John Randolph Bray
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John Randolph Bray (25 August 1879, Detroit - 10 October 1978, Bridgeport, Connecticut) produced the first animation film in color The Debut of Thomas Katt (1920) in Brewster Color, developed by Percy D. Brewster of Newark, New Jersey. Bray Productions produced over 500 films between 1913 and 1937, mostly animation films and documentary shorts. Cartoonist Paul Terry worked briefly for Bray Studios in 1916.
The entertainment branch of Bray Pictures Corporation closed in 1928. Documentary production for theatrical release continued through the late 1930's. The educational/commercial branch, Brayco, made mostly filmstrips from the 1920s until it closed in 1963.
Bray Studios was still in operation in the early 70's, shortly before Bray died at the age of 99 in 1978.
Jam Handy's company, the Jam Handy Organization, began as a Chicago-Detroit division of Bray Studios, to service the auto industry's need for industrial films. Jam Handy made several thousand industrial and sponsored films and tens of thousands of filmstrips, many for the auto industry, closed in 1983.
He visited Winsor McCay during his production of Gertie the Dinosaur and claimed to be a journalist writing an article about animation. McCay was very open about the techniques that he developed and showed all the details to Bray. John Randolph Bray later patented many of McCay's methods and tried to sue him. McCay prevailed, however, and received royalties from Bray for several years thereafter.
