Animaland [DVD]

A film archivist in Burbank, California named Ken Kramer bought several reels of movie film, paying $50 to the guy who was selling them just to get rid of him. The haul was mostly movie trailers. Then, he struck pure cinematic gold. Four of the reels contained a series of theatrical cartoons that were thought to have been lost forever. The 9 cartoons had the look and feel of vintage 1940s Disney with a liberal splash of Looney Tunes lunacy. Each was identified as "A David Hand ANIMALAND Cartoon".

A phone call to Leonard Maltin revealed David Hand to be the same David Hand who was Walt Disney's supervising director of the animated features "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Bambi". After progressing as far as he could in the enforced anonymity of the Disney studios, Hand was lured to England by J. Arthur Rank to establish a similar animation studio on the British Isles. The "Animaland" cartoons were released theatrically in Europe but could never find an American distributor, possibly because of pressure from Warner Bros., MGM and Hand's former employer, one Walter Elias Disney, all of whom had their own thriving animation divisions.

When the Rank Organisation closed Hand's studio, the fate of the "Animaland" cartoons remained a mystery for the past 50 years. Hand returned to the USA and turned his back on animation. He spent most of the rest of his career producing industrial training films. In Europe, 4 "Animaland" cartoons eventually turned up and were released on home video overseas. They were thought to be the ONLY extant specimens.

Flash forward to Ken Kramer's incredible find. The 9 cartoons are, to date, the biggest collection from the series. The good news is that David Hand's son, David Hale Hand, agreed to their release on home video in the USA. Since David Hale Hand owns the American rights to his father's work, there are even plans for an animated feature film starring the cast of the "Animaland" cartoons.

Many of the cartoons feature Ginger Nutt, a fiery red squirrel who's easily as cute as Thumper the rabbit from "Bambi" but can be intimidating enough to fend off the 3 forest troublemakers Corny Crow, Dusty Mole and Loopy Hare. Ginger Nutt's love interest is a female squirrel named Hazel. The rest of the cartoons are one-shots with obbligatory production numbers about such species as the cuckoo, the duck-billed platypus, the ostrich, the lion and the house cat.

Anyone who enjoys classic Disney and Warner animation won't be able to stop watching these cartoons. The most fascinating thing about the cartoons is that they offer a glimpse into another cartoon world located somewhere between Disney's unrelenting cuteness and Warner Bros. madness. There's also a sense of sadness of what might have been, had David Hand been able to continue the series.

If you think this collection would make a great gift for your favorite vintage cartoon fan, think again. You'd better pick up 2 copies, for yourself and for the lucky recipient.

Animaland is an exceptionally clever and enjoyable collection of cartoon shorts, with the unique ability to keep the attention of both children and adults. David Hand and his production team did not simply mimic the style of Disney's cartoons, but tried to push the envelope, developing clever plots, strange characters, and sometimes surreal settings. Most of the shorts are fast-paced action stories, with minimal dialog. When the characters do speak, they often have British accents. Some of the shorts are introduced by an off-screen British narrator, who, parodying instructional nature films, gives "scientific" information about the lead animal. The original music is catchy, perfectly timed with the visuals, and provides good instrumental sound effects. The animation is sophisticated, as we'd expect from Hand's reputation as a key Disney animation director. My favorite is "The Ostrich" in which a male Ostrich steps into a two-dimensional Egyptian Hieroglyphic to pursue a female Ostrich. The vocal lyrics to that segment are hilarious, and the animation mesmerizing.

A few comments on the reviews below. Comparisons with Disney characters are misleading; Animaland characters have personalities of their own - often very British. The audio to the DVD is fabulous in view of the date of the source material. Yes, the cartoons are charming and comparatively wholesome, but we're not talking Teletubbies here. The two words I'd use are "zany" and "intelligent".

David Hand's Animaland cartoons are an interesting historical oddity with a lot going for them despite their problems. Part of the Rank Organisation's attempts to build a post-war British film empire when the UK briefly banned all American films in 1948 to boost the local industry (which explains the proud boast `Made in Cookham-on-Thames' on the end credits), they boast some fine animation but fall down on plot and characters. Somehow occasional stars red squirrel Ginger Nutt and his girlfriend seem such close relatives to Chip `n' Dale and Thumper that the very, very well spoken received English pronunciation just seems plain wrong. Ginger's also not a particularly memorable character, so the cartoons that rely more on spot gags than plots fare better. But the animation is certainly lavish, as you might expect from the director of Bambi and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Before UPA introduced the minimalist/economy of line concept that would lead to TV's limited animation techniques, these boast detailed backgrounds and rich, warm colors (even though the DVD transfers are clearly - albeit understandably - a few generations away from the originals). Nearly all of them have something going for them: The Cuckoo boasts a wondrously vivid dream sequence in monochromatic color that's a close cousin to Dumbo's `Elephants on Parade', The Ostrich finds itself falling in love with and becoming a hieroglyphic, 'The Platypus' has some wonderful animation in and under a stream and in 'The House Cat' a kitten's imagination turns a curtain ring into a tiny man in a bath-towel to torment. Probably more for animation aficionados than general audiences, but certainly of interest.