Way back When: Follow the bouncing ball! Lillian Roth sings in one of Max Fleischer’s “Screen Songs” musical shorts featuring the bouncing ball released by Paramount Pictures, 1932.
The bouncing ball technique was introduced by Max Fleischer for musical short films he released 1924 through 1927. Some were silent, meant to be accompanied by a theater organist, and some titles utilized Lee DeForest’s Phonofilm early sound-on-film process.
In 1929, the Fleischer studio teamed up with Paramount and produced dozens of “Screen Songs” short films that included an animated segment followed by a celebrity leading the audience in song.
An early version of karaoke. It was popular with theater audiences to join in and sing along between newsreels and the feature attraction.
