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| Special Features: |
Full frame format
Chapter selection
2 disk set
The Lost Episodes
Art Gallery
Commentary track by Jerry beck
The entire Max Fleischer "Color Classics" collection
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| Video Format: |
Full Frame (1.33:1)
[SS-DL]
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| Languages: |
English (Dolby Digital 1.0) Mono
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| Subtitles: |
None.
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| Captions: |
No
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| Casing: |
2-Disc Keep Case
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 Max and Dave Fleischer were the chief rivals of Walt Disney during the 1930s. Max Fleischer invented the rotoscope device used to track movement to create animated cartoons. When the Disney studio began to create color cartoons during the 30s, the Fleischer brothers responded with "Color Classics." The Fleischer's produced 36 cartoons in the series. Over the years, many of the cartoons were neglected by their owners. VCI Entertainment and Kit Parker Films went a hunting. They were able to locate the entire collection. After loving restoration, the entire "Max Fleischer's Color Classics" collection is available for cartoon lover of all ages.
This great compilation DVD includes 30 of Fleischer's cartoons in all of their Technicolor glory. Some of the highlights include "Cobweb Hotel," "Greedy Humptry Dumpty" and the Oscar nominates shorts "Hunky and Spunky" and "Educated Fish." The remaining five cartoons are located on the documentary about the Fleischers called "The Lost Episodes."
 Back in the early 70s, I was a big fan of such underground comics as "The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers," "Zap" and "Slow Death Funnies." Many of the great artists from that era were inspired by the off-beat animation and hip humor found in the work of Max and Dave Fleischer. While Disney's animation was warm and fuzzy, the Fleischers put scary edges in their work. The Fleischer villains were nightmare evoking monsters. Of course, the good guy always won, but the ride was sure was fun! Another twist found in the works of the Fleischers was the intelligently funny song lyrics. The cartoons were aimed at adults as well as kids. That is one reason they play so well today, nearly 70 years after they first appeared.
Great collection of cartoons. As good a picture and sound as can be expected considering the age of the source material. Great extras. A must have.
Picture Quality: 10/10
This "10" rating is relative. Do these cartoons look as good as the image on "Beauty and the Beast" Platinum Edition? No. VCI and Kit Parker films scoured the world to compile this collection. Many of the original negatives were badly deteriorated. They did a wonderful job restoring the majority of the cartoons. 30 of the cartoons are in very good condition with bright, rich colors. There are a few artifacts and faded images in places, but for the most part, the cartoons are great. I have had many of these cartoons on video collections in the past. This DVD contains the best version of these cartoons you will find anywhere on the market.
Sound Quality: 10/10
 Again, the "10" rating is relative. VCI cleaned up the sound on this collection. At times it is flat, but consider the fact the source material is nearly 70 years old.
Menu: 10/10
The menu is based on the artwork of the Fleischers. Nice design which evokes a sense of nostalgia. Easy to navigate.
Extra Features: 10/10
Animation historian Jerry Beck provides audio commentary on 10 of the 30 main cartoons. There is a lot of very cool, historical info in his audio track. I won't spoil it for my fellow cartoon fans.
"The Lost Episodes" is a documentary about the Fleischers. It also includes the 6 "Color Classics" that couldn't be restored to the same quality as the main group of cartoons. In fact, one of the cartoons could only be found in Black and White.
There is a nice art gallery slide show, which includes many stills, publicity photos and preliminary drawings.
The Final Word:
"Somewhere in Dreamland" deserves a place in the permanent library of every serious film student or cartoon collector. Another quality disk from VCI.
Rusty White
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