Watching this as an adult is really a bit disturbing but yet entertaining at the same time. That tells you how much censorship has ruined and buried a lot of great vidoes.
A few interesting toons but a few clunkers...
Firstly to address the reviewer below. Scrub Me Mama With A Boogie Beat is way more racist then any of the cartoons on the Warner Bros. Censored 11 list including Coal Black. Coal Black actully did what a lot of films did NOT do back then and actully acknowledged the blacks contribution to WWII, while Scrub Me Mama just shows them to be awfully lazy. As for Inki And The Minah Bird, this is one of Chuck Jones best cartoons and the all the gags in the film have nothing to do with Inki's ethnicity even if characiture is offensive.
Those are still instresting to see along with Betty Boop, Walt Disney's Alice Cartoons and Scrap Happy Daffy but there are a few cartoons on there which are very boring. The video and sound quality is so-so, absolutely nothing near the Looney Tunes Golden Collection or such but if you really want to see some of these cartoons which are entertaining for buffs only then it's pretty good value for money.
Interesting at worst, entertaining at best
Animation fans will enjoy this, or at least find it interesting.
The Walt Disney Alice Cartoons (from the mid-twenties, not 1914 as listed in the credits) are among the best of this bunch. "Alice's Egg Plant" is a howl! A Communist rooster named "Little Red Henski" goes to the chicken farm and agitates the hens to go on strike! A real knee-slapper that must be seen to be believed. "Alice The Torador" has our heroine in a nice bullfighting farce.
Betty Boop makes a couple of nice appearances and there is the amusing "Frogland," based onn the Aesop's Fable "The Frogs" and their King." Nice, aside from the bad frog puns (about the new leader being "full of hops," ad nauseum).
Racism also rears it's ugly head in these toons. "Inki and the Mynah Bird" has an African child who is drawn more simian than human chasing the said animal. Ub Iwerks' "Little Black Sambo" is largely faithful to the tale (aside from the absence of the father Black Jumbo and the crude racial gags). Then there's Walter Lantz' "Scrub Me Mama With a Boogie Beat (1941)." This is jaw-dropping and must be seen to be believed as every crude stereotype in the book is trotted out and the Black characters (aside from the light-skinned female booty-swinging jezebels) are drawn to resemble monkeys more than humans. Hard to believe that the man who brought us Woody Woodpecker brought us this monstrosity. At least "Coal Black and De Sebben Drarfs," (perhaps the most racist cartton of all time) is not included.
Like I said, it's entertaining at best and interesting even at it's worst. Certainly worth a look.
I was a little disappointed with this dvd. If you are an aficionado of any types of animation it is a nice little snipet of cartoons from the 30s and 40s, albeit the image quality is horrific as it looks like it is from the 30s and 40s. It would have been nice if these cartoons would have been digitized (cleaned up) then it would have been an amazing little gem and little catologue of animation history, but unfortunately that is not the case. Otherwise what is the point of having it on DVD?
The cartoons themselves are not as 'racy' as I would have had to believe. Obviously they were for this era; "black faced" characters, animal cruelty, sexual overtones, etc. All played down for our time. Of course today's society would have a field day and riot if any of these incidents... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Cartoon Crazys DVD Release Date: Released the 09 January 2001 Special Order
List Price: $9.98 Your Price: $9.98YOU SAVE $0!
Buy it
One of the most talented animators of the silent and early sound eras, Ub Iwerks designed the physical appearance of Mickey Mouse. He animated the first Mickey shorts almost single-handedly, doing more than 700 drawings in a single day. Iwerks's animation was rubbery, weightless, and appealing, but his approach was at odds with the increasing realism Walt Disney sought. In 1930, he left Disney to start his own studio, but despite his talent--and the exceptional animators who worked for him--he produced old-fashioned, unfunny cartoons that couldn't compete with the more sophisticated storytelling and brash gags in the shorts from Disney, the Fleischers, Warner Bros., and MGM. In 1940, Iwerks returned to the Disney studio, where he won Oscars for his innovations in optical... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Ub Iwerks DVD Release Date: Released the 13 July 1999 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $9.99 Your Price: $9.99YOU SAVE $0!
Buy it
Ub Iwerks was one of the greatest animators of the silent and early sound eras: he animated "Steamboat Willie" and other early Disney shorts virtually by himself. But the films he produced at his own studio after breaking with Walt Disney in 1930 lack the vitality of his earlier work. During the '30s, the animators with Disney, the Fleischers, Warner Bros., and MGM developed a new style of cartoon humor that centered on characters with strong, recognizable personalities. Iwerks's first recurring character, Flip the Frog, who appears in more than half the cartoons in this collection, never developed into a wholesome good guy or a sarcastic antihero. He remained an observer, rather than someone who initiated the action, as Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny did. The rambling plots further... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Ub Iwerks DVD Release Date: Released the 13 July 1999 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $9.99 Your Price: $9.99YOU SAVE $0!
Buy it
Despite its talented staff, the Van Beuren Studio, which existed from 1928 to 1936, never rose above the level of a "B" cartoon house. Their talking version of Felix the Cat, who appears in "Bold King Cole" (1936) and "The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg" (1936), has none of zest of the silent character animated by Otto Messmer. Their original characters, Molly Moo-Cow and Cubby Bear, are awkward-looking nonentities. The "Rainbow Parade" series was clearly designed to compete with Walt Disney's "Silly Symphonies," but the films lack the polished animation, innovative designs, and focused storytelling of the Disney shorts. Some of the Van Beuren cartoons are genuinely odd: "Opening Night" (1933) celebrates the opening of the lavish Roxy Theater in New York; "In a Cartoon Studio"... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 09 March 1999 Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price: $29.99 Your Price: $26.99YOU SAVE $3!
Buy it
Bosko is a great cartoon character, but the Warner Brothers Studio stopped making him in 1934. When Foxy and Roxy did the first Merrie Melodie bosko had stopped being made, bosko is very funny so i think this dvd is gonna get alot of money.Bosko the talk ink kid was the first Bosko cartoon and the first warner bros cartoon.it was made in 1929 but disney did ther first cartoon in 1928 so disney got a head start in ther cartoon making.So mickey and bosko were not made at the same time but they both were great. i have sean the first mickey cartoon and the first bosko cartoon.you can see bosko the talk ink kid on the looney tunes goiden colliction on disc 4 and the frist merrie melodie on disc 4.bosko is great so i hope the pepol hwo buy it love it. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Uncensored Bosko DVD Release Date: Released the 12 September 2000 Usually ships within 24 hours
List Price: $24.99 Your Price: $22.49YOU SAVE $2.5!
Buy it
