Voices of Rex Ingram, Paul Frees, Dallas McKennon, and Art Clokey
Directed by Arnold Leibovit
Music and Lyrics by various
George Pal was a pioneer of stop-motion animation who began his career in Germany during the early 30's, making shorts in his native Hungary, then Germany. He did two short ads for Dutch electronics company Phillips in the mid 30's, and five more for Horlick's Malted Milk in England before coming to the US in 1940. From 1941 to 1947, he continued the shorts for Paramount. He used wooden dolls in a wide variety of expressions and poses and meticulously detailed backgrounds to create his "Puppetoons," which were especially popular during and directly after the war years. By 1987, stop motion animation had made a comeback on television with advertising characters like the California Raisins, and the Puppetoons were a staple of cable and video showings. Are they still unique today, almost a century later? Let's begin with another favorite stop-motion character, Gumby (McKennon), making a film and find out...
The Story: Gumby is frustrated when Arnie the dinosaur (Frees) won't eat the deer in the film like he's supposed to. Arnie explains he was inspired by George Pal and his creations to not eat meat. Gumby doesn't know who Pal was or why he was important. Arnie and Pokey (Clokey) introduce Gumby to twelve of his most famous shorts (including three Oscar nominees) to explain what he did and how he pioneered techniques that continued to be used for stop-motion cartoons like Gumby's and beyond.
The Animation: You can see shades of everything from Wallace and Gromit to recent Latika releases like Kubo and the Two Strings in Pal's embryonic work. Though sometimes the characters can be a little too creepy when they're supposed to be joyful or cheerful, especially in the earlier shorts, they're generally very expressive for wooden dolls.
The Song and Dance: The shorts and their accompanying songs are a real mixed bag. The two early Phillips ads has some nice music and nifty glow-in-the-dark effects, but not much else. "John Henry and the Inky Poo" is a largely respectful look at an African-American folk legend, complete with tragic ending and Rex Ingram's touching narration. "Hoola Boola" and "South Seas Sweethearts" are the Horlick's ads, with some really nice water effects for the time along with the obvious product placement. "Tubby the Tuba" is a very sweet adaptation of the famous orchestral song, and Peggy Lee gets to really go to town with a lively orchestra in "Jasper In a Jam."
Favorite Number: Redheaded male puppet Jim Dandy turns up twice, as the young orchestra leader with the glow-in-the-dark instruments in "The Little Broadcast" and a south-seas island beachcomber who falls for a lovely native in "Hoola Boola." Another orchestra livens up the "Phillips Broadcast of 1938" with "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?" Those musical instruments moving by themselves may have freaked Jasper out, but they sure could put on a show! Peggy Lee performs "Old Man Mose Is Dead" as clarinets toot by themselves and totem poles grab at poor Jasper. The film finishes with "Tubby the Tuba" and his frog friend, who want to show that deep voiced animals and instruments are ready for their big solos.
Trivia: In the finale, look for advertising icons Speedy Alka-Seltzer, the Pillsbury Dough Boy, and Mr. Peanut, along with Spike from Gremlins in the last seconds.
What I Don't Like: Some of the shorts are more than a little dated. The South Seas shorts feature native stereotypes that may offend some folks nowadays. Jasper was a controversial character even in the 40's; this is actually one of his less-offensive shorts. Pal later said he didn't mean anything bad by him, but his big-lipped design looks a little too much like blackface and may sit even less well with folks now. That "When Tulips Grow" begins and ends happily doesn't make the middle any less depressing, or make it less of an obvious allegory for what the Nazis were doing to Europe in 1942. And while it's great to learn about the pioneering Pal, we never do see a dinosaur in any of the shorts, nor learn why they inspired Arnie to stop eating other animals.
The Big Finale: Worth checking out if you love stop motion or Pal's other work, or want to teach your kids about animation history...but make sure you're around to explain the stereotypes and some of the darker moments in "John Henry" and "When Tulips Grow."
Home Media: This and its follow-up The Puppetoon Movie Part 2 are out of print and incredibly expensive on disc, but can often be found for free on streaming.
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