Thunderbean presents Rainbow Parade Cartoons, Volume 1: a collection of magical, musical Golden Age shorts restored from the best existing master materials! When the Van Beuren Studio hired Burt Gillett—fresh from directing the popular Three Little Pigs (1933)—and indie cartoon maker Ted Eshbaugh to create the Rainbow Parade series, the results were the most lavish, expensive cartoons Van Beuren ever produced. And now the first 13 in the series are back: from Eshbaugh classics like The Sunshine Makers and Japanese Lanterns to the proto-Cuphead kettles of The Picnic Panic, all presented in their original Cinecolor! Also including three Toddle Tales—Gillett’s precursor series in black and white—this set is the culmination of a four-and-a-half-year search, restoring each cartoon from top 35mm and 16mm sources at Blackhawk Films, the UCLA Film and Television Archive, The Library of Congress and prized private collections. Grandfather’s Clock Along Came a Duck A Little Bird Told Me Pastrytown Wedding The Parrotville Fire Department The Sunshine Makers Parrotville Old Folks Japanese Lanterns Spinning Mice The Picnic Panic The Merry Kittens Parrotville Post Office The Rag Dog The Hunting Season Scotty Finds a Home Bird Scouts
Bonus Features include: Liner notes full of information about films, creators and music New animated title sequence created just for this collection! Still galleries of rare model sheets and production art Special music segments—including almost music-only versions of The Rag Dog, Along Came a Duck and more! B/W and color, 140 minutes
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Thunderbean does it again! Nicely restored and digitally cleaned up, with original Van Beuren title cards, from best existing 35mm Cinecolor prints & cleaned up audio tracks as well. Camera negatives no longer exist, so these 1934~35 era toons, which haven’t been seen on TV since the late 1960s, are probably never gonna look or sound better than they do here. They make up in charm for what they lack in belly laughs. 4 of my favorites are: The Sunshine Makers, A Little Bird Told Me, Picnic Panic, and Spinning Mice. Informative booklet is included, but I wish they’d have put the info into commentary tracks and additional featurettes instead. I grew up watching these toons on TV over 60 years ago, and it’s so nice to see them again. A real fond trip down memory lane.
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2021
I remember when I first discovered Thunderbean by buying the Willie Whopper Blu Ray. I was amazed by the restoration of those shorts, mainly the two color shorts. Ever since, I’ve been excited to see new restorations by Thunderbean and have never been disappointed. This Blu Ray is no exception. It is clearly a labor of love. Steve and his crew did such an immaculate job. It was worth the long wait and constant postponing since Steve wanted to make this Blu Ray as great as possible. They say hard work really pays off, and Thunderbean’s Blu Rays in general are proof that that saying is true. The colors really pop out of the screen and the cartoons have terrific resolution and sound. The Rainbow Parade cartoons themselves I personally like. They might not be the greatest cartoons of all time, but I still like them nonetheless. I highly recommend this Blu Ray for all classic animation fans. Van Beuren cartoons may not be outstanding, but I still think they’re worth owning on DVD. For those of you who have never heard of Thunderbean, do yourselves a favor and check out their Blu Rays if you want to see some amazing restoration work.
Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2021
Rainbow Parade Cartoons Volume 1 is a knockout set! A Herculean effort from the TB gang of restoration, color correction and stabilization, and tracking down of missing bits and original title sequences! Outstanding work. And the films themselves are invariably charming and entertaining, quite a few of which I hadn’t seen before. Really nice extras too, with most welcome reissue title sequences, music only sequences, and best of all, no fewer than a hundred and eleven still frames of model sheets and production sketches from the series. Wonderful animated disc menu as well, which lasts for quite a long time, and gets really psychedelic after a bit, I was extremely impressed! PLUS, in addition to the well-written info-packed liner notes booklet, a lovely original poster art card and super cool Thunderbean business card were tucked inside the case! A most worthy addition to my ever-expanding Thunderbean library! A thousand thanks to Steve and all his co-conspirators for their efforts in acquiring, restoring and distributing these priceless treasures. Such important work this is. (Note: I bought this directly from Thunderbean’s website, which is why I’m not listed as a Verified Purchaser.)
Thunderbean's Rainbow🌈 Parade Vol. 1 cartoon collection on Blu-ray is absolutely gorgeous. A terrific restoration of sight & sounds. Special features with music segments, still galleries and a 12 page booklet with graphics chronicling the backstory to these Van Buren productions. Well worth it's modest price for any animation collector. Steve Stanchfield and his production team out did themselves. I'm already looking forward to Volume 2 !
These are the films that inspired the video game Cuphead. I haven't played Cuphead but it's great that a game exposes younger people to the high level of artistry and imagination in 1930s animation. Some of these films were in bad shape and the restoration work is fantastic. The time and care paid off.
FIrst dozen or so of Van Beuren Studios Rainbow Parade shorts in oddly toned Cinecolor. Literally put out of business by RKO taking on Disney as sole animation provider, Van Beuren Studios needs to be remembered.
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