Cartoon a Day: Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp
1934
Directed by Ub Iwerks
Available on: Cartoons that Time Forgot - The Ub Iwerks Collection Vol. 1

"Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp," not to be confused with the famous Popeye two-realer "Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp," is another Ub Iwerks cartoon from his post-Disney days.

Iwerks tended to be an innovator and there is a lot to like here with the creative use of color. A lot of the character design is very interesting as well, from the genie to the scrawny villain to the Betty Boopish princess. So one of the weaknesses of this short is the pretty boring design of the main character. He's just not that interesting.

You've got to give Iwerks some credit though, this was an ambitious project for 1934 and it's obvious that a few elements may have even inspired the creators of Disney's feature length "Aladdin" decades later.

Cartoon a Day: Stratos Fear

Stratos Fear
1933
Directed by Ub Iwerks
Available on: Cartoons that Time Forgot: The Ub Iwerks Collection Vol. 2

Ub Iwerks was Walt Disney's top animator and co-creator of Mickey Mouse. After several years with Disney, he ventured out on his own, but most of the films he made have pretty much faded into obscurity. One of the characters he created during this time was a portly kid who told unbelievable stories named Willie Whopper. Today's cartoon, "Stratos Fear," is a part of the Willie Whopper series.

In this adventure, Willie is visiting the dentist. He's given some gas which blows him up like a balloon and causes him to float off to space. While in space he encounters a wide variety of strange space creatures.

This cartoon reminded me a lot of Bob Clampett's classic short "Porky in Wackyland." Although, it should probably be the other way around, since this cartoon came five years earlier. This cartoon doesn't have the comic moments that "Wackyland" does, but the odd creatures give us a lot to enjoy. Made at a time when many cartoons were populated primarily by rubber limbed animals, this cartoon is quite surrealistic and combines many of the best qualities of Iwerks' more popular competitors at the Disney and Fleischer studios.

Cartoon a Day: Arctic Antics

Arctic Antics
1930
Directed by Ub Iwerks
Available on: Walt Disney Treasures - More Silly Symphonies

With the weather we had here in Denver today, "Arctic Antics" seemed like an appropriate choice of cartoon.

It's a Silly Symphony, so as is often the case there is no real plot to speak of. This one features a bunch of arctic creatures playing and dancing about. The animation is good, it is directed by Ub Iwerks after all, but it is a bit uneven.



I guess it was hard to think up a bunch of fun situations that take place in sub zero temperatures. The first half of the film is just kind of there, and unfortunately features one of the most annoying sound effects trax ever. Who knew that baby polar bears squeaked like doggie toys?!?



The second half of the film is a lot more fun, featuring a troop of military marching penguins. A bit of comic touch is added by a short penguin who can't quite keep up with the group that seems somewhat like an early version of the little mushroom that can't keep up with others in the Nutcracker Suite section of "Fantasia."

Cartoon a Day: The Haunted House

The Haunted House
1929
Directed by Walt Disney
Available on: Walt Disney Treasures - Mickey Mouse in Black and White Vol. 2

Well I decided to do one more Halloween appropriate cartoon before doing an Election Day special for tomorrow, and then moving on to a new theme for the next few days. So today we look at the Mickey Mouse short "The Haunted House" (also known simply as "Haunted House" according to the IMDB).



Mickey Mouse is out on a cold raining night when he ducks into a creepy old house for shelter. There he encounters a creepy hooded figure and a bunch of skeletons who force him to play the organ while they dance about. Like "The Skeleton Dance," released the same year, this short is more proof of animator Ub Iwerks wonderful knack for combining both scary and funny imagery.



Iwerks just does great work with skeletons, he and Ray Haryhausen could list that on their resumes I guess (see "Jason and the Argonauts" and you'll see). The natural thought would be to give them a limited amount of movement, but Iwerks never forgets that anything is possible in a cartoon.


According to the IMDB, this film was actually released a few weeks before "The Skeleton Dance," which it has a lot of similarities with. I'm not sure how reliable that information is, but it's fair to say that the two were probably in production at the same time. One sequence even uses the same dance of four skeletons made famous by the other film. Yet, just when you think they've just recycled the whole dance, a gust of wind blows through the window, the skeletons are blown away except for their feet which continue the dance on their own. So the sequence still stays original.

Cartoon a Day: The Skeleton Dance

The Skeleton Dance
1929
Directed by Walt Disney
Available on: Walt Disney Treasures - Silly Symphonies
Also: Walt Disney Treasures - The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit

For Halloween there was just no other cartoon as appropriate to review than "The Skeleton Dance." This short remains one of the greatest animated films of all time. It is amazingly creative, using images both funny and scary to create an important animation milestone.



One of the reasons this cartoon is so great is the marriage of the visuals and the music. Ub Iwerks animated the film, we talked about his great contribution to animation before, but we mustn't overlook maestro Carl Stalling. His music works right along with the animation, bringing out the humor in some pretty gruesome images. Stalling would later go on to music for the Looney Tunes.

In animation anything is possible! A skeleton can jump out of it's grave, throw his head at an owl, and then start dancing around a graveyard before playing another skeleton like a xylophone...where else but in a cartoon! Filmmakers were still figuring that out in 1929, this film was a huge step forward. One reviewer over at the Internet Movie Database called this "six of the most important minutes in film history," I'd have to agree.

Cartoon a Day: Hell's Bells

Hell's Bells
1929
Directed by Ub Iwerks
Available on: Walt Disney Treasures - More Silly Symphonies

There is no denying the contribution of Walt Disney to the art of animation. But really there was another person right alongside Walt who was just as influential, Ub Iwerks. With Halloween coming up this weekend, it seemed appropriate to look at one of their great collaborations, "Hell's Bells."


Like so many of the Silly Symphonies, there isn't really a plot, just a bunch of devils having a party. This is more of an animation exercise. This is Disney and Iwerks exploring the possibilities of their art. The characters in this short are very flexible, with skinny, rubber-band like arms and legs which Iwerks takes full advantage of.

One sequence that is especially fun involves a little devil dancing as nearby flames cast his large shadow on the wall behind him. It's easy to not take notice of the the skill involved in this sequence. You almost need to remind yourself that cartoons don't cast their own shadows, that all needed to be drawn.

Shorts from this time period are such a treat to watch. As you watch you can see the animators discovering new techniques along the way. We see the art of animation progress right before our eyes.