Customer Reviews

The Strangest Cartoons Ever Made, Vol. 1

5 star:		(2)
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Great curios of the cartoon world. Be warned, though, some of these cartoons are of dubious quality, and many of them don't make any sense. That's part of the reason why they're so charming! I particularly enjoyed Sniffy Escapes Poisoning, a PSA cautioning children against using pharmaceuticals in which pills sing and dance. Joi De Vivre was a real surprise on the compilation. This beautiful and surreal short is a also great example of art nouveau. Highly recommended to anyone interested in animation history!

Thunderbean animation is proud to present the strangest, most bizarre and downright confusing cartoons ever made! This collection features cartoon from the Thunderbean Animation archive, including many that have never been available on home video. We've scoured the archives and private collector's vaults to bring you short films that will baffle and entertain you.. and make you wonder how animation survived these lost masterpieces.

Titles:
Monkey Doodle (1931) by Les Elton
Is My Palm Red? (1933) Fleischer Studios
Gypped in Egypt (1930) Van Beuren Studios
Old Manor House (1948) GB
The Kangaroo Kid (1961) Phil Davis
The Peanut Vendor (1933) Len Lye
The Fatal Note (1933) Van Beuren
Sniffy Escapes Poisoning (1965)
Johnny and the DK Robot (1966)
PM Picnic (1948) Chad/Al Stahl
Joi De Vivre (1934) Hoppin & Gross
Candytown (1933) Van Beuren
One Man Dog (1928) Terry/VB
The Snowman (1933) Ted Eshbaugh

This is a great dvd compliation of cartoons primarily of the 1930s. 'Monkey Doodle' has to be seen to be believed and 'Joi De Vivre' was a surrealistic gem.

But the tight TV framing on these cartoons has about as much respect for the material and it's modern adult audience as this variety of framing did back in the 1950s when hundreds of Warner Bros, MGM, and Fleischer cartoons were butchered forever just so the empty edges or corners of the film frame wouldn't show on the TV screen.

There's simply no excuse for this on these wonderful Thunderbean comps. I'd wager that out of 1000 copies sold 999 of them are purchased for an adult collector who will want the entire frame. The only company to do that has been Disney with several early Mickey Mouse 'toons on their "Treasures" series.

It is extremely annoying watching, say, 'Gypped in Egypt' and have every character's head at the top of the frame chopped off and know that there's no earthly reason why it couldn't have been included. The folks producing these comps obviously love the material or they wouldn't bother creating them at all for the several thousand fans worldwide of B+W 1930s animation.

This type of broad framing spilling over the edges is a throwback to times when TV screens were thirteen inches across and any loss of picture to empty black lines may have seemed intolerable or at least unprofessional. There is no need for this on such a compilation.

I love Thunderbean. In a popular market where the 1930s era of cartoons is almost completely ignored they have been a beacon of excellent taste and scholarship. But to continue to edit their 8mm and 16mm prints in this manner does not do justice to the 'toons nor the expectations of their enthusiasts.

The video quality of the cartoons are in my opinion, very good considering that these graphics are almost 80 years old. The sound is also OK with same consideration. There is a frame though, in the first feature that the sound just disappears and that could be somewhat frustrating but again, these cartoons are almost 80 years old! As for what is selling, these are indeed some strange cartoons! One gets what is sold here. Overall is worth the price and I would recommend it.