{"id":91153,"date":"2025-07-03T00:01:49","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T07:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/?p=91153"},"modified":"2025-07-03T07:02:56","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T14:02:56","slug":"our-latest-blu-ray-release-is-here-mid-century-modern-volume-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/index.php\/our-latest-blu-ray-release-is-here-mid-century-modern-volume-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Latest Blu-ray Release Is Here: “Mid Century Modern, Volume 3”"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the 21 years we\u2019ve been doing the Thunderbean sets (and now 11 years doing Blu-ray sets) we\u2019ve always released at least a few titles a year. Last year was the first exception, and we’re making up for that in the second half of this year by releasing a bunch of sets before year’s end. The first of those is finally shipping this week: Mid Century Modern 3<\/em><\/a>!<\/p>\n\"\"\n

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The first two volumes of this series were some of the most fun to put together- there are so many industrial and educational films that just wouldn\u2019t really see a release otherwise. I have always liked a lot of the shorts for their design, so they were some of the highlights of my own collection over these years. I was also able to borrow shorts and commercials from film collector friends of things I couldn\u2019t find, so I ended up getting a lot of the \u2018classic\u2019 educational and industrial films for those first two volumes. Still, there\u2019s a *lot* of this material, especially commercials, that are beautifully designed- and I find it\u2019s a lot of fun to see both larger and tiny studio\u2019s take on modern graphics in their work. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>For this new Blu-ray, we wanted to gather commercials and focus on some industrial films from a few key studios. Some cool things showed up on Ebay over the years that added to the mix. There were a few drive in films that I especially wanted good material on as well. In the end, I think we\u2019ve ended up with a pretty cool set with a lot of stuff packed into it.<\/p>\n

Having the addition of Diamant for film restoration helped a lot as well- a real upgrade. Dave and Becky Grauman, Becca Smith, and Ciara Waggoner and myself had a good time working on these. Near the end of the project, I was lucky enough to be able to get a few rare UPA industrial films made for the Navy that are great. While the prints were not optimal, we were still able to get the most out of them.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what\u2019s on the set!<\/p>\n

The Rover Boys in Peril (1948)<\/strong> and Collisions Occurring During Simulated Combat (1949) are wonderful examples of UPA\u2019s late 40\u2019s work. I did a post on \u2018Rover Boys\u2019 a little while back here. Bob Cannon\u2019s animation is a highlight in both these films- brilliant all around.<\/p>\n

You Can Handle it (1960)<\/strong> and Cal Dun commercial reel feature work from a small Chicago studio that is obviously influenced by the work of UPA and other studio\u2019s work. You can see their work is always made on a tight budget, but I find it enjoyable and really interesting.<\/p>\n

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“The Littlest Giant”<\/p><\/div>Be Happy, Be Heathly (1960)<\/strong> is a wonderfully odd little short made by a small studio called Portafilms, right here in my home town, Ann Arbor, Michigan. It reminds me of the sorts of graphics in children\u2019s educational materials for schools in the early 60s.<\/p>\n

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The Littlest Giant (1956)<\/strong> has the usual slick production values that most of the John Sutherland work has in this period, with especially beautiful layout by Vic Haboush. Tralfaz<\/em> had a great post that includes this short here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Piping Hot (1959)<\/strong> is a really fun short for natural gas, by British Studio Halas and Bachelor.<\/p>\n

The Butcher, Baker and the Ice Cream Maker (1960)<\/strong>, by Kling! Productions, is a well produced little film promoting the use of waxed containers for Ice Cream production.<\/p>\n

Mr. Digit and the Battle of Bubbling Brook (1961)<\/strong> is a live action and animated film, made to sell the public on the switching to an area code-based phone system- producted by UPA.<\/p>\n

A Missile Named Mac (1962)<\/strong> is another well-produced John Sutherland film, also for the Bell System. Sutherland\u2019s shorts from this period often feature more than one graphic design style, and this one is both cartoony and more graphically realistic.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

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The commercials and more section is my favorite on the set. It features the cool drive in spots by Texas-based Keith and Herndon, lots of commercials in different groups, Stan Freberg\u2019s \u2018History of the United States\u2019<\/em> segment from the Chun King Chow Main hour special, and a reel of commercials with Vinegar syndrome that was just too good to not include.<\/p>\n

I really love this little collection- the ones that have a whole mix of films like this are such fun sets to revisit again and again since there are so many different sections. All the pre-orders are going out this week, and it\u2019s available at the Thunderbean Shop<\/a> as of today.<\/p>\n

Thanks to everyone that helped make this set a reality, especially the folks that contributed films and supported the gofundme with replicating the set. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a little preview. Have a good week everyone! <\/p>\n