The Golden Age of the Movies.

Many businesses suffered severe losses during the Depression. The movies were not among them; in fact, they were so popular and so successful that many historians consider the 1930s to be their golden age. Full-length motion pictures were most popular, but short animated films were also audience favorites.

Adding Sound to Cartoons.

Animated cartoons had existed since the 1910s, and during the 1920s successful silent-cartoon characters included Otto Messmer's Felix the Cat, Max and Dave Fleischer's KoKo the Clown, and Walt Disney's Oswald the Rabbit. In 1928 Disney and Ub Iwerks created a new character, Mickey Mouse, and featured him in Steamboat Willie, the first animated cartoon with synchronized sound. As with regular movies, sound rapidly displaced the silent film.

New Characters and Trends.

As major animation studios, Disney and the Fleischer Brothers were soon joined by Warner Bros...