Customer Reviews

The Golden Age of Cartoons: Aesop's Fables from the Van Beuren Studios

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MACKINAC's "AESOP'S FABLES FROM VAN BEUREN STUDIOS" is packed with unusual extras, as well as sixteen b&w 1930s animated shorts.

Amadee Van Beuren began in 1920 with Paul Terry (of later TERRY TOON fame) with silent Aesop's Fables cartoons. The sound-era Van Beuren shorts were often orchestrated by Winston Sharples (who would have a long career with Paramount's Famous Studios animation division). Van Beuren ceased operation in 1936, after losing his distribution deal with RKO.


THE LOST CARTOONS, Vol. 3 (from GTV) features more Van Beuren animations.


PROGRAM LIST for "Aesop's Fables from Van Beuren Studios" (including synopses)--

HAPPY POLO (1932) - Sight gags and surreal imagery abound in this bizarre polo match toon.
SUMMERTIME (1929) - A triplet of shorts, two of which involve oppressive summer weather.
THE IRON MAN (1930) - A monkey plays his teeth like a piano and a robot dances most elegantly.
HAUNTED SHIP (1930) - Cat and dog visit Davy Jones' locker and a ghostly shipwreck.
NOAH KNEW HIS ARK (1930) - Bible story with added sight gags.
A ROMEO ROBIN (1930) - Small bird avoids a ravenous feline and courts his lady fair.
HOT TAMALE (1930) - Mexican romances a señorita with his guitar and she dances for him.
GYPPED IN EGYPT (1930) - Waffles and Don meet some scary mummies and skeletons.
MAKING 'EM MOVE (1931) - A cat learns how cartoons are made, the processes involved.
THE FAMILY SHOE (1931) - Combo of "The Old Lady in the Shoe" and "Jack and the Beanstalk."
TOY TIME (1931) - When no one's around, mice have fun in a toy shop.
FLY FROLIC (1932) - A fly couple party at the "Coffee Pot Cafe" until the girl is snatched by a big critter and taken to his sinister lab. Her captor drinks a transforming potion to try to fool the flies that come to rescue the girl.
THE CAT'S CANARY (1932) - A swallowed canary travels to the cat's stomach, but keeps on singing.
FARMERETTE (1932) - A flapper-y Betty Booplike cat sings "Some of These Days" and "How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm."
CHINESE JINKS (1932) - Asian stereotypes abound in this story of a boy trying to win over his girlfriend's disapproving parents.
SILVERY MOON (1933) - A boy and girl cat travel to the moon on a magic stairway and discover it's completely made of candy.

BONUS FEATURES--
An Aesop's Fables primer
Still galleries
Aesop's Fables - Original posters/publicity/home movie/rental editions
Aesop's Fables title cards
Aesop's Fables dolls
Aesop's Movie Fables Book
Meet the Aesop's Maestros
Sing along
"Siamese Patrol" (Edison Records, 1902)

Original recordings of Fables songs:
The King's Horses
The Woman in the Shop

Scene comparison

Aesop's Fables music:
By Chris Buchman
Melodies by Henry Schmidt
Rodemich on 78s:
The Juana Fox Trot
Mobile Blues for Trot
Just a Funny Little Tune
Tenth Interval Rag

Thunderbean strikes, as it releases a superb collection of the rare sound output of Van Beuren Studios, among the most forgotten of the Silent Age/Golden Age cartoon outlets. The restorations are fantastic, and the cartoons are crude but very fun, and the musical scores are fantastic. The extras are also cool--among them is music from the shorts seperated for your listening pleasure.

It's worth every penny for a good piece of animation history. Hooray for Thunderbean!

These are NOT cartoons you want to buy your kids becaue they'll undoubtably hate them as they were made from 1928-'33 nor are you likely to if, like me, you love classic cartoons. These aren't classic so much as just old. You'll probably only enjoy them if you study or plan to study animation. The shorts on this disc are:

Happy Polo
Summertime
The Iron Man
The Haunted Ship (Waffles & Don)
Noah Knew His Ark
A Romeo Robin
Hot Tamale
Gypped In Eqypt (Waffles & Don)
Makin' `Em Move
The Family Shoe
Toy Time
Fly Frolic
The Cat's Canary
Farmerette
Chinese Jinks
Silvery Moon