THUNDERBEAN THURSDAY
March 27, 2014 posted by Steve Stanchfield

Ten Animated Features That Fell Through The Cracks

There are many Animated features that get lost to the ravages of time. This is especially true of the films that were created by smaller studios, or films from another country that saw an American release. I’ve been getting lots of good suggestions of things to look for, and find that many of them are films I saw way back then. Some haven’t seen a DVD or Blu-ray release, while others have.

Here’s a *short* “Top Ten” list of some that I’d personally love to see sooner than later in a better copy, and a few that are perhaps better left in the vault – in no particular order:

1) I Go Pogo (1980) The only feature adaptation of Walt Kelly’s wonderful Pogo Characters leaves some things to be desired in it’s script, but the design and animation are a lot of fun. The Chiido Brother’s studio has a poster from the film in their hallway (several of the brothers worked on the film) and since I last visited this orphaned film has been on my mind. The last it saw a release was on Walt Disney Home Video in the mid-80s.

Here’s a little clip showing a sneak preview of the film (from the 1980 CBS TV special The Fantastic Funnies):


2) The Adventures of Mutt and Jeff and Bugoff (1973) This is one of the oddest films ever made, but, like the slightly more seen Betty Boop for President, it uses retraced/colored cartoons. It’s impossible to describe how bizarre this is… last year Mark Kaulser replied in Cartoon Research, mentioning this film.

I think Something Weird Video had offered it at some point as well. In more recent years a collector friend of mine told me he has a nice 35mm print of it in his closet; it might be best for it to stay there! This odd film was produced by Fred Ladd’s Radio and Television film packagers.

mutt-jeff-bugoff

2021 UPDATE: Thank you “Art The Greatest” for uploading this obscurity:


3) Twice Upon a Time (1983). John Korty’s strangely wonderful animated feature was a huge favorite of mine in a bootlegged VHS copies several generations down. It deserves a better audience. Not too long ago CineFamily in Los Angels showed the film – here’s a trailer from their showing:


4) Raggedy Ann and Andy (1977).

I loved this film as a nine year old, and John Canemaker’s book on this film lost it’s binding completely from me pouring over it. It’s never been released on DVD or Blu-ray. Directed by Dick Williams, it was a career- launching film for some many amazing animators and artists as well as many studio veterans. High on my list of things I’d love to get the rights to release. It hadn’t really been seen in it’s original cinemascope format since it’s original release – until this copy became more available:


5) Hansel and Gretel (1954):

The charming and well-remembered stop motion Michael Myerberg – produced film really should be available in a high quality version. Let’s hope it is sometime soon, from the negatives or from perhaps an excellent 35mm Technicolor print. Mike Sporn had a nice article about this film on his splash a while back. Here’s short clip that looks like it was taken from the VHS release in the 80s:


6) Hoppity Goes to Town (1941). This is my all-time favorite film. There are various versions that have been released on DVD already- some are fairly good. Perhaps the best is this one is Studio Ghibli’s Japanese release of the film. It looks like they’ve done a digital restoration on it and the colors are beautiful. Now, if we can get a Blu-ray…

and here’s Robert Osborne and our own Jerry Beck introducing the film in 2012 on TCM’s:


7) Song of the South. At some point this will be available I’m sure. See Who’s Afraid of Song of the South by Jim Korkis for more info!

song-of-the-south550


8) Robot Carnival.
A beautifully designed ‘anthology’ film created by nine different anime directors in 1987. A terrific example of an anthology film done right. Although Anime isn’t my usual cup of tea, this is a wonderful film (Kudos to fellow Cartoon Research columnists Jerry Beck and Fred Patten for their involvement in bringing this to the US back in 1990). I think the only ‘real’ version of this film is the VHS release, available on Amazon. Here’s a version taped off the Sci-Fi channel many year back:

2021 UPDATE: Diskotek Media has restored and released this film on blu ray – and it looks incredible. Here’s the amazon link.


9) Invitation to the Dance (1956). Ok, so this isn’t a completely animated feature, but Song of the South isn’t either! This film is on DVD, but would look just wonderful on Blu-ray. Here’s the trailer:


10) Momotaro’s Devine Sea Warriors (1945).

This children’s feature, produced near the end of the war, is a fascinating piece of propaganda film, and Japan’s first animated feature. It was available on VHS in the 1980’s, but as far as I know it’s still not available on DVD. There are some beautiful shots in this film, and a sequence in the middle (explaining the west’s pirate-takover of the east) done in a Lotte Reiniger-inspired style.

So, now.. what are YOURS?

85 Comments

  • Twice Upon a Time: Did the PG version ever air on Disney Channel during the mid- to late 80s? Or am I mixing it up with HBO? I remember seeing it on satellite dish back then.

    Also, Agreed on Robot Carnival. It was the first real, non-Americanized anime I had ever watched.

    • It was HBO that had broadcast the PG-version of Twice Upon a Time (with all the swearing in it) a handful of times before it was pulled off the air. Disney Channel and Warner Brothers’ VHS release was a different cut with the swearing taken out and a couple of songs and action sequences cut short, rather awkwardly. On YouTube I believe there is a re-constructed version that someone put together using a couple of different cuts.

    • As Ken suggests, there is a version on Youtube.
      A good one, too.
      It’s not a great film, but there’s an awful lot to like about it.
      Korty, the director, seems not to particularly care about it’s existence.

    • I think that youtube cut got taken off. Can’t find it anywhere. Any other suggestions?

    • I saw it on Cartoon Network in the mid-nineties.

  • Hey Steve,

    Could you share with us Mutt and Jeff Meet Burgoff?

    I am a big fan of Mutt and Jeff, and I always wanted to see if the redrawns were THAT bad.

    • The redraws were THAT bad. Here’s a Fred Ladd Mutt and Jeff short redrawn around the same time as the Bugoff feature, which will give you some idea:

    • Hi Afonso (and Steve, and Jerry)

      I happen to have the 16mm negative for BUGOFF. Hmmm…maybe I should “remake” the feature using the original black and white cartoons!

    • What shorts does it have, Tom?

      Also, could you share the original with us? Strangely, I am becoming adiccted to these redrawns. They are SO BAD they are entertaining in their unique way.

    • Good question, I actually have not watched it all. It’s not recommended to project film negatives, and I have not yet made a transfer of the negative. It would take some work in Final Cut to flip it from a negative to a positive and synch the sound. Maybe I’ll do this one day soon. Hopefully I have most or all of the cartoons in original black and white form so that I could remake this “properly”…hah!

    • Also, could you share the original with us? Strangely, I am becoming adiccted to these redrawns. They are SO BAD they are entertaining in their unique way.

      That’s what happens. I see someone found a mess of these and stuck them on YouTube in several volumes. More so than the few VHS tapes I had saw back in the day.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUY7O6RCATg

  • I totally agree with you about “Hoppity.” I saw it for the first time last year, and I think it’s a masterpiece from beginning to end. Had it not been for the unbelievably bad timing of its release, it would have been remembered — perhaps together with the “Superman” series — as the Fleischers’ greatest work. It deserves far wider recognition than it has received.

  • Seen almost all of these films on cable at some time back in the ’80s and ’90s. Raggedy Ann and Andy was on heavy rotation on Nickelodeon in their Special Delivery weekend block, and Twice Upon a Time was one of the first animated films I saw on HBO.
    To this list I would add Steve Lisberger’s Animalympics, featuring early work from Bill Kroyer and Brad Bird. I last saw it on HBO during the 2000 Olympics, and it hasn’t been on since.

    • “Seen almost all of these films on cable at some time back in the ’80s and ’90s.”

      Cable TV (and to some extent Home Video, either VHS or Beta) was a godsend for these films.

      “Raggedy Ann and Andy was on heavy rotation on Nickelodeon in their Special Delivery weekend block,”

      I recall the version Nick aired opened and ended with the Harmony Gold logo, it surprised me thinking back that they had some distribution right to this film during the time. Don’t suppose we know who does these days.

      Of course now I had to remind myself of “Hugo the Hippo”, ’nuff said.

      “and Twice Upon a Time was one of the first animated films I saw on HBO.
      To this list I would add Steve Lisberger’s Animalympics, featuring early work from Bill Kroyer and Brad Bird. I last saw it on HBO during the 2000 Olympics, and it hasn’t been on since.”

      It did get a German DVD release that wasn’t too bad. But yes, purely forgotten.

  • I don’t know if this would qualify as an animated feature but one film, which contains a treasure trove of stop motion, that I believe deserves more recognition is Karl Zeman’s 1962 masterpiece ‘Baron Prasil’.

  • Lotte Reiniger’s The Adventures of Prince Achmed. It has been preserved, but outside of the animation community it doesn’t seem to get much notice.

  • I know you’re probably talking about US releases but there was a limited edition DVD of Robot Carnival in Japan. It’s…kind of expensive to get on Amazon Japan (roughly 70 dollars for a used copy). [Click here].

    Bandai also has it available for streaming.
    http://animejapan.cplaza.ne.jp/b-ch/otomo_sp/rb_carnival_ova/index.html

    The Momotaro film is not available on DVD in Japan either but it looks like Shochiku still has tapes for sale.
    http://www.shochiku-home-enta.com/shop/item_detail?category_id=30741&item_id=152546

  • I remember seeing HANSEL AND GRETEL on TV a lot in the early 1960s (in the NYC area). Had no idea it was actually in color! I think a lot of the music is taken from the Humperdinck opera version of the story.

    MOMOTARO UMI NO SHINPEI is a “sequel” to MOMOTARO NO UMIWASHI (“Momotaro’s Sea Eagles”), which is available on DVD from Zakka Films on their disk THE ROOTS OF JAPANESE ANIME – UNTIL THE END OF WWII. Released in 1943 and running about 35+ minutes, it was, so far as I know, the longest anime film before MOMOTARO UMI NO SHINPEI.

  • I can’t think of a feature, but I’d sure like to see a restored version of Max Fleischer’s version of Raggedy Ann & Raggedy Andy.

  • “The War and the Dream of Momi” (1917) by Giovanni Pastrone and Segundo de Chomon, which at 37 minutes in its time period would have been considered a short feature. I could definitely stand to see a better version than the YouTube, with its tagging and Satie soundtrack; I love Satie, but I don’t think his music fits this film well.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30wLqY1fUDM

    Prince Achmed used to get recognition in experimental and avant-garde film circles; it is referenced in every book on avant-garde cinema published before 1970. Somehow it has lost its footing in that regard since, but I think it belongs in the canon, especially since Ruttmann and Bartosch both worked on it.

    David “Uncle Dave” Lewis

  • “Twice Upon a Time” was exec-produced by George Lucas and surfaced briefly on HBO a year after its theatrical release. If they can put out “Howard the Duck,” I don’t know why they can’t release this one.

  • Havoc in Heaven (The Monkey King) needs a good English language DVD release.

  • neither feature nor theatrical, but we need a pristine and complete collection of the new adventures of pinocchio.

  • Robot Carnival had a US laserdisc release as well.

  • That’s a great list, and the comments section has some more good obscure features. Here are some more:

    Victory Through Air Power: it’s on the Disney On the Front Lines DVD set, but I rarely meet people who have even heard of it, much less seen it.

    Alice In Wonderland by Lou Bunin: Interesting curiosity, puppet characters meet a live action Alice, rumored to have been suppressed by Disney so as not to interfere with his own version.

    Alice by Jan Svankmajer: another puppet animation with a live girl, this time by Czech surrealist master

    The Emperor’s Nightingale by Jiri Trnka: another interesting puppet film, by one of the masters.

    Adventures of Mr Wonderbird by Paul Grimault: Classic French feature, something like 20 years in the making. A fascinating combination of Baroque and futuristic designs. Mr Wonderbird helps save a painting of a shepherdess from a painting of a king…don’t ask.

    Son of the White Mare by Marcel Jankovics: Cel animation but unlike any you’ve ever seen before; surreal adaption of a folk tale, with magic, adventure and constantly changing electric images.

    When the Wind Blows by Jimmy T. Murakami: Of interest recently since Murakami passed away last month. The film used cel animation over model backgrounds to depict an elderly couple dealing with nuclear holocaust; harrowing and fascinating.

    Starchaser: The Legend of Orin by Steven Hahn: 1985 sci-fi inspired by the Star Wars craze. Of note as the first animated feature made in stereoscopic 3-D, with CG spaceships and hand animated characters.

    • Steve,

      Thought you’d like to know that Jan Svankmajer’s Alice was released on DVD in 2000, and the same distributor has a Blu-Ray release scheduled for April 15th!

      http://firstrunfeatures.com/alicebluray.html

      However, since the site doesn’t say if the film has been restored or remastered, or if it includes any bonus content. Which means it probably hasn’t/doesn’t.

      Starchaser: The Legend of Orin was also released on DVD by MGM in 2005. (I wish I had held onto my copy instead of trading it in, but when I saw the movie again after 20+ years last year it just felt too much like a Star Wars/He-Man mash-up and I didn’t feel like keeping it at the time.)

    • I was a bit too hasty in my last post — “Alice” has indeed been “digitally remastered for Blu-Ray.”

    • ….. there will be quite a bit on Bunin’s Alice in the near future. As Jerry says, stay tooned! Thanks for the great followup list Steve!

    • Starchaser: The Legend of Orin was also released on DVD by MGM in 2005. (I wish I had held onto my copy instead of trading it in, but when I saw the movie again after 20+ years last year it just felt too much like a Star Wars/He-Man mash-up and I didn’t feel like keeping it at the time.)

      I’ll never be happy until it comes out on Blu-Ray in 3D personally. Best I had to make due with was some illegit DVD copy someone made of the Japanese VHD release that had it in 3D otherwise.

  • Hi there,

    There were some animated features from the 70’s I would love to see on dvd/blu-ray: Potterton Productions’ The Happy Prince and The Selfish Giant. These were shown in schools and on tv in Canada and the U.K. (not sure about the U.S.) and there seems to be a tremendous amount of interest in them online. This can be ascribed to the devastating emotional impact of these unique films (based on Oscar Wilde stories).

    Potterton (of Heavy Metal) also produced The Remarkable Rocket, The Little Mermaid and The Christmas Messenger.

    Would love to hear any info/feedback on these!

    • Most of Potterson’s Wilde shorts played on the Disney Channel during the late eighties.

  • I’ve managed to find super-cheap thrift store VHS copies of “Robot Carnival” and “Raggedy Ann and Andy” (with songs by Joe “Bein’ Green” Raposo), and I finally found a copy of “Hansel and Gretel” just this week.

    I would love to have all these on a quality digital transfer to DVD/BR, particularly “Robot Carnival” which is one of the first non-TV anime productions I ever saw and still among my favorites.

    And speaking of animated features that have fallen through the cracks… any chance Warners will release a 15th anniversary edition of “The Iron Giant” remastered for BR/DVD this year? The 2004 “special edition” DVD just didn’t seem very “special” to me.

  • You know what animated movie my sisters used to watch CONSTANTLY when we were kids? KATY THE CATERPILLAR. Anyone ever heard of it? I have very vague memories of it.

    • You know what animated movie my sisters used to watch CONSTANTLY when we were kids? KATY THE CATERPILLAR. Anyone ever heard of it? I have very vague memories of it.

      I do. I was stunned to realize someone whose blog I follow a lot worked on that film as one of the writers. The film use to play on The Disney Channel back when they still meant quality and if they were desperate, they would dip into that world of animation talent pool for some unusual and creative gems like the Unico movies.

  • This has nothing to do with animated feature films, but didn’t know where else to ask.

    Picked up a Big Little book at the flea market yesterday ($1) titled THE FLINTSTONES. Copyright 1961. No Rubbles. Fred and Wilma not looking quite right. And they have a son! No Pebbles. A son named Junior!

    Anyone familiar with this oddity?

    • It’s a Little Golden Book. Sorry sorry sorry. Been sorting through Big Little books and have those on the brain.

    • It was one of the first licensed Flinstones merchandise, probably commissioned before the show went on the air in late 1960. Mel Crawford created the art…

    • Thank you, Jerry. Can’t imagine that book was available for long, given how “off-model” it is.

      Sorry for the interruption, guys.

    • Dave, that book WAS reprinted, because my mom bought me a copy at a local drug in the early seventies. And, yes, it perplexed five year old me much as it did you.

    • I am. Used to have it a few years when it was published (I was born when Fred and Barney met up with Dino LOL). My parents might even have bought it for me in advance of my birth. LOL – I noticed how, uh, different it was than the show..:)

  • Someone out there must have the TCM HD recording of Mr. Bug Goes To Town. It looks like Luke has nice equipment, according to his video of the opening/ending clips. My only hope to get this original uncut DVD/blu-ray print seems to remain distant yet. Sad but true.

  • The animated sequence of “Invitation to the Dance” was the most time-consuming and expensive piece of animation that MGM undertook during its classic incarnation. It looks great on television but I saw it projected in 35mm in a theatre and there is a great deal of ink warping on the characters, over the long haul. While the whole thing is not as brief nor as light-hearted as Jerry the Mouse dancing in the earlier Anchors Aweigh, “Invitation” is at least worth a look.

  • How about “The Cosmic Eye” by the Hubleys? Seems to he only available on VHS.

  • Still waiting for the last two “Peanuts” features,Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown, and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don’t Come Back!), to hit DVD/Blu- Ray.

    • You’d think Paramount would listen by this point.

  • I’m interested in ” The Adventures of Mutt and Jeff and Bugoff”
    I wanna see it, I did enjoy “Hurray For Betty Boop” mostly for it’s so bad, it’s hilarious feel so i wanna see how this is executed
    If anyone has a copy of the Something Weird release… please put the film up on YouTube

    • Perhaps you could write Fred Ladd about this…”Mr. Ladd, would you or a colleague mind uploading a copy of the unlicensed Something Weird release of your Mutt & Jeff and Bugoff film to YouTube?”

  • Nice list! I look forward to reading more. I made a similar one on my blog earlier last year: http://the-animatorium.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Most%20Influential%20Animations%20You%20Never%20Heard%20Of

  • There is a small bookstore in Atlanta, GA called Foxtales that carries digitally remastered copies of “Song of the South”. According to the owner, the licensee that is independently distributing the film HAS the blessings of Disney since they have no intention of ever re-releasing the film itself in any way. I have a copy, but I confess that I still have not watched it because I moved shortly after I picked it up and now I can’t find the darn thing. Anyway, copies can be had via this link… http://www.foxtalebookshoppe.com/gift-ideas/

    • Hmmm, I outta look into that. Don’t want to wear out my Japanese LD anymore than it needs to be (or the DVD-R copy of a BBC broadcast I obtained along the way).

  • The theatrical version of Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings with the original ending narration would be a welcome addition to my DVD library.

  • THE WEIRD ADVENTURES OF MUTT & JEFF & BUGOFF

    “This odd film was produced by Fred Ladd’s Radio and Television film packagers.”

    Who otherwise didn’t mind creating a package of these redrawns that I do wonder how many stations in the 70’s did pick up. In the mid 1980’s several VHS tapes were released by a division of Cincinnati-based U.S. Playing Card Co. called “Congress Video Group”. My mom bought these as the first VHS tapes I would own and to this day this cover for a tape containing four Mutt & Jeff cartoons will forever be ingrained in my brain for it’s oddly suggestive cover.
    http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41W0QlkPw4L._SY300_.jpg

    There’s even a webpage for this if anyone likes to be suckered into potential ratings loss (no offense to Mr. Ladd, but the writing was on the wall here).
    http://www.animatoons.com/funnies.htm

    HOPPITY GOES TO TOWN

    “Perhaps the best is this one is Studio Ghibli’s Japanese release of the film. It looks like they’ve done a digital restoration on it and the colors are beautiful. Now, if we can get a Blu-ray…”

    Nice to see it even has the NTA logo at the start, that’s quality!

    ROBOT CARNIVAL

    I think the only ‘real’ version of this film is the VHS release, available on Amazon

    It was released on LaserDisc by Lumivision Corporation as well. Though one point to be made though was the way Streamline shuffled the segments of the film from how it was originally presented when it was released in Japan a few years before (as an OAV technically, not a theatrical feature, but that was how it was seen here). It would be nice if it was picked up again. This is up DiscoTek Media’s alley if they do consider it. There was one company set up by A.P.P.P. Co., Ltd. (Another Push Pin Planning Company) that considered doing so after they released another of their productions on DVD years ago (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure) but it never happened.

  • Even though I was an adult for a long time by then, I went to see the Raggedy Ann and Andy film to see what my childhood characters looked like in animated form. The only thing I remember about it now is this: The songs were not very good, and they (at least one of them) went on and on for WAAYYY too long! I recall thinking at the time that Disney wouldn’t have done it that way!

    I bought the VHS tape of SONG OF THE SOUTH in 1977 or 1979, while I was in England. Didn’t realize that it wasn’t compatible until I got it home and stuck it into my VCR! :-(!

    • to each his own, I reckon. I thought there were some great songs in raggedy ann & andy. babbette’s first song and the greedy’s song tops among them. plus it’s packed with great animation (especially tissa david’s animation).

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97xTnussEBM

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHBRxMz1V04

    • Walt Mitchell said…
      Even though I was an adult for a long time by then, I went to see the Raggedy Ann and Andy film to see what my childhood characters looked like in animated form. The only thing I remember about it now is this: The songs were not very good, and they (at least one of them) went on and on for WAAYYY too long! I recall thinking at the time that Disney wouldn’t have done it that way!

      No doubt it was pretty excessive in that film.

      I bought the VHS tape of SONG OF THE SOUTH in 1977 or 1979, while I was in England. Didn’t realize that it wasn’t compatible until I got it home and stuck it into my VCR! 🙁 !

      That’s what happens when you don’t take into consideration the differences between PAL and NTSC.

    • When will we see “Song Of The South” on DVD?

  • Hoppity Goes To Town is my all time favorite animated feature too. It is the only film I know that retains the manic energy of a short for the length of a feature.

  • “Carlton Your Doorman”

  • I talked with a member of the Myerberg family in New York about a decade ago about “HANSEL AND GRETEL” and they said they had all the original elements. Why Criterion or some other entity has not undertaken a restoration of this classic is beyond me.

    • maybe some company like thunderbean could do a kickstarter and make it happen.

    • maybe some company like thunderbean could do a kickstarter and make it happen.

      We always have people like Stanchfield if ever that’s possible.

  • Now there’s a wish list, although some are more curiosity than anything else.

    Remember seeing “I Go Pogo” on video and thinking it was a well-intentioned misfire. P.T. Bridgeport as an outright con man instead of the gloriously absurd showman; functional automobiles and TV in the swamp; and stop motion puppets instead of drawn animation. It was handsomely done, but Kelly’s characters were meant to squash and stretch in ink.

    “Mr. Wonderbird” was re-acquired by its original director and substantially redone in the 80s. I’d really like a DVD of that version.

    Jiri Trnka’s “Emperor and the Nightingale” is floating around in PD; but his “Midsummer Night’s Dream” and a series of fairy tales are unavailable.

    And while we’re wishing, I’d like to see all those VHS festival collections (pre-sick-and-twisted Spike and Mike; International Tournee of Animation; etc.). Suspect those are lost because of all the individual creators involved on each title.

    • “And while we’re wishing, I’d like to see all those VHS festival collections (pre-sick-and-twisted Spike and Mike; International Tournee of Animation; etc.). Suspect those are lost because of all the individual creators involved on each title.

      It would be a rights issue there. Having to renegotiate with each of those creators or their families or companies that own said words.

  • “Hoppity” would be my number one choice (the Republic laserdisc release was probably the best).
    Animation buffs should also check out Jean Image’s “Jeannot l’intrepide” (“Johnny the Giant Killer”) released on region free blu-ray several years ago; it’s a lot of fun – great color, a fine music score and 20 minutes of (quite good) material that was cut from the American release.
    Magoo’s “1001 Arabian Nights” is available from Sony MOD in a transfer of excellent quality.
    Karel Zeman’s work is brilliant – not only the aforementioned ‘Baron Munchausen” but also “The Fabulous Adventures of Jules Verne (both available from CD Japan – expensive, but worth the price)And, though it’s only a short, I wish someone would release on blu-ray John Wilson’s “Petrouchka,” originally aired on CBS; Stravinsky, who was no fan of “Fantasia,” actually liked this one!

    • Twenty additional minutes of “Johnny the Giant Killer”? The mind boggles.

  • Here’s my suggestions for films that need the DVD/Blu-Ray treatment:
    Heavy Traffic (The original X-Rated cut)
    Hey Good Lookin’
    The Little Norse Prince/Hols’ Great Adventure
    Osamu Tezuka’s 1001 Arabian Nights and Cleopatra
    Rikki Tikki Tavi (One of the only late era Jones cartoons that’s still good.)

  • Man, there are a ton of animated features like these that got the shaft, and this list doesn’t even cover HALF of them. As a huge animation enthusiast, I try to look for not only the well-known stuff, but also obscure productions as well. “The Animated Movie Guide” by Jerry Beck tends to have quite a few of those.

    On a side note, my brother and I LOVE “Twice Upon A Time.” We got to see the more “adult” bootleg online, and we even signed this petition that Cinefamily started to get the film released on DVD. I can show the links of both the petition and the Q&A with John Korty if anyone wants to see it.

  • There was an I Go Pogo movie poster – and a View Master Set.

  • Here are the animated movies
    that I want to buy on blu-ray:

    -Katy Caterpillar (1984)
    -Perils of Problemina (1968)
    -The Dragon That Wasn’t…Or Was He? (1983)
    -The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe (1979)
    -A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1969)
    -Charlotte’s Web (1973)
    -The Three Caballeros (1944-1945)

    & the animated movies that once aired on the Disney Channel:
    “Gay Purr-ee”, “Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear!”, “The Phantom Tollbooth”,
    “Raggedy Ann & Andy : A Musical Adventure”, “Animalympics”,
    “Katy meets the Aliens”, etc, they deserved to be on blu-ray also!

    (I already have “The Elm-Chanted Forest (1986)” on dvd,
    but this movie needs a blu-ray release too!)

  • There was a really cheesy outfit in the late thirties who poorly re-drew the Mutt and Jeffs in gloppy color and apparently got the Brunswick record company to give them background music. A hideous fate for such a generally inspired cartoon series. The work of Fred Ladd’s grandfather?

  • um anyone for “Allegro Non Troppo” in BluRay???

  • Has anyone else seen the version of “Twice Upon a Time” that was available through Comcast’s video-on-demand service in 2012? It had all of its scenes intact unlike the VHS version and the same dialogue as the VHS version (free of expletives) along with other lines of dialogue for Scuzzbopper, Botch, and Ralph the All-Purpose Animal that were not in that version.

  • A very interesting thread! I did not know that Jimmy Murakami had died earlier this year, but one film that has always fascinated me since I was four years old is “The Mouse and his Child” (1977) which no-one has mentioned above ( JImmy Murakami worked on this production). My mother picked this up on video when a school friend of mine was coming to play and its haunting story with Manny Rat and his ugly band of rodent cohorts trying to defeat the mouse father and son in their quest to become self winding has stayed with me ever since. The styling of the animation is very dark but left a vivid grip on my childhood memories. I think it is available on YouTube in full and I have a very precious copy on VHS but have never come across a DVD release in the UK. I would certainly buy a copy if it were available.

    If you have never seen it, I urge you to watch it ( and indeed, read the novel by Russell Hoban).The philosophical messages about infinity and ‘ The Last Visible Dog’ are certainly deep concepts to tackle but I cannot recommend this film enough! A ‘ good versus evil’ story if ever there was one.

  • …Tom ~ Allow me to join in the chorus of folks requesting that you make Mutt & Jeff Meet Bugoff somehow available , whether in just a ” director’s cut ” remake in B&W or in (I hope) the original , inauthentic , authentic , version as well !
    Even if just in B&W , would you keep the soundtrack , please ?
    41 years after seeing it , only once , the weekend after Spiro Agnew resigned , in the Mount Kisco Theater in Mount Kisco New York at a kiddie matinee , I can STILL recall some of them ! 🙂

  • Hansel and Gretel was based on the Engelbert Humperdink opera (no relation to the singer Engelbert Humperdink) featuring the Apollo Boys Choir. I got the DVD version of that wonderful movie. Fun Fact: When the film was deleased in the 1950’s Nabisco released as a promo for the film’s release Hansel and Gretel cookies woth the images from the film printed on the box.

  • Anyone here remember the 1975 feature Hugo the Hippo besides Chris and me? I have always considered it to be a mixture of Disney,Yellow Submarine,and Hieronymus Bosch. Has it been released anywhere on DVD or Blu-Ray?

  • I wouldn’t mind a Blu-Ray release of John D.Wilson’s Shinbone Alley (1971). I thought it was a pretty daring animated ‘family’ movie for its time.

  • Even if I’m a little late to the party, I’d really like to see the full version of Mutt and Jeff and Bugoff. I’ve managed to find a short under the same name, but it’s just a very, very poor redraw of Slick Sleuths, and nothing more. The background fades to black for no discernible reason at most times! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgq8ZS7HtgU

  • I would love to see Bruno Bozzetto’s first two features West & Soda (1965) and Vip:My Brother Superman released on dvd/Blu-ray in English.

  • Check out Flåklypa Grand Prix. The stop-motion animation leaves everything else in the dust.

  • Amber

    Ta-da! Mutt and Jeff meet Bugoff!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlnY73WUfmM

    • That print was actually uploaded by Amber. The cycle continues…

    • bro, you just uploaded my video without asking me first. also, who credits you as the owner of it and not me?

      someone please remove the video from this list

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