Coda

Part four of a four part series

     In the years immediately following his departure from the studio, Stephen Bosustow was prohibited from producing in the Los Angeles animation industry due to a non-compete clause in his contract with UPA.  He spent the next few years in Hong Kong, helping a faltering animation studio and trying to drum up work for them from the US.  On his return to the states, he began consulting for an educational film company, Film Associates, and eventually segued into producing educationals for them under his own label, Stephen Bosustow Productions.  Several Christmas Carol alums worked with him in those later years including Sam Weiss and Lee Mishkin, who directed the 1970 Academy Award winning animated short, Is It Always Right to Be Right? produced by Bosustow’s son, Nick.  Mishkin left soon after that and Sam Weiss took his place, directing most of the studio’s later output.  In the mid-70s, Bosustow Entertainment was formed to produce ABC After School Specials, Sesame Street animated inserts and work for other television clients.  Stephen Bosustow died of pneumonia July 4, 1981 at the age of 69.  Four years later, his son Nick closed down the studio.

     UPA continued on for several decades but largely as a distribution and licensing organization.  When animation was needed, usually for television commercials, it was farmed out to ex-UPA staffers and vendors.  In later years, former UPA production coordinator, Paul Carlson, would produce the commercials under the banner of the eponymous Paul Carlson Cartoons.
     Saperstein closed the studio in 1983 and continued to live off the income generated by his diverse portfolio of licensable properties.  He occasionally tried to sell off those assets, either in part or as a whole, but could never come to an agreement with potential suitors.  The John Lautner-designed studio facility was razed when it was sold that same year, ironically enough, to Walt Disney’s nephew, Roy E. Disney, who built the headquarters for his company, Shamrock Holdings, on the property.

     In June of 1998, Henry Saperstein passed away from cancer.  His widow, Irene, sold the UPA assets to Classic Media in 2000, finally ending the story of the controversial and once highly regarded studio.

     As a footnote, it should be mentioned that Stephen Bosustow did not like Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol.  He felt that the concept of Magoo as actor had been tried once before in 1001 Arabian Nights and didn’t work.  While that may be a technically accurate assessment, it’s questionable as to whether any audience saw Magoo as an actor in a role in that film.  Bosustow’s opinion was likely colored by the high profile failure of the feature that he had hoped would save his company.  It's also not inconceivable that any good fortune Saperstein had with UPA would have been a bitter pill for Bosustow to swallow.  Ironically, the Christmas special became one of UPA’s most financially successful properties.