Rating: 
Summary: Far infeirior to Disney, Fleischer, Warner Bros. etc.
Review: After reading all the glowing reviews here, I ordered Vol. 1 expecting quite a treat. I am a huge fan of classic animation, especially from the Fleischer Bros. Studio. I consider their Superman series (avoid the WinStar set) to be one of the greatest creative feats of American popular culture. After watching half of this DVD I've come to the conclusion that I never need to see any of these cartoons again. Perhaps they are interesting from a historical viewpoint, but they are not as entertaining as the product of the other major studios. Maybe I should watch the whole DVD, in case the second half is markedly superior to the first 16 cartoons, but I doubt it. If you do buy this set, don't be surprised when you come to the realization that they are nowhere near as good as the majority of reviews here imply. See if you can rent it first for a test drive, before spending ... on an item you'll probably watch just once.
Rating:
Summary: Far infeirior to Disney, Fleischer, Warner Bros. etc.
Review: After reading all the glowing reviews here, I ordered Vol. 1 expecting quite a treat. I am a huge fan of classic animation, especially from the Fleischer Bros. Studio. I consider their Superman series (avoid the WinStar set) to be one of the greatest creative feats of American popular culture. After watching half of this DVD I've come to the conclusion that I never need to see any of these cartoons again. Perhaps they are interesting from a historical viewpoint, but they are not as entertaining as the product of the other major studios. Maybe I should watch the whole DVD, in case the second half is markedly superior to the first 16 cartoons, but I doubt it. If you do buy this set, don't be surprised when you come to the realization that they are nowhere near as good as the majority of reviews here imply. See if you can rent it first for a test drive, before spending ... on an item you'll probably watch just once.
Rating: 
Summary: Great stuff - Buy both volumes!
Review: Both me (and my three year old daughter) love these old cartoons. I am so glad that after years of these (and the old Disney Silly Symphonies, and the Van Buren Cartoons. and the Fleisher Color Classics, etc.) are finally becoming available.
Rating:
Summary: Great stuff - Buy both volumes!
Review: Both me (and my three year old daughter) love these old cartoons. I am so glad that after years of these (and the old Disney Silly Symphonies, and the Van Buren Cartoons. and the Fleisher Color Classics, etc.) are finally becoming available.
Rating: 
Summary: 4 HOURS OF ENTERTAINMENT
Review: Both this and Vol. 2 are quite enjoyable. The cartoons are filled with little touches of humor. The picture quality is reasonably good for the most part, with a few not as good (although still watchable). After all, these are close to 70 years old, and the negatives are probably not in that good a condition. Considering the age of the material, and both the quantity of material (four hours!), it's still a good buy. The high point for me was the sound. Music plays an important part in these cartoons, and a lot of them are choreographed to use the music as sound effects. These cartoons give you a good idea of what kind of music was popular back then. The mono sound is decent, again considering the age of the material. My only gripe is that they have grouped the cartoons by category (singing and dancing, scary, fairy tales, etc.). It would have been better to mix them up a little more for variety's sake. Having said that, they at least attempted to mix the black & white with the color so you at least get a color cartoon every once in a while. It is easy to see why Flip the Frog never caught on like Mickey Mouse did -- there really isn't much character development with Flip. Each cartoon seems to find him playing a different role. These cartoons are very entertaining and imaginative. I am definitely not sorry I bought them. (Caution: Vol. 2 contains 3-4 cartoons which may not be suitable for younger kids -- but Vol. 1 is definitely OK). I recommend buying both volumes.
Rating:
Summary: Iwerks still works!
Review: I don't quite understand why some of the reviewers are so negative about this DVD. I admit that the quality of the picture and the sound varies. But nonetheless, it's all very watchable. Come on, people, these cartoons are sooooo old. Be glad somebody went to the trouble of digging these fossiles up for us. Another thing I don't understand is why people keep comparing Iwerks with Disney. It's like saying that Michelangelo [is bad] because he didn't do things the way Rembrandt did. Iwerks did it his way. And he did a very fine job. I for one thoroughly enjoyed myself watching these cartoons. High time time remembered.
Rating:
Summary: Iwerks still works!
Review: I don't quite understand why some of the reviewers are so negative about this DVD. I admit that the quality of the picture and the sound varies. But nonetheless, it's all very watchable. Come on, people, these cartoons are sooooo old. Be glad somebody went to the trouble of digging these fossiles up for us. Another thing I don't understand is why people keep comparing Iwerks with Disney. It's like saying that Michelangelo [is bad] because he didn't do things the way Rembrandt did. Iwerks did it his way. And he did a very fine job. I for one thoroughly enjoyed myself watching these cartoons. High time time remembered.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic DVD
Review: It's about time that a company focused its attention on Ub Iwerks. The Cartoons That Time Forgot, are literally just that, cartoons that have not seen the light of day from the time they were made. Ub Iwerks got his start working for Walt Disney, and animated the earliest Mickey Mouse cartoons as well as some of the early Silly Symphonies. These cartoons clearly show some influences from the Disney studios, some characters look amazingly Mickey Mouseish, and many have the same charm of the Disney shorts. These cartoons are a good introduction to some cartoon characters that never quite caught on, like Flip the Frog and Willie Whopper (who?). If you are a vintage animation lover, then this DVD belongs in your library!
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic DVD
Review: It's about time that a company focused its attention on Ub Iwerks. The Cartoons That Time Forgot, are literally just that, cartoons that have not seen the light of day from the time they were made. Ub Iwerks got his start working for Walt Disney, and animated the earliest Mickey Mouse cartoons as well as some of the early Silly Symphonies. These cartoons clearly show some influences from the Disney studios, some characters look amazingly Mickey Mouseish, and many have the same charm of the Disney shorts. These cartoons are a good introduction to some cartoon characters that never quite caught on, like Flip the Frog and Willie Whopper (who?). If you are a vintage animation lover, then this DVD belongs in your library!
Rating:
Summary: Iwerks isn't Disney, true...Iwerks could draw!
Review: My title may seem disrespectful to "the Master" but it is a fact that Walt Disney admitted in later years that he couldn't draw worth a lick.........
Walt's genius lay in knowing talent (which is why Ub Iwerks was so pivotal as the creator and original animator of Mickey Mouse) in comic inspiration, and in constantly upgrading his studios product.
The cartoons on this DVD show what comes of techincal skill without the last two attributes....they are good for their time (compare them with Mickey 1928-1930!) but they never evolve. The Iwerks vision is intriguing to the modern eye, bizarre and eccentric at times and one can see why the studio bosses of the time wouldn't back it; the technical quality of these cartoons is adequate but the story treatments can be strange and not always child - friendly.
If you like animation, you should buy both volumes of this DVD set. If you are looking for an electronic babysitter for the kids, go buy some modern pap that won't offend anyone or strain the intellect too much. These cartoons are for the serious student.
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