Mr. Bug Goes to Town

'''''Mr. Bug Goes to Town''''' (also known as '''''Hoppity Goes to Town''''' and '''''Bugville''''') is a 1941 American animated [[Musical film|musical]] [[comedy film]] produced by [[Fleischer Studios]] and released by [[Paramount Pictures]]. It was the second and final feature-length film from Fleischer Studios (following ''[[Gulliver's Travels (1939 film)|Gulliver's Travels]]'' in 1939), the sixth animated film produced by an American studio, and the first based largely on an original story. ''Mr. Bug'' was envisioned originally as an adaptation of [[Maurice Maeterlinck]]'s 1901 novel ''The Life of the Bee'', but Paramount was unwilling to purchase the rights from [[Samuel Goldwyn]].{{cite book|title=Max Fleischer: Pioneer of American Animation: American Animation Pioneer|first=Ray|last=Pointer|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|year=2016|isbn=978-1476663678}}

'''''Mr. Bug Goes to Town''''' (also known as '''''Hoppity Goes to Town''''' and '''''Bugville''''') is a 1941 American animated [[Musical film|musical]] [[comedy film]] produced by [[Fleischer Studios]] and released by [[Paramount Pictures]]. It was the second and final feature-length film from Fleischer Studios (following ''[[Gulliver's Travels (1939 film)|Gulliver's Travels]]'' in 1939), the sixth animated film produced by an American studio, and the first based largely on an original story. ''Mr. Bug'' was envisioned originally as an adaptation of [[Maurice Maeterlinck]]'s 1901 novel ''The Life of the Bee'', but Paramount was unwilling to purchase the rights from [[Samuel Goldwyn]].{{cite book|title=Max Fleischer: Pioneer of American Animation: American Animation Pioneer|first=Ray|last=Pointer|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|year=2016|isbn=978-1476663678}}

''Mr. Bug'' was produced by [[Max Fleischer]] and directed by [[Dave Fleischer]], with animation sequences directed by [[Willard Bowsky]], [[Myron Waldman]], Thomas Johnson, [[David Tendlar]], [[Shamus Culhane|James Culhane]], H.C. Ellison, Stan Quackenbush, and Graham Place. It was first previewed on December 4, 1941, in New York, days before [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor]] and the United States' subsequent entry into [[World War II]]. Paramount eventually released the film in the United Kingdom on January 23, 1942; in California on February 12; and in New York City on February 19.{{cite news|date=20 February 1942|title='Mr. Bug Goes to Town' Opens at Loew's|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B06E5DD1439E33BBC4851DFB4668389659EDE|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926103930/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B06E5DD1439E33BBC4851DFB4668389659EDE|archive-date=September 26, 2015|access-date=18 January 2017|url-status=dead}}

''Mr. Bug'' was produced by [[Max Fleischer]] and directed by [[Dave Fleischer]], with animation sequences directed by [[Willard Bowsky]], [[Myron Waldman]], Thomas Johnson, [[David Tendlar]], [[Shamus Culhane|James Culhane]], H.C. Ellison, Stan Quackenbush, and Graham Place. It was first previewed on December 4, 1941, in New York, three days before [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor]] and the United States' subsequent entry into [[World War II]]. Paramount eventually released the film in the United Kingdom on January 23, 1942; in California on February 12; and in New York City on February 19.{{cite news|date=20 February 1942|title='Mr. Bug Goes to Town' Opens at Loew's|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B06E5DD1439E33BBC4851DFB4668389659EDE|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926103930/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B06E5DD1439E33BBC4851DFB4668389659EDE|archive-date=September 26, 2015|access-date=18 January 2017|url-status=dead}}

{{Cite book |url=https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchCode=LCCN&searchArg=sn%2083016278&searchType=1&permalink=y |title=The evening independent |date=1986 |publisher=Evening Independent |location=St. Petersburg, Fla |oclc=ocm02720408}} The film became a [[Box-office bomb|financial failure]] due to its botched release, minimal advertising, and short theatrical window. Fleischer Studios, which hoped to recoup the costs spent on ''Mr. Bug'' and ''Gulliver's Travels'', was instead reorganized as [[Famous Studios]] in May 1942.

{{Cite book |url=https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchCode=LCCN&searchArg=sn%2083016278&searchType=1&permalink=y |title=The evening independent |date=1986 |publisher=Evening Independent |location=St. Petersburg, Fla |oclc=ocm02720408}} The film became a [[Box-office bomb|financial failure]] due to its botched release, minimal advertising, and short theatrical window. Fleischer Studios, which hoped to recoup the costs spent on ''Mr. Bug'' and ''Gulliver's Travels'', was instead reorganized as [[Famous Studios]] in May 1942.