Customer Reviews

Very Classic Christmas

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4 star:		(4)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"A Very Classic Christmas" features the usual collection of public domain Christmas cartoons from the 30's and 40's, interspersed with some live-action Christmas vignettes and sing-along songs. The vignettes and sing-along's make for a unique touch on this DVD.

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 eight cartoons are:

Christmas Night (a.k.a. Pals, James Tyler, 1933)
Jack Frost (Ub Iwerks, 1934)
Christmas Comes But Once a Year (Dave Fleischer, 1936)
Somewhere in Dreamland (Dave Fleischer, 1936)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Max Fleischer, 1944)
Santa's Surprise (Seymour Kneitel, 1947)
Snow Foolin' (Izzy Sparber, 1949)
The Christmas Visitor (John Halas, 1959)

For those wondering what exactly is on this DVD: I just received A Very Classic Christmas, by Roan Group Archival Entertainment. It includes: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer; Snow Foolin'(1949); Santa's Surprise(1947); Christmas Visit(1959, Russian); Christmas Night(1933); The Christmas Visitor(1959, British); Christmas Comes But Once a Year(1936); Hector's Hectic Life(1948); Jack Frost(1934); The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives(1933); Somewhere In Dreamland(1936); The Night Before Christmas(1944); Silent Night, a sing-a-long; and O Come all ye Faithful, a sing-a-long. The packaging says, "Over 2 hours of cartoon classics."

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.

"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."


"Pals" 1933. The Little King is feeling low on Christmas Eve, so he joins a pair of homeless bums in admiring the toys and holiday decorations in a department store window. The ever-childlike monarch smuggles the hoboes under his robe into his castle. They go to his room and undress. Then all three climb into a tub and take a bath together. Afterward, the three get in the same bed while the queen sleeps in another room.

"The Christmas Visitor" 1959. Santa Claus comes down the chimney on Christmas Eve. As he unloads parcels, he takes a break to smoke a cigar, and settles down to enjoy the feast prepared for him. The toys that he has brought escape from their packages. The parcels unwrap, and the toys come to life. A beautiful doll is captured by a villainous jack-in-the-box. A rescue attempt by wooden soldiers is repulsed. Just as the doll is about to be run down by a train, a sailor switches the points. Santa finishes his cigar, casually replaces the toys in their boxes, and proceeds on his way.

Six of these toons are on the Classic Cartoon Chrismas DVD so this one is the better to get as it comes with 8 toons vs. 7. The quality is average at best.

There is a substantial duplication of titles on this DVD in the Three Disc Set "The Christmas Collection", with some but not very many differences. If you've already ordered the Christmas Collection, this DVD is pretty much reinventing the Wheel

Great collection of "Christmas" cartoons. Some that I had never seen before, but were very enjoyable. Brings back "Christmas" we had as children.

Reommend this product.

Order and delivery were quick and easy.

I was very disappointed because this video advertised that it had "Hardrock, Coco and Joe" on it. that is why I purchased it. The Cartoon was not on this video.

I remember watching some of these short films around Christmas time growing up. My parents had them on VHS, but when they moved the tapes got lost in the process. It's great to be able to share some of these great memories with my son who is now 3! My favorite is still "Somewhere in Dreamland"!

I was looking for classic Christmas cartoons and this had it. I thought there wouldn't be as many good old ones as there was. So i'm extremely happy with this product. It has on it over 2 hrs of cartoons:
Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Jack Frost, Christmas Comes But Once A Year, Somewhere in Dreamland, Snow Foolin', The Christmas Visitor,Santa's Surprised, Christmas Night,Hector's Hectic Life, The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives, The Night Before Christmas, Silent Night, and O come all ye Faithful. (the last two is a boy choir from the 50s singing)

A VERY CLASSIC CHRISTMAS collects classic Christmas cartoons, many of them rare and recently released. In one story, a five-year old travels around the world just to bring a tree to his father in Antartica; in another, a young girl and her friends decorate Santa's house! Cartoons include JACK FROST, CHRISTMAS COMES ONCE A YEAR, and THE CHRISTMAS VISITOR.

Bought this intending on showing a small group of people (but bigger than a private in-home viewing) and to my dismay there is a copyright because there was some restoration done. Very disappointed. Cute cartoons though.