Customer Reviews

Classic Christmas Cartoons

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Classic Christmas Cartoons" is an almost-duplicate of the now out-of-print "A Cute Cavalcade of Classic Christmas Cartoons." The only real difference is that this DVD has 7 cartoons, rather than "A Cute Cavalcade...'s" 12 cartoons.

Each of these cartoons are good fun, and true "classics." The real standouts of the collection are the Fleischer Bros. cartoons, and Ub Iwerk's spooky "Jack Frost." Being from the 30's and 40's, several of them are depression-influenced, showing sad-eyed orphans and poor kids lusting for Christmas treats, and may contain a few stereotypes of an unpleasant nature, but nothing terribly shocking.

Definitely for lovers of old cartoons only, or very young children who don't mind the different styles and slightly odd characters.

The DVD is of poor quality, which is expected for such ancient cartoons. Restoration takes money, and this collection of public domain prints is just to get them out there. Nothing fancy, but nice to have in any format.

The seven cartoons are:

Jack Frost (Ub Iwerks, 1934)
Christmas Comes But Once a Year (Dave Fleischer, 1936)
Somewhere in Dreamland (Dave Fleischer, 1936)
Santa's Surprise (Seymour Kneitel, 1947)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Max Fleischer, 1948)
Hector's Hectic Life (Bill Tytla, 1948)
Snow Foolin' (Izzy Sparber, 1949)

The toons in this set are not classics because they are so great, but rather because of the fact they are vintage toons from the golden age of animation of the 30's and 40's before studios started making the animation cheaper with less frames.

Jack Frost is an Ub Iwerks toon from 1934. Jack Frost arrives in the forest, painting the leaves on the trees and warning the animals to prepare for the winter. An inquisitive young grizzly bear decides he wants to see what the world looks like when everyone else is hibernating. When Old Man Winter catches him unawares, however, he needs Jack Frost's help in getting back home to his warm bed.

Santa's Surprise (1947) features the first appearance of Little Audrey. Little Audrey and some other kids stow away inside Santa's sleigh. While Santa sleeps, the kids decide to give him a Christmas present of his own

"Somewhere in Dreamland" 1936 is a Fleischer studios toon. It's the story of two poor children who are out collecting firewood when they pass by a toy store, market and finally a bakery. They drool over the wares in the bakery window but walk away before the owner can come out and present them with two cupcakes. The kids go home and eat a meager supper before going to bed. They both dream they are in dreamland, where everything is free--cookies, candy, cakes, popcorn and toys. When they wake up it's all gone but the three merchants have stopped by to lay out a huge feast for them.

"Chrismas Comes But Once a year" Fleisher from 1936. A group of lonely kids are given broken toys, leaving these sad youngsters without a Merry Christmas. Professor Grampy, sees the unhappy kids. The brilliant inventor puts on his thinking cap to find a solution this problem. He heads into the orphanage and creates a series of homemade toys from kitchen utensils. Then he decorates the main room with soap chips, cotton and other items, creating a Santa suit from red cloth, stovepipes and a red bag. He rings a dinner bell and calls the kids in. The kids, seeing Grampy as Santa, rush in happily. They play with their new and better toys.

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" Fleischer 1944. The Fleischer version of the classic tale.

"Hector's hectic Life" Paramount 1948. On Christmas Eve, Prince the dog's owner threatens to throw him out if he causes any more trouble. Just then, a basket arrives on the doorstep containing three puppies that look suspiciously like Prince. The puppies proceed to trash the house while Prince desperately tries to conceal the damage from his owner.

"Snow Foolin'" Paramount 1949 Singalong about the first day of winter, when all the animals go ice skating. It is December 21, and the animals in the forest must contend with a literal avalanche of snow. Winter is not all that bad, though. After donning their winter coats, they will be able to enjoy themselves skiing, skating on a frozen lake, and tossing snowballs. In just a few days, one and all will be singing "Jingle Bells."

Wonderful collection for its historical value.

It is really wonderful to be able to watch older cartoons. It reminds me of a time when values mattered.

My father recorded these classic cartoons for me on VHS when I was little. Now I'm a mom and I wanted to show the cartoons to my son this past christmas but the VHS no longer worked. I was so excited when I came across this DVD which contains the majority of the cartoons on the VHS!

An hour of nostalgia and family fun with 7 timeless holiday cartoons. Packed with classic animation and unforgettable stories, this is the one Christmas cartoon collection you'll cherish throughout the years! The Classic Christmas Cartoons including Christmas Comes But Once A Year, Jack Frost, Rudolph, The Red-Nose Reindeer, Somewhere In Dreamland, Santa's Surprise, Hector's Hectic Life and Snow Foolin'.

I watched this cartoon as a child. While visiting my parents house recently, I discovered that my mother had trown out my prized vhs copy of grampy's christmas. I thought that it might not be available anymore and that i would have to search used vhs in media stores and flea markets. but no, amazon came to the rescue. Purchase and shipping justified by the additional shorts included on the dvd.

I remembered these cartoons from my childhood. I was so glad to find them on a dvd format. This particular dvd is pretty low quality, especially the sound quality. I don't know if the other dvd, which contains the exact same cartoons that I saw on Amazon as well, is a better quality or not. Great cartoons, lower than expected video and sound quality, hence the four stars.

My daughter watched this to fall asleep as a child....can we say boring? BUT it was great for snoozing and she got a kick out of seeing it again as a teenager!~

I love this DVD, it is a must have for Christmas time, especially if you have children! The quality is not terrific, but what can you expect with cartoons from the 1930's?

I grew up watching a collection of old cartoon Christmas movies on VHS. Christmas movies that my mom remembered watching as a child. This is just the DVD-updated version! 'Rudolph' is a classic!