Search - The Three Stooges: Cartoon Classics, Vol. 2 on DVD

Woob! Woob! Woob!

Ned | Eldersburg, Maryland United States | 04/23/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here we have the 2nd volume of The Three Stooges in animation. When it comes to slapstick they did it better than all the rest. At the beginning and end of each cartoon Moe, Larry and Curly Joe appear in classic "wraparounds" (cartoon titles precede live-action wraparounds in parenthesis).Show #5
17. Thru Rain, Sleet and Show (Buried Treasure)
18. Goldriggers of '49 (Outdoor Breakfast)
19. Ready, Jet Set, Go (Setting Up Camp)
20. Behind The 8 Ball Express (Rare Bird)Show #6
21. Droll Weevil (Caretakers)
22. To Kill A Clockingbird (Golfers)
23. Who's Lion (Flat Tire)
24. Fowl Weather Friend (Caretakers)Show #7
25. Wash My Line (Seasick Joe)
26. Little Cheese Chaser (Fan Belt)
27. The Big Windbag (Weighing In)
28. Baby Sitters (Outdoor Sitters)Show #8
29. Clarence Of Arabia (Electricians)
30. Three Jacks And A Beanstalk (Salesman)
31. That Was The Wreck That Was (Barbers)
32. The Three Astronutz (Prospectors)"

Nyuk nyuk nyuk!

Gord Wilson | Bellingham, WA USA | 07/20/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"These cartoons originally appeared as The New Three Stooges and they date, not from 1930, as the Amazon blurb says, but 1965. They have long been available on very low budget collections, having somehow fallen early on into the public domain. Most of those prints are very washed out, whereas this Rhino version restores the bright colors of the original cartoons.

Watching them now, many adults may think they're not very good cartoons. However, they filled a unique niche in tv history. When kids shows still had live hosts, the clowns, story ladies and spacemen showed short syndicated cartoons, the most popular being the Popeye theatrical cartoons. However, a close second was the live action theatrical Three Stooges shorts. These cartoons open and close with live action Three Stooges routines (intros and outros) sandwiching each cartoon. Since there were only 39 or 40 live action bits filmed for 156 cartoons, the live action bits repeat. However, each episode allowed the host to play two halves of a live, color Stooges act with a Stooges cartoon sandwiched in the middle. A nearly perfect format.

Take away the live host, however, and it doesn't make sense. This DVD contains one one sided disc, as did Vol. one. Rhino adds no notes or enhancements other than a list of episodes grouped into four shows (shows 5-8). But each show consists of four episodes, each a cartoon sandwich with live action intros and outros. Four episodes (one show) is a lot for kids to watch in one sitting, but showing one episode a day, you really get sixteen cartoons.

The early cartoons also don't relate to the subject of the live acts, but some of the later ones do. For instance, the live "Barbers" act opens episode 31, which segues into the cartoon, "That Was the Wreck That Was". But later (and hopefully Rhino eventually brings out the full series), the same act opens episode 109, "Hairbrained Barbers", where the cartoon echoes the live act. Episode no. 21 in this set, in show six opens with the "Caretakers" live action wraparound, but the cartoon, "Droll Weevil", is actually labelled as episode 143. This may explain why "Caretakers" also opens episode 24 in the same show, when you'd think the wraparounds wouldn't repeat until the 40th show.

These Cambria cartoons were extremely low budget limited animation, however kids will probably enjoy the switch from live action to cartoon and back again. It was produced by Dick Brown, famous for the even more limited animation of Clutch Cargo and Space Angel, and the Stooges voiced themselves. A changing roster of animators were involved with the show, which explains the wide variants in style and quality of the cartoons. Former Disney animator Jack Kinny was involved in storyboarding, and the late Disney- UPA animator, Jacques Rupp supplied layout on some of the later episodes. For those reasons, the cartoon portions got better as the show went along. The third Stooge here is Curly Joe, the fourth to play that role, and I think he's a great addition adding, as he does, a touch of class to the madcap which, as with other 'sixties cartoons, had been toned down in the wake of the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963.

This wasn't the last Stooges cartoon, however. The Three Robonic Stooges, a Hanna- Barbera cartoon on CBS in 1978, portrayed the comic trio as cyborgs. That segment originally launched in a strange live-action Hanna- Barbera show called Skatebirds. All but the high- rated Stooges segment was soon replaced by a much better known and fondly remembered cartoon, "Speed Buggy". Thanks to Rhino for another blast from the past."

Excellent!

J. C Duval | cumberland, rhode island United States | 12/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Between vols. 1 and 2, we have 32 of the cartoons. As most fans know, there were 156 of them, and 39 original wrap-arounds. I wonder if the rest will be released on DVD!"