I’ve had this one on my calendar for weeks. The wise fools at the Guild Cinema have picked up a collection of Fleischer Brothers cartoons as part of their commendable Mom’s Matinee series of kid-friendly weekend screenings.The bill includes newly-struck 35mm prints of four awesome cartoons that have been languishing in the public domain (and largely seen only on crappy bargain-bin DVD and VHS releases) for decades: Betty Boop in Blunderland (1933), The Mechanical Monsters (1941—one of the best of their Superman shorts), Popeye Meets Ali Baba’s Forty Thieves (1937), and the feature-length, Technicolor Gulliver’s Travels (1939). They all kick ass, but I’m especially psyched to see the 18-minute Popeye two-reeler on the big screen. (If you preview any of these on the Internet, please remember that the copy you are watching absolutely sucks. These films were all made for theatrical release and it shows in every detail you can’t even see on YouTube.)Max Fleischer’s technical innovations (such as the Rotoscope and Rotograph) are on fantastic display in each of these miniature masterpieces. In many ways the Fleischers became the anti-Disney, entertaining a willingness to experiment and mash techniques that other studios from the same era could never hope to match. Bring your offspring this weekend and blow their minds!
Cartoon Goodness At The Guild
Viva Los Bros Fleischers!
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