It is time for us to look at more of my favorite classic Christmas cartoons.
First off is the 1939 cartoon classic, Peace on Earth. On top of being a Christmas cartoon it is also an anti-war film. This leads to some amazing animation during the battle scenes. Very few animation fans will not be visually impressed by those scenes. This film was actually directed by Hugh Harmon, Co-founder of Looney Tunes. This cartoon begins looking like just another cute cartoon (of which Harmon was doing many of at this time) and then amazes you with what direction it goes in. This was also the very first MGM cartoon to be nominated for an academy award (although The Milky Way(1940) would be the first to win (the first non-Disney cartoon to win as well). So from 1939 and directed by Hugh Harmon, here is Peace on Earth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8stkqssLYc
Peace on Earth, was remade in 1955 by William Hanna and Joesph Barbera. This remake was also the last film on which producer Fred Quimby's name appeared. he would go into retirement directly after. So from 1955 and directed by William Hanna and Joesph Barbera, here is Good Will Towards Men.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4AXC2rmLm0
Next up comes the Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoon, True Boo. After the failure of the feature film, Mr. Bug Goes to Town, and other problems Fleshier Studios was shut down. The were replaced by Famous Studios, which maintained many of the same people (minus the Fleshier Brothers, of course). Famous Studios continued series done at Fleshier's (Popeye, Superman), and also added new characters. One of the new characters was Casper the Friendly Ghost. Casper was originally created by Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo, for a children's book. However the book was never made and the character was sold to Famous Studios. Famous Studios commonly reused ideas form old Fleshier films, and this film is quite similar to the Fleshier cartoon, Christmas Comes But Once a Year. However this cartoon has it's own unique charm to it. So from 1952 and directed by Izzy Sparber, here is True Boo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W5LFaVWy0g
Now comes a classic Disney cartoon, Toy Tinkers. This is probably one of the funniest Disney cartoons. It is one in a series of Donald Duck VS Chip and Dale cartoons directed by Jack Hannah. Jack Hannah, along with Jack Kinnley, brought a lot of cartoon slapstick, and fast paced funny action to Disney cartoons, and therefore they are responsible for many of the funniest Disney films. So form 1949, and directed by Jack Hannah, here is Toy Tinkers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjpT9QEnLdo
Next comes another Disney classic, Santa's Workshop. At this time Disney owned exclusive rights to Three Strip Technicolor. Therefore the color in this film is much more impressive than color cartoons from any other studio at this time. This film is virtually plot-less however to show off Three-Strip Technicolor was more than enough reason to make this film at the time. This film while a bit dated in some respects still remains a highly enjoyable cartoon, and the visuals are still quite impressive today. So from 1932 and Directed by Wilfred Jackson, here is Santa's workshop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4c6Ay6diFo
Santa's Workshop received a sequel the next year. This film holds up even better in my opinion. So from 1933, and directed again by Wilfred Jackson, here is The Night Before Christmas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlNnriyVYvo
Tom and Jerry's first Christmas cartoon was their third cartoon. This being done during the early years of Tom and Jerry, was much slower paced, and more realistically animated than what we associated with the cat and mouse. However in this film it works very well. The Christmas setting bring out a great atmosphere and the slower pace gives it plenty of time to sink in. So from 1941, and directed by William Hanna, and Joesph Barbera, here is The Night Before Christmas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2Ck4G3Lm4A
-Michael J. Ruhland
Monday, December 22, 2014
Friday, November 28, 2014
Classic Christmas Cartoon Carnival #1
Christmas is my favorite time of year and it is definitely one of the most important for many animation fans. So I am going to share some classic Christmas cartoons for all of you. So Sit back and enjoy.
First up is a classic Mickey Mouse cartoon directed by Burt Gillett. Gillett mainly directed Mickey Mouse cartoons while at Disney, although he would direct one of the most famous Silly Symphonies cartoons, "The Three Little Pigs". This would lead to him becoming in charge of the Van Beuren Studio's cartoons, where he unfortunately was never able to recapture the magic he did at Disney. However this one of his Disney cartoons and one of his best from 1932, when Walt Disney was still doing the voice of Mickey, here is "Mickey's Good Deed"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANlOFyhZJSI
Next comes a Christmas cartoon oddly released on January 7th 1933. This cartoon is a Merrie Melodies cartoon from the Harmon-Ising era of Looney Tunes/Merie Melodies. Hugh Harmon and Rudolph Ising started the series and were the head creative people on them, they even owned the rights to all the recurring characters (making these characters have disappear from the two series after 1933). The work was divided by having Hugh Harmon direct the Looney Tunes while Rudolph Ising directed the Merrie Melodies. This is when there was a difference between Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. Looney Tunes featured main characters (at this time Bosko and supporting cast) and were character, joke and story driven, while the Merrie Melodies featured mostly misalliances characters and were song driven. This is the perfect example of an early Rudolf Ising Merrie Melodie. It is fast, fun, unpretentious and centers around a very catchy song. From 1933 directed by Rudolf Ising, here is "The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1HA-J0Io4k
After there stint at Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies Hugh Harmon and Rudolph Ising moved to MGM, where they were able to make there cartoons with higher budgets and in color. They took their characters such as Bosko and Honey with them, but they also created new characters as well. This is the introduction of one of those new characters, Little Cheeser. From 1935 and directed by Rudolph Ising here is "Alias St. Nick".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg9m5FCBWSw
Next Up a classic from the Fleshier Brothers. This is from the Color Classics series. Which ran from 1934 to 1941, and was meant to compete with Disney's very popular Silly Symphonies series. While these cartoons are often times considered weak rip offs of Silly Symphonies, and below the talents of the Fleshier Brothers (Who were truely great talents who I and many other consider masters of animation), the best of these series were absolute masterpieces. This is certainly one of the best Color Classics. It features the character Grampy, who had appeared in many Betty Boop cartoons, and was a great character in his own right. This is the only cartoon he appered in without Betty, and his only color cartoon, and it shows a great solo series could have been made with this character. From 1936, and directed by Dave Fleshier, here is "Christmas Comes But Once a Year"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4y8wj01MmU
Lastly for today comes an MGM cartoon, this time from animation legend Tex Avery. Tex Avery's MGM cartoons still stand out among the funniest cartoons ever made, and this cartoon perfectly shows why. The jokes fly at you at a fast pace and never let up and are often very funny. The father in this cartoon is voiced by Pinto Colvig, who had worked for Disney as a writer and the original voice of Goofy. The kid, and the wolf are voiced by Kent Rodgers who voiced Beaky Buzzard at Warner Brothers, and was one of the early voices for Wood Woodpecker at Walter Lantz. Kent Rodgers died during World War 2 leaving his voice career very short, but very enumerable. Enjoy this very funny classic Tex Avery cartoon from 1943, "One Ham's Family"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-Y2tENd3SM
-Michael J. Ruhland
First up is a classic Mickey Mouse cartoon directed by Burt Gillett. Gillett mainly directed Mickey Mouse cartoons while at Disney, although he would direct one of the most famous Silly Symphonies cartoons, "The Three Little Pigs". This would lead to him becoming in charge of the Van Beuren Studio's cartoons, where he unfortunately was never able to recapture the magic he did at Disney. However this one of his Disney cartoons and one of his best from 1932, when Walt Disney was still doing the voice of Mickey, here is "Mickey's Good Deed"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANlOFyhZJSI
Next comes a Christmas cartoon oddly released on January 7th 1933. This cartoon is a Merrie Melodies cartoon from the Harmon-Ising era of Looney Tunes/Merie Melodies. Hugh Harmon and Rudolph Ising started the series and were the head creative people on them, they even owned the rights to all the recurring characters (making these characters have disappear from the two series after 1933). The work was divided by having Hugh Harmon direct the Looney Tunes while Rudolph Ising directed the Merrie Melodies. This is when there was a difference between Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. Looney Tunes featured main characters (at this time Bosko and supporting cast) and were character, joke and story driven, while the Merrie Melodies featured mostly misalliances characters and were song driven. This is the perfect example of an early Rudolf Ising Merrie Melodie. It is fast, fun, unpretentious and centers around a very catchy song. From 1933 directed by Rudolf Ising, here is "The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1HA-J0Io4k
After there stint at Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies Hugh Harmon and Rudolph Ising moved to MGM, where they were able to make there cartoons with higher budgets and in color. They took their characters such as Bosko and Honey with them, but they also created new characters as well. This is the introduction of one of those new characters, Little Cheeser. From 1935 and directed by Rudolph Ising here is "Alias St. Nick".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg9m5FCBWSw
Next Up a classic from the Fleshier Brothers. This is from the Color Classics series. Which ran from 1934 to 1941, and was meant to compete with Disney's very popular Silly Symphonies series. While these cartoons are often times considered weak rip offs of Silly Symphonies, and below the talents of the Fleshier Brothers (Who were truely great talents who I and many other consider masters of animation), the best of these series were absolute masterpieces. This is certainly one of the best Color Classics. It features the character Grampy, who had appeared in many Betty Boop cartoons, and was a great character in his own right. This is the only cartoon he appered in without Betty, and his only color cartoon, and it shows a great solo series could have been made with this character. From 1936, and directed by Dave Fleshier, here is "Christmas Comes But Once a Year"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4y8wj01MmU
Lastly for today comes an MGM cartoon, this time from animation legend Tex Avery. Tex Avery's MGM cartoons still stand out among the funniest cartoons ever made, and this cartoon perfectly shows why. The jokes fly at you at a fast pace and never let up and are often very funny. The father in this cartoon is voiced by Pinto Colvig, who had worked for Disney as a writer and the original voice of Goofy. The kid, and the wolf are voiced by Kent Rodgers who voiced Beaky Buzzard at Warner Brothers, and was one of the early voices for Wood Woodpecker at Walter Lantz. Kent Rodgers died during World War 2 leaving his voice career very short, but very enumerable. Enjoy this very funny classic Tex Avery cartoon from 1943, "One Ham's Family"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-Y2tENd3SM
-Michael J. Ruhland
Friday, November 7, 2014
Cartoons Go to War #1: Disney World War 2 Propaganda
Although many Disney films from the 1940's seem to be better remembered today than many other films from that era are, there are still some Disney films that have unfortunately been forgotten today. This is a shame since many of these are quite great films in there own right. Many of these forgotten ones were propaganda films made during World War Two. Today we are going to look at some of these classic films.
First up come a short Donald Duck cartoon that still ranks among the funniest films Disney has ever made. Originally planned to be named "Donald Duck and Nutzi Land" this cartoon's name had changed to "Der Fuehrer's Face" before being Released. The title was changed so because of the hit song "Der Fuehrer's Face" by Spike Jones and His City Slickers (the song plays a huge role in the finished song. The cartoon was directed by Jack Kinney, who after becoming a Disney director in 1940 brought a new fast paced satirical sense of humor to Disney cartoons that was completely different than what came before. He redefined the humor of Donald Duck, and Goofy cartoons, and many of his short cartoons remain just as funny today, and the following is a prefect example of why. From 1942, here is "Der Fuehrer's Face".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S8Zx1GfDrM
Next up comes something much more serious and terrifying. Based off the very political book by Gregor Ziemer, "Education for Death: The Making of a Nazi" is a horrifying portrait of Germany under control by the Nazi's, that was sadly probably not to far from the truth. The writer of the book had lived in Germany from 1928 to 1939, therefore was well familiar with the horrors of Hitler and the Nazi party, and shockingly Disney did not tone it down much for it's animated adaption. Leaving this one of the most horrifying and powerful films to have ever come out of Disney. From 1943, and directed by Clyde Geromini comes the brilliant short film, "Education for Death: The Making of a Nazi".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l14WDZCnz-w
Lastly for today comes, Disneys most forgotten feature length animated film, "Victory Through Air Power". This is far from your average Disney movie, because it is completely World War Two Propaganda. Because of this, RKO Radio Pictures (Who was releasing Disney's films at the time) saw no profit in the movie (which there wasn't much profit for), therefore the film was released by Untied Artists. Based on the book by Alexander de Seversky (and featuring live action interludes with him) this film was an urge for America to focus more on an air force. Story goes that Winston Churchill urged Franklin D. Roosevelt to watch this film and it inspired FDR to put more thought into the air force for winning the war. Even with all the dated political propaganda in this film it features some great animation and manages to keep the film still very entertaining while delivering a serious political message. A must see for Disney, animation, and history buffs here is from 1943 "Victory Through Air Power".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7NjJ59bf0M
-Michael J. Ruhland
First up come a short Donald Duck cartoon that still ranks among the funniest films Disney has ever made. Originally planned to be named "Donald Duck and Nutzi Land" this cartoon's name had changed to "Der Fuehrer's Face" before being Released. The title was changed so because of the hit song "Der Fuehrer's Face" by Spike Jones and His City Slickers (the song plays a huge role in the finished song. The cartoon was directed by Jack Kinney, who after becoming a Disney director in 1940 brought a new fast paced satirical sense of humor to Disney cartoons that was completely different than what came before. He redefined the humor of Donald Duck, and Goofy cartoons, and many of his short cartoons remain just as funny today, and the following is a prefect example of why. From 1942, here is "Der Fuehrer's Face".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S8Zx1GfDrM
Next up comes something much more serious and terrifying. Based off the very political book by Gregor Ziemer, "Education for Death: The Making of a Nazi" is a horrifying portrait of Germany under control by the Nazi's, that was sadly probably not to far from the truth. The writer of the book had lived in Germany from 1928 to 1939, therefore was well familiar with the horrors of Hitler and the Nazi party, and shockingly Disney did not tone it down much for it's animated adaption. Leaving this one of the most horrifying and powerful films to have ever come out of Disney. From 1943, and directed by Clyde Geromini comes the brilliant short film, "Education for Death: The Making of a Nazi".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l14WDZCnz-w
Lastly for today comes, Disneys most forgotten feature length animated film, "Victory Through Air Power". This is far from your average Disney movie, because it is completely World War Two Propaganda. Because of this, RKO Radio Pictures (Who was releasing Disney's films at the time) saw no profit in the movie (which there wasn't much profit for), therefore the film was released by Untied Artists. Based on the book by Alexander de Seversky (and featuring live action interludes with him) this film was an urge for America to focus more on an air force. Story goes that Winston Churchill urged Franklin D. Roosevelt to watch this film and it inspired FDR to put more thought into the air force for winning the war. Even with all the dated political propaganda in this film it features some great animation and manages to keep the film still very entertaining while delivering a serious political message. A must see for Disney, animation, and history buffs here is from 1943 "Victory Through Air Power".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7NjJ59bf0M
-Michael J. Ruhland
Friday, September 12, 2014
Cat and Mouse Games: The History of Tom and Jerry (Part 4)
After animation legend Chuck Jones left Warner Brothers (Where he directed some cartoon masterpieces for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon series), he formed (along with Les Goldman) the animation studio Sib Tower 12 Productions. Starting in 1963, this animation studio continued the Tom and Jerry series with 34 more cartoons. This is commonly referred to as "The Chuck Jones Era". However unlike the Hanna-Barbera and Gene Deitch eras, not all the cartoons were directed by Chuck Jones. Some where directed by Abe Levitow, Ben Washam, Jim Pabian and Tom Ray. While most of those cartoons had their own entertaining charm usually the best of the bunch were the ones directed by Chuck, himself.
These cartoons in many ways seem much more like Chuck Jones cartoons than Tom and Jerry Cartoons. In fact Chuck Jones admitted on various occasions that he never truly felt at home with Tom and Jerry, the way he did with his own characters. However that does not stop these cartoons from being quite entertaining. While these never reach the heights of Hanna-Babera's years with Tom and Jerry they feature truly fantastic character animation, some pretty funny gags and great music. Any short in which Dean Elliott does the music is definitely worth you're attention. In fact I'd say his music was among the highlights of this era of Tom and Jerry, and that is not in any way a put down to the other elements in these cartoons. His music is definitely of the 60's, and demonstrates only the best traits of music from that era.
The rest of the crew working on these cartoons are quite similar to Chuck Jones' Looney Tunes, and Merrie Melodies. The crew included animators like Ken Harris, Ban Washam, Richard Thompson, and Philip DeGuard, voice actors such as Mel Blanc, and June Foray, writer Michael Maltese, and as Co-director now, one of Chuck's most prominent background artists, Maurice Noble. While these cartoons are not faultless and don't reach up to the standard of Hanna-Barbera's Tom and Jerry, with a crew like this you know it has to be good.
After 1967's "Advance and Be Mechanized", Tom and Jerry would have to leave the big screen, not to come back a until 1992's "Tom and Jerry: The Movie", a very disappointing, and bland return to the big screen. However a career was waiting for our favorite cat and mouse on Television.
To Be Continued...
-Michael J. Ruhland
These cartoons in many ways seem much more like Chuck Jones cartoons than Tom and Jerry Cartoons. In fact Chuck Jones admitted on various occasions that he never truly felt at home with Tom and Jerry, the way he did with his own characters. However that does not stop these cartoons from being quite entertaining. While these never reach the heights of Hanna-Babera's years with Tom and Jerry they feature truly fantastic character animation, some pretty funny gags and great music. Any short in which Dean Elliott does the music is definitely worth you're attention. In fact I'd say his music was among the highlights of this era of Tom and Jerry, and that is not in any way a put down to the other elements in these cartoons. His music is definitely of the 60's, and demonstrates only the best traits of music from that era.
The rest of the crew working on these cartoons are quite similar to Chuck Jones' Looney Tunes, and Merrie Melodies. The crew included animators like Ken Harris, Ban Washam, Richard Thompson, and Philip DeGuard, voice actors such as Mel Blanc, and June Foray, writer Michael Maltese, and as Co-director now, one of Chuck's most prominent background artists, Maurice Noble. While these cartoons are not faultless and don't reach up to the standard of Hanna-Barbera's Tom and Jerry, with a crew like this you know it has to be good.
After 1967's "Advance and Be Mechanized", Tom and Jerry would have to leave the big screen, not to come back a until 1992's "Tom and Jerry: The Movie", a very disappointing, and bland return to the big screen. However a career was waiting for our favorite cat and mouse on Television.
To Be Continued...
-Michael J. Ruhland
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Turner Classic Movies Animation Marathon on October 6th
Great news fellow animation lovers on Monday October 6th Turner Classic Movies is going to give us marathon of classic animation rarely seen on TV today. It begins at 5pm pacific time or 8pm Eastern time.
The marathon will began with some shorts from animation pioneer, and one of the greats in the history of animation Winsor McCay. Then some shorts from animation pioneer John Randolph Bray, who created the character of Colonel Heeza Liar (based off President Theodore Roosevelt). Some of the cartoons from John Randolph Bray feature animation by future Woody Woodpecker co-creator Walter Lantz (the other co-creator was Ben "Bugs" Hardaway (the name sake for Bugs Bunny)). Next up comes some cartoons from the Van Buren studio, who gave us the now forgotten "Rainbow Parade" cartoon series. Coming up next is "The Adventures of Prince Achmed" (1926), the earliest surviving animated feature film ("The Apostle" (1917), and "Without a Trace" (1918) (both directed by Argentine animation pioneer Quirino Cristiani) came before but they are considered lost today). This masterpiece of a film is directed by Lotte Reingner, Queen of Silhouette animation. The animation and story telling of this film still holds up very well today, and not only remains an animated classic, but one of the best German films from the silent era. Next up comes The Fleisher Brothers first feature length film "Gulliver's Travel". I already talked about this great movie in a previous post so I won't go that much into it now. Next up comes the 1960 anime "Magic Boy". Lastly comes "The Phantom Tollbooth" (1969) directed by animation legend (a title he received for good reason) Chuck Jones. This is one of the only two feature films by Chuck Jones (the other being "The Bugs Bunny/ Roadrunner Movie" (1979)), and it is a film worthy of the legend who created it. Hopefully you tune in as well. This promises to be a fun night.
-Michael J. Ruhland
The marathon will began with some shorts from animation pioneer, and one of the greats in the history of animation Winsor McCay. Then some shorts from animation pioneer John Randolph Bray, who created the character of Colonel Heeza Liar (based off President Theodore Roosevelt). Some of the cartoons from John Randolph Bray feature animation by future Woody Woodpecker co-creator Walter Lantz (the other co-creator was Ben "Bugs" Hardaway (the name sake for Bugs Bunny)). Next up comes some cartoons from the Van Buren studio, who gave us the now forgotten "Rainbow Parade" cartoon series. Coming up next is "The Adventures of Prince Achmed" (1926), the earliest surviving animated feature film ("The Apostle" (1917), and "Without a Trace" (1918) (both directed by Argentine animation pioneer Quirino Cristiani) came before but they are considered lost today). This masterpiece of a film is directed by Lotte Reingner, Queen of Silhouette animation. The animation and story telling of this film still holds up very well today, and not only remains an animated classic, but one of the best German films from the silent era. Next up comes The Fleisher Brothers first feature length film "Gulliver's Travel". I already talked about this great movie in a previous post so I won't go that much into it now. Next up comes the 1960 anime "Magic Boy". Lastly comes "The Phantom Tollbooth" (1969) directed by animation legend (a title he received for good reason) Chuck Jones. This is one of the only two feature films by Chuck Jones (the other being "The Bugs Bunny/ Roadrunner Movie" (1979)), and it is a film worthy of the legend who created it. Hopefully you tune in as well. This promises to be a fun night.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Friday, September 5, 2014
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls Rainbow Rocks is Getting Limited Theatrical Realease
Good news fellow bronies, if you like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic as much as I do (which is a lot), and enjoyed the first Equestria Girls Movie, the second Equestria Girls Movie is getting a limited theatrical release in the USA and Canada.
Here are the theaters and times it will be shown:
http://www.screenvision.com/cinema-events/my-little-pony-equestria-girls-rainbow-rocks/#theaters_list
-Michael J. Ruhland
Here are the theaters and times it will be shown:
http://www.screenvision.com/cinema-events/my-little-pony-equestria-girls-rainbow-rocks/#theaters_list
-Michael J. Ruhland
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Classic Hollywood Comedy Teams Get Animated #1
Like many cartoon fans I was introduced to many classic Hollywood celebrities through classic cartoons. Here we are going to look at some uses of some celebrities who were turned into cartoon characters. We are going to look at classic Hollywood comedy teams in cartoons.
The first cartoon we will look at is "A Tale of Two Kitties"(1942). This cartoon features caricatures of Abbott and Costello here turned into cartoon cats and renamed Babbitt and Catstello. Babbitt is voiced by Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies writer Tedd Pierce. Catstello is voiced by voice actor legend Mel Blanc (Who voiced most of the main Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies male characters). These two characters were meant to be the characters of the cartoon however another character stole the show. That character was Tweety who would of course become one of the main characters of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. Now Tweety was never referred to by name in this cartoon, but on his original model sheet he was called Orson, but still the character is recognizably Tweety. In his first three cartoons ("A Tale Of Two Kitties"(1942), "Birdy and the Beast"(1944) (where Tweety was first given his name), "A Gruesome Twosome"(1945)) Tweety had no feathers. This is because his original design was based off a nude baby picture of Bob Clampett, who directed those first three Tweety cartoons. Tweety was also much more sadistic in the hands of director Bob Clampett. The initial idea for Tweety was that he was a very sadistic and violent character who would fool cats by the fact that he looks and acts cute. The character would be changed to what we know him as today after Bob Clampett left Warner Brothers to start a television career (Where he created the characters of Benny and Cecil). Friz Freling would become Tweety's main director and would pair him up with Sylvester the Cat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFC9vnZY93k
Next up comes another cartoon based around Abbott and Costello. This time it is a 1960's television cartoon by the kings of 1960's television cartoons, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Here Bud Abbott is actually voiced by the real Bud Abbott, and Lou Costello (Who had passed away in 1959) was voiced by Stan Irwin. Unfortunately Stan Irwin tried too hard to sound like Lou Costello and unlike the real Lou Costello, Irwin got pretty annoying at times. The show was good enough to make up for this though. It had the great writing, music, and voice acting (not including Stan Irwin) that made Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the 1960's so great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_H3ZRaVGts
Now we look at another television cartoon series this time centering around The Three Stooges. This 1965 TV show "The New Three Stooges" featured both live action and animated segments. The live action segments were directed by Edward Burns (who had been on director on some of the classic 1940's and 50's live action stooge shorts), and the animated segments were directed by David Detiege (Who had been a writer for Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies during the 1960's). David Detiege was also a writer for this show. The Three Stooges (then Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and "Curly" Joe DeRitia) played themselves in this show. They both appeared in the live action segments and did their voices in the animated segments. While the animation was very cheap and crude, the show still maintained a great charm, and some of the classic humor that made The Three Stooges famous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJExAQHuFXU
Lastly (For this post) we are going to look at a classic early Looney Tunes cartoon from 1933 staring Looney Tunes first main character the now forgotten Bosko. Bosko came to being when Hugh Harmon and Rudolf Ising left Walt Disney and made a pilot film for a new cartoon series. The pilot film was called "Bosko the Talk-ink Kid"(1929). Obviously talkie films were new at this time. When shown to producer Leon Schlesinger it was accepted and a new series called Looney Tunes was formed in the year 1930. When Merrie Melodies was created in 1931, Hugh Harmon became the sole director of the Looney Tunes, and Rudolf Ising became the sole director of the Merrie Melodies. While many of these cartoons resembled Disney more than the what we of with these two series today, this cartoon is probably the most Looney Tunes like Looney Tunes cartoon from this era. It is also one of the best of Hugh Harmon's early Looney Tunes. It was though one of the last cartoons from the Harmon and Ising period of Warner Brother's cartoons. They would move to MGM and take the character of Bosko with them, and continue making Bosko cartoons for the next 5 years as well as creating many other great cartoons at MGM. Of course Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies would continue to be two of the best cartoon series ever made (In my opinion the two best cartoon series ever made) even without two of their founding Members. The reason this cartoon is included here is because it features some great caricatures of Laurel and Hardy and The Marx Brothers.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=bosko%27s+picture+show&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=A86AE4163DB8AB964043A86AE4163DB8AB964043
Unfortunately that video is a censored version of the cartoon. If you want to see why watch the video below, and if you want to see the uncensored version look for "Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 6".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2qu9zrYCP0
-Michael J. Ruhland
The first cartoon we will look at is "A Tale of Two Kitties"(1942). This cartoon features caricatures of Abbott and Costello here turned into cartoon cats and renamed Babbitt and Catstello. Babbitt is voiced by Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies writer Tedd Pierce. Catstello is voiced by voice actor legend Mel Blanc (Who voiced most of the main Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies male characters). These two characters were meant to be the characters of the cartoon however another character stole the show. That character was Tweety who would of course become one of the main characters of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. Now Tweety was never referred to by name in this cartoon, but on his original model sheet he was called Orson, but still the character is recognizably Tweety. In his first three cartoons ("A Tale Of Two Kitties"(1942), "Birdy and the Beast"(1944) (where Tweety was first given his name), "A Gruesome Twosome"(1945)) Tweety had no feathers. This is because his original design was based off a nude baby picture of Bob Clampett, who directed those first three Tweety cartoons. Tweety was also much more sadistic in the hands of director Bob Clampett. The initial idea for Tweety was that he was a very sadistic and violent character who would fool cats by the fact that he looks and acts cute. The character would be changed to what we know him as today after Bob Clampett left Warner Brothers to start a television career (Where he created the characters of Benny and Cecil). Friz Freling would become Tweety's main director and would pair him up with Sylvester the Cat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFC9vnZY93k
Next up comes another cartoon based around Abbott and Costello. This time it is a 1960's television cartoon by the kings of 1960's television cartoons, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Here Bud Abbott is actually voiced by the real Bud Abbott, and Lou Costello (Who had passed away in 1959) was voiced by Stan Irwin. Unfortunately Stan Irwin tried too hard to sound like Lou Costello and unlike the real Lou Costello, Irwin got pretty annoying at times. The show was good enough to make up for this though. It had the great writing, music, and voice acting (not including Stan Irwin) that made Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the 1960's so great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_H3ZRaVGts
Now we look at another television cartoon series this time centering around The Three Stooges. This 1965 TV show "The New Three Stooges" featured both live action and animated segments. The live action segments were directed by Edward Burns (who had been on director on some of the classic 1940's and 50's live action stooge shorts), and the animated segments were directed by David Detiege (Who had been a writer for Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies during the 1960's). David Detiege was also a writer for this show. The Three Stooges (then Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and "Curly" Joe DeRitia) played themselves in this show. They both appeared in the live action segments and did their voices in the animated segments. While the animation was very cheap and crude, the show still maintained a great charm, and some of the classic humor that made The Three Stooges famous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJExAQHuFXU
Lastly (For this post) we are going to look at a classic early Looney Tunes cartoon from 1933 staring Looney Tunes first main character the now forgotten Bosko. Bosko came to being when Hugh Harmon and Rudolf Ising left Walt Disney and made a pilot film for a new cartoon series. The pilot film was called "Bosko the Talk-ink Kid"(1929). Obviously talkie films were new at this time. When shown to producer Leon Schlesinger it was accepted and a new series called Looney Tunes was formed in the year 1930. When Merrie Melodies was created in 1931, Hugh Harmon became the sole director of the Looney Tunes, and Rudolf Ising became the sole director of the Merrie Melodies. While many of these cartoons resembled Disney more than the what we of with these two series today, this cartoon is probably the most Looney Tunes like Looney Tunes cartoon from this era. It is also one of the best of Hugh Harmon's early Looney Tunes. It was though one of the last cartoons from the Harmon and Ising period of Warner Brother's cartoons. They would move to MGM and take the character of Bosko with them, and continue making Bosko cartoons for the next 5 years as well as creating many other great cartoons at MGM. Of course Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies would continue to be two of the best cartoon series ever made (In my opinion the two best cartoon series ever made) even without two of their founding Members. The reason this cartoon is included here is because it features some great caricatures of Laurel and Hardy and The Marx Brothers.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=bosko%27s+picture+show&FORM=HDRSC3#view=detail&mid=A86AE4163DB8AB964043A86AE4163DB8AB964043
Unfortunately that video is a censored version of the cartoon. If you want to see why watch the video below, and if you want to see the uncensored version look for "Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 6".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2qu9zrYCP0
-Michael J. Ruhland
Monday, August 18, 2014
Cat and Mouse Games: The History of Tom and Jerry (Part 3)
When many animation fans see Gene Deitch's name on a Tom and Jerry cartoon, they go out of their way to avoid it. So what do I think of this most hated of eras of my favorite cat and mouse duo? In all honesty I don't think it's that bad. In fact I would say I have seen much worse happen to Tom and Jerry (such as the 1980 TV show by Filmation studios, "The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show" (We will get to that monstrosity later)). Now don't get me wrong I by no means think they are as good as the Tom and Jerry cartoons from William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. There are some bad cartoons during this era (Dicky Moe, Switchen Kitten), but there were some I actually believe to be pretty good (The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit, Buddies Thicker Than Water, Tail in the Trap, It's All Greek To Me-ow, Down and Outing).
In 1960 since MGM's animation studio was closed, it was decided to ship the making of the Tom and Jerry series overseas. It was shipped to Czechoslovakia. Where former employee of the American animation studios, UPA and Terrytoons, Gene Deitch, had just moved in 1959 (He was a director at Terrytoons (Where he created the character of Tom Terrific), and an animator at UPA). The Job of directing had been turned over to Gene Deitch. However Gene Deitch was not a fan of Tom and Jerry. Deitch wrote "Personally, as a UPA man, I had always cited Tom & Jerry cartoons as the primary bad example of senseless violence - humor based on pain - attack and revenge - to say nothing of the tasteless use of a headless black woman stereotype house servant". Another problem that had faced this team was that many of the animators had never seen a Tom and Jerry Cartoon. Deitch also wrote, "Even if the spirit was willing to give it an honest try, the fact remained that these communist-era, isolated animators had never in their lives seen even one Tom & Jerry cartoon! I had seen more than a few, and in spite of my ideological distance, I did appreciate the perfect craftsmanship, the expressive animation, with its exquisite timing, the endless gag inventiveness, and the characters' incredible damage survival". Also plaguing them was the much smaller budget they had to work on.
Due to these cartoons being imported from a communist country MGM did all they could to hide that fact. While these were among the only Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoons to not say "Made in Hollywood, USA", there was no mentioning of where they were made. Names like A. Booresh,
Victor Little, S. Newman , M. Clicker and V. Marsh appeared in the opening credits, instead of Antonín Bure_, Václav Lídl, Zdenka Najmanová, Milan Klikar, and Věra Mare_ová.
While William Hanna and Joseph Barbera made 114 theatrical Tom and Jerry cartoons, Gene Deitch only made 13. Naturally the best parts of these Tom and Jerry cartoons were things that did not relate to the previous cartoons. There was a great sense of surrealism, and strangeness to these cartoons. This sense comes from the sound effects, music, and animation. It also occasionally features a few great moments of satire, such as "The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit" (1962). These cartoons have their own entertaining charm (in my opinion). Even though they are very different from other Tom and Jerry cartoons and aren't as good as the Hanna and Babera classics, I enjoy them quite a bit and will continue to do so.
If you want more information about Gene Deitch's Tom and Jerry cartoons (From the man himself), or if want to know where I got the quotes from, click on this link:
http://www.awn.com/genedeitch/chapter-twentyone-tom-and-jerry-the-first-reincarnation
To Be Continued...
-Michael J. Ruhland
In 1960 since MGM's animation studio was closed, it was decided to ship the making of the Tom and Jerry series overseas. It was shipped to Czechoslovakia. Where former employee of the American animation studios, UPA and Terrytoons, Gene Deitch, had just moved in 1959 (He was a director at Terrytoons (Where he created the character of Tom Terrific), and an animator at UPA). The Job of directing had been turned over to Gene Deitch. However Gene Deitch was not a fan of Tom and Jerry. Deitch wrote "Personally, as a UPA man, I had always cited Tom & Jerry cartoons as the primary bad example of senseless violence - humor based on pain - attack and revenge - to say nothing of the tasteless use of a headless black woman stereotype house servant". Another problem that had faced this team was that many of the animators had never seen a Tom and Jerry Cartoon. Deitch also wrote, "Even if the spirit was willing to give it an honest try, the fact remained that these communist-era, isolated animators had never in their lives seen even one Tom & Jerry cartoon! I had seen more than a few, and in spite of my ideological distance, I did appreciate the perfect craftsmanship, the expressive animation, with its exquisite timing, the endless gag inventiveness, and the characters' incredible damage survival". Also plaguing them was the much smaller budget they had to work on.
Due to these cartoons being imported from a communist country MGM did all they could to hide that fact. While these were among the only Tom and Jerry theatrical cartoons to not say "Made in Hollywood, USA", there was no mentioning of where they were made. Names like A. Booresh,
Victor Little, S. Newman , M. Clicker and V. Marsh appeared in the opening credits, instead of Antonín Bure_, Václav Lídl, Zdenka Najmanová, Milan Klikar, and Věra Mare_ová.
While William Hanna and Joseph Barbera made 114 theatrical Tom and Jerry cartoons, Gene Deitch only made 13. Naturally the best parts of these Tom and Jerry cartoons were things that did not relate to the previous cartoons. There was a great sense of surrealism, and strangeness to these cartoons. This sense comes from the sound effects, music, and animation. It also occasionally features a few great moments of satire, such as "The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit" (1962). These cartoons have their own entertaining charm (in my opinion). Even though they are very different from other Tom and Jerry cartoons and aren't as good as the Hanna and Babera classics, I enjoy them quite a bit and will continue to do so.
If you want more information about Gene Deitch's Tom and Jerry cartoons (From the man himself), or if want to know where I got the quotes from, click on this link:
http://www.awn.com/genedeitch/chapter-twentyone-tom-and-jerry-the-first-reincarnation
To Be Continued...
-Michael J. Ruhland
Monday, August 11, 2014
The Fleischer Brothers and Feature Length Animation
Max and Dave Fleischer are two names that get pushed aside too often when The Golden Age of American Animation is discussed. However we all have at least a passing knowledge of their Popeye, Betty Boop, and Superman cartoons, and fans of silent animation might know the "Out of the Inkwell" series as among the best cartoon series of it's time. Too few people though know about their two feature length films though. Now these films were not hits at the time they were released, and they are much less known now. However these are very entertaining and important films that I believe should not be overlooked. They were in fact the first and the only American feature length animated films not made by Disney during the 1930's and 40's. They were also the first American animated films to give credit to the voice actors, a practice very uncommon in those days.
"Gulliver's Travels" (1939) began it's life (not counting the classic book) as an idea of casting Popeye as Gulliver. While this certainly would have made an excellent film, this is not the direction they would choose to go. The character of Gulliver in this film was much more realistically animated then anything that had come out of the Fleischer studio before, and was purposely in stark contrast with the more cartoony little people of Lilliput. This was achieved through rotoscoping, a device pioneered by The Fleischers for their "Out of the Inkwell" series. Rotoscoping is a term for when an animator traces over live-action film (usually filmed for the purposes of being rotoscoped), and it is normally used to achieve more realistic animation.
"Gulliver's Travels" (1939) had little to do with the classic book. We never saw Gulliver visit any island other than Lilliput. Even then great liberties were taken with the time he spent on Lilliput. However the film doesn't suffer too much from this, because it exist as it's own entity, and should not be looked at as simply an unfaithful adaption of a great book. The film maintains much of the beautiful animation, great voice acting, trademark humor, and great storytelling that makes the Fleischer cartoons such classics. It remains a very enjoyable movie, and I recommend it highly.
For some reason the Fleischers believed the character Gabby (from "Gulliver's Travels" (1939)) would be a huge hit in a cartoon series of his own. The brothers turned out to be completely wrong on this case. While I personally don't find the character that annoying (many do) he is not a particularly interesting or funny character, and was easily a fault in an otherwise great movie. Naturally this series did not become a hit, and remains as the only truly bad cartoon series the Fleischer Brothers ever made, but with how much great entertainment the brothers have given us this is easy to forgive.
For their next feature length film The Fleshiers wanted to make an adaption of the of "The Life of the Bee" by Maurice Maeterlinck. They however could not get the film rights to the book, and so a similar original story was made. "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" (1941) became the first American feature length animated film not to be an adaption of a book, despite the original intention. One of the writer's who helped create this new story was Looney Tunes/ Merrie Melodies writer Tedd Pierce, who was loaned from Warner Brothers specifically for this film. He is defiantly part of why the movie turned out so well. Pierce also provided the voice for the villain in the movie, C. Bagley Beetle. Also included in the voice cast were Pinto Colvig (Disney writer, animator and voice of Goofy), Jack Mercer (Fleischer Brothers animator, Famous Studios writer, and voice of Popeye and Felix the Cat (the 1959 "Felix the Cat" TV series not the theatrical Felix cartoons)), and many more talented voice actors.
The opening credit sequence of "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" (1941) used another animation device the Fleischers had pioneered. This device was the use of 3D backgrounds. This was accomplished by putting 2D animation cells in a 3D set, and filming it like that. This device worked great, and the depth in the backgrounds is truly amazing. Strangely though this device has rarely been used since, despite the affect it has on audiences. This might be due the complexity of this operation, or the invention of the Disney multiplane camera (A discussion for a later date), but whatever the reason it is a sad loss this device never caught on. For an example of this device in action here is a classic Popeye cartoon that uses it to great effect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9bU9Mi8grQ
Despite Dave Fleischer being credited as the only director of "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" (1941). The beginning of the movie (after the opening credits) was directed by legendary animator Shamus Culhane (who animated the Hi-Ho-Hi-Ho musical number in Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937), and directed some of the best Woody Woodpecker cartoons). This scene naturally worked out very well as it gave us time to get to know the characters without ever boring the audience.
"Mr. Bug Goes to Town" turned out to be a great movie that can even be considered an improvement on "Gulliver" which should not be a surprise once you look at the great crew that worked on it. However the film had not been the hit it should have been. Some have blamed this on the film being released too close to when Pearl Harbor was bombed, other have blamed this on Paramount (The studio that distributed the Fleischer's films) not giving the film enough attention, but whatever the reason it had a terrible affect on the world of animation. The Fleisher Brothers closed their studio, and Paramount now got their cartoons from Famous Studios. A sad end to the life of one of America's greatest animation studios.
For a better discussion on the reasons "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" was a box office failure take a look at this article from Cartoon Research.com.
http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/mr-bug-and-hoppity-go-to-town/
-Michael J. Ruhland
"Gulliver's Travels" (1939) began it's life (not counting the classic book) as an idea of casting Popeye as Gulliver. While this certainly would have made an excellent film, this is not the direction they would choose to go. The character of Gulliver in this film was much more realistically animated then anything that had come out of the Fleischer studio before, and was purposely in stark contrast with the more cartoony little people of Lilliput. This was achieved through rotoscoping, a device pioneered by The Fleischers for their "Out of the Inkwell" series. Rotoscoping is a term for when an animator traces over live-action film (usually filmed for the purposes of being rotoscoped), and it is normally used to achieve more realistic animation.
"Gulliver's Travels" (1939) had little to do with the classic book. We never saw Gulliver visit any island other than Lilliput. Even then great liberties were taken with the time he spent on Lilliput. However the film doesn't suffer too much from this, because it exist as it's own entity, and should not be looked at as simply an unfaithful adaption of a great book. The film maintains much of the beautiful animation, great voice acting, trademark humor, and great storytelling that makes the Fleischer cartoons such classics. It remains a very enjoyable movie, and I recommend it highly.
For some reason the Fleischers believed the character Gabby (from "Gulliver's Travels" (1939)) would be a huge hit in a cartoon series of his own. The brothers turned out to be completely wrong on this case. While I personally don't find the character that annoying (many do) he is not a particularly interesting or funny character, and was easily a fault in an otherwise great movie. Naturally this series did not become a hit, and remains as the only truly bad cartoon series the Fleischer Brothers ever made, but with how much great entertainment the brothers have given us this is easy to forgive.
For their next feature length film The Fleshiers wanted to make an adaption of the of "The Life of the Bee" by Maurice Maeterlinck. They however could not get the film rights to the book, and so a similar original story was made. "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" (1941) became the first American feature length animated film not to be an adaption of a book, despite the original intention. One of the writer's who helped create this new story was Looney Tunes/ Merrie Melodies writer Tedd Pierce, who was loaned from Warner Brothers specifically for this film. He is defiantly part of why the movie turned out so well. Pierce also provided the voice for the villain in the movie, C. Bagley Beetle. Also included in the voice cast were Pinto Colvig (Disney writer, animator and voice of Goofy), Jack Mercer (Fleischer Brothers animator, Famous Studios writer, and voice of Popeye and Felix the Cat (the 1959 "Felix the Cat" TV series not the theatrical Felix cartoons)), and many more talented voice actors.
The opening credit sequence of "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" (1941) used another animation device the Fleischers had pioneered. This device was the use of 3D backgrounds. This was accomplished by putting 2D animation cells in a 3D set, and filming it like that. This device worked great, and the depth in the backgrounds is truly amazing. Strangely though this device has rarely been used since, despite the affect it has on audiences. This might be due the complexity of this operation, or the invention of the Disney multiplane camera (A discussion for a later date), but whatever the reason it is a sad loss this device never caught on. For an example of this device in action here is a classic Popeye cartoon that uses it to great effect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9bU9Mi8grQ
Despite Dave Fleischer being credited as the only director of "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" (1941). The beginning of the movie (after the opening credits) was directed by legendary animator Shamus Culhane (who animated the Hi-Ho-Hi-Ho musical number in Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937), and directed some of the best Woody Woodpecker cartoons). This scene naturally worked out very well as it gave us time to get to know the characters without ever boring the audience.
"Mr. Bug Goes to Town" turned out to be a great movie that can even be considered an improvement on "Gulliver" which should not be a surprise once you look at the great crew that worked on it. However the film had not been the hit it should have been. Some have blamed this on the film being released too close to when Pearl Harbor was bombed, other have blamed this on Paramount (The studio that distributed the Fleischer's films) not giving the film enough attention, but whatever the reason it had a terrible affect on the world of animation. The Fleisher Brothers closed their studio, and Paramount now got their cartoons from Famous Studios. A sad end to the life of one of America's greatest animation studios.
For a better discussion on the reasons "Mr. Bug Goes to Town" was a box office failure take a look at this article from Cartoon Research.com.
http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/mr-bug-and-hoppity-go-to-town/
-Michael J. Ruhland
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Surreal Art: Jan Svankmajer's "Alice" (1988) and the Auteur Theory
In this post we are going to look at a film that makes one of the greatest uses of stop motion animation. We are going to look at the 1988 film "Alice", directed (and written for the screen) by Czechoslovakian director, animator, story teller, and master surrealist Jan Svankmajer. This film was not the first time "Alice in Wonderland" had been adapted using a combination of live action and stop motion animation. This device had been used in 1949 by Lou Bunin in his film "Alice in Wonderland", not to be confused with the Disney film which was released in 1951, and featured only hand drawn animation. Even before that Walt Disney made extremely loose versions of "Alice in Wonderland" using live action and hand drawn animation in a series called the "Alice Comedies", which released it's first film "Alice's Wonderland" in 1923. However "Alice" (1988) is the best use of this device, and in my opinion the best film adaption of "Alice in Wonderland".
I pick this movie to talk about for 3 reasons:
1. It is a masterpiece
2. Too many people have not heard of it
3. I want to discuss how film theory and analysis can be very useful for discussing animated films as well as live action, and a Jan Svankmajer film is a great place to start such a discussion (despite that live action is also used, the animation in his films warrants serious discussion as much the live action).
"Alice" (1988) is a perfect film to use as proof for the auteur theory. The auteur theory was first proposed (At least to the earliest we can trace it) in the French film magazine "Cahiers du Cinéma". This magazine had a huge influence on how film is looked at as an art form, and featured future great French live-action filmmakers such as François Truffaut, and Jean-Luc Godard as writers. The auteur theory is the belief that a film is the creative vision of the director and that the director is essentially the author of the film. An auteur director is a director whose distinctive style and personal themes can be seen in nearly all their work, and can not be mistaken for any other director. Jan Svankmajer is definitely an auteur director and "Alice" is defiantly proof of this.
Jan Svankmajer is know for (by the people he is known by) his surreal and odd ball stop-motion animation, borderline obsession with characters eating (you will know what I mean after you watch "Alice"), darkly hilarious sense of humor, exaggerated sound effects, and disturbing subconscious feel to many of his films. "Alice" contains all of these in abundance. Svankmajer felt a film version of "Alice in Wonderland" should not be made as a fairy tale but rather as a subconscious dream. He stated "While a fairy tale has got an educational aspect – it works with the moral of the lifted forefinger (good overcomes evil), dream, as an expression of our unconscious, uncompromisingly pursues the realization of our most secret wishes without considering rational and moral inhibitions, because it is driven by the principle of pleasure. My Alice is a realized dream.". Therefore in this film Alice fully enters a Freudian dream, instead of the more fantasy based one as we have become accustomed to. Here is a very insightful interview with Jan Svankmajer to help further explain this point.
http://www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk/features/2011/06/14/interview-with-jan-352vankmajer/
Most of this is naturally shown through the directing. The imagery and the way it is presented is more disturbing than whimsical. The mixture of live-action and animation help to make this film feel much less real. This film in fact never attempts reality it instead in every visual way possible subverts it. This makes the film truly feel like our own subconscious dream, a feat rarely paralleled in film (animation, live action or a mixture of both). This is truly a director's film, and a master piece.
-Michael J. Ruhland
I pick this movie to talk about for 3 reasons:
1. It is a masterpiece
2. Too many people have not heard of it
3. I want to discuss how film theory and analysis can be very useful for discussing animated films as well as live action, and a Jan Svankmajer film is a great place to start such a discussion (despite that live action is also used, the animation in his films warrants serious discussion as much the live action).
"Alice" (1988) is a perfect film to use as proof for the auteur theory. The auteur theory was first proposed (At least to the earliest we can trace it) in the French film magazine "Cahiers du Cinéma". This magazine had a huge influence on how film is looked at as an art form, and featured future great French live-action filmmakers such as François Truffaut, and Jean-Luc Godard as writers. The auteur theory is the belief that a film is the creative vision of the director and that the director is essentially the author of the film. An auteur director is a director whose distinctive style and personal themes can be seen in nearly all their work, and can not be mistaken for any other director. Jan Svankmajer is definitely an auteur director and "Alice" is defiantly proof of this.
Jan Svankmajer is know for (by the people he is known by) his surreal and odd ball stop-motion animation, borderline obsession with characters eating (you will know what I mean after you watch "Alice"), darkly hilarious sense of humor, exaggerated sound effects, and disturbing subconscious feel to many of his films. "Alice" contains all of these in abundance. Svankmajer felt a film version of "Alice in Wonderland" should not be made as a fairy tale but rather as a subconscious dream. He stated "While a fairy tale has got an educational aspect – it works with the moral of the lifted forefinger (good overcomes evil), dream, as an expression of our unconscious, uncompromisingly pursues the realization of our most secret wishes without considering rational and moral inhibitions, because it is driven by the principle of pleasure. My Alice is a realized dream.". Therefore in this film Alice fully enters a Freudian dream, instead of the more fantasy based one as we have become accustomed to. Here is a very insightful interview with Jan Svankmajer to help further explain this point.
http://www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk/features/2011/06/14/interview-with-jan-352vankmajer/
Most of this is naturally shown through the directing. The imagery and the way it is presented is more disturbing than whimsical. The mixture of live-action and animation help to make this film feel much less real. This film in fact never attempts reality it instead in every visual way possible subverts it. This makes the film truly feel like our own subconscious dream, a feat rarely paralleled in film (animation, live action or a mixture of both). This is truly a director's film, and a master piece.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Monday, July 28, 2014
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 3 release on August 12th
Rejoice follow cartoon lovers for on August 12th the 3rd volume of the "Looney Tunes Platinum Collection" will be released on Blu-ray and DVD. This will feature many more classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons including 4 that have never been released on DVD or Blue-ray. Those 4 are "Honey's Money", "Life with Feathers", "Tree for Two", and "Beep Prepared". The Blu-ray version will also include a brand new documentary called "That's All Folks! Tales From Termite Terrace". Of course these are only the tip of the iceberg for there are 46 more classic cartoons along with many more bonus features.
-Michael J. Ruhland
-Michael J. Ruhland
Sunday, July 27, 2014
One Old Gray Hare: Happy 74th Birthday Bugs Bunny
On July 27th, 1940 a Tex Avery directed Merrie Melodies cartoon called "A Wild Hare" was released. This cartoon marked the birth of a certain wascally wabbit, Bugs Bunny. Even though Warner Brothers had been experimenting with a rabbit character since the 1938 Looney Tunes cartoon "Porky's Hare Hunt" directed by Ben "Bugs" Hardaway (the wascally wabbit's name sake), and Cal Dalton. However Bugs himself didn't appear until "A Wild Hare". Tex Avery himself wasn't a fan of the cartoon, not because of the character, but because he didn't find it funny. And while I find it quite a good cartoon I do admit better Bugs cartoons would come down the line (Including some hilarious Bugs cartoons directed by Tex, himself) in the future. Despite Tex's criticism of his own work, this cartoon was a sensation, and more Bugs Bunny cartoons were demanded, and the rest is animation history.
To celebrate the superstars birthday and since I am sure most of you have seen many classic Bugs Bunny theatrical cartoons (and if you haven't what are you reading this for, when you could watch them now) I am going to share with you some great forgotten commercials made for The Bugs Bunny Show. These commercials like The Bugs Bunny Show itself were directed by classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon directors Chuck Jones, Friz Freling, and Robert McKimson, and featuring Bugs' original voice actor Mel Blanc. They also contain some of the great witty humor ,remarkable animation and classic characterizations that made Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies such great classics, like the rest of The Bugs Bunny Show. Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX8xrnGJIUQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7MYsB-YElk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97hVwBcSPa4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xgwqi3SfxA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9amHMfxDsmo
-Michael J. Ruhland
To celebrate the superstars birthday and since I am sure most of you have seen many classic Bugs Bunny theatrical cartoons (and if you haven't what are you reading this for, when you could watch them now) I am going to share with you some great forgotten commercials made for The Bugs Bunny Show. These commercials like The Bugs Bunny Show itself were directed by classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon directors Chuck Jones, Friz Freling, and Robert McKimson, and featuring Bugs' original voice actor Mel Blanc. They also contain some of the great witty humor ,remarkable animation and classic characterizations that made Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies such great classics, like the rest of The Bugs Bunny Show. Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX8xrnGJIUQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7MYsB-YElk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97hVwBcSPa4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xgwqi3SfxA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9amHMfxDsmo
-Michael J. Ruhland
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Cat and Mouse Games: The History of Tom and Jerry (Part 2)
Many of the early Tom and Jerry cartoons resembled the Harmon and Ising cartoons that preceded them. The pace was slow and the animation was more realistic than what it would become later. Tom looked and moved more like a real cat than a cartoon of a cat. This made his actions and reactions much less funny than what would come later. This along with MGM cartoons as a whole changed when Tex Avery moved to MGM. Even though Tex had never worked on a Tom and Jerry cartoon his importance to the series is unmistakable.
Tex Avery was one of the greatest animation directors to ever live. He had already helped change Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies from the films Harmon and Ising had made at Warner Brothers (While many of those cartoons were entertaining they were very different from what would come later) to the more cartoony, anything for a laugh style that we know and love them for now. Tex's MGM cartoons were even faster paced and more cartoony than what he had done at Warner Brothers. In these cartoons nothing was impossible. If a joke was funny to Tex, he would throw out any sense of reality for the joke's sake. Tex Avery's MGM cartoons remain some of the funniest cartoons ever made.
Inspired by Tex's cartoons Hanna and Barbera made a few changes to Tom and Jerry cartoons. The pace had been picked up. Animal characters were now anthropomorphic. Most of all though the cartoons were much funnier. Wild and impossible reactions, fast paced slapstick, and cartoony violence now became staples of Tom and Jerry cartoons. Also added was Tom's recognizable and quite funny scream (often times one of the few sounds to come out of his mouth in the cartoons). This scream was done by William Hanna himself.
Tom and Jerry cartoons were at the top of their game during these years. They quickly became favorites for both fans and film critics. The series even won 7 Oscars a feat only matched by (for series of animated short films) Disney's Silly Symphony cartoons. These great cartoons deserved all of the praise they received.
After 1955's "Good Will to Men" (a non-Tom and Jerry MGM cartoon directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera) producer Fred Quimby left MGM. To take over as the producers for all of the MGM animated short films were William Hanna and Joseph Babera. They not only produced the cartoons they directed, but also the cartoons of Tex Avery, Michael Lah, and others.
The budgets were now much smaller. This may have helped prepare the team for their future in television animation, where they would have to work on an even smaller budget. Even though most of the Tom and Jerry cartoons of this era were still very good (Muscle Beach Tom, Timid Tabby, Down Beat Bear, etc.), there were a few cartoons that showed that maybe it was getting harder to come up with new stories for the characters (Happy Go Ducky, Tot Watchers, Busy Buddies). After 1958's Tom and Jerry cartoon "Tot Watchers" MGM's animation studio had closed and Hanna and Barbera would go on to make some of the best animated TV shows of their era. It seemed as if this would be the end for Tom and Jerry, but it was far from it.
To Be Continued...
-Michael J. Ruhland
Tex Avery was one of the greatest animation directors to ever live. He had already helped change Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies from the films Harmon and Ising had made at Warner Brothers (While many of those cartoons were entertaining they were very different from what would come later) to the more cartoony, anything for a laugh style that we know and love them for now. Tex's MGM cartoons were even faster paced and more cartoony than what he had done at Warner Brothers. In these cartoons nothing was impossible. If a joke was funny to Tex, he would throw out any sense of reality for the joke's sake. Tex Avery's MGM cartoons remain some of the funniest cartoons ever made.
Inspired by Tex's cartoons Hanna and Barbera made a few changes to Tom and Jerry cartoons. The pace had been picked up. Animal characters were now anthropomorphic. Most of all though the cartoons were much funnier. Wild and impossible reactions, fast paced slapstick, and cartoony violence now became staples of Tom and Jerry cartoons. Also added was Tom's recognizable and quite funny scream (often times one of the few sounds to come out of his mouth in the cartoons). This scream was done by William Hanna himself.
Tom and Jerry cartoons were at the top of their game during these years. They quickly became favorites for both fans and film critics. The series even won 7 Oscars a feat only matched by (for series of animated short films) Disney's Silly Symphony cartoons. These great cartoons deserved all of the praise they received.
After 1955's "Good Will to Men" (a non-Tom and Jerry MGM cartoon directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera) producer Fred Quimby left MGM. To take over as the producers for all of the MGM animated short films were William Hanna and Joseph Babera. They not only produced the cartoons they directed, but also the cartoons of Tex Avery, Michael Lah, and others.
The budgets were now much smaller. This may have helped prepare the team for their future in television animation, where they would have to work on an even smaller budget. Even though most of the Tom and Jerry cartoons of this era were still very good (Muscle Beach Tom, Timid Tabby, Down Beat Bear, etc.), there were a few cartoons that showed that maybe it was getting harder to come up with new stories for the characters (Happy Go Ducky, Tot Watchers, Busy Buddies). After 1958's Tom and Jerry cartoon "Tot Watchers" MGM's animation studio had closed and Hanna and Barbera would go on to make some of the best animated TV shows of their era. It seemed as if this would be the end for Tom and Jerry, but it was far from it.
To Be Continued...
-Michael J. Ruhland
Friday, July 18, 2014
Cat and Mouse Games: The History of Tom and Jerry (Part 1)
After Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising left Warner Brothers (Where they played a huge part in making the first Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons), because of the small budgets they had to work on there, they moved very briefly to the Van Bueran Studio, only to leave after two cartoons(over a contract dispute), and then they settled at MGM. Here they taken over almost all the animated shorts from MGM. Like the MGM live-action features these shorts took an extremely elegant, and expensive looking visual atmosphere. This is just what they had always wanted to do at Warner Brothers. Harmon and Ising (have been former Disney employees) spent much of their career trying to compete with Disney. Therefore their Shorts had a very Disney like feel to them something the MGM shorts of later years would break heavily away from.
These shorts were perhaps too expensive looking, and too big of attempts to compete with Disney, because they often went way over budget. Due to this producer Fred Quimby decided to look for more directing units. This was filled by Friz Freling, who beirfly left Warner Brothers in 1937 only to come back later the same year. Freling was made to direct cartoons that were below his talent so he left soon. The next directing unit though stuck much better.
The position was filled by the team of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Part of this may have been due to William Hanna having basically co- directed the Hugh Harmon cartoon "To Spring" (1936). Him and Joseph Barbera made a perfect team. Hanna was in charge of timing, and more technical aspects, while Barbera work on the creative part. Both were excellent at their respective parts.
The first cartoon they directed together was "Puss Gets the Boot" (1940). This cartoon stared Cat and Mouse team Jasper and Jinx. Jinx name was never used in the cartoon, but Hanna and Barbera would later reuse that name in a later series of cat and mouse cartoons (Pixie, Dixie and Mr. Jinx from "The Huckleberry Hound Show"). Unfortunately neither Hanna nor Barbera would receive any credit for the cartoon. The credit would all go to Rudolf Ising. Even though this cartoon was nominated for an Oscar, Hanna and Barbera were not encouraged to make more cat and mouse cartoons. Fred Quimby gave the reason for this as being that MGM should have a diverse profile and not count on this miracle happening again.
Lucky for us and animation history, Hanna and Barbera decided to make more cat and mouse cartoons. They would change the names of this cat and mouse to Tom and Jerry, and through 114 classic Tom and Jerry cartoons they would make animation history.
To Be Continued...
-Michael J Ruhland
These shorts were perhaps too expensive looking, and too big of attempts to compete with Disney, because they often went way over budget. Due to this producer Fred Quimby decided to look for more directing units. This was filled by Friz Freling, who beirfly left Warner Brothers in 1937 only to come back later the same year. Freling was made to direct cartoons that were below his talent so he left soon. The next directing unit though stuck much better.
The position was filled by the team of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Part of this may have been due to William Hanna having basically co- directed the Hugh Harmon cartoon "To Spring" (1936). Him and Joseph Barbera made a perfect team. Hanna was in charge of timing, and more technical aspects, while Barbera work on the creative part. Both were excellent at their respective parts.
The first cartoon they directed together was "Puss Gets the Boot" (1940). This cartoon stared Cat and Mouse team Jasper and Jinx. Jinx name was never used in the cartoon, but Hanna and Barbera would later reuse that name in a later series of cat and mouse cartoons (Pixie, Dixie and Mr. Jinx from "The Huckleberry Hound Show"). Unfortunately neither Hanna nor Barbera would receive any credit for the cartoon. The credit would all go to Rudolf Ising. Even though this cartoon was nominated for an Oscar, Hanna and Barbera were not encouraged to make more cat and mouse cartoons. Fred Quimby gave the reason for this as being that MGM should have a diverse profile and not count on this miracle happening again.
Lucky for us and animation history, Hanna and Barbera decided to make more cat and mouse cartoons. They would change the names of this cat and mouse to Tom and Jerry, and through 114 classic Tom and Jerry cartoons they would make animation history.
To Be Continued...
-Michael J Ruhland
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Criterion Collection to Release "Watership Down" (1978)
Some of the greatest live action films from around the world have been released through the Criterion Collection. Thanks to them film fans have seen nearly perfectly restored movies with very informative bonus features. Now us animation fans have reason to rejoice, because now they are releasing animated films as well. They released "Fantastic Mr. Fox
" on February 18, 2014, and now they have announced they will release the brilliant "Watership Down" (1978).
"Watership Down" is a brilliant and extremely original animated film from Britain, directed by Michael Rosen. It took many chances your average animated film wouldn't. Not a movie for kids, it is complex, violent, and freighting. Most of all though it is a greatly compelling, and thought provoking work of art that all film fans should watch sometime in their life.
The classic movie will be available on ITunes on August 5th, and hopefully on dvd and Blu-ray not to long later. I'm exicted for this not just because I think "Watership Down" is one of the greatest movies ever made, but because hopefully more great animated works of art from around the world shall follow.
-Michael J. Ruhland
" on February 18, 2014, and now they have announced they will release the brilliant "Watership Down" (1978)."Watership Down" is a brilliant and extremely original animated film from Britain, directed by Michael Rosen. It took many chances your average animated film wouldn't. Not a movie for kids, it is complex, violent, and freighting. Most of all though it is a greatly compelling, and thought provoking work of art that all film fans should watch sometime in their life.
The classic movie will be available on ITunes on August 5th, and hopefully on dvd and Blu-ray not to long later. I'm exicted for this not just because I think "Watership Down" is one of the greatest movies ever made, but because hopefully more great animated works of art from around the world shall follow.
-Michael J. Ruhland
American Realese of "The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya"
Like I am sure many American fans of Studio Ghilbi are I am annoyed at having to wait longer for their films than I should have to since I have to wait for a dubbed version to be completed when I am perfectly satisfied with a subtitled version . This is nothing against people who prefer dubs. Great art should be enjoyed by anyone in the way they prefer to see it, and even though I prefer subtitles, I can still enjoy a dub. I am just impatient.
Anyway, on October 17 "The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya" will be released in America. This film is directed by Isao Takahata, who brought us the masterpiece "Grave of the Fireflies". The Dubbed version will be released though G-Kids, and feature the voices of James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, Darren Criss, Lucy Liu, Beau Bridges, James Marsden, Oliver Platt and Dean Cain.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Anyway, on October 17 "The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya" will be released in America. This film is directed by Isao Takahata, who brought us the masterpiece "Grave of the Fireflies". The Dubbed version will be released though G-Kids, and feature the voices of James Caan, Mary Steenburgen, Darren Criss, Lucy Liu, Beau Bridges, James Marsden, Oliver Platt and Dean Cain.
-Michael J. Ruhland
The animated world of Winsor McCay
Winsor McCay is easily one of the most important, and most talented pioneers of animation. Contrary to some stories you might hear though he is not the first filmmaker to use animation (Emil Cohl, J. Stuart Blackton, Charles-Émile Reynaud, and Segundo de Chomón beat him to it). However his importance to the history of animation can not be underestimated.
Winsor McCay had already enjoyed much success before entering the field of animation, as creator and writer of the newspaper comic strips, Little Nemo in Slumberland, and Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend. These comic strips were the highlight of the comics page back then. They transcended what comic strips had been know for through their abundance of imagination, and expert drawing style. It is only natural for a man who created this to be attracted to the art form of animation.
His first film was "Little Nemo" (Also called Winsor McCay, the Famous Cartoonist of the N.Y. Herald and His Moving Comics) based off his own comic strip. Released in 1911, animation was still a novelty, and McCay took full advantage of that. This film in fact starts out in live action with McCay betting he can make drawings move (although he incorrectly credits himself as the first to do this), and his friends respond with laughter and disbelief. The live action segment of this film is very clever, and humorous. The highlight of the live action portion though is seeing McCay draw his characters before the animation starts. This is when you know you are watching a great talent at work. The animation segment itself is very well done and entertaining, but it is a little dated. It is obvious he had not yet figured out what to do with animation, and that leads to alack of understanding our characters, and therefore a lack of personal involvement. However this animation is expertly done. It is very appealing and still looks very good by today's standards. This entire segment was hand-drawn by one man, Winsor McCay himself. He drew four-thousand drawings all by himself for this one short segment of the film. The early color was achieved by hand painting the 35mm film itself after it was complete. this was also done only by McCay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f8tfSHIU_g
The most famous film Winsor McCay made is easily "Gertie the Dinosaur" (1914). This film was actually a vaudeville act before it was in theaters. The act consisted of Winsor McCay talking to his animated dinosaur Gertie. He would tell her what to do and Gertie would do it (most of the time). This was translated to theaters by having an off screen narrator, who speaks through intertitles (since this was a silent film). This film has often times wrongly been called the first cartoon ever made. While this is not true (It isn't even McCay's first cartoon, it is his third), it's place in animation history is still extremely important. The reason for this is Gertie, Herself. She is one of the first animated characters that the audience was allowed to see think. Unlike the characters in "Little Nemo", Gertie does not seem like she is just moving drawings projected on a screen, but instead like a real character that we know and relate to over the course of the film. This was the beginning of character animation, and probably the first successful attempt at it. Like "Little Nemo" this film begins in live action. Winsor McCay bets his fellow cartoonists that he can make a dinosaur come to life and boy does he.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJuD4AlLINU
Despite the great success of "Gertie", McCay decided to do something complete different with his next adventure into the world of animation. His next film was "The Sinking of the Lusitania"(1918). This was not only the first completely serious cartoon that Winsor McCay made, but also the first animated documentary. For a cartoon to approach such a serious event as the sinking of the Lusitania was unheard of at this time. For the animation McCay knew he needed to achieve much more realism in his animation. The amount of detail in the animation still remains an unbelievable feet. Due to this different style it took much more work and time than anything that had been before. Yet still the entire film was animated solely by Winsor McCay. This film remains a masterful and moving piece of patriotism and probably one of the greatest propaganda films ever made.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CPbmCYxPmA
-Michael J. Ruhland
Winsor McCay had already enjoyed much success before entering the field of animation, as creator and writer of the newspaper comic strips, Little Nemo in Slumberland, and Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend. These comic strips were the highlight of the comics page back then. They transcended what comic strips had been know for through their abundance of imagination, and expert drawing style. It is only natural for a man who created this to be attracted to the art form of animation.
His first film was "Little Nemo" (Also called Winsor McCay, the Famous Cartoonist of the N.Y. Herald and His Moving Comics) based off his own comic strip. Released in 1911, animation was still a novelty, and McCay took full advantage of that. This film in fact starts out in live action with McCay betting he can make drawings move (although he incorrectly credits himself as the first to do this), and his friends respond with laughter and disbelief. The live action segment of this film is very clever, and humorous. The highlight of the live action portion though is seeing McCay draw his characters before the animation starts. This is when you know you are watching a great talent at work. The animation segment itself is very well done and entertaining, but it is a little dated. It is obvious he had not yet figured out what to do with animation, and that leads to alack of understanding our characters, and therefore a lack of personal involvement. However this animation is expertly done. It is very appealing and still looks very good by today's standards. This entire segment was hand-drawn by one man, Winsor McCay himself. He drew four-thousand drawings all by himself for this one short segment of the film. The early color was achieved by hand painting the 35mm film itself after it was complete. this was also done only by McCay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f8tfSHIU_g
The most famous film Winsor McCay made is easily "Gertie the Dinosaur" (1914). This film was actually a vaudeville act before it was in theaters. The act consisted of Winsor McCay talking to his animated dinosaur Gertie. He would tell her what to do and Gertie would do it (most of the time). This was translated to theaters by having an off screen narrator, who speaks through intertitles (since this was a silent film). This film has often times wrongly been called the first cartoon ever made. While this is not true (It isn't even McCay's first cartoon, it is his third), it's place in animation history is still extremely important. The reason for this is Gertie, Herself. She is one of the first animated characters that the audience was allowed to see think. Unlike the characters in "Little Nemo", Gertie does not seem like she is just moving drawings projected on a screen, but instead like a real character that we know and relate to over the course of the film. This was the beginning of character animation, and probably the first successful attempt at it. Like "Little Nemo" this film begins in live action. Winsor McCay bets his fellow cartoonists that he can make a dinosaur come to life and boy does he.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJuD4AlLINU
Despite the great success of "Gertie", McCay decided to do something complete different with his next adventure into the world of animation. His next film was "The Sinking of the Lusitania"(1918). This was not only the first completely serious cartoon that Winsor McCay made, but also the first animated documentary. For a cartoon to approach such a serious event as the sinking of the Lusitania was unheard of at this time. For the animation McCay knew he needed to achieve much more realism in his animation. The amount of detail in the animation still remains an unbelievable feet. Due to this different style it took much more work and time than anything that had been before. Yet still the entire film was animated solely by Winsor McCay. This film remains a masterful and moving piece of patriotism and probably one of the greatest propaganda films ever made.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CPbmCYxPmA
-Michael J. Ruhland
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