Customer Reviews

The Complete Animated Adventures of the Little King

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Once again, Thunderbean has given us a DVD worth watching over and over again. This time, we get every animated short feauring Otto Soglow's The Little King. With most of the animation coming from the vastly underrated Van Beuren Studios (and his final appearance with Betty Boop coming from the wonderful Fleischer Studios), his majesty has never looked better! These cartoons have been cleaned up and given a shine that looks marvelous. And the sound! So clean. So crisp. Better than they've ever sounded. Thunderbean has outdone themselves this time around.

As for the shorts, they're a definate treat borderlining from slapstick to the downright bizarre. These cartoons need to be seen to be believed. They're a time capsule from a different era featuring a character that should have been given more of an animated spotlight. They're fun fun fun!

If you're an animation collector, this release belongs in your collection. Avoid the cheapy, VHS-transfered releases and get this one!

You're in for a treat!

A complete collection of the Van Beuren Studios' "Little King" cartoons has long been on my video "want" list. Well, Thunderbean has delivered the goods IN SPADES! Not only do we have all of the Van Beuren L.K. titles, but we have two "Sentinel Louie" precursor cartoons plus the Fleischer Studios' one and only L.K. appearance with Betty Boop.

Thunderbean has assembled this collection by searching out the best-looking and best-sounding prints from a world-wide network of archives and collectors. It's AMAZING that a collection assembled with this level of care and effort could be had at such a reasonable price!

If you love vintage cartoon rarities, do not fail to seek out this collection.

Another home run for Thunderbean animation. This "little company that could" has a lesson some of the bigger companies should learn. This is how a package of vintage cartoons should be assembled!

The cartoons have been selected based on the best available prints (some of the titles here are actually composites from several different prints) to recreate the entire catalog of Van Beuren Sentinel Louey/Little King cartoons - with a bonus Fleischer Betty Boop thrown in for good measure.

Long neglected and virtually forgotten, "The Little King" can stand with the best black and white cartoons of the 1930's. The surrealistic gags and jazz soundtracks bring to mind the work of the Fleischer Brothers Studio.

This title has joined the other DVDs I've ordered from Thunderbean ("Attack of the 1930's Characters," "Cubby the Bear," and "Aesop's Fables"). A "must have" for fans of vintage cartoons!

Thunderbean and Steve Stanchfield have made available all 12 of The Little King 1930's cartoons from the Van Beuren studio. (Plus, included is a Max Fleischer cartoon appearance.) They look great and they are fun to watch. Plus, he always gives us extras to enjoy on the Thunderbean DVDs. I have always enjoyed Steve's constant quality for the cartoon fan. This will be a DVD that one will be happy to have in their collection. Don't miss out on this one!

This DVD is almost a well-kept secret; and a nice companion to the forthcoming book from The Library of American Comics, CARTOON MONARCH: Otto Soglow and The Little King, edited by Dean Mullaney.

The Content and Scope of this engaging programme includes the following:

The Van Beuren Studio series of Otto Soglow cartoons 1933 -1934:

SENTINEL LOUIE: A.M. to P.M.; A Dizzy Day.

THE LITTLE KING: The Fatal Note; Marching Along; On The Pan; Pals;
Jest Of Honor; Jolly Good Felons; Sultan Pepper; A Royal Good Time;
Art For Art's Sake; The Cactus King.

MAX FLEISHER STUDIO 1936: Betty Boop and the Little King.

BONUS FEATURES -fully illustrated:

SOGLOGRAPHY - a Soglow biographical sketch by Chris Buchman.
Beginnings; Art Movements of the 1920s; his work "New Masses";
Contributor: College Humour; New Yorker; Judge; Manhole series;
Sentinel Louie; Hearst Puck Sunday Comics; Van Beuren series and
generic cartoon poster and its origin; The Ambassador; Otto's Goodwill
Tour; Travelin' Gus; Soglow on Broadway; books `n buttons;
Photograph of Otto . . .

CARTOONOGRAPHY by Chris Buchman.
Chronicles the 12 Van Beuen animated cartoons and 1 from Max
Fleischer studio with comparsions of Soglow's original New Yorker
panels and frames from the film cartoons.

LINER NOTES by Steve Stanchfield.
Exhaustive overview of the cartoons and work of individual animators.

SOGLOW ON THE HOME SCREEN by Chris Buchman.
Adverts and colourful packaging of all 13 cartoon titles issued
for home and non-theatrical exhibition on 8mm and 16mm silent
and sound film prints beginning in the early 1940s.

LE MUSEE ROYAL by Rex Schneider and Chris Buchman.
a: Soglow Contemporaries: H. O. Hofmann; William Steig; Rea
Irvin; Hans Stengel; Julian Miskey. Choice panels and magazine
covers.

b: Promotions Unlimited: King Cigarettes, Tobacco, Bubble Gum,
Pepsi Cola; etc.

c: Eclectica: Toys, Puzzles . . .

d: Phunpanels `n Posters: Choice Panels and magazine covers.

e: Bibliothéque: a Gallery of original book covers.

f: Zombie Surprize: ? That'd be telling!

SOGLOW ON BROADWAY by Chris Buchman.
Overview of the short-lived revue; and the cast of the sketch
`The Little King' in which Soglow played his creation.

THE LITTLE KING & JIM TYER by Milton Knight.
Profile of the extraordinary animator, Jim Tyer.

THE COMPLETE ANIMATED ADVENTURES of OTTO SOGLOW'S
THE LITTLE KING 1933 - 1936; a Thunderbean Production in
association with The Blue Mouse Studio; Created & Realized by Steve
Stanchfield, Rex Schneider, Chris Buchman. By Appointment to H. R. H.
The Queen.

Great old depression era cartoons from a time when anything goes and people didn't have their heads up their you know what like they do now! They had more important issues to deal with, like staying alive, & these cartoons were short but wonderful little escapes. The "Little King" turns everyday life situations into hilarious mayhem & always comes out on top & always with loads of political incorrectness thrown in for good measure. So get over it, sit back, enjoy!

The Little King Cartoons Are Great Fun. I wish the cartoons of today were as creative as the ones from the 1930's up to the 1970's. We live in a time where every thing has to be politically correct. It's best that I don't say anymore, other than I love these cartoons, I have been wanting to see these for years. THANK YOU.
Chris.

The Van Beuren cartoon studio was not the best in the early 1930s. Their animators ranged from competent to laughably bad (which I find is part of their charm); they were not comfortable with talking pictures. Otto Soglow's Little King character made for a pretty good fit with Van Beuren: he didn't speak, and Soglow's simple, elegant visual style did not tax Van Beuren's people overmuch. These cartoons are not timeless classics, but they're fun and very well presented by Thunderbean. Highly recommended.