Max Fleischer's Color Classics: Somewhere in Dreamland (1936) Review

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(More customer reviews)This collection represents a quest to track down every one of the 36 Fleischer Studios `Color Classics' cartoon series. There are 35 of them on these two disks. One of the `Color Classics', "Time For Love" has only survived in a single black and white print found in Europe (this was seven years ago and a color version has since turned up). The only `Color Classics' cartoon not included is "Tears Of An Onion" which is explained as not being here because "it is under copyright and therefore not in `public domain'" This explains a lot because obviously Jerry Beck and company are on a budget. Despite the poor condition of some of the prints included here, there are two processes that I know of that are used to transfer film to video and/or digital; one is a frame-by-frame reader that takes the image directly off of the film for maximum clarity and color but it is a tedious process and is costly. Look at the excellent Disney collection of `Silly Symphonies' if you want to see how it should be done. The second process which seems to be used by all other DVD/VHS collections of cartoons I've seen, including this one, is projecting the film onto a reader screen that will inevitably shave a little off the top, bottom and sides of the image and loses some image and color integrity. The result is one we cartoon affectionados are becoming used to in VHS and DVD collections, kinda dark and kinda fuzzy and it makes you wish you could have been there at the theater at the time. But for now this is all we're going to get. I've watched this one several times now anyway though.
DISK ONE
1. Poor Cinderella (starring Betty Boop) **
2. Little Dutch Mill **
3. An Elephant Never Forgets **
4. Song of the Birds
5. Dancing On the Moon 1935 **
6. Somewhere in Dreamland **
7. The Little Stranger
8. The Cobweb Hotel
9. Greedy Humpty Dumpty
10. Hawaiian Birds
11. Play Safe
12. Christmas Comes But Once a Year **
13. Bunny Mooning
14. Chicken A La King
15. A Car-Tune Portrait
16. Peeping Penguins
DISK TWO
1. Educated Fish" (1937)
2. Little Lamby
3. Hold It! **
4. Hunky and Spunky (1938)
5. All's Fair At the Fair **
6. Playful Polar Bears
7. Always Kickin' (starring Hunky and Spunky)
8. Small Fry
9. Barnyard Brat (starring Hunky and Spunky)
10. The Fresh Vegetable Mystery **
11. Little Lambkins
12. Ants In the Plants **
13. A Kick In Time (starring Hunky and Spunky)
14. Snubbed By A Snob (starring Hunky and Spunky)
15. You Can't Shoe A Horsefly (starring Hunky and Spunky)
**optional audio commentary by Jerry Beck**
THE LOST EPISODES
A documentary about the making of this collection of the complete `Color Classics' cartoons. It includes four uncut ultra-rare cartoons:
1*The Kids In the Shoe
2*Time For Love (the only known copy in existence is this black & white version)
3*Musical Memories
4*Vitamin Hay (starring Hunky and Spunky)
ART GALLERY
Working sketches of various characters from the `Color Classics' and other cartoons plus photographs of production activities inside the Fleischer studios in the 1930's.

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This comprehensive collection of Max Fleischer cartoonmasterpieces presents over 30 rarely seen Technicolor animated shorts,produced during the golden age of animation. Fleischer created the "ColorClassics," a twisted collection of musical cartoons, to showcase hispatented "Stereo-optical Process" that created the illusion of depth byanimating his characters over three-dimensional, live action backgrounds.In this special digital picture and sound restoration, you'll discover amenagerie of wonderfully bizarre new characters and a massive dose of theFleischers' surreal humor. Highlights include "Greedy Humpty Dumpty," "TheCobweb Hotel," "Ants In The Plants," and "The Fresh Vegetable Mystery."Featured are two Academy Award Cartoon Short Subject nominees - "EducatedFish" (1937) and "Hunky and Spunky" (1938) - as well as famed Fleischerfemme fatale Betty Boop ("Poor Cinderella") and Grampy ("Christmas ComesBut Once A Year"), and a potpourri of great song cartoons such as "DancingOn The Moon," "Hold It," "An Elephant Never Forgets," and "Small Fry." Thiscollection is a dream come true for cartoon aficionados and Fleischerfanatics, young and old alike!Animated characters: BETTY BOOP, GRAMPY,HUMPTY DUMPTY, HUNKY and SPUNKY and more! Bonus Features: Commentary by animation historian Jerry Beck| Rare production artwork stillframe gallery| Documentary about the Fleischer studio| Cartoon Menu. Specs: 2-DVD9s; Dolby Digital Mono; 270 minutes; Color; 1.33:1 AspectRatio; MPAA - NR; Year - 1934-1941; SRP - $19.99.

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