Of all the classic theatrical animated cartoons, those released by ColumbiaPictures during TheSilentAgeOfAnimation and TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation are perhaps the most overlooked by the general public today. This is unfortunate because some of the most significant endeavors in the medium's history emerged from the collective works of Charles Mintz, Screen Gems and UPA. It is difficult, for example, for one to think of the history of animation without films like "The Little Match Girl", "The Fox and the Grapes", "WesternAnimation/GeraldMcBoingBoing" or "WesternAnimation/RootyTootToot" that, in so many ways, redefined what a cartoon was. The only short they did that's still somewhat famous today is their adaptation of Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's ''The Tell-Tale Heart'', which is often played in English classes.

While the history of Columbia's animation output is marked by hits and misses, experimentation always seems to be a constant. It was the early Charles Mintz/Screen Gems studio that produced some of the most groundbreaking cartoons of the 1930s, outside the [[ClassicDisneyShorts Disney]] and FleischerStudios. The Scrappy series, for example, employed exaggerated, abstract character designs and stories that involved unique personalities. The character of Scrappy, created by Dick Huemer, became an overnight success with a popularity surpassed only by Mickey Mouse.


When Mintz died in 1940, his production manager, Jimmy Bronis, became his successor. After Bronis came Mintz's brother-in-law, George Winkler. Later Columbia got rid of Winkler and brought in former Disney storyman and Warner Bros. cartoon director, Creator/FrankTashlin. Under Tashlin, the studio experienced a considerable talent boom. Many of the studio staffers were former Disney employees, fresh off the picket line from the 1941 strike at that studio. The drive to experiment and employ new, innovative ideas was strong and led to the emergence of a handful of highly-stylized cartoons as well as the successful ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheCrow'' series, pitting a refined, sophisticated Fox against a chiseling, street-wise Crow. Unfortunately, Tashlin's stay was short-lived and he was replaced by [[FleischerStudios Dave Fleischer]]. Later Fleischer too would depart and his other successors would make little impact on the studio. The quality of the cartoons, meanwhile, began to deteriorate and finally, in 1946, Screen Gems closed.


Two new DVD sets, containting the {{UPA}} oneshots and WesternAnimation/MrMagoo theatrical shorts. were eventually released; "UPA Jolly Frolics Collection" is now available exclusively on the Creator/TurnerClassicMovies online shop [[http://shop.tcm.com/upa-jolly-frolics-dvd/detail.php?p=364906 here]], and a definitive history of the studio was compiled into a book in 2012.
* InNameOnly: Their cartoon adaptations of Krazy Kat have absolutely nothing in common with George Herriman's classic comic strip, turning the character into a shameless WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse copycat. The sole exception is a 1936 short "Lil Anjil", which at least tried to capture the art direction and basic plot elements of the comic, and also had Ignatz and Offica Pup present.
* LimitedAnimation: Not just UPA, which was one of the {{Trope Maker}}s, but some of the cartoons of the Tashlin regime experimented with stylized designs. Not surprising, since most of the Tashlin animators later went on to help found UPA. [[Literature/TheTellTaleHeart The Tell-Tale Heart]] adaptation takes this to the level of having almost ''no animation at all''.
* {{Minimalism}}: UPA championed a minimalist apporach to animation. Every element of production - design, color, setting, movement - was boiled down to the bare essentials.
* {{Remake}}: UbIwerks did a semi-remake of his earlier Disney work "WesternAnimation/TheSkeletonDance", called "Skeleton Frolic", for Columbia's "Color Rhapsodies" series.
* ShortLivedBigImpact: United Productions of America barely lasted more than a decade as a theatrical cartoon studio, during which time their stylized approach to the medium profoundly changed the way cartoons looked for the next few decades (for better or worse). Even today, their influence, direct or indirect, is felt in shows as diverse as ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'', ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', ''WesternAnimation/HomeMovies'', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''.
** Even within UPA's remarkably diverse output, their adaptation of Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's ''Literature/TheTellTaleHeart'' stands out.