The Great Animation Studios: Famous Studios

Starring:Great Animation Studios
Studio: Winstar
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
After the box office failure of Hoppity Goes to Town (a.k.a. Mr. Bug Goes to Town, 1941), executives at Paramount fired Max and Dave Fleischer, changed their studio's name to Famous, and moved operations to New York. They continued making Popeye cartoons but in color, and built new series around Little Lulu (from Marge Buell's magazine cartoons), Little Audrey, Baby Huey, Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy, Casper the Friendly Ghost, and Herman and Katnip. They even tried reviving the sing-along format of the "Screen Song" films from the mid-1920's. Despite the presence of some talented artists, the Famous cartoons never matched the humor or imagination of the earlier Fleischer shorts, and the viewer looks in vain for the rapid pacing, polished animation, and brash gags that were being developed at MGM and Warner Bros. "Golden State" and "The Mild West" offer faded versions of jokes Tex Avery had used years earlier in his travelogue spoofs at Warners. Animation collectors may want to add these outré films to their collections, but most viewers will quickly tire of their limited charms. Some gags about Indians and rolling-pin toting wives seem very dated--and not funny. Not rated; suitable for all ages, although parents should be aware of possibly offensive ethnic and sexual stereotypes. --Charles Solomon

Amazon.com

After the box office failure of Hoppity Goes to Town (a.k.a. Mr. Bug Goes to Town, 1941), executives at Paramount fired Max and Dave Fleischer, changed their studio's name to Famous, and moved operations to New York. They continued making Popeye cartoons but in color, and built new series around Little Lulu (from Marge Buell's magazine cartoons), Little Audrey, Baby Huey, Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy, Casper the Friendly Ghost, and Herman and Katnip. They even tried reviving the sing-along format of the "Screen Song" films from the mid-1920's. Despite the presence of some talented artists, the Famous cartoons never matched the humor or imagination of the earlier Fleischer shorts, and the viewer looks in vain for the rapid pacing, polished animation, and brash gags that were being developed at MGM and Warner Bros. "Golden State" and "The Mild West" offer faded versions of jokes Tex Avery had used years earlier in his travelogue spoofs at Warners. Animation collectors may want to add these outré films to their collections, but most viewers will quickly tire of their limited charms. Some gags about Indians and rolling-pin toting wives seem very dated--and not funny. Not rated; suitable for all ages, although parents should be aware of possibly offensive ethnic and sexual stereotypes. --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews:

Not Great.......2004-07-07

Famous Studios was to Paramount what Looney Tunes was to Warner Brothers and Disney was to...Disney, I guess. The Famous Studios cartoons, however, just weren't very good. The best were from Popeye, and other characters (Little Lulu, Baby Huey) had a few winners, but overall, the studio's output was sub-par. The best cartoons on this disc are Popeye's "Out to Punch" and the reasonably engaging bouncing-ball cartoon "The Mild West." ("The Mild West" is one that I fondly remember from my childhood, so I may be biased).
Unlike some of the DVDs from the Cartoon Crazys series, this one looks a bit smeary and scratchy, and some of the colours are faded. Like the rest of the Cartoon Crazys DVDs, new sound effects have been added, and they strike me as being a little on the distracting side. Included on the DVD is some interesting information about Famous Studios.

Only worth the bouncing ball cartoons.......2003-03-15

If it were a collection of the bouncing ball cartoons this would be a GREAT DVD. I give the three bouncing ball cartoons on this DVD 5 stars, except for the fact that you have to sit through the song. The sound on this DVD is horrid. It is a FEEL THE SOUND DVD which actually means, LET'S RUIN THE ORIGINAL SOUND BY ADDING RIDICULOUS SOUND EFFECTS. Buy for the bouncing ball movies ONLY.

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