"Noveltoons Original Classics" is a DVD released in 2012 by Thunderbean Animation. Featuring 20 restored and or remastered cartoons from the Noveltoons series of theatrical cartoons. Produced by Famous Studios from 1942 to 1967 and released by Paramount Pictures. The series introduced many characters some of which got their own series later on such as Baby Huey, Casper The Friendly Ghost, Herman The Mouse, Little Audrey, and Katnip.
The cartoons presented here are all in the public domain with the bonus of being remastered and restored. Making this a much nicer option than the cheap public domain DVDs.
It even has a slew of great bonus features. Commentaries on the cartoons by animation historians like Jerry Beck and Thad Komorowski. Storyboards, Comics, Posters and even a short video on the TV titles given to the cartoons when distributed to TV.
The cartoons included are
"Cilly Goose" (1944)
"Suddenly It's Spring" (1944)
"Yankee Doodle Donkey" (1944)
"Scrappily Married" (1945)
"A Lamb in a Jam" (1945)
"Cheese Burglar" (1946)
"Sudden Fried Chicken" (1946)
"Stupidstitious Cat" (1947)
"The Enchanted Square" (1947)
"Much Ado About Mutton" (1947)
"The Wee Men" (1947)
"Naughty But Mice" (1947)
"Flip Flap" (1948)
"The Bored Cuckoo" (1948)
"Leprechaun's Gold" (1949)
"Quack-a Doodle-Doo" (1950)
"Teacher's Pest" (1950)
"Ups an' Downs Derby" (1950)
"Pleased to Eat You" (1950)
"Saved By the Bell" (1950)
It's a pretty good sample of what the Noveltoons series is like. It's not all the public domain Noveltoons but Thunderbean had to work with what they could find with 16 and 35 mm film materials. Keep in mind this isn't an official set. While Paramount currently holds the rights to these cartoons they have no interest in releasing them in any form. The quality though is excellent. Thunderbean did an amazing job on restoring these cartoons. "The Enchanted Square" is a pretty striking example.
These cartoons really are works of art. Even the opening titles are appealing.
Be warned of non PC moments.
The colors really stand out. Famous Studios had great use of color in their cartoons. Something you probably didn't even know if you watched the cruddy public domain prints on VHS and DVD.
The colors really stand out. Famous Studios had great use of color in their cartoons. Something you probably didn't even know if you watched the cruddy public domain prints on VHS and DVD.
The company was required to block out all Paramount references in the cartoons. Because in the 50s TV was considered the enemy of the movie business so many studios when putting their films on TV would try and erase all mention of their name. This set features the original titles or reasonable recreations of on all the cartoons. Although "Cilly Goose" features re-release titles dubbed "A Paramount Champion." It's the same as the regular Noveltoons titles just with the "Paramount Champion" title on the jack in the box instead of the regular Paramount mountain.
The DVDs bonus features are great. I briefly mentioned them before but I'll go into more depth here. There's commentaries on a few of the cartoons by people like animation historian Jerry Beck. Thad Komorowski, Bob Jaques & Mike Kazaleh also provide commentaries on the DVD. They talk about the specific animators on scenes and the history of the cartoons in general. Which gives great insight on these cartoons that usually get passed by in the history books of animation. There's a few readable comics included in the bonus features. Taken from the short lived comic series based off the Famous characters. One Herman and Henry & One Blackie The Sheep comic are included. Featuring some pretty nice drawings of the characters. A whole slew of pictures are included showing off model sheets, Posters and more. There's a short video featuring Jerry Beck talking about the TV titles. Talking about the U.M.&M and NTA TV titles.
Bringing up the history of how these things came about and how the cartoons were distributed on to television. As well as a storyboard comparison of "Quack-a Doodle-Doo." Showing the storyboard next to the finished product.
Overall Noveltoons Original Classics is a great DVD worth owning if you love old cartoons. What's here is entertaining and is a good showing of one of the lesser studios in the golden age of animation.
Bringing up the history of how these things came about and how the cartoons were distributed on to television. As well as a storyboard comparison of "Quack-a Doodle-Doo." Showing the storyboard next to the finished product.
Overall Noveltoons Original Classics is a great DVD worth owning if you love old cartoons. What's here is entertaining and is a good showing of one of the lesser studios in the golden age of animation.
