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History of Advertising - Animation (1940-1950) DVD
History of Advertising - Animation DVD
1940-1950
Director: A2ZCDS.com
Genres: Special Interests, Television, Documentary, Animation
NR     2005     1hr 6min

Amongst The Funniest Animated Advertisements From The 1940s! A Unique Collection From The Golden Age Of Animation! From Classic Lucky Strike Ads To Clever AT&T Promotions, This DVD Has It All!Today?s computer generated gra...  more »

     
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Movie Details

Director: A2ZCDS.com
Genres: Special Interests, Television, Documentary, Animation
Sub-Genres: Special Interests, Television, Documentary, Animation
Studio: Tapeworm
Format: DVD - Black and White,Color,Full Screen - Animated,Full length
DVD Release Date: 02/24/2005
Theatrical Release Date: 01/01/2005
Release Year: 2005
Run Time: 1hr 6min
Screens: Black and White,Color,Full Screen
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 3
Edition: Collector's Edition,Special Edition
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Languages: English
Subtitles: English
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Movie Reviews

Advertising? Education? Propaganda?
BlaskoFilms | Coon Rapids, MN United States | 01/31/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Animation isn't just for entertainment - it's an incredible teaching tool, enabling the animator/producer to present a clear visual argument or succinct explanation of otherwise complex processes. Today we rarely ever see animation in the classroom, and only occasionally in a handful of commercials, but in the 1940s, over 40% of advertising was animated. These shrewd producers - Oldsmobile, General Motors, AT&T, GE, Lucky Strike, Kellogg and the New York Stock Exchange, among others - knew the power of the medium, and they used it!

Curious as to what some of these ads looked like? I picked up DVD copies of the entire History of Advertising: Animation series put out by A2ZCDs, and I have to admit that I'm very impressed by both the quality of the transfers and the variety of films included. If you're curious, here's a list of the contents for each:

H of A: Animation 1930-1940: My Merry Oldsmobile, Down the Gasoline Trail, A Coach for Cinderella, A Ride for Cinderella, Peg Leg Pedro, Extra Esso, Breakfast Pals, The Princess and the Pauper

H of A: Animation 1940-1950: Something for Nothing, Drawing Account, Just Imagine, The Adventures of Junior Raindrop, Lucky Strike Marching, Lucky Strike Dancing, Going Places, Meet King Joe

H of A: Animation 1950-1960: Eisenhower for President, Freedom and Power, What Makes Us Tick, It's Everybody's Business, Destination Earth, Working Dollars

What is so great about these cartoons is that they force us to examine the definitions of entertainment, education and propaganda. At a time when "Communist" animators were being hunted down through HUAC hearings for the crime of influencing the masses, "Capitalist" producers were busy commissioning a stream of public films supporting free-market ideologies, consumer choices and shareholder investments. As Karl F. Cohen writes in his 1997 book, Forbidden Animation, "While these historic films may be seen as harmless educational messages, what if a group that you disagree with sponsors television cartoons in the future?" In an increasingly polemic society, it's an important question, and one that these advertising anthologies can bring back into light.

Or, you can simply enjoy the first Snap!, Crackle!, Pop! Rice Krispies commercial, "Breakfast Pals" - it's your choice, after all."
It Brought Back My Youth
delores | 05/05/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Why aren't more advertisements like this made today. They are so innocent and not awful like the comercials on the television.

Seeing these ads made me very happy. I could actually sing along to many of the older commercials and I had forgotten how much fun some of these were.

The cartoons are silly of course, but in a wholesome nice way."
Wow! This taught me a lot!"
Jonathan Champlovier | London, UK | 05/02/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)

""I showed these DVDs to my advertising professor! He couldn't believe it! All of the supposedly "modern" advertising methods we were learning were on display here - back in the 1930s! Wow! This taught me a lot!"
"
A Laugh Riot
Arthur | America | 05/02/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)

"This DVD is great for the sheer amusement factor alone. In the early 1940s we were in a golden age of cinema, but we clearly were not in a golden age of using moving pictures to sell products.

Because the medium was so new, these directors seemed ready to try anything to sell stuff and simply see what would work. So, they made a lot of cartoon characters - some cute, some simply bizarre - to try to get movie patrons to buy products.

The results includes square dancing, musical cigarettes and other strange, strange cartoon characters.

The cuts are somewhat rough, but I simply could not stop watching the trainwreck that some of these ads are.

I loved it."