Noveltoons ownership question

[Vdubdavid]

Who currently owns the rights to the non public domain pre-1950 color Paramount cartoons that were in the package first controlled by UM&M and then NTA? Another question is, do negatives or prints with original titles exist, since if I'm right with the color shorts the new titles weren't cut into the negatives (as was unfortunately the case with the black and white shorts).

[absolutpaul]

The rights are owned by Republic Pictures (they bought NTA), which is owned by Viacom/Paramount. I believe Paramount kept and has the Tech negatives for these cartoons. They would either have their original titles, or maybe "Paramount Champion" re-release titles.

[Vdubdavid]

Shoot, that's ironic. So Paramount could restore and release the pre-1950 cartoons if they wanted to? By the way, for anyone who's ever seen a "Paramount Champion" reissue, how was the opening different? Was just the insignia on the jack-in-the-box altered, or was it done MGM style where the entire credit sequence was redone?

[Thad]

I have a copy of Cilly Goose that is a Paramount Champion reissue and yes, it was just the mountain logo on the Jack-in-the-Box that was altered.

[absolutpaul]

I had a b/w print of Cilly Goose once. It's a great cartoon that has been hard to see for a long time.

[ltnut]

Shoot, that's ironic. So Paramount could restore and release the pre-1950 cartoons if they wanted to?

But will they actually do anything with them or just sit on them like they've done for years?