The Sunshine Makers (1935)
“Bottled sunshine versus the blues.”
Streamed free from the Internet Archive · no signup, no cost — this film is in the public domain.
Synopsis
In this Technicolor Rainbow Parade fantasy, happy little gnomes distill sunshine and bottle it as milk, delivering cheer across the countryside. When their dreary goblin neighbors try to spread gloom, the gnomes counterattack by spraying them with concentrated sunshine until even the goblins are dancing. It's pure optimism rendered in lush early-Technicolor.
Cast
About the Director
Burt Gillett & Ted Eshbaugh — Burt Gillett had just come from Disney, where he directed the Oscar-winning "Three Little Pigs" (1933); he was hired to bring Disney-style polish to Van Beuren's Rainbow Parade. Co-director Ted Eshbaugh was a color-animation pioneer who had made one of the first Technicolor cartoons.
Why It’s Free: The Public-Domain Story
Van Beuren Studios dissolved in 1936 and its library passed to budget reissue and television distributors who never renewed the copyrights within the required 28-year window, so the film fell into the public domain. The Internet Archive hosts it under a Public Domain Mark.
Behind the Scenes
Released in 1935 as part of Van Beuren's Rainbow Parade series, the studio's prestige line of three-strip Technicolor shorts distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. The Borden dairy company later licensed a reissue version to tie the "milk" theme to its products.
Did You Know?
- The short was directed by Burt Gillett right after he left Disney, where he had directed the Academy Award-winning "Three Little Pigs."
- It was produced in full three-strip Technicolor, an expensive rarity for a small studio like Van Beuren.
- Borden's dairy reissued the film around 1940 as promotional material, leaning on its sunshine-into-milk premise.
- It is one of the most frequently revived Van Beuren cartoons precisely because its all-fantasy content carries none of the era's problematic gags.
Reception & Legacy
Long regarded as Van Beuren's finest and most charming cartoon, "The Sunshine Makers" is a perennial public-domain favorite, praised for its bright Technicolor design, bouncy musical score, and relentlessly upbeat spirit.
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