UB IWERKS' ComiColor Cartoons - Part 1 (1935)

Walt Disney's ALICE Comedy Posters (1924-27)

MIGHTY MOUSE PLAYHOUSE: A Fight to the Finish (1947)

Here's one of the best Mighty Mouse classics, with the Mouse of Tomorrow saving Pearl Pureheart from Oil Can Harry. Be sure to hiss and cheer at the appropriate moments.

Original art by Art Bartch

MUTT & JEFF Go to the Movies (1918)

Adventures of Mickey Mouse (1931-32)

Overlooked Films: ALICE'S WONDERLAND (1923)

Over the years, Disney and company have gotten a lot of mileage out of Alice in Wonderland. The highwater mark was the 1951 animated film, and they capitalized on that with a ride at Disneyland and a near-ending stream of toys, dolls, jewelry, figurines, tea sets, coloring books, etc., etc. They mined the vein again in 2010 with Johnny Depp, and yet again in the new series Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.

But Walt Disney’s affair with Alice began back in 1923, when he produced Alice’s Wonderland for an outfit called Laugh-O-Gram. When he formed his own studio later that year, this mix of live action and animation was the basis for his first series of cartoons, known as the Alice Comedies. Over the next four years the studio churned out a whopping 56 of those babies, all before Mickey Mouse was even a gleam in Walt's eye.

Overlooked Films: POPEYE Meets SUPERMAN (sort of)

(This week's Overlooked Film comes to you a day early, because tomorrow I'll be celebrating the release of "Gambler's Don't Win" by W.T. Ballard, the latest in the new line of Black Mask eBooks.)



Back in the early '40s, these two heroes were both working out of Paramount Studios. Superman made his last film there in 1943 (reportedly due to high production costs), but his costume (along with some of his sountrack music) resurfaced in this 1944 Popeye cartoon, "She-Sick Sailors." Fun stuff.

Overlooked Films: Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor (1936)

The Popeye of the Fleischer (and later Paramount) cartoons was far less interesting - and less adventurous - than the E.C. Segar character of the 1930s comic strips, but he had his moments. His supreme moment came in this 17-minute film from 1936. Fleischer pulled out all the stops on this one, applying glorious Technicolor, and introducing new techniques to produce 3D effects without glasses. Enjoy!

More Overlooked Films at SWEET FREEDOM.

Overlooked Cartoon (See it HERE): Thugs with Dirty Mugs (1939)

I love all the Warner's Brothers cartoons lampooning movie stars of the day. They did a lot of those, and Edward G. Robinson was included in most. But in this one, whose title was obviously inspired by the non-Robinson film Angels with Dirty Faces, Eddie G is the star. This is the only cartoon I've seen that's a complete send-up of Warner's crime films. Enjoy.

Click HERE to see THUGS WITH DIRTY MUGS.

More Overlooked Films at SWEET FREEDOM.

Overlooked Films: Doc Acupuncture (2011)

When I was in high school, I was in a rock 'n' roll band (wasn't everybody?). Anyway, our bass player, a gent named Howie King, was a talented cartoonist. As proof that he's still crazy after all these years, Howie has started posting animated shorts on YouTube. He blames this one on me, owing to the fact that I introduced him to the music of Wylie and the Wild West. I accept - gladly - because this is one hell of a fine cartoon.

More film links, as usual, at SWEET FREEDOM.

Overlooked Films: SUPER MOUSE (Mighty Mouse) in "He Dood It Again" (1943)

This was the third Super Mouse cartoon. Terrytoons released four more before his name was changed to Mighty. Supposedly this was not due to any hassle from the Superman folks, but because another character was using the name Super Mouse in a comic book.

More Overlooked (but less Super) Films at SWEET FREEDOM.

Overlooked Cartoons: Betty Boop in "Ha! Ha! Ha!"

This 1934 cartoon, which also features Koko the Clown, was supposedly banned for glorifying drug use, in this case laughing gas. Don't know if that's true or not, but it builds to a GREAT finish, with the whole city going wacky.



Boop on over to SWEET FREEDOM for more Overlooked Wonders.

Overlooked Cartoons: Bingo Crosbyana (1936)

Here's a fun one. Supposedly Bing Crosby sued Warner Brothers because this cartoon depicted him in a negative light. I reckon that's because when the spider attacks, he's exposed as a coward. My favorite part is the song by the Andrews Sisters bugs, who are apparently not voiced by the real Andrews Sisters.



More Overlooked Entertainment at Sweet Freedom.

Overlooked Cartoons: Cab Calloway and Betty Boop in "The Old Man of the Mountain"

Don't overlook today's other Overlooked Films! Links at Sweet Freedom.

Overlooked Cartoons: Popeye the Sailor (1933)

If you've never met the one, true Popeye, and by that I mean the one depicted by E.C. Segar in the 1930s comic strip Thimble Theater, you really should. The strips, both daily and Sunday, are finally back in print, the Sundays are even in color. The stories, the art, the characters and the humor are all fantastic.

But the next best thing to the REAL thing is the Popeye of the Fleischer cartoons. The Fleischers always delivered great animation and great music, and Popeye's screen debut is no exception. This first one is actually  a Betty Boop cartoon, though Betty has only a minor role as a hula dancer. After this, Popeye got his own series, and punched his way through dozens of cool cartoons.



More Overlooked Thrills each week at Sweet Freedom.

Overlooked Cartoons: Books Come Alive in "Have You Got Any Castles?"

Two weeks ago I posted one of the great Books Come To Life cartoons, Book Revue, from 1946. That's HERE. Now here's an earlier one, and it's a classic!



Sweet Freedom is your weekly headquarters for Overlooked Films, Etc.

Overlooked Cartoons: Book Revue

Here's one of the great Books-Come-To-Life cartoons, this one directed by Bob Clampett.



More Overlooked Films & Stuff at Sweet Freedom.

Mother Goose Goes Hollywood: The Lowdown

When I posted this 1938 cartoon the other day, I casually inquired how many stars you folks could spot. Little did I know that eagle-eyed Art Scott was looking in, and he spotted a whole passel of them. There were at least ten I couldn't put names to, and a couple I didn't recognize at all (including Spencer Tracy!)

Here's the list, roughly in order of appearance:
Kate Hepburn
Hugh Herbert
Ned Sparks
Groucho
Harpo
Chico
Joe Penner
D. Duck
Chas. Laughton
Spencer Tracy
Freddie Bartholomew
WC Fields
Charlie McCarthy
Stan Laurel
Ollie Hardy
Eddie G Robinson
Greta Garbo
Eddie Cantor
Cab Calloway
Wallace Beery
Fats Waller
Stepin Fetchit
Edna Mae Oliver
Mae West
Zasu Pitts
Clark Gable
George Arliss
Fred Astaire
Joe E Brown
Martha Raye

Overlooked Films: Mother Goose Goes Hollywood

 Here's a wacky one from 1938. How many stars can you recognize?

MOTHER GOOSE GOES HOLLYWOOD


Tune in to Sweet Freedom for more Overlooked Arty-facts.

Overlooked Cartoons: Music Land (1935)

One of the coolest cartoons ever made, thinks I, in which the Land of Symphony and the Isle of Jazz go to war. (Not to be confused with Disney's 1955 animated feature of the same name.)



More Overlooked Entertainment links at Sweet Freedom.