Customer Reviews

Cartoon Madness: Fantastic Max Fleischer [VHS]

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"Cartoon Madness" is an excellent historic overview of animation pioneers Max and Dave Fleischer, featuring beautifully restored 35mm prints of some of their best shorts. The highlights include rarely seen color classics such as "Poor Cinderella," "Dancing on the Moon" and the two-reel "Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy." Fleischer surrealism is represented by Betty Boop's "Snow White," "Bimbo's Initiation" and "Ko-Ko's Earth Control" - all terrific. However, there should have been a little more emphasis on the Popeye and Superman cartoons, which remain among the Fleischers' finest achievements. Apart from that minor flaw, "Cartoon Madness" proves once and for all that Max and Dave had more flair than Disney.

He was a master cartoonist, animator and inventor. He brought popular comics characters such as Popeye and Superman to vibrant life. His innovations, such as "rotoscoping" and the use of three-dimensional backgrounds, surpass even those of Walt Disney and his right-hand man Ub Iwerks. Yet while his work has received increased attention in recent years, Max Fleischer remains largely unknown.

Hosted by film critic and animation fan Leonard Maltin, "Cartoon Madness" is light on narration, preferring to let the body of Fleischer's work speak for itself. And to large measure it does--we see rare footage from the silent days, when Fleischer clearly led the industry (before a certain young upstart from Kansas City named Disney showed up, anyway). Shown at one point is a brief clip of a 1926 sound cartoon, "My Old Kentucky Home," which predated Walt's "Steamboat Willie" by two years. We discover, at last, that those highly detailed backgrounds weren't actually drawn--they were built! In a process devised and patented by Fleischer himself, animation cels were photographed vertically against miniature sets, allowing characters to move in a world with real depth.

Cartoons that have received little airplay in recent years are presented here, such as Betty Boop's solo color outing, "Poor Cinderella" (Myron Waldman, a longtime animator for Fleischer's studio and its successor Famous Studios, once said the color process was invented by Max himself.) Once again, we're allowed to see the sumptuous detail of the "Superman" series, the most expensive animated shorts made up to that time. The series proved that the animators could do more than bizarre funny animals and Popeye cartoons--"Superman" was better drawn in the Fleischer incarnation than in the original comic book stories. Shadows, a feeling of weight and dimension, and realistic movement were hallmarks of the series, and one wonders immediately why they're not more often seen.

Alas, for all his technical brilliance, Max was a poor businessman and an even poorer judge of public taste. Studio infighting and severe financial reverses, Maltin tells us, led to Fleischer's downfall. Ironically, Fleischer faltered by doing the one thing he'd avoided for most of his career--imitating his rival Disney. When Walt premiered "Snow White" in December 1937, Max persuaded Paramount executives to build a brand-new, ultramodern animation complex in Miami, where he would start work on his first feature, an adaptation of "Gulliver's Travels." Audiences, however, failed to warm up to Gulliver as they had Snow White and her seven companions. Fleischer's subsequent effort, "Mr. Bug Goes To Town," did equally badly. The latter film, as we can see from clips presented in this documentary, was expertly animated, but it could not halt the studio's plunge into bankruptcy. Control reverted to Paramount in 1942 and Fleischer was fired, ending an era which had lasted more than a quarter of a century.

If you love classic animation, or if you're a Fleischer fan who wants to see the classic Betty Boop and Popeye cartoons in all their original brilliance, buy this tape. It's well worth the price of purchase.

I love this tape. You don't have to be a kid to enjoy the classic work of the Fleischer studios. Their animation techniques were far ahead of their time and their humor was brilliantly deranged. It's a shame they aren't still around, but with this tape, we can at least get a taste of their genius. This one should be on DVD.

We like watching the cartoons as much as our 3-yr old - great music, short historical narratives for the adults, wonderful variety - Superman, Betty Boop, Raggedy Ann and Andy - it's been well worth the price we paid! I wish we had a few Max Fleischers nowadays to zip up the cartoons on TV.

It is indeed a difficult task to sort out the best from some 1500 cartoons Fleischer Studios produced over a 20 year period. But this was a noble effort, although the title is too complicated. Drop the Cartoon Madness. THE FANTASTIC MAX FLEISCHER CARTOONS says it all. This is a showcase program that reminds one of a 1950s-60s live local kid's show, with an actor in a studio surrounded by a cartoony set. And certainly Leonard Maltin's presence lends some credibility and continuity to what otherwise would seem like an indiscriminant string of cartoons. The program is limited to the titles in the Republic (formerly NTA) library, which includes the SCREEN SONGS, BETTY BOOP, and COLOR CLASSICS shorts. For this reason, the program does not spend much time on Fleischer's greater successes, POPEYE and SUPERMAN. Instead, the program shows several Fleischer classics that have had exposure in the last several years while omitting others. One of the fascinating things about Fleischer's initial series, OUT OF THE INKWELL is that it contains footage of him as a working artist, and demonstrated clever combinations of animation with live action in the silent era. For some reason, Maltin and others always seem to single out KOKO'S EARTH CONTROL for showings such as this, when it is the least like the series. There were others equally as good or better such as KOKO THE COP. This one is surreal beyond EARTH CONTROL, and displays an amusing interplay between Max in the "real world" and the cartoon storyline taking place on paper.

Since this is a "showcase," don't expect a documentary, as its background information is rather limited. Maltin does provide simple commentary, and demonstrates how the "famous bouncing ball" was done

In all, it an enjoyable program that will generate interest. It's too bad that Repulic didn't make more of an effort to market their library other than BETTY BOOP, since after first seeing this on A&E a few years ago, I was interested in seeing other entries in the series that are represented in this program.

Excellent for knowledge of the history of animation. Interest presenetation for high school students as well as adults.

They don't make cartoons like this anymore. I long for the sweetness that this country once had. Even though these cartoons are much older than I am, they are even better than those of today. I would highly recommend this video to those families and people who are looking for some high class cartoons and wholesome entertainment for themselves or their children or grandchildren if they have any. You don't have to be a child to enjoy this video. These are classic cartoons that will be watched for many more generations to come. My favorite is Raggedy Ann and Andy in Rag Land(1941). Tears come to my eyes because of the heart put into this cartoon. It really touches your heart and soul. Raggedy Ann and Andy Fans should buy this video most of all.

This is the finest example of what a cartoon historical documentary should be, and it's no accident that Leonard Maltin was the man who arranged it, him being the same great fellow who created the Disney Treasures series.

This is also the ONLY place to see the original "Raggedy Ann and Andy" two reel cartoon and it's a beautiful copy and a marvlous film - if only the Fleischers had made a feature of it!

Sadly, so sadly, this is not available on dvd. Myself, I have a pristine VHS version.

Write Mr. Maltin and demand your dvd.
A truly awful paraphrase of this fine film is to be found on "Biography: Betty Boop" with Peter Graves, an overpriced peice of trash that deserves to burn.

This Maltin film is the one fans want, trust me!