 | | |
| The Puppetoon Movie | 
| Director: Arnold Leibovit
Actors: Paul Frees, Victor Jory
Studio: Image Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.99
Buy New: $6.82
You Save: $3.17 (32%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $5.94
Avg. Customer Rating:  (13 reviews)
Sales Rank: 42792
Format: Animated, Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 90 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 5.4 x 0.6
UPC: 014381586527
EAN: 0014381586527
ASIN: B00004Z4VL
Release Date: November 21, 2000
Theatrical Release Date: June 12, 1987
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Before Wallace and Gromit, before Gumby and Pokey, Hungarian-born animator and director George Pal (1908-1980) created the stop-motion shorts he dubbed "Puppetoons." Arnold Leibovit has assembled an affectionate tribute to Pal that includes animation from 11 "Puppetoons." Twelve other films are included on the DVD version, although there's some overlap. Pal used his charming little figures in miniature Busby Berkeley numbers and simple boy-meets-girl stories. But he could tackle more serious subjects, as he proved in "Tulips Shall Grow" (1943). He caricatured the Nazi wehrmacht as the goose-stepping, robotic Screwball Army, attacking Holland (where the artist had made his first films before coming to America). His most endearing short is probably "Tubby the Tuba" (1947), the story of an eager little horn who wants his song to be heard. In 1947, Ebony praised Pal's "John Henry and the Inky Poo" (1946) as "that rarest of Hollywood products that has no Negro stereotypes, but rather treats the Negro with dignity, imagination, poetry, and love." But the magazine criticized his series about Jasper, a little African American boy. These films have aged less gracefully, and modern viewers may find jokes about watermelon, haunted houses, and other standards of ethnic humor objectionable. Not rated: suitable for ages 8 and up. Parents may want to monitor the use of ethnic stereotypes. --Charles Solomon
Description
Enter a world of animated movie magic from eight time Academy Award winner George Pal. Hosted by Gumby, Pokey, and new pal "Arnie the Dinosaur," "The Puppetoon Movie" features classic characters like "Tubby the Tuba," "Jasper in a Jam," and "Speedy Alka-Seltzer." With hip jazz tunes from Charlie Barnet and Louis Armstrong, and as many as 5,000 individually carved puppets per short, "The Puppetoon Movie" will astound and delight children and film buffs of all ages!
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Animated Heaven January 5, 2007
George Pal's Puppettoons are unknown to today's kids, but when I was a boy, they were on TV along with cartoons, and I loved them. They have the charm, wit and the magic which George Pal brought to all his work. Best of all, there are so many bonus puppettoons that it's like getting two whole featrues. The only quibble is that a few of the "Extra" puppettoons are ones in the main feature, only in somewhat longer form. For fans of stop-motion animation, or just fans of charming shorts, this is a great collection.
Puppetoon Review February 24, 2006
George Pal's Puppetoons are great. I remember watching them 45 years ago whilst growing up. I was hopeing for a few more toons with The Screw Ball Army in them but one is better than none. Well worth the little money I paid.
Worth it for Jasper in a Jam alone. August 30, 2005
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Before the movies there were the Puppetoons. Everyone who knows LooneyToons, Max Fleischer, and Disney should know George Pal's work as well. 'Jasper in a Jam', 'Tubby the Tuba' and 'John Henry and the Inkeypoo' are classics; the rest has bright spots here and there and is worthwhile if only for the advertising and political history. (Ignore the contrived intro and outro of the movie and focus on Pal's work.)
A companion piece: 'The Fantasy Film World of George Pal' covers his movies, including 'The Time Machine', 'War of the Worlds', 'Destination Moon', 'Atlantis', 'Tom Thumb', 'The Brothers Grimm' and 'The Seven Faces of Dr. Loa'.
 Cute, but.... May 24, 2004
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
It could have been more satisfying! There, of course, is the requisite "Tubby the Tuba", but just ONE piece featuring the Screwball Army! There were NUMEROUS Pal Puppetoon productions featuring these comical takes on fascism! Where's the Dr. Seuss "Mulberry Street" short? The short with the clarinet playing woodchopper? The other "Punchy & Judys"? (I wonder if the creators of "Little Lulu" ever commented on those!) And why so many from the thirties?? Most of Pal's best output of these little gems was in the forties and fifties....
Pal's Puppetoon work had a singular artistry to it. The figures moved unlike most other stop-action animated units, most of which generally just try to put across the tableau as plainly as possible. Pal's creations REACTED like cartoon characters...wild takes, feature distortion, ambient movement...all very idiosyncratic. The only other animation to be that generous with detailed movement were the Warner's Looney Tunes/Merry Melodies made between 1940 and 1955.
Most of them were funny, charming and quirky and embraced the art deco aesthetic like nothing else I've ever seen in animated art. What Pal's people could wring out of simple geometric shapes was amazing, and you'll notice, that's about all that they used...no weird freehand polygons are visible in the animation work...just spheroids, cones, rods and other distinct geometric solids. The only exception to this seems to be the "Punchy & Judy" bits.
His animation team must have suffered from gawrsh-awful cases of carpal tunnel syndrome and writer's cramp, because this was all incrementally implemented BY HAND to give the illusion of fluid movement. They just don't make them like that anymore...and this DVD should have featured fewer of the movie house adverts for Philips radios and Horlock's malteds and more of our old afternoon cartoon show favorites!
 Two Movies for the Price of One! January 21, 2004
27 out of 27 found this review helpful
What you are getting on this DVD is actually TWO MOVIES FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!
First, you get `The Puppetoon Movie' which was a theatrical release in 1987. It was a labor of love written and directed by Arnold Leibovit and was born out of the highest regard for George Pal's marvelous Puppetoons from the 30's and 40's. It opens however with a somewhat inept Gumby skit wherein Pokey and Arnie the T-Rex proceed to initiate Gumby into the world of George Pal by sitting him down and showing him some Puppetoons. I advise you to skip this chapter and launch right into the second through the tenth chapters which are nine Puppetoons conveniently divided by chapters:*1. The Little Broadcast (1943) and The Big Broadcast of '38 (1937)
*2. Hoola Boola (1938?) and South Sea Sweethearts (1938) for Horlick's
3. Sleeping Beauty (1935) for Phillips
4. Tulips Shall Grow (1942)
5. Together In The Weather (1946)
6. John Henry and the Inky Poo (1946)
7. Phillips Cavalcade (1934-9?) for Phillips Radio
8. Jasper in a Jam (194?)
9. Tubby the Tuba (1947) The last Puppetoon short made. *Puppetoons 1 and 2 (unfortunately) each consist of two Puppetoons edited and spliced together! -why? The other ones have their logos and credits removed in an attempt to create a cavalcadesque Puppetoons show, somewhat disappointingly shorn in effect.
All of the Puppetoons were made before television was invented, when the movie theater was the true pinnacle of the dream vision manifest experience, although there were radios in practically every home. George Pal financed several of his Puppetoons by funding from clients who were basically paying to have their products' recognition foisted on an unsuspecting movie-going public. These advertisements were shown before feature films, and they were nonetheless successful because they used a soft sell approach with the product not appearing until late in the film, and even then it was almost a parody of itself.
Phillips Radio Manufactures was one of the first companies to utilize Pal's films for advertising. Radio was the "TV" of the time. Different kinds of music from around the world provided a perfect backdrop for Pal's animation, which works wonderfully when set to music. Horlick's Malted Milk was another one of Pal's many advertising clients. The product was a "tonic" which would make the drinker "energetic" almost like Popeye and his spinach.
'The Bonus Puppetoons' is the second movie and alone is worth the price of the disk! It is probably more of what you may actually be looking for. It is twelve uncut Puppetoons complete with titles and logos. Three of these Puppetoons (4, 6, and 11) are complete versions of ones cropped in 'The Puppetoon Movie' and all twelve are crisper and clearer too. Definitely satisfying.
1. What Ho, She Bumps (1937) for Horlick's
2. Bravo, Mr. Strauss (1943)
3. Olio for Jasper (1946)
4. Phillips Cavalcade (1934-9?) for Phillips Radio
5. Jasper's Derby (1946)
6. Hoola Boola (1938?)
7. Ether Symphony (1936)
8. Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (1936)
9. The Magic Atlas (1935) for Phillips
10. Jasper and the Haunted House (1942)
11. The Big Broadcast of '38 (1937) for Phillips
12. Ether Ship (1934) for Phillips, (made with beautiful glass models!) Plus: A very interesting and long interview with Puppetoon Studios animator, Bob Baker!
|
|
|
Powered by: Dknc, inc. and Amazon.com | | 
For your safety and security, orders are processed through amazon.com
|
|
|
|