A good priced collection of public domain Christmas classics
Zack Davisson | Seattle, WA, USA | 11/25/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
""A Very Classic Christmas" features the usual collection of public domain Christmas cartoons from the 30's and 40's, interspersed with some live-action Christmas vignettes and sing-along songs. The vignettes and sing-along's make for a unique touch on this DVD.The real standouts of the collection are the Fleischer Bros. cartoons, and Ub Iwerk's spooky "Jack Frost." Being from the 30's and 40's, several of them are depression-influenced, showing sad-eyed orphans and poor kids lusting for Christmas treats, and may contain a few stereotypes of an unpleasant nature, but nothing terribly shocking.Definitely for lovers of old cartoons only, or very young children who don't mind the different styles and slightly odd characters.The DVD is of poor quality, which is expected for such ancient cartoons. Restoration takes money, and this collection of public domain prints is just to get them out there. Nothing fancy, but nice to have in any format.The eight cartoons are:Christmas Night (a.k.a. Pals, James Tyler, 1933)
Jack Frost (Ub Iwerks, 1934)
Christmas Comes But Once a Year (Dave Fleischer, 1936)
Somewhere in Dreamland (Dave Fleischer, 1936)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Max Fleischer, 1944)
Santa's Surprise (Seymour Kneitel, 1947)
Snow Foolin' (Izzy Sparber, 1949)
The Christmas Visitor (John Halas, 1959)"
Contents of this DVD.
kayqueue | Virginia, USA | 01/14/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"For those wondering what exactly is on this DVD: I just received A Very Classic Christmas, by Roan Group Archival Entertainment. It includes: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer; Snow Foolin'(1949); Santa's Surprise(1947); Christmas Visit(1959, Russian); Christmas Night(1933); The Christmas Visitor(1959, British); Christmas Comes But Once a Year(1936); Hector's Hectic Life(1948); Jack Frost(1934); The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives(1933); Somewhere In Dreamland(1936); The Night Before Christmas(1944); Silent Night, a sing-a-long; and O Come all ye Faithful, a sing-a-long. The packaging says, "Over 2 hours of cartoon classics.""