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Cartoon lovers will rejoice to find this set of the little-seen UPA theatrical shorts. They were previously released on VHS as Columbia cartoons, as were the UPA Mr. Magoo titles, but this is the first DVD collection. A few of these shorts used to even be shown on projectors in schools, notably "The Unicorn in the Garden" by Thurber, and "The Tell-Tale Heart" based on the story by Poe. The reason they were shown, however, was because of the bold, minimalist, modern look UPA began giving its cartoons from the late 'forties" 'till the late 'fifties. They also tried to make every short look different, and for a while, to have different characters. This didn't really work, so there were repeat characters, especially Mr. Magoo, who, after winning an Academy Award, became a runaway favorite.
Seen now, some of the stories fall a little flat, some of the characters are not the best, and some of the designs seem rather unfinished. That said, imagine them on the big screen, or if you can, watch them that way. Imagine them for what they were meant to be, the cartoon accompanying a movie that plays at the corner cinema and then is gone. Imagine them before the days of VHS recorders, and you'll see why people wanted to see them again. Since they were one-offs, not series with recurring characters, audiences didn't know what to expect, and the UPA logo at the beginning of a reel was almost like a character itself, leading to a surprise cartoon. This was the opposite tactic of the other studios, like Disney and Warner Bros, which played on success of a popular character. The early UPA title sequence is itself a work of art.
This set includes 38 "Jolly Frolics" theatrical shorts on three DVD discs in a tri-fold slipcase, with a fourteen page booklet. The booklet suggests three books for further reading. They are
When Magoo Flew: The Rise and Fall of Animation Studio UPA
,
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons; Revised and Updated (Plume Books)
, and
Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in 1950s Animation
. Why? Because Adam Abraham, author of the first book wrote the two page intro to this set; Leonard Maltin, who wrote the second book provides commentary on six cartoon shorts. Jerry Beck, who helped research that book, also put this set together and provides commentary. The third book, Cartoon Modern, is a dazzling coffee table book about the modern era of '50s cartoons UPA helped launch.
Because these cartoon shorts are so individual, viewers will have their favorites. One always mentioned in cartoon books is the original Gerald McBoing Boing short by Dr. Seuss, and here is also the "Madeline" cartoon by Ludwig Bemelmens. But I was knocked out by the backgrounds on "The Wonder Gloves" and the loose design aesthetic on "Fudget's Budget", to name two lesser-known shorts. The only Mr. Magoo short included here is the first one, "The Ragtime Bear", from 1949, which won an Academy Award. But that's because of the forthcoming Mr. Magoo theatrical cartoon set, which is a companion to this collection. This set is branded "Turner Classic Movies Vault Collection", and like TCM, it's a class act which, along with Abraham's book, will help to restore UPA to its rightful place in animation history
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GLENN A. OBRIEN
Great collection of movie cartoons
Reviewed in Canada on October 2, 2017
