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Cartoon Crazys - Banned & CensoredRating:
Release Date: 09 January, 2001 Retail Price: $9.98 OUR Price: $9.98 You SAVE: $0.00! |
Cartoon Crazys - Banned & Censored Reviews
Classic cartoons - for all the wrong reasons!
The people from Winstar must be congratulated for their brave decision in releasing this DVD, as this will keep you entertained and makes you think at the same time.
As the title suggests, all the cartoons have been banned because of their "offensive" content, from the downright obvious (racial stereotypes, animal cruelty) to others that you may not think about while watching (each cartoon has a list of why it is banned). These cartoons were made during the different attitudes and tastes of the 30's and 40's, and, in most cases, no malice was ever intended by the cartoon studios.
The quality of these cartoons ranges from excellent to downright poor, but Winstar treats these cartoons better than most video companies (Yes, in England, we have the same problem of third-rate bargain-basement cartoon videos as well!).
What is great about this DVD is the inclusion of black and white cartoons, which includes Betty Boop and cartoons from the Van Beuren studios. I've always believe that black and white does not mean it is not entertaining!
This DVD is a must for all animation fans, but bear in mind that these cartoons could offend and must be viewed with an open mind. Some of these cartoons are difficult to defend, but, as a whole, it is one of my favourite animation DVDs.
Off the mark
This DVD stands out as a good historical collection of "banned and censored" cartoons, for this reason it stands out as a priceless look the history of animation, and societal views.
If the producers of this DVD, however, had assembled this collection with the intent of preserving history, then this DVD would have been more worth the cost. As it stands, it is not. The producers have taken the liberty of adding sound effects to all of the cartoons to improve the fidelity of, often, poor audio quality - this, in effect, is added (unwanted) commentary. They should have left these gems of entertainment history alone, and not included new sound effects. It is true that the video quality of many of the cartoons are poor, however we are talking about cartoons that are 60-70 (and more) years old - animation techniques were still relatively new. I would have prefered if the producers had attempted to improve the video quality over adding sound effects.
As for content it's easy to understand why these titles were banned in their day (racial stereotypes, cruelty to animals, sexual content), yet some of the choices, and explanations given, for some "banned" items is sketchy (no pun intended) at best. A good example of this are the two "Sergeant Snafu" cartoons ("Booby Traps" and "Spies"), which were clearly created for the military and not for general public consumption, and are a brilliant example of the type of entertainment provided to the military even today (frankly, Bob Hope was often more controversial than these cartoons).
If you are a serious collector of the history of animation, this DVD is a must buy, despite the poor video quality and added sound effects. If you are merely looking for "banned and censored" type videos, then your money may be better spent elsewhere.
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