How's It Hold Up?

Donald Duck has finally been unshackled from Mickey's side, free to get into his own mouse-free shenanigans. Pluto's not even here! In fact, Donald's all on his own this time, at least when it comes to living creatures. There are a handful of robots, though! How does this early Donald solo outing hold up so many years later? Listen to find out! The Curtain Rises Kevin MacLeod (incompet...

(Spoiler Section Length - 10min 27sec) We finally arrive at the loose quadrilogy of Scooby-Doo movies that began with Zombie Island! With this film, Scooby-Doo enters the era of digital colorization, as well, making the film's aesthetic decidedly different from the previous three. Plot-wise, in this one the gang fights against a digital monster, both in and out of the digital world, along with...

As we've watched the two Warner Bros cartoon series (Merrie Melodies & Looney Tunes), we've gradually seen Porky Pig become the studio's main character, the closest thing they had to a Mickey Mouse. But by this point, Mickey Mouse was arguably not even the most popular character in Disney's cartoons anymore - Donald Duck was fast taking that position. And thus, maybe it was abo...

Many animated films tried to compete with Disney during the 90s, and virtually all of them failed, at least financially. But how about critical reception, cult following, or even general quality? Well there weren't many contenders in those arenas, but one that can put up a fight in all three just so happens to be today's film. The iconography of the Iron Giant character himself is perhaps...

We end our 1936 cartoon short journey with a double-length, color, musical Popeye short! Our hero Popeye comes up against villain Sindbad and his island of incredible and dangerous beasts! But none are as dangerous as Sindbad himself! Throw in Olive Oyl and Wimpy and several instances of 3D hand-crafted backgrounds and you have all the ingredients for a grand ol' time! But... is it? Listen to...

Between Disney's much beloved Golden and Silver eras is the 'Wartime' era, which is significantly less beloved and talked about. Virtually all of the movies in this period were collections of animated shorts, be they many in number such as Melody Time or only two not-quite-feature-length shorts, like Ichabod and Mr. Toad. But Saludos Amigos and Three Caballeros, while similar, are a bi...

In this classic Mickey Mouse cartoon, Donald Duck tries to fix some pipes while Pluto gets harassed by a magnet! Eventually the two collide and chaos ensues. Are you wondering why that description didn't involve the character of Mickey? Well that would be because he isn't in this cartoon! Made before Disney started breaking characters out into their own separate series, this cartoon is in...

(Spoiler Section Length - 5min 40sec) Today we have another anthology film, this one based on the titular magazine. It's a film of sex, violence and rock 'n' roll, and it certainly won't be to everyone's tastes. It's also from the 80s, so the era of 'Heavy Metal'—both the magazine and music genre—that it harkens to is one long past at this point. All of this doesn&#...

There are many Looney Tunes director that are well known and spoken of today, be they Chuck Jones, Tex Avery or even Bob Clampett. But there are also less-discussed directors whose work was no less interesting and important in pushing the series into the force it would become. Enter Frank Tashlin, a man whose appreciation of live-action cinematic techniques was brought with him into his cartoons,...

We've covered films by Studio Ghibli's second-most famous director twice before, though one of those times it we were discussing a pre-Ghibli work of his. But today we have Isao Takahata's swan song, the last movie he ever made, and one of the most eye-catching, to boot. It's a new take on an old tale, and it's quite unlike the more quirky and off-beat films of his that we'...

The series of Mickey, Donald and Goofy cartoons started out featuring Peg-Leg Pete as an antagonist, and in this cartoon that antagonism continues in color! ...Sort of! Pete is here, at least, but notably missing is his peg leg! From here on out Peg-Leg Pete just becomes Pete, at least as far as the classic era is concerned. The peg-leg aside... how's the cartoon? Listen to find out! The Curta...

(Spoiler Section Length - 5min 59sec) It's time for more sequels to Don Bluth movies that have no involvement from Bluth himself or any of the other original creators for that matter! Except unlike most such sequels, this one ended up spawning a long-running franchise with well over 10 films and even a tv series under its belt as of 2024. The Land Before Time franchise is a bit infamous for it...

Oswald is a character originally created by Walt Disney, but who has long since been run by other directors, still creating shorts right alongside the much more popular Mickey Mouse series. Like Mickey, Oswald's design has changed with the times, but unlike Mickey that change at this point is so drastic that Oswald is hardly identifiable as the Mickey precursor that he started out as. All that...

(Spoiler Section Length - 6min 41sec) The second of the two Don Bluth and Steven Spielberg collaborations, The Land Before Time would also go on to become the premier children series about dinosaurs for the better part of two decades. While those later films (and tv series!) have a reputation all their own, this first one is the only film in the series to have Bluth and Spielberg's touch, and...

Another Betty Boop cartoon, here in the era where her shorts are mostly not her own, but rather a vehicle for her dog, Grampy, or some other even less interesting character! This time Betty wants to take some kid to the carnival, but the weather isn't permitting. But good ol' Grampy cooks up an indoor carnival, with an impressive finale flourish! It might be one of the best Betty Boop cart...

(Spoiler Section Length - 5min 33sec) Disney films are often retroactively classified into various 'eras', with the period between Walt Disney's death and the start of the Renaissance often referred to as 'the Dark Ages'. Despite this ominous moniker, many fan-favorite films exist in this time period, including this very film! But this film is also infamous for its cheap nature...

Walt Disney famously hated sequels, though this wasn't an opinion he always held. At one point in time he was all for creating sequels to the hit cartoon Three Little Pigs, but when each short proved to be diminishing returns (at least financially), it contributed to his dislike of the concept of sequels. But looking back at this, the 2nd sequel in the series, were audiences right to dismiss i...

(Spoiler Section Length - 5min 42sec) Today we cover another movie from Cartoon Saloon, creators of The Secret of Kells and also a lot of other things, some of which - like a short for the Star Wars anthology series Visions - have come out since we covered their first film. Their studio only continues to put interesting and beautiful works out, only continues to become more and more prominent, and...

Some pieces of media — be they cartoon shorts, feature length films, or even whole seasons of television — are worth watching a particular moment. That moment could be as short as a single seconds-long scene or as long as an entire episode, but something about it manages to massively exceed the quality level of the media it's a part of. Today, we have a cartoon that fits this bill... but is th...

(Spoiler Section Length - 16min 35sec) Some movies are known for being massively successful, massively influential, and pillars of their respective genre... and yet also get watched less and less as the years go by, as though knowledge of their reputation is enough and watching the actual film is no longer needed. In many ways, it feels like Akira is one of these movies - frequently mentioned when...

Though Tex Avery tends to be known for his more violent, slapstick and sometimes horny cartoons, the man was also capable of making cartoons that were strangely sweet. This is perhaps the most well-known example, though don't let the 'sweet' description fool you into thinking the short is devoid of laughs. Featuring a jazz-singing owl, disappointed parents, and a talent competition, th...

(Spoiler Section Length - 12min 34sec) Like Ranma 1/2 before, this time we're covering another animated film that's tied to a long-running animated series! Unlike that movie, which was fairly standalone, this film is actually a direct continuation of Steven Universe, taking place after that series' finale. Like the show that spawned it, there's lots of fighting, lots of singing, an...

Popeye is back, and he's got a baby this time! Trying to be a pal to Olive Oyl, Popeye takes little Swee'Pea to the zoo, but this baby has a habit of running loose and causing problems that it's up to Popeye to fix. This is one of those cartoons that's alright overall but has one particular moment that makes you laugh out loud. Does that moment make the cartoon worth watching? List...

(Spoiler Section Length - 3min 24sec) We've watched several half-hour shorts for Mickey and his friends before, but we've never seen the mouse feature in a full-length film... until today! That's right, Mickey and his pals are Musketeers, on a feature-length adventure of daring-do and classical music. The gang's all here - Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Minnie, Daisy, Pete, Pluto, the Beag...

Mickey's pals Donald and Goofy might be swiftly gaining in popularity, but at least in 1936, Mickey himself wasn't down for the count yet! This time we have a Through the Looking Glass inspired romp in store for Disney's favorite mouse, with Mickey dancing, playing and fighting over the course of the short. It's all a dream and Mickey knows it, so he might as well have some fun whi...