Blu-ray Review: Fleischer Cartoons Greatest Hits vol 1

 First an important update: seems as though we didn't have a smooth transition to the new site after all as ALL of the pictures are gone.  So what next?  Well, I may have to filter what posts are more important to fix up and go from there, but that will take time and energy.  At least the information is still there.  If I could focus on one maybe per week I'll be happy.  Again, dealing with what's more important.  Looney Tunes TV History FIRST since that's my big project and then almost everything else from there.  Again, I apologize and thank you for your understanding

But for now that doesn't matter because Classicflix and Cartoon Logic STRIKES AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yes and this time I'm review the latest release, Fleischer Cartoons Greatest Hits vol 1, and considering Betty Boop is in the news again, it couldn't be at a perfect time whether to hype with excitement or to just stick to the originals like certain grumpy guses that says adults shouldn't even WATCH cartoons in the first place (cough cough Matt Walsch).

While Paramount's most valued animated properties right now are Spongebob, Ninja Turtles (Teenaged or Teeny nowadays), and Garfield, the most golden gems within not just Paramount's animated library but also their animation history and animation history in general are the Max Fleischer cartoons.  Max and Dave and the rest of the family will be and should be remembered for their many contributions to animation.  The rotoscope, the rotograph, first cartoon sound on film (Disney did syncronized sound which came later), the bouncing ball for sing-a-longs, and a stereoptic proccess bringing 3D backgrounds to a 2D cartoon.  Tricks that computers and AI can easily do, Max had to develop himself as a pioneer.  This collection ranges from the mid 1920's with Koko the Clown to 1941 with the arrival of Superman (another first for the Fleischers: first animated adaption of a superhero comic book and the first serious action style animation).  Had Fleischer had better business sense in his company and had he not have a estrangement with his brother Dave, they probably would have done more, but as I grew older, I now realize that being creative is not enough; it has to be good and it has to make money.  Fleischer tried really hard competing with Disney in the late 30's early 40's, but it caught up to him because he didn't have the funds neccisary and some of his films ended up being unsuccessful, or so the story goes.  Last time you remember we talked about what happened AFTER the Fleischers left with the Famous Studios Champion Collection.  Now we go back to the golden days of Fleischer Studios.

The collection is presented in alphabetical order which is both a blessing and a curse.  Nearly every major character from the studio is represented here both original and licensed.  Betty Boop appears to be the star of this collection showing some of her best cartoons.  Picking them must have been hard since there are so many good ones and also so much work had to be done to get these restored the right way.  Many of Betty's misadventures appeared on Blu-ray already through Olive Films, though with very little thought in mind in presentation, and nearly all of them had been restored before, but in standard def and bad DVNR quality.  Olive Films was a step in the right direction, but Classicflix goes even farther.

But Betty is not the only character; Koko the Clown also appears including some Out of the Inkwells thanks to the Library of Congress and private collectors.  Bimbo appears multiple times (and multiple designs).  Grampy also appears a couple of times too.  The most popular series has to be Popeye, and while I would have chosen Sinbad the Sailor over Ali Baba, the audio commentary makes it clear why it was chosen which when you think about it, their right.  Being the second color 2-reeler, it had better pacing and it had better story structure.  One Superman cartoon appears and 3 Color Classics appear as well.  While I would have focused more time in picking the Color Classics more often than some of the Talkartoons, when you look at some of them, it's easy to see why they had to take center stage.  Some of the earliest sound cartoons like the Talkartoons, thanks to the digital restoration, my gosh they could just as well pass as Nicktoons or 90's cartoons had they not be in black and white.  I'm serious....they don't move like the Disney or Harman and Ising cartoons yet not much if at all corners cut like the Terrytoons and Van Beuren cartoons.  They hold as their own.  The Mysterious Mose being a perfect example.  Of course as better budgets came in they would then have the more vintage classic style we all remember thanks to the inventions of Max Fleischer and also great in between animators.  You also get Betty Boop's first appearence in Dizzy Dishes which has some pre-code gags (and she's fat and ugly).  

Here's where the alphabetical arragement becomes a curse.  While on the one hand it mixes up what you'll see, if you watch these shorts all together in that way, you transition quickly from Somehwere in Dreamland where things look depressing but in the end eveything makes you feel good inside and everything looks so pretty and spectacular to Swing You Sinners where everything is dark, creepy, and unsettling.  Don't get me wrong, but shorts are great, but transitioning from happiness to utter spookiness is weird.  I know millenial content creators talk about "oh.....how spooky and creepy these old cartoons are" when in reality they're not, but Swing You Sinners is the exception to the rule.  Again, pre-code, aimed for adults, usually played with the main feature.  Still, Swing You Sinners is an amazing short again showing the extrodinary talents of Fleischer animators.

There are 4 main categories with obtaining these cartoons.  The first is the pre-Paramount library where some were sold to TV with many spread out to various archives around the world including the Library of Congress.  The second is the Superman cartoons which were quickly given back to DC Comics once the deal with Paramount was over, so thus Warner Bros owning the original masters while the cartoons themselves are public domain.  The 3rd is Popeye which was sold to AAP and through various mergers and acquisitions also ended up at Warner Bros with all of the Fleischer cartoons being restored already.  Finally, the rest of the library was sold to UM&N which was quickly bought by NTA before even turning up on TV.  Through that library's various mergers, Paramount brought them back home.  All the cartoons regardless of ownership had to remove the Paramount logos and references and created new titles replacing the originals.  Worse yet for the color cartoons, NTA not only neglected to renew their copyrights on many of the cartoons, but they were printed on cheap film stock which fades to any color you can think of.  Those shorts as a result did not look good especially on those cheap public domain tapes and DVDs.

An effort from the Fleischer family began earlier this decade to get Paramount to finally restore their library.  Fortunately, the original negs survived allowing them to bring them back to their former glory.  That alone, was controversial.  This was backed up by Rockin Pins who had right intentions of restoring them, but wrong intentions of doing it.  They were mainly used to help sell enable pins featuring the likes of Koko the Clown and other Fleischer characters. This, unfortanatly, meant no blessing from folks Jerry Beck. For years fans have begged and pleaded with them, "Please.....put these new restorations out there and not just for screenings."  A few cartoons appeared at times on Weigel owned networks especially after getting the ok from Paramount, but finally, thanks to Thad and his Cartoon Logic, fans can own some of these on Blu-ray.

The best looking ones are the Paramount owned ones using nitrate negs and SENs or any other best existing master element.  The silent Out of the Inkwells used the best survivng 35MM Nitrate avaliable.  Some may criticize the music used on some of these silent cartoons especially in Cartoon Factory, but I fail to hear the problem.  WB had 0 involvement with this set.  All the Supermans and Popeye meets Ali Baba are in the public domain which is how they show up here. Warner's recent handling of the Superman cartoons are ok.  I talked about it on a previous review.  Popeye was well handled though those restorations are now nearly 20 years old and while they still hold up strong, remastering techniques have changed.  So Alib Baba got a different restoration for this set using the best prints available.  While both of those are worse looking because they come from prints, fans may still appreciate seeing these especially since the colors for Mechanical Monsters are more accurate (no idea why WB changed some of the colors) and original audio cues have been restored, or in the case of Popeye, reconstructed (better than Thunderbean's release or WB's).

Speaking of audio, the lone bonus features for the set are select audio commentaries featuring Thad and his Cronies which helps you better appreciate what the Fleischers did as well as talking about music, animation, and all other aspects involved.  Folks such as Ray Pointer turn up revealing their knowledge and expertees on the subject.  Hopefully down the road we get slightly better bonus features such as bonus cartoons or even some vintage footage like Popular Science or even a newsreel about Fleischer winning the Helen Kaine lawsuit.

Overall this is a must have for animation fans.  Great cartoons with great restorations.  And this is just the beginning; it's selling really well and more work has been done on these, so more should be coming soon....we hope.