Customer Reviews

The Puppetoon Movie

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What you are getting on this DVD is actually TWO MOVIES FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!
First, you get `The Puppetoon Movie' which was a theatrical release in 1987. It was a labor of love written and directed by Arnold Leibovit and was born out of the highest regard for George Pal's marvelous Puppetoons from the 30's and 40's. It opens however with a somewhat inept Gumby skit wherein Pokey and Arnie the T-Rex proceed to initiate Gumby into the world of George Pal by sitting him down and showing him some Puppetoons. I advise you to skip this chapter and launch right into the second through the tenth chapters which are nine Puppetoons conveniently divided by chapters:

*1. The Little Broadcast (1943) and The Big Broadcast of '38 (1937)
*2. Hoola Boola (1938?) and South Sea Sweethearts (1938) for Horlick's
3. Sleeping Beauty (1935) for Phillips
4. Tulips Shall Grow (1942)
5. Together In The Weather (1946)
6. John Henry and the Inky Poo (1946)
7. Phillips Cavalcade (1934-9?) for Phillips Radio
8. Jasper in a Jam (194?)
9. Tubby the Tuba (1947) The last Puppetoon short made.

*Puppetoons 1 and 2 (unfortunately) each consist of two Puppetoons edited and spliced together! -why? The other ones have their logos and credits removed in an attempt to create a cavalcadesque Puppetoons show, somewhat disappointingly shorn in effect.
All of the Puppetoons were made before television was invented, when the movie theater was the true pinnacle of the dream vision manifest experience, although there were radios in practically every home. George Pal financed several of his Puppetoons by funding from clients who were basically paying to have their products' recognition foisted on an unsuspecting movie-going public. These advertisements were shown before feature films, and they were nonetheless successful because they used a soft sell approach with the product not appearing until late in the film, and even then it was almost a parody of itself.
Phillips Radio Manufactures was one of the first companies to utilize Pal's films for advertising. Radio was the "TV" of the time. Different kinds of music from around the world provided a perfect backdrop for Pal's animation, which works wonderfully when set to music. Horlick's Malted Milk was another one of Pal's many advertising clients. The product was a "tonic" which would make the drinker "energetic" almost like Popeye and his spinach.
'The Bonus Puppetoons' is the second movie and alone is worth the price of the disk! It is probably more of what you may actually be looking for. It is twelve uncut Puppetoons complete with titles and logos. Three of these Puppetoons (4, 6, and 11) are complete versions of ones cropped in 'The Puppetoon Movie' and all twelve are crisper and clearer too. Definitely satisfying.
1. What Ho, She Bumps (1937) for Horlick's
2. Bravo, Mr. Strauss (1943)
3. Olio for Jasper (1946)
4. Phillips Cavalcade (1934-9?) for Phillips Radio
5. Jasper's Derby (1946)
6. Hoola Boola (1938?)
7. Ether Symphony (1936)
8. Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (1936)
9. The Magic Atlas (1935) for Phillips
10. Jasper and the Haunted House (1942)
11. The Big Broadcast of '38 (1937) for Phillips
12. Ether Ship (1934) for Phillips, (made with beautiful glass models!)

Plus: A very interesting and long interview with Puppetoon Studios animator, Bob Baker!

I bought this DVD when Amazon sold it for 35 bucks, but this price is a steal! This is a great collection of stop-motion cartoon shorts from the 30's and 40's. The quality of these films are amazing considering how old they are. Plus, the music is swingin'! Buy it. Highly recommended.

When you stop to consider that all of this animation was created without the use of modern animation luxuries such as computers, the imagery will boggle your mind! This film is a treat and a collectable for any lover of fine and unique animation, whether it be claymation, pen and ink, puppetry or any other....feast your eyes and ears on some wonderful animation and fantastic music from the 30's and 40's!!!

I'm a big fan of stop motion animation, and anything that bears the name George Pal, for that matter. This is a great collection of small puppet films, many of them advertising for "Phillips", it seems. However, I do miss one particular of these rare "Phillips" films. -It involves a laughing man going to a fairground attraction, trying everything; shooting, hitting, rollercoaster, etc, finally ending up in his armchair watching TV. It's a marvellous piece of work, with probably more puppets moving than in any of the others. Perhaps collector of this production Arnold Leibovit can clue me in, why it wasn't included. Stop motion is truly high art, and much more atmospheric than cartoons. It deserves more attention and respect, than I feel it gets. It can be a million times more scary and eerie than any form of hand-drawn animation, in my opinion. -Could this be the reason movies and television prefers the "safer" cartoons ?. We're drowning in cartoons !. The world needs a puppet channel !. Thank God for people like Pal, Zeman, Trnka, Quay, Svankmajer, Park, Starewitz, etc, etc.

It could have been more satisfying! There, of course, is the requisite "Tubby the Tuba", but just ONE piece featuring the Screwball Army! There were NUMEROUS Pal Puppetoon productions featuring these comical takes on fascism! Where's the Dr. Seuss "Mulberry Street" short? The short with the clarinet playing woodchopper? The other "Punchy & Judys"? (I wonder if the creators of "Little Lulu" ever commented on those!) And why so many from the thirties?? Most of Pal's best output of these little gems was in the forties and fifties....

Pal's Puppetoon work had a singular artistry to it. The figures moved unlike most other stop-action animated units, most of which generally just try to put across the tableau as plainly as possible. Pal's creations REACTED like cartoon characters...wild takes, feature distortion, ambient movement...all very idiosyncratic. The only other animation to be that generous with detailed movement were the Warner's Looney Tunes/Merry Melodies made between 1940 and 1955.

Most of them were funny, charming and quirky and embraced the art deco aesthetic like nothing else I've ever seen in animated art. What Pal's people could wring out of simple geometric shapes was amazing, and you'll notice, that's about all that they used...no weird freehand polygons are visible in the animation work...just spheroids, cones, rods and other distinct geometric solids. The only exception to this seems to be the "Punchy & Judy" bits.

His animation team must have suffered from gawrsh-awful cases of carpal tunnel syndrome and writer's cramp, because this was all incrementally implemented BY HAND to give the illusion of fluid movement. They just don't make them like that anymore...and this DVD should have featured fewer of the movie house adverts for Philips radios and Horlock's malteds and more of our old afternoon cartoon show favorites!

I saw these cartoons originally on TV in the 1950's. What a surprise to find many of them packaged with the Puppetoon Movie in this DVD. It brought back wonderful memories. Learning that the stop-action process used hundreds of wood-carved and painted figures to produce these cartoons makes them all the more amazing.

I'd love to see the entire Puppetoon collection made available on DVD.

Before the movies there were the Puppetoons. Everyone who knows LooneyToons, Max Fleischer, and Disney should know George Pal's work as well. 'Jasper in a Jam', 'Tubby the Tuba' and 'John Henry and the Inkeypoo' are classics; the rest has bright spots here and there and is worthwhile if only for the advertising and political history. (Ignore the contrived intro and outro of the movie and focus on Pal's work.)
A companion piece: 'The Fantasy Film World of George Pal' covers his movies, including 'The Time Machine', 'War of the Worlds', 'Destination Moon', 'Atlantis', 'Tom Thumb', 'The Brothers Grimm' and 'The Seven Faces of Dr. Loa'.

I can't believe anyone would be offended by George Pal, a true pioneer in the animation field. A great friend of Walt Disney and Walt Lantz, many of their characters appeared in the backgrounds of scenes of pictures he produced.
I grew up on pictures like, 'Jasper and the Scarecrow', 'The 500 Hats of Barthalamew Cubbins' and 'To Think I Saw it All on Mullberry Street'.
Ray Harryhausen worked for George very early on.
Gene Roddenberry met George Pal before there was a 'Star Trek', of course it was Lucy Ball that gave the "Go Ahead" for 'Trek', but it would have never been if not for George Pal.
Watch all his films and 'Puppetoons', It's well worth it!!!!

Well, Arnold Leibovit has done it again! First he released his wonderful documentary about the life and works of George Pal on DVD, "The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal", with almost two extra hours more of interesting facts, films, and fantasy. Now, he's following up this release with his fabulous and heartfelt tribute to Pal's works of Puppetoon short films, with the release of "The Puppetoon Movie" on DVD! Like "Fantasy Film Worlds...", Arnold has added more treats to "The Puppetoon Movie", with a bonus section of new Puppetoons, a photo archive, interviews and movie trailer! Even without these bonus features, "The Puppetoon Movie" is a delight to view, showcasing Pal's most endearing featurettes as a stop-motion animator. Wonderful for children and entertaining for adults, there's even a retro-appeal to those of us who have grown up watching Gumby and Pokey, who, appropriately enough, host this loving look back at Pal's fanciful genius, and attest to their television existence being the outgrowth of Pal's early animation works. As a sort of "Thank You" to George Pal, there's a scene with Gumby and just about any TV stop-motion animated character you can think of, from Speedy Alka-Seltzer to the Pop 'n' Fresh Doe Boy, gathered together in gratitude to Pal for their actuated lives.I tip my hat to you, yet again Arnold, for not only putting these joyful featurettes together for us to re-appreciate the early works of a man with a contagious child-like and pixie-esque grin, and a name that was almost synonymous with fantasy itself, Pal, but you've exceeded yourself by adding much more to this whimsical collection on the DVD release, to make it more thoroghly enjoyable to watch, collect and own for the generations to come.

(1) For those who appreciate stop frame animation this IS something to own. However, I wish the DVD company would have restored some of the puppetoon shorts. Different shorts are faded, and have certain flaws.

(2) Many of the shorts are scenes with songs (not stories). However, there are some that do have story lines to them, just don't expect story lines with all of the shorts.

(3) Also, for those who get offended easily there is some stereo-typing of certain groups in certain shorts. However, then in other shorts (with same group) there is nothing offensive about it. It really depends on the short you watch.

(4) There are a lot of shorts which refers to the "Phillips" brand radios. It's a little irritating at times. Advertising at it's finest.

(5) The music gets into your blood. I find myself watching this DVD just to hear specific songs. The one which has stuck in my head goes like this, "tonight I must forget those precious hours, no hearts, no flowers."

(6) Most of them are beautifully done, and are worth watching several times. It is also interesting to watch some of the special features. For example, I didn't know that in Pal's earlier works his puppets were mostly wood! So each puppet was it's own carved piece. That is awesome!