How's It Hold Up?

There are only a handful of shorts whose fame at least partially comes from their technical achievements. Steamboat Willie and its sychronized sound is one, while The Old Mill's claim to fame is the multiplane camera. While we take what it does for granted now in the digital age, back then it was a big step-up in cinematography for animated shorts. But does it really add that much to this short? Listen to find out!

(Spoiler Section Length - 14min 41sec)From the creator of The Triplets of Bellville comes a film about an old magician living in a time where his talents are valued less and less by the day. While Triplets had sparse dialogue, this film goes even further than that while maintaining a less exaggerated style, both visually and in what few vocalizations do occur. This lends it even more of an 'artsy' flair, making it unsurprising that it was nominated for an academy award but also equally unsurprising that it never truly had a chance. A decade and a half later, does it still retain the flair that got it nominated? Listen to find out!

While Warner Bros' output has been increasing in quality in the late 30s, largely thanks to new blood like Tex Avery and newly-impowered blood like Bob Clampett, one member of the old guard in particular is still around and has been a lot slower to change: Fritz Freleng. Much of his output has largely been echoing the stylings of the Harman-Ising era, a style that's more and more at odds with the rest of the studio. But Freleng DOES change, even if slowly, so how does this cartoon of his hold up? Listen to find out!

(Spoiler Section Length - 6min 20sec)It's time to go back to the past of Makoto Shinkai - the creator of Your Name - to see the man's directorial debut. Except... we're actually checking out two films, one a short film and the other a full-length one. What similarites lie between these two works, and how do they relate to his later films? And more importantly... how do they hold up? Listen to find out!The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Today's Betty Boop is the first Boop in color (and the last, at least by the Fleischers), and is also technically not a Betty Boop but the start of the Color Classics series. It sees Betty in a retelling of Cinderella, complete with musical numbers, pretty dresses, a prince, and a fairy godmother. This short is also another example of the sorts of color cartoons that studios other than Disney were putting out during the period where Disney had sole claim to the 3-Strip Technicolor process, and an early example of the Fleischer technique of 3D-sculpted backgrounds. With all that going on in this short... is it actually any good? Listen to find out!The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Color Rhapsodies is a series that, at least up to this point, has mostly been a Silly Symphonies ripoff tonally, with overly cutesy aesthetics and little substance. There's been exceptions, but for the most part they've stayed away from more gag-focused fare or more dramatic storytelling. So today, we're going to look at two cartoons, one that's very gag-focused and one that's very dramatic! Do either of these cartoons succeed in what they attempt, and more importantly, do they hold up for the modern viewer? Listen to find out!The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

(Spoiler Section Length - 5min 22sec)When it comes to direct-to-video sequels of animated films, though Disney's efforts are often derided, due to their budgets they tend to be better than what other studios manage to do. We've seen various efforts already, such as with sequels to Don Bluth films, and they've run the gamut from 'okay' to 'very bad'. Does Ferngully's sequel fall in that range, or does it manage to break the mold? Listen to find out!The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Mickey, Donald and Goofy are taking on a new job this time: cleaning a clock. And not just any clock, but a clock tower! But with a sleepy stork, a sassy coil and Goofy's poor level of awareness to contend with, they're going to have a heck of a time getting the job done. So many years later, does the short still hold up? Listen to find out!The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

(Spoiler Section Length - 7min 45sec)There are a lot of movies and shows aimed toward children that have a goal, primary or not, of advocating for protecting the natural environment from pollution. But if you're a 90s kid, chances are there's one in particular that comes to mind when the subject is brought up - Ferngully. Many pro-environment, anti-pollution pieces of media have a less-than-stellar reputation, often accused of being overly preachy... does Ferngully fall into that trap? And regardless, is it any good, all these years later? Listen to find out!

Betty Boop's back, and running a hotel! But when things go wrong, since it's late-era Betty Boop, there's only one man who can save the day: Grampy. Though he's no one's favorite character, Grampy being in a Betty Boop cartoon doesn't necessarily mean it will be terrible! So... is this one? Listen to find out!The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Kool Kats Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/