<P> In 1929 Walter Lantz replaced Charles Mintz as producer of Universal Studios cartoons . Lantz's main character at this time was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, whose earlier cartoons had been produced by both Walt Disney and Charles Mintz . Lantz also started to experiment with color cartoons, and the first one, called Jolly Little Elves, was released in 1934 . In 1935 Lantz made his studio independent from Universal Studios, and Universal Studios was now only the distributors of his cartoons, instead of the direct owners . </P> <P> In the 1940s Oswald began to lose popularity . Lantz and his staff worked on several ideas for possible new cartoon characters (among them Meany, Miny, and Moe and Baby - Face Mouse). Eventually one of these characters clicked; his name was Andy Panda, who aired in Technicolor . However successful Andy was, it was not until the character's fifth cartoon, Knock Knock that a real breakthrough character was introduced . This was none other than Woody Woodpecker, who become Lantz's most successful creation . </P> <P> Walter Lantz Studio closed at the end of 1948 due to financial problems . It opened again in 1950 with a downsized staff, mainly because Lantz was able to sign a deal with Universal (by this time now known as Universal - International) for more Woody Woodpecker cartoons, starting with 1951's Puny Express . The character would continue to appear in theatrical shorts until 1972, when Lantz finally closed his studio . Luckily for Lantz Woody Woodpecker's survival was lengthened when he started appearing in The Woody Woodpecker Show from 1957 to 1958, from which it entered syndication until 1966 . NBC revived the show twice--in 1970 and 1976, and finally in 1985 Lantz sold all of the Woody Woodpecker shorts to Universal, then part of MCA . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs expansion . You can help by adding to it . (November 2011) </Td> </Tr> </Table>

When did the golden age of the american musical occur