George Rufle

Bizarre Cartoons Of The Past

Before the animation industry became dominated by the major studios and their familiar stable of characters, there were other companies who entertained theater audiences with wild excursions into cartoon fantasies. Experimentation was the rule as the boundries of cinematic animation were being pushed to the limit and many of these early productions have the raw look of a work in progress. These classic animated shorts from the early days of sound were created by nearly forgotten production pioneers like Van Beuren Studios and Max and Dave Fleischer. Hilarious, inventive, sometimes risque and often surreal, these films are the fabulous forerunners of every cartoon we've ever watched in the theater or on TV. Laugh again at the cartoons your grandparents enjoyed in the 1930s.

The Awful Tooth

A cat is being driven mad --- a short distance --- by an aching wisdom tooth and discovers in the Remedy Book a remedy that requires only the eating of a crow. The cat captures the first crow that comes along, but the crow is smarter than the cat, and offers other remedies, none of which call for crow-eating.

Sing Again Of Michigan

Singalong with spot gags about Michigan.

Tweet Music

Singalong with spot gags about birds.

Popeye Makes a Movie

Popeye and Olive prepare to make a movie while his nephews watch. The movie is a significant portion of Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves, which makes up over 80% of this release (beginning with Popeye, Olive, and Wimpy suffering in the desert), and despite admonitions, the nephews get involved a couple times, most notably tossing Popeye his can of spinach.

Heap Hep Injuns

"Heap Hep Injuns" is an animated short about how "Indians used to live" (IE: a 1940's, non-PC view of Indian life.) Includes a sing-a-long of "My Pony Boy."

Lumberjack and Jill

Popeye and Bluto are lumberjacks who compete for the affections of their new cook, Olive Oyl.

A Wolf in Sheik's Clothing

Popeye and Olive are riding a camel in Arabia. They stop to fill the camel with water and freshen up a bit; Olive muses aloud that she'd like to kiss a sheik. A sheik, looking a lot like Bluto, happens to overhear this and sets up a kissing booth. He carries her away to his luxurious tent. Popeye finally finishes up and notices Olive is gone; he chases after her, but his camel suffers a blowout. Meanwhile, the sheik has been wooing Olive. Popeye arrives, and after briefly sharing the hookah with the sheik, tries to leave with Olive. The sheik will have none of it; he wraps Popeye like a mummy and fires him with a cannon into the sphinx. Fortuitously, there's a can of spinach inside, and Popeye saves the day.

The Phantom Rocket

Tom and Jerry are about to embark on on a voyage into space when their rocket ship is hijacked and they are taken hostage by an escaped convict.

Dough Nuts

Tom and Jerry are doughnut-makers competing against an assortment of weirdos for first prize at a bakers' convention.

In the Park

Tom and Jerry play with a bratty baby.

Happy Hoboes

Tom and Jerry are hoboes, but the city is demolishing the hobo camp. They hop a ride on a freight train. The train comes to a lumber camp, where the Chinese cook has just prepared a huge platter of roast chicken; he invites the train people to eat, but hundreds of bums descend. He chases them off, into a log slide, and they end up right back in the original camp.

Tight Rope Tricks

Tom and Jerry have fun at the circus and then show their acrobatic talents on a tightrope. They get into trouble with an ornery lion and are chased from the Big Top by the feline's friends. When the defend themselves by spraying the lions away with an elephant's trunk, they accidentally flood the circus but are able to float away unscathed.

Piano Tooners

Tom and Jerry work as piano tuners. After seeing them at work and several creative ways of tuning a piano (such as removing the offending key and cutting the key itself to a shorter length), the two attend an opera singers performance. The singer passes out when the piano plays a wrong note, and Tom and Jerry are pressed into service to re-tune the piano. After pulling the offending key from the keyboard like a bad tooth, the two give the opera audience a jazz piano performance, with the now recovered opera singer joining in.

Barnyard Bunk

An old farmer has let his entire farm go and it is falling down around him, with mice taking over. Tom and Jerry (the human versions, not the cat and mouse) show up with magical saxophones, and the music has amazing effects on the farm. A chicken lays dozens of eggs, a cow gives gallons and gallons and gallons of milk, and two woodpeckers don't just peck a tree, they cut it down and split it into firewood. Even the farmer's well changes, filling with beer (by the mug of course) instead of water. The farmer trades Tom and Jerry a huge bag of money for the saxophones, but he gets the better deal - the bag is full of the mice from the start of the cartoon, and they carry Tom and Jerry off to throw them into the pond.

The Ball Game

A Van Beuren Studios cartoon....

Plane Dumb

After crash landing in Africa, Tom and Jerry masquerade as Africans in a futile attempt to adapt to a strange environment.

In the Bag

Tom and Jerry crash their plane in the cartoon wild, wild west. Surreal hi-jinx involving a vicious outlaw and robbery ensue.

Rocketeers

Tom and Jerry build an experimental rocket intending to go to the Moon. The rocket misfires, and they instead find themselves exploring a strange world at the bottom of the ocean.

Jungle Jam

Tom and Jerry are captured by cannibals while dancing and engaging in musical hi-jinx in the jungle. Can Jerry save their lives by impressing the chief with his yodeling skills?

Polar Pals

Tom and Jerry are washed ashore in a frigid land inhabited by music-loving animals, including walruses, penguins, and polar bears.

The King of Bugs

Early sound cartoon with an all-insect cast. An eager-to-please young bugler inadvertently annoys the king during a parade and tournament, but redeems himself by rescuing the king's daughter, who's been abducted by a really horrid-looking spider.