Identify PD cartoon from Pee Wee's Playhouse?

[Bob K]

I see that the "King of Cartoons" was discussed here back in 2006, but now that the Pee Wee's Playhouse DVD sets have been out for several years, and my daughter insists on watching mine at least once a week, I've been seeing a lot of the "King of Cartoons". It's fun to watch the edited cartoons shown by the King and to usually be able to identify them and say "I have that one..!"

I saw one yesterday (on Episode 10) that I assumed was a Van Beuren Iwerks short, since the teacher looked just like the teacher from the "Schooldays" Flip the Frog cartoon. This clip was in color and showed a classroom recital for the last day of school that included a dance by an effeminate boy named "Little Percy" that the whole class mimicked, while a cow and a donkey danced outside the window doing the same. A very strange clip and I wanted to see more, but when I looked at my Van Beuren DVD sets, I couldn't seem to find any titles that seemed to go with this film. Can someone identify this one?

It would be great to have a complete listing of all the "King of Cartoons" segments, and I searched the web but couldn't find one. Would be a fun project to do some day if I ever could find the time...

[Cartman]

The cartoon you are thinking of is Ub Iwerks' Comicolor cartoon MARY'S LITTLE LAMB from 1935.

You can watch it here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DfnDPfHwdg&feature=PlayList&p=E01D9409CB934245&index=0)on Youtube.

[Bob K]

The cartoon you are thinking of is Ub Iwerks' Comicolor cartoon MARY'S LITTLE LAMB from 1935.

Thanks! I see that I have it on DVD on "Cartoons That Time Forgot" Vol. 1.
Couldn't tell from that title...

[Tom Stathes]

a Van Beuren Iwerks short
Forgive me, a wonderful euphemism! (i.e. "crappifying" the work of Iwerks by denoting his as Van Beuren material, that of which tends to be considered offbeat and 'cheap' by mainstream enthusiasts). Nevertheless, I happen to like both studios. :)

[Ray Pointer]

Anyone placing Van Beuren and Iwerks in the same category must be legally blind!

[dandu]

When I first saw Tom and Jerry (VAN BEUREN) when I was 12, I thought they were created by UB IWERKS (I had no idea about this studio until a few months later). After all they had racy humour and rubber hose drawing style.

[bj_wanlund]

Was that the episode of Pee-Wee's Playhouse where Pee-Wee goes to the dentist?

I seem to remember that one for some reason.

BJ

[jonmayo15]

This release isn't helping matters much either.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/510HD9NBWEL._SS500_.jpg

[Steve Stanch]

Anyone placing Van Beuren and Iwerks in the same category must be legally blind!

(Defending those ugly, badly produced cartoons, volume 11:)

Then again, it depends on the cartoon! There's some great Van Beuren cartoons (and soem really bad Iwerks ones...). Van Beuren's output in the mid 30's was easily many notches above the majority of the Comi-color cartoons in design, layout and animation quality... and even Fleischer cartoons often featured bad drawing on many of the late 20s/early 30's cartoons....

[Gasmask Ted]

Recently getting both Pee Wee box sets for $9 each with free shipping
( http://search.deepdiscount.com/search?w=pee-wee& )
I was also looking for a list of the cartoons. I haven't found a stand alone list, but this wiki page seems to list them all, tho only by name and year:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Pee-wee%27s_Playhouse_episodes

[Ray Pointer]

(Defending those ugly, badly produced cartoons, volume 11:)

Then again, it depends on the cartoon! There's some great Van Beuren cartoons (and soem really bad Iwerks ones...). Van Beuren's output in the mid 30's was easily many notches above the majority of the Comi-color cartoons in design, layout and animation quality... and even Fleischer cartoons often featured bad drawing on many of the late 20s/early 30's cartoons....

Granted, Van Beuren did start to make great improvements around 1934, particularly when Burt Gillette came in. But given some poor drawing in Iwerks and Fleischer cartoons, these still had a style and better humor to them. Van Beuren from 1930 to 1934 was indeed the poorest ranking below Terrytoons.

[nickramer]

Granted, Van Beuren did start to make great improvements around 1934, particularly when Burt Gillette came in. But given some poor drawing in Iwerks and Fleischer cartoons, these still had a style and better humor to them. Van Beuren from 1930 to 1934 was indeed the poorest ranking below Terrytoons.
I'm sorry, Ray, but I thought some of those cartoons from the early period were pretty good despite bad drawings. Heck, I just finished watching Steve's "Uncensord Van Beuren" DVD and it had some of the better ones. Thanks for the DVDs, by the way, Steve.

[Fibber Fox]

I'm sorry, Ray, but I thought some of those cartoons from the early period were pretty good despite bad drawings.

And nowhere is Ray saying otherwise. He's just remarking he feels the early Terrys were better than the early Van Beurens.

I've never seen the early Terrys so I can't make an informed comparison. I've seen some of the Van Beurens and can appreciate some of the silliness and inventiveness despite some of the crudish drawing. I'd rather watch them than some of the stuff made about 1965.

F. Fox

[MarkTheShark]

Recently getting both Pee Wee box sets for $9 each with free shipping
( http://search.deepdiscount.com/search?w=pee-wee& )
I was also looking for a list of the cartoons. I haven't found a stand alone list, but this wiki page seems to list them all, tho only by name and year:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Pee-wee%27s_Playhouse_episodes

Thanks for the info -- in a bizarre coincidence, I was just thinking about this show yesterday and wondering if there was a source available that listed the various cartoons shown on it. Looking down the list, I found a few surprises...I didn't watch the show every week, but I don't remember seeing many (if any) cartoon clips in color, and I don't recall any Warner Bros. or Famous Studios material. Now you've got me wanting to check the show out again -- haven't seen it since it aired on CBS.

[Gasmask Ted]

I found a better list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pee-wee%27s_Playhouse#Golden_Age_cartoons

First Season: 1986 Cartoon Title Year Director
1 Fresh Vegetable Mystery 1939 Dave Fleischer
2 Ants in the Plants 1940 Dave Fleischer
3 Summertime 1934 Ub Iwerks
4 Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! 1931 Rudolf Ising
5 Old Mother Hubbard 1935 Ub Iwerks
6 The Three Bears 1935 Ub Iwerks
7 Molly Moo-Cow and the Butterflies 1935 Burt Gillett, Tom Palmer
8 Flip the Frog: Puddle Pranks 1931 Ub Iwerks
9 Jack Frost 1934 Ub Iwerks
10 Mary's Little Lamb 1935 Ub Iwerks
11 Somewhere in Dreamland 1936 Dave Fleischer
12 Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! 1931 Rudolf Ising
13 Bunny Mooning 1937 Dave Fleischer
Second Season: 1987 Cartoon Title Year Director
1 / 14 The Little Broadcast 1943 George Pal
2 / 15 To Spring 1936 Bill Hanna
3 / 16 Makin' Em Move 1931 Harry Bailey, John Foster
4 / 17 The Sunshine Makers (44 sec) 1935 Ted Eshbaugh
5 / 18 Piano Tooners 1932 John Foster, George Rufle
6 / 19 The Little Broadcast 1943 George Pal
7 / 20 Neptune Nonsense 1936 Burt Gillett
8 / 21 Much Ado About Mutton 1947 Isadore Sparber
9 / 22 Ship of the Ether 1934 George Pal
10 / 23 Musical Memories 1935 Dave Fleischer
Third Season: 1988 Cartoon Title Year Director
1 / 24 Farm Foolery 1949 Seymour Kneitel
2 / 25 Christmas Comes but Once a Year 1936 Dave Fleischer
3 / 26 An Elephant Never Forgets 1935 Dave Fleischer
Fourth Season: 1989 Cartoon Title Year Director
1 / 27 Hunky & Spunky 1938 Dave Fleischer
2 / 28 The Stork Market 1949 Seymour Kneitel
3 / 29 Spring Song 1949 Isadore Sparber
4 / 30 To Spring 1936 Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising
5 / 31 None
6 / 32 The Kids In the Shoe 1935 Dave Fleischer
7 / 33 The Song of the Birds 1935 Dave Fleischer
8 / 34 None
9 / 35 Little Lambkins 1940 Dave Fleischer
10 / 36 None
Fifth Season: 1990 Cartoon Title Year Director
1 / 37 One More Time 1931 Rudolf Ising
2 / 38 Farm Frolics 1941 Bob Clampett
3 / 39 The Little Red Hen 1934 Ub Iwekrs
4 / 40a* Freddy the Freshman 1932 Rudolf Ising
4 / 40b* Humpty Dumpty 1935 Ub Iwerks
5 / 41 Fin 'n' Catty 1943 Chuck Jones
6 / 42 Sinkin' in the Bathtub 1930 Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising
7 / 43 Freddy the Freshman 1932 Rudolf Ising
8 / 44a* Allegretto 1936 Oskar Fischinger
8 / 44b* Balloon Land 1935 Ub Iwerks
9 / 45 None
10 / 46 None


The cartoons are by and large disappointingly short. Like the smallest home movie reels versions, except with color and sound...

[Studio Toledo]

Thanks for the info -- in a bizarre coincidence, I was just thinking about this show yesterday and wondering if there was a source available that listed the various cartoons shown on it. Looking down the list, I found a few surprises...I didn't watch the show every week, but I don't remember seeing many (if any) cartoon clips in color, and I don't recall any Warner Bros. or Famous Studios material. Now you've got me wanting to check the show out again -- haven't seen it since it aired on CBS.
I remember noticing "Farm Frolics" in the 5th season showing up and thought it was interesting to see a WB cartoon at all get seen there (along with Sinkin' in the Bathtub). In the case of Farm Frolics, they even went to the trouble of keeping it's title from the Blue Ribbon opening, perhaps because of the song that was in the way they couldn't edit out.

[Studio Toledo]

I found a better list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pee-wee%27s_Playhouse#Golden_Age_cartoons

First Season: 1986 Cartoon Title Year Director
1 Fresh Vegetable Mystery 1939 Dave Fleischer
2 Ants in the Plants 1940 Dave Fleischer
3 Summertime 1934 Ub Iwerks
4 Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! 1931 Rudolf Ising
5 Old Mother Hubbard 1935 Ub Iwerks
6 The Three Bears 1935 Ub Iwerks
7 Molly Moo-Cow and the Butterflies 1935 Burt Gillett, Tom Palmer
8 Flip the Frog: Puddle Pranks 1931 Ub Iwerks
9 Jack Frost 1934 Ub Iwerks
10 Mary's Little Lamb 1935 Ub Iwerks
11 Somewhere in Dreamland 1936 Dave Fleischer
12 Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! 1931 Rudolf Ising
13 Bunny Mooning 1937 Dave Fleischer
Second Season: 1987 Cartoon Title Year Director
1 / 14 The Little Broadcast 1943 George Pal
2 / 15 To Spring 1936 Bill Hanna
3 / 16 Makin' Em Move 1931 Harry Bailey, John Foster
4 / 17 The Sunshine Makers (44 sec) 1935 Ted Eshbaugh
5 / 18 Piano Tooners 1932 John Foster, George Rufle
6 / 19 The Little Broadcast 1943 George Pal
7 / 20 Neptune Nonsense 1936 Burt Gillett
8 / 21 Much Ado About Mutton 1947 Isadore Sparber
9 / 22 Ship of the Ether 1934 George Pal
10 / 23 Musical Memories 1935 Dave Fleischer
Third Season: 1988 Cartoon Title Year Director
1 / 24 Farm Foolery 1949 Seymour Kneitel
2 / 25 Christmas Comes but Once a Year 1936 Dave Fleischer
3 / 26 An Elephant Never Forgets 1935 Dave Fleischer
Fourth Season: 1989 Cartoon Title Year Director
1 / 27 Hunky & Spunky 1938 Dave Fleischer
2 / 28 The Stork Market 1949 Seymour Kneitel
3 / 29 Spring Song 1949 Isadore Sparber
4 / 30 To Spring 1936 Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising
5 / 31 None
6 / 32 The Kids In the Shoe 1935 Dave Fleischer
7 / 33 The Song of the Birds 1935 Dave Fleischer
8 / 34 None
9 / 35 Little Lambkins 1940 Dave Fleischer
10 / 36 None
Fifth Season: 1990 Cartoon Title Year Director
1 / 37 One More Time 1931 Rudolf Ising
2 / 38 Farm Frolics 1941 Bob Clampett
3 / 39 The Little Red Hen 1934 Ub Iwekrs
4 / 40a* Freddy the Freshman 1932 Rudolf Ising
4 / 40b* Humpty Dumpty 1935 Ub Iwerks
5 / 41 Fin 'n' Catty 1943 Chuck Jones
6 / 42 Sinkin' in the Bathtub 1930 Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising
7 / 43 Freddy the Freshman 1932 Rudolf Ising
8 / 44a* Allegretto 1936 Oskar Fischinger
8 / 44b* Balloon Land 1935 Ub Iwerks
9 / 45 None
10 / 46 None


The cartoons are by and large disappointingly short. Like the smallest home movie reels versions, except with color and sound...
Tell me about it! I wouldn't say it was a case of needing something to kill 2 minutes on the show, but it was a nice thought of exposing us to some works we might not've seen before. Still it was an interesting way to sneak in this stuff on a regular network Saturday mornings in the late 80's.

Thinking about weird stuff, I still kinda wonder what was that odd song I think they had in the 4th or 5th season that showed up of some guy playing a guitar on boats in a canal or stream with girls dancing about. There was always some odd clip they got their hands on and showed to many of us growing up, not knowing if we'd ever see it again, or where it came from in the first place!

[samtheq]

(Defending those ugly, badly produced cartoons, volume 11:)

Then again, it depends on the cartoon! There's some great Van Beuren cartoons (and soem really bad Iwerks ones...). Van Beuren's output in the mid 30's was easily many notches above the majority of the Comi-color cartoons in design, layout and animation quality... and even Fleischer cartoons often featured bad drawing on many of the late 20s/early 30's cartoons....


Amen to that. Iwerks was definitely an artisan and an innovator, but for sheer entertainment value, I prefer to watch Van Beuren cartoons any day. They made up for what they lacked in technique with zaniness and uninhibited insanity!

brant

[Magpie]

Even though they were excerpted (and of varying quality), it was refreshing to see animation of 50 years or so prior, included within a Saturday morning show. Probably the only way it could get done...:confused:

[MarkTheShark]

Amen to that. Iwerks was definitely an artisan and an innovator, but for sheer entertainment value, I prefer to watch Van Beuren cartoons any day. They made up for what they lacked in technique with zaniness and uninhibited insanity!

brant

I agree -- I have just recently watched several of them (some for the first time -- I have had the Cartoons That Time Forgot DVDs for years and have never really sat down and watched them all the way through - maybe that's why "time forgot" them)! It's especially fun in cases where a character is based on a film personality of the time. Some of the "Rainbow Parades" are pretty goofy. But I do have to say the greatest of all is an Ub Iwerks ComiColor cartoon -- "Balloon Land." The exception that proves the rule, I guess. (For me, anyway.)