Search - Hunky & Spunky And Molly Moo Cow: Picnic Panic [Slim Case] on DVD

Classic early Technicolor cartoons

Alejandra Vernon | Long Beach, California | 06/07/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Hunky and Spunky are a mother burro and her baby burro, were made by the Fleischer Studios in the late 30's and early 40's, in 3-strip Technicolor, directed by Dave Fleischer, and with Sammy Timberg's music. For the most part, they have sound effects rather than dialogue.
Molly Moo-Cow hails from the 1930s, is in brilliant Technicolor (the reds are dazzling), and the episodes shown in this collection are in excellent shape, and very clear for their age.
They were made by the Van Beuren Studios and directed by Burt Gillett and Tom Palmer.

Episode list:, Hunky and Spunky.
1: "Always Kickin'", 1939. Animated by Myron Waldman and Arnold Gillespie.
Spunky gets bored with his kicking lessons and goes off to see his friends the birdies. He tries to sing and fly like them, and when the big ugly hawk steals a baby bird, Spunky rescues it.
2: "The Barnyard Brat", 1939. Animated by Arnold Waldman and Anthony Pabian.
Oh ! Spunky is very naughty in this episode.
3: "Hunky and Spunky", 1938. Animated by Arnold Waldman and Graham Place. The colors have faded in this episode, but not the sweet sentiment of it. It has 3-D effects, and was nominated for a Best Short Subject Academy Award. The story is about Spunky getting captured and Hunky saving him.
4: "A Kick in Time", 1940. Animated by James Culhane and Alfred Eugster.
Spunky gets captured again, and gets sold at an auction. This one is so sad, and involves human cruelty to animals.
5: "Snubbed by a Snob", 1940. Animated by Stanley Quackenbush and Arnold Gillespie.
Hunky and Spunky are initially snubbed by 2 racehorses, but then Spunky saves the racehorse colt from a raging bull, and they all become friends. The graphics are wonderful on this one.
Check out the framed pictures on the stable wall; two of adorned horses and their many wins, one of a glue-pot, with "1 race, 0 win". The harsh reality of life, that only appreciates the winners.

Molly the Moo-Cow episodes.
6: "Molly Moo-Cow and Robinson Crusoe", 1936. Molly gets stranded on Crusoe's island, but he sends her away. Crusoe is captured by cannibals, and Molly returns to save him. Some politically incorrect images in this one, especially at the end, when Molly puts on blackface, and becomes Crusoe's servant.
This was Molly Moo-Cow's final appearance.
7: "Molly Moo-Cow and the Butterflies", 1935. This one is truly lovely and very colorful. Molly does a Strauss waltz, and then dons a butterfly disguise to save her winged friends from a butterfly collector. This one is in terrific condition for its age.
8: "Molly Moo-Cow and the Indians", 1935. Molly saves an American Indian baby from a river, and also two geese from being cooked.
9: "Picnic Panic", 1946. A 3-strip Technicolor episode made for Columbia Pictures, directed by Bob Wickerstein, and animated by Chic Ottertrom and Paul Sommer.
This one is a part live-action oddity. It is not a Molly Moo-Cow cartoon (she was last featured 10 years earlier), but it does have a Molly look-alike that makes a brief appearance. In the live action it has 3 little girls, who watch as an animated coffeepot, teakettle, etc., have a picnic.
The audio for this one is fuzzy.
Total running time is 66 minutes.
"