Happy New Year 2020

Happy New Year 2020!   My new year's resolution is to spend some time on this blog again.   To celebrate, here's an oddity - a Popeye cartoon without any violence!  From 1938, here's a clip from Let's Celebrake with Popeye, Bluto and Olive.   Be sure to search out the whole cartoon on DailyMotion!

Christmas Morning Cartoon: Christmas Comes But Once a Year

Merry Christmas, one and all!   This year we're celebrating the Holidays with a Max Fleischer Color Classic from 1936:   Christmas Comes But Once a Year.   This cartoon marks the first and only color appearance of Grampy, a wild inventor that co-starred with Betty Boop in several classic cartoons.  At this time, the Max Fleisher studios was trying to make Disney-type cartoons along with their roster of Popeye and Betty Boop cartoons.  This cartoon is kind of a weird bridge between the two styles:   The first couple of minutes tries to create a scene full of sincerity and pathos, but it comes off as cloying, maudlin and a little annoying.   However, once Grampy enters the cartoon, the picture takes off, because this is what the Fleischers were great at: innovention. 
Grampy appeared in ten Betty Boop cartoons and was always a welcome addition to the films.   If you have a desire to see more I suggest you check out Grampy's Indoor Outing and The Impractical Joker, two of his better films.
This cartoon also showcases the three-dimensional sets that the Fleischers liked to use with their characters.   You can see them at the beginning and the end.   Enjoy!