Color film was much more expensive than black-and-white film. This was because color film required a more complex and time-consuming process to create. The film had to be exposed to multiple colors of light, and each color had to be printed onto the film separately. This process could take up to four times longer than printing black-and-white film. As a result, it was much more expensive to produce a color cartoon than a black-and-white cartoon.
The lack of demand for color cartoons.
In the early days of animation, there was not a high demand for color cartoons. Most people were content to watch black-and-white cartoons. This was because color cartoons were often considered to be more expensive and flashy than black-and-white cartoons. Additionally, color cartoons were not as well suited to the small screens of the time. As a result, there was not a large enough market for color cartoons to justify the high cost of production.
These factors led to the vast majority of cartoons being produced in black-and-white until the late 1930s.