Sponsored Films

Once Upon a Time (1934)
Sponsor: Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. Production Co.: Audio Productions Inc. Director: F. Lyle Goldman. Transfer Note: Scanned from a 35mm print held by the Library of Congress. Running Time: 10 minutes.

Driver safety cartoon, told through song, created as part of an insurance company’s public education program. When Pandora opens her box, goblins “Carelessness” and “Discourtesy” escape to cause traffic accidents. Good fairies “Carefulness” and “Courtesy” charm the goblins back into the box.

Note: Produced in Technicolor. Also released in 16mm.

Further Reading: Jonathan A. Boschen, "An Unexpected Animated Icon: 'Once Upon A Time,'" Cartoon Research, March 6, 2019. Parts One, Two, and Three.

Resources
“Colored Film on Safe Driving Uses Pandora Box Characters,” Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 12, 1934, 2; Bernard A. Grimes, “20 Basic Questions on Business Films,” Printer’s Ink Monthly 31 (Aug. 1935): 72–73; Educational Film Catalog, comps. Dorothy E. Cook and Eva Rahbek-Smith (New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1936), 48; “Advertisers’ Films Draw Huge Crowds at Nation’s Two Big Fairs,” Sales Management 45 (July 1, 1939): 34–47.