002. 13 interstitials (which are 30 seconds in length) were made in total according to Perennial's website, all of which remain lost to this day. Notably, the characters will later appear in another one of Perennial's Christmas specials, Jolly Ol' St. Nicholas.
MyCrobes
Status: Existence confirmed
MyCrobes was a concept pitch from the studio that was not much known about it outside of it being about germs living inside a human body. According to the Animation News World article on the company, this is one of the three series ideas Perennial pitched to Frederator Studios. They turned the idea down as Frederator thought they weren't "too excited" about a short film/pilot about germs living in a human body, and out of the three series concepts, Handycat was chosen to be made into a pilot instead.
Five Days
Status: Partially lost
Five Days was a pilot short for a potential series. It's unknown what year this was created and what is it about, but strangely, this wasn't listed in Perennial's website. A clip can be seen in Perennial's demo reel.
Original Crawford the Cat Incarnations (1990's) and Crawford the Cat's Minute Moves
Status:
- Existence confirmed (original incarnations)
- Partially Found (Minute Moves)
Crawford's Corner was a series of shorts released in 2002 centering around the titular Crawford the Cat, a polite and well-organized green cat, along with his friends Harriet the hare and Millow the mouse. The shorts are intended to teach kids about proper etiquette techniques such as cleaning rooms, doing exercises, brushing teeth and washing hands. Creation and development for Crawford the Cat goes back in the 1990's. While production and development for the shorts remain obscure, G. Brian Reynolds on the company's blog said that Crawford was originally going to be a black and white cat. As they were about to ink and paint the first Crawford short, they opened a Kidscreen magazine and got into an ad of a then-upcoming cartoon featuring a black cat. As a result, they settled on green because they thought they don't see any green cats in animation, as well as slightly tweaking proportions of his face and body.
The first incarnation of Crawford was a direct-to-video Christmas film, as the characters were originally convinced for the film. While it didn't happened, the idea will be resurrected years later as a special. The second incarnation of Crawford the Cat was an unknown birthday special aimed at preschoolers. It is unknown was the story of the special will be and not much was known about this. By the time the incarnation was being made, Perennial Pictures was getting very close on how the final Crawford series will play out.
Crawford the Cat's Minute Moves is a series of interstitials spun-off from the Crawford's Corner shorts involving the titular character inviting viewers to do exercises. Each of the interstitials ends with Crawford giving us a healthy hint and signing off. It's unknown how many Minute Moves interstitials were made. The first two can be seen on streaming services like Kidoodle and Tubi. A clip from an unknown interstitial showing Crawford's healthy hint on eating apples was seen on the official Twitter account.
Crawford's Classics: Cinderella (2007)
Status: Partially found
Crawford's Classics was the name given to what was supposed to be a series of made-for-TV movies based on the Crawford's Corner cartoons where Crawford and his friends recite classic stories. The first out of them will have Crawford and his friends reciting Cinderella. It's currently unknown if production of the special was completed, but clips and SWF sample files from the special can be found on Perennial's website, their demo reel and on the Crawford the Cat Twitter account.
Gallery
Crawford the Cat
Original Crawford the Cat design, as mentioned.
Ditto, but a model art.
Screenshot of a rather unknown "Minute Moves" interstitial, showing one of Crawford's "Healthy Hints".
References
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