>>121692819While animation standards were much higher, it wasn't all that risky because of the block booking system at the time. (pre-1948)
Basically it meant that, in order for a theater to get a feature film, they would have to take a cartoon/serial/newsreel too, and they didn't really get to choose. This left a lot of room for cartoon directors to experiment without the constant threat of financial failure. You would have to fuck up pretty bad to get ousted, (though according to Chuck Jones The Dover Boys was almost the cartoon to do just that)
