My Old Kentucky Home

My Old Kentucky Home is a short animation film originally released in June 1926, by Max and Dave Fleischer of Fleischer Studios as one of the Song Car-Tunes series. The series, between May 1924 and September 1926, eventually totaled 36 films, of which 19 were made with sound. This cartoon features the original lyrics of "My Old Kentucky Home" (1853) by Stephen Foster, and was recorded in the Lee DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film system. My Old Kentucky Home appears to be the first attempt at animated dialogue in cartoon history, as an unnamed dog, an early prototype of future studio mascot Bimbo, in the film mouths the words "Follow the ball, and join in, everybody" in remarkable synchronization though the animation was somewhat limited, making sure that lip-synch was synchronized perfectly. The Fleischers had previously started the follow the bouncing ball gimmick in their Song Car-Tune My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean (released 15 September 1925). This film came two years after the Fleischers started the Song Car-Tune series in May 1924, and two years before Paul Terry's Dinner Time (September 1928) and Disney's Steamboat Willie (November 1928). A clip from the film is used in the opening credits of the Futurama episode "Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?".