Animated Aesop's Fables

Deep South

Short subject from Pathe based on the writings of Grantland Rice, primarily remembered for his elegant approach to sportswriting. This was one of the last of the Van Beuren Corporation’s “Song Sketches,” along with another “The Voice of the Sea.”

Goode Knight

The classic story of Robin Hood, with Cubby Bear as the prince of thieves.

Wild Cargo

A documentary film about adventures in the jungle featuring Frank Buck, a well-known American hunter, animal collector, writer, and actor in the 1930s. Buck demonstrates his ingenious methods for catching wild birds, mammals, and reptiles. Many scenes were shot on the vast Malay estates of Buck's friend, Sultan Ibrahim of Johor, who appears in the film himself.

Cupid Gets His Man

A look into the whole cupid operation; we see how the process is supposed to work, with cupids practicing their archery, and the couples handed off to the stork. But there's one particularly resistant couple (the man is a W.C. Fields caricature) who takes the whole crew to finally corral.

Bird Scouts

13th Cartoon in the Van Beuren Rainbow Parade Series.

The King of Bugs

Early sound cartoon with an all-insect cast. An eager-to-please young bugler inadvertently annoys the king during a parade and tournament, but redeems himself by rescuing the king's daughter, who's been abducted by a really horrid-looking spider.

Pencil Mania

This Tom and Jerry cartoon (the human versions, not the cat and mouse) is an opportunity for the animators to have fun with the medium. There is no specific plot. One of the boys uses a pencil to create a myriad number of animated illusions that could only work in a cartoon. For example, a short vertical line is drawn, which when held by both ends suddenly becomes a saxophone. When played, the notes pop out of the bell of the instrument to suddenly grow legs and transform into ducks. After the song, the saxophone itself quickly follows suit and becomes a goose. The entire short consists of these disjointed, though often creative and humorously unlikely events.

A Lad and His Lamp

Another Van Beuren's mouse cartoon variation of Aladdin's lamp, with a soundtrack added in the late 1940s.

Wot a Night

Two passengers, Tom and Jerry (not to be confused with the cat and mouse duo) refuse to pay their cab fare, so the taxi drives chase after them.

Silvery Moon

As two feline sweethearts sail along Moonlight Bay, the moon invites them up for a visit. They discover the moon is not made of green cheese, as is rumored, but is actually a land of candy, ice cream and cake.

Adventure Girl

Faux documentary told in first-person narration, about an "adventuress" who sets sail to Guatemala with her father and two male crewmen, rescues them when their fresh-water supply is compromised, finds a treasure map, and attempts to steal a fabulous emerald from a ruined temple, much to the aggrevation of a worshipful native princess and her subjects.

The Animal Fair

An ordinary fair, but run by animals.

Old Hokum Bucket

A slow farm life is turned upside-down thanks to some magic pills....

The Fly Guy

An Aesop's Fables cartoon about a musical fly.

Bold King Cole

Felix the Cat is perched in a tree playing his guitar and serenading himself and a canary with a little ditty called "Nature and Me." It is a beautiful day in cartoon-land but Mother Nature, perhaps not a music lover, whips up a lightning-laden thunderstorm and Felix is soon seeking shelter. He finds it at the castle of King Cole, a boastful, fabricating blow-hard. The King's ancestors, tired of hearing the braggart, come out of their pictures as ghostly specters and take the King to the dungeon and pump the gassy hot-air out of him.

The Wild Goose Chase

In this Van Beuren cartoon, various animals are singing "Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella" before we go to a couple of cats-one male, one female-looking for the gold pot at the end of the rainbow.

1670

A zany nobleman contends with family feuds and clashes with peasants in his quest to become the most famous person in Poland.