Customer Reviews

Bugville: Hoppity Goes to Town

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Bugville is the second re-titling of the 1941 Max Fleischer animated classic, which has otherwise been known as Hoppity Goes to Town or Mr. Bug Goes to Town, respectively. For the uninitiated, the Fleischer brothers were an animation powerhouse that rivaled Disney at the time--producing cartoon greats like Popeye, Superman and Betty Boop--only to be undone by the extremely poor timing of this film's release (several days after Pearl Harbor). Since the Fleischers were often distinguished from their competitors because of their use of human characters in their cartoons, as opposed to the industry standard anthropomorphic animal, I find it interesting that the film that forced them out of their own studio featured anthropomorphic animals.

History lesson aside, anyone who has seen Popeye would have an excellent feel for the style and quality of the animation in Bugville, which more or less conforms to the visuals of the Fleischers' more renowned cartoons. Speaking directly to the quality of this particular DVD, it is certainly better than many of the other versions I've seen floating around the internet. The picture is clear, as opposed to the blurriness that seemed to pervade the other copies I've seen. The sound is likewise better, although still in mono. Overall, if you're interested in acquiring a version of Mr. Bug/Hoppity, this Bugville release seems to be the best readily available.

Noteworthy extras include biographical information on the Fleischers and several more of their cartoon shorts.

Bugville is filled with great musical numbers and a very interesting and engaging story. The characters are lovable and charming and there is heart in this film and lessons to be learned. Both my boys (9 and 3) were enthralled with the story as was I. It is filled with adorable adaptations of human's items (a compact case and powerder-puff is used as a bed, a glove over a doorway becomes a drape).

The quality of this particular DVD is excellent. The picture is clear and the sound is very good, although still in mono.

As another reviewer indicated, I too almost missed this title because I had heard of and was looking for "Hoppity Goes to Town." (There was some legal reasons why the name had to be changed.) This is a wonderful film. It is a classic and it's a shame more people don't know about it.

The Fleischers' really outdid themselves with this and never quite did so again. In reading up about this release, it was the first animated feature not adapted from a work of literature. (Also, the first one to take place in contemporary times, rather than "long ago and far away.") More recent feature cartoons such as Ants and Bugs were clearly influenced by this wonderful story. If this had originally been released a month sooner, I believe it would've been as well known as Disney's Snow White, and maybe better, since it's an original story. It's a shame it was never re-released to the theaters in the late 40's or released in video decades ago so that during the Fleischers' lifetimes, they would've been properly recognized for this wonderful production. Highly recommended for the whole family!

I almost missed this title because I knew it as "Hoppity Goes to Town." This is a wonderful film. It is a classic, it's a shame more people don't know about how wonderful Max Fleischer's work was. Highly recommended for the whole family.

I have been a fan of animated shorts and feature length films for as long as I can remember. After finding a copy of Gulliver's travels which was done by the Fleisher studios, I decided to give this lesser known film a try. 'Bugville' originally named 'Hoppity Goes to Town' was released two days before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which took away any chance of it ever making an impact on the movie going audience.

The story is a simple one with classic Fleisher style animation about a group of insects looking to live in a safe place, with the hero wanting to marry his sweetheart and an evil beetle who wants her for himself. This release by Legends has done a very good job of presenting a clear and bright looking picture with good sound. Has it been restored?...probably not completely, but it looks very good, with minimal wear and I found it to look way more than adequate.

The extras include three unrelated shorts which don't look as good as the feature film, a brief(readable)bio on Fleischer studios and the original trailer for 'Hoppity goes to Town'. If you want this film in your collection, buy this, it will not disappoint and it may be the best we'll ever see on video.

I've watched Bugville many times and enjoyed it every time.
(I enjoyed the three bonus Fleischer cartoons that are included on this DVD as well, and felt they definitely gave an extra bang for my buck.)
The new cover brings vibrant new life to this classic animated film.

If you like classic animation, I highly recommend Bugville!

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

What I liked best about this feature-length animated film from 1941 is the great feel it gives for the early 1940s. It's the songs, the clothing, automobiles, buildings lingo of the day, etc. You feel like you've stepped back into time.

From reading some of the reviews here, I see this was a hard-luck film, being released a couple of days before the Pearl Harbor attack. Wow, no one would be interested in going to the movies for a feature-length cartoon during those eventful and shocking days, I'm sure. Too bad, because the folks missed some nice animation would have really impressed back then, almost 70 years ago. The colors are nice, drawings are good and story involving as we root for the bugs led by "Hoppity" and and his beautiful girl "Honey" to make it happily-ever-after and out of harm's way. It's also about all of them finding a grassy spot they can live and not worry about humans trampling them.

There is a nasty villain, though - "C. Bagley Beetle" - and two of his henchmen. Those helpers ("Swat, The Fly" and "Smack, the Mosquito") are comedians, complete with their Brooklyn-ese accents! The story is a familiar one where a nasty old man wants to marry the sweet young thing and uses unscrupulous means to force her hand. The good guy, meanwhile, has the decked stacked against him but in the very end, of course, prevails.

My favorite part - this will sound worse than what it was - was when good-guy "Hoppity" got temporarily electrocuted and he danced in black-and-white. That was fantastic animation!

You know, it's a good thing I didn't see this as a very little kid; I would have been afraid to play outside and squash all those nice bug-people! You never know what (or who) is in that grass beneath your feet!

I love old cartoons! This is a very cute movie. I'd recommend it to people who have kids (which is a huge change from the cartoons kids usually watch now-a-days) or even if you're young at heart and enjoy a good cartoon classic once in a while.

I've been looking for this movie for along time! I had found it on another site at a much higher price (3 x's higher) and was so glad Amazon had it. I guess someone has retitled it since 65' when it was called " Hoppity Comes to Town". Great movie for kids!!! I remember sitting w/ my family after school for the "early show" on T.V. and watching it w/ popcorn made on the stove-top ahhh the memories! I was VERY pleased the animation has been preserved and not fuzzed up after updating to DVD as some have been. Fast and free shipping w/ Amazon made the purchase even cheaper.

A wonderful charming 1941 cartoon that captures the magic of animation and America in the 40s. Share this video with everyone especially young children to expose them to a classic film filled with pure heart and fun; much better than today's cartoon junk.

I'd like to go through the many lies being spread about this release in an attempt to defame the DVD and ruin its distributor's name. The first outright lie is that this issue is a bootleg, when, in fact, it is the first legitimate issue the film has yet to receive, as it was factory-pressed by a legitimate company, one that has been respected and praised for its restored releases of many much-loved films.

The film was initially released under the title "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" and reissued under the title "Hoppity Goes to Town". It was acquired by U.M.&M. T.V. Corp. U.M.&M. was succeeded by National Telefilm Associates, which would eventually become Republic Pictures, which was recently acquired by Paramount. Paramount is the current owner of "It's A Wonderful Life", which had been copyrighted by Republic. That film was recently released in a colorized version which was produced by the company that distributed the Bugville DVD. You would think that if this were an unauthorized issue, Paramount would have pulled the colorized "It's A Wonderful Life" DVD, but no. Actually, the company distributing "Bugville" has had a longstanding business relationship with Paramount, and is distributing a number of titles owned by Paramount, most notably, the controversial "Mandingo".

"Bugville" is in the public domain. Although the copyrights for several films were renewed by Republic, many were not. "Bugville" was one of these titles. The title "Hoppity Goes to Town" was renewed in 1987, but the actual film itself, "Mr. Bug Goes to Town", was not. A simple search of public copyright record finds that there is no renewal record for "Mr. Bug Goes to Town". So, while only Republic has the rights to use that title, they have no claim to the film itself.

Secondly, the descriptions of the transfer quality are just plain false. If you look at the screenshots that I have uploaded from this DVD, you will notice that the film does not, in fact, look like it had been transferred from a VHS tape or a second-generation dupe, and it is probably the best-looking transfer this film has seen on any home video format, not withstanding the obvious limitations of the master format. I have no idea, exactly, if the complaints listed here are just plain misguided or intentional lying, but there's not a word of truth to these claims.

And it's extremely hard to take a complaint seriously when any alternative opinion results in the holder of that opinion being labeled as an employee of the company that is distributing the DVD that the individual is reviewing. I have never worked for this company in my life. Making such a claim is like stating that the positive reviews being given to releases by the Criterion Company were made by employees of that company. One only needs to look at the picture quality of the DVDs released by these distributors to tell that they are doing a good job and should be rewarded for their efforts in making fine films that have never seen a quality transfer watchable, in multiple formats (especially in black and white, if the original films were shot in this format).