The Man From Button Willow

[Mandouga]

Does anybody here remember this animated western from 1963? It was on the This TV network today. It takes place in the old west, and concerns the title character, a government undercover agent. Other characters include Stormy, an "asian" girl who he takes care of, and Sari, an old man who runs the farm where they all live. It was made by a company called Eagle Animation, and released by a company called United Screen Arts; today, MGM holds most of the rights to the movie (or at the very least, TV distribution rights).

Incidentally, I don't think it gets shown on TV all that much. Plus, it wasn't made by any of the "heavy hitters" of the time (i.e., Disney, Warner Bros., etc). So, anyone?

[Steve Carras]

I remember it. Actually not from 63 [the year you gave] but 65. Partly Produced anf financed by, and starrig cowboy actor Dale Robertson, and produced,written and directed by one of the major younger go to guys for 1960s catoons, Dave Detiege [you'll see his name on older Pink Panther shorts.] I noticed some established radio and voice actors including some almost entirely associated wit Disney, Clarence Nash and Pinto Colvig! [Excuse me, Donald Duck and Goofy, respectively!] Oh, and Cliff Edwards, aka Ukele Ike of 20s and 30s fame, aka JIMINY CRICKET and JIM CROW!!

This was one of the animated-realistically feature deals that we get maybe a little too much of now. But its history is interesting, since it is a rare 1960s feature made as you said, by a small outfit.

[Mandouga]

At the end of the movie, I saw a copyright date of 1963, so I went with that. Of course my digital cable's electronic guide did say 1965, so I thought it might have been an error. I guess the movie must have had some problems during development for it's release to have been significantly delayed. Either that, or they had struggled for two years to find a distributor (I never heard of United Screen Arts myself).

[Mister Donut]

At the end of the movie, I saw a copyright date of 1963, so I went with that. Of course my digital cable's electronic guide did say 1965, so I thought it might have been an error. I guess the movie must have had some problems during development for it's release to have been significantly delayed. Either that, or they had struggled for two years to find a distributor (I never heard of United Screen Arts myself).
I recorded it off Flix or some channel years ago, and it looks as if MGM has it in their mitts currently.

[Mandouga]

No offense, but I already mentioned that in my first post.

[dth1971]

I noticed this movie recently on THIS TV, hope THIS TV shows other animated movies from the MGM library in the future, mostly The Secret of NIMH, All Dogs Go To Heaven, Rock-a-Doodle, and The Pebble and the Penguin.