Rights were secured for the Wizard of Oz cartoons from Col. Frank Baum, son of the novel's author L. Frank Baum,[6] and production went underway, however Technicolor had signed an exclusive deal with Walt Disney to utilize the three-color process being used for the Oz shorts, which ultimately shut down releases of Eshbaugh's cartoon series.
Issues about the production of Oz were taken to Federal Court, where Baum restrained Eshbaugh and Technicolor from releasing the cartoon, citing reasons as failure to meet deadlines.
The shorts premiered at the Radio City Music Hall,[7] and entries like Pastry Town Wedding and The Sunshine Makers have been fondly remembered by fans for their lavish animation and color styling.
After leaving Van Beuren, Eshbaugh set up operations for another independent animation studio, this time in New York, which became the permanent location.
[10] In the early 40s, he repackaged cartoons he directed at the Van Beuren Studio with new animation for advertising companies like Cushman Son's[11] and Borden's, as copyrights had lapsed for those films when Amedee J.
In 1941, Ted Eshbaugh allegedly failed to comply with the agreed upon labor conditions of the Screen Actors Guild, which put his studio on their "unfair" list.
[14] He created a character named Cap'n Cub to star in a proposed series of war-themed cartoon shorts for theatrical release.