Half-Price Sale! Don't Miss Out

Dearest Bloggers,
It's that time again! My Silent Cartoon DVDs are now half-off until August 1st.
If you have not already bought, this is a perfect time to obtain some fun and obscure cartoons like Farmer Alfalfa, Felix the Cat, Out of the Inkwell, and many many others.
Each DVD is just $10 each. At regular price, I offer a discount if you buy DVDs in sets organized by studio. This sale apples to individual DVDs only, and no sets can be ordered at half price.
Please Remember: The sales of DVDs is the ONLY way I can support and maintain my collection. The less sales made, the less material I can find and bring forth to the precious few animation enthusiasts. Be a pal and help out.
Sale valid only for orders placed on July 15th through July 31st.
To view the selection and to place an order, please click the "Tom's Vintage Film" banner above to go to my sales site.
Fellow Bloggers: If any of you would like to spread the word on your blogs, I will offer a 15% commission on referral sales. Contact me for the specifics.
Thanks folks!!

P.S. Here is a list of the DVDs:
A couple people asked me if I could do this, so here is a list of the DVDs for everyone's convenience.

TS01: Disney's Laugh-O-Grams
Walt Disney's Pioneering Series from 1922-1923
Includes:
1. Newman's Laugh-o-Gram
2. Four Musicians of Bremen
3. Cinderella
4. Little Red Riding Hood
5. Puss In Boots
6. Bonus: Clara Cleans Her Teeth!

TS02: Disney's Alice Comedies (Volume 1)
Rare cartoons from 1923-1924
Includes:
1. Alice's Wonderland (Pilot from 1923)
2. Alice's Day at Sea
3. Alice's Spooky Adventure
4. Alice's Wild West Show
5. Alice's Fishy Story
6. Alice and the Dog Catcher
7. Alice the Peacemaker
8. Alice Gets in Dutch
9. Alice the Piper
10. Alice and The Three Bears (no main title)

TS07: Disney's Alice Comedies (Volume 2)
More classic Alice Comedies from 1924-1925
Includes:
1. Alice In Africa
2. Alice Cans the Cannibals
3. Alice the Toreador
4. Alice Gets Stung
5. Alice Solves the Puzzle
6. Alice's Egg Plant
7. Alice Loses Out
8. Alice Gets Stage Struck
9. Alice Wins the Derby
10. Alice Picks the Champ

TS08: Disney's Alice Comedies (Volume 3)
Includes:
Alice's Tin Pony
Alice's Orphan
Alice Rattled by Rats
Alice's Balloon Race
Alice's Mysterious Mystery
Alice the Whaler
Alice's Circus Daze
Alice the Jail Bird
Alice on the Farm

TS03: Disney's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
Hard-To-Find classics from 1927-1928
Includes:
Trolley Troubles
Oh Teacher
Great Guns
Mechanical Cow
Ocean Hop
Rival Romeos
Bright Lights (decayed)
Oh What a Knight
Fox Chase
Yanky Clipper (Lantz)

PAUL TERRY
TS05: Farmer Alfalfa Volume 1
Everyone's favorite "Farmer Gray" in silent cartoons!
Includes:
Two of a Trade (1922)
Smart Salesman (1923)
In Dutch (1925)
Why Argue (1926)
Windjammers (1926)
Through Thick and Thin (1926)
Where Friendship Ceases (1926)
Static (1928)
Wooden Money (1929)
Snapping the Whip (1929)

TS06: Farmer Alfalfa Volume 2
Includes:
Wayward Pup (1917)
Donkey Tricks (1922)
Bad Bandit (1923) Spanish Titles
She's In Again (1924)
Picnic (1925)
Over the Plate (1925)
Watered Stock (1926)
Small Town Sheriff (1927)
Water Cure (1929)
In the Bag (1929)

TS20: Farmer Alfalfa Volume 3
Includes:
Farmer Alfalfa's Revenge (1916)
Custard Pies (1929)
Summer Time (1929)
Tuning In (1929)
Barnyard Melody (1929)
Ship Ahoy! (1930)
Iron Man (1930)
Noah's Outing (1932)
Holland Days (1934)
Why Mules Leave Home (1934)

TS19: Aesop's Fables Volume 1

Includes:

Amateur Night on the Ark (1923)
Wild West (1924)
Sharpshooter (1924)
China Doll (1926)
Knight Out (1926)
Sunny Italy (1926)
Short Vacation (1927)
Stars of the Circus (1927)

BRAY STUDIOS

TS09: Bray Rarities
A sampling of forgotten cartoons from the first studio to mass-produce
animated cartoons!
Includes:
The Artist's Dream (1913)
Col. Heeza Liar At The Bat (1916)
Police Dog On the Wire (1916)
Farmer Alfalfa's Revenge (1916)
Turn to the Right Leg (1920) mediocre print
Jungle Belles (1927) with Walter Lantz appearing

TS12: Bobby Bumps
Includes:
Bobby Bumps On His Goatmobile (1916)
Bobby Bumps Gets a Substitute (1916)
Bobby Bumps Starts a Lodge (1916)
Bobby Bumps Before And After (1918)
Bobby Bumps Puts a Beanery On The Bum (1918)
Bobby Bumps' Hypnotic Eye (1919)

TS14: Krazy Kat Volume 1
Includes:
Goes A-Wooing (1916)
Bugologist (1916)
At the Circus (1916)
Family Affair (1920)
Hinges on the Barroom Door (1920)
Great Cheese Robbery (1920)


MAX FLEISCHER

TS10: Out Of The Inkwell Volume 1
Includes:
Circus (1919)
Perpetual Motion (1919)
Modeling (1921)
Bubbles (1922)
Challenge (1922)
Reunion (1922)
Payday (1922)
Puzzle (1923)
Bedtime (1923)
Contest (1923)

TS11: Out Of The Inkwell Volume 2
Includes:
Fortune Teller (1923)
Shadows (1923)
Vaudeville (1924)
Vacation (1924)
Cure (1924)
Sparring Partner (1924)
Koko in 1999 (1924)
Cartoon Factory (1925)
Koko In Toyland (1925)
Storm (1925)

TS13: Koko Song Cartunes
Sound Cartoons Made Before Disney's "Steamboat Willie"!
Includes:
In the Good Old Summertime (1924)
My Old Kentucky Home (1926)
Margie (1926)
Tramp Tramp Tramp (1926)
Tramp Tramp Tramp (1926-Alternate Version)
Sweet Adeline (1926)

FELIX THE CAT
TS15: Felix the Cat Volume 1
Includes:
Feline Follies

Felix in the Swim

Felix in the Bone Age

Felix Out of Luck

Felix Finds Out

Pedigreedy

One Good Turn

April Maze

Tee Time



TS16: Felix the Cat Volume 2

Includes:

Felix Strikes it Rich

Felix Turns the Tide

Felix Hyps the Hippo

Felix Goes West

Felix Gets the Can

Felix in Eats Are West

Astronomeows

Woos Whoopee

Sculls and Skulls



TS17: Felix the Cat Volume 3

Includes:

Felix Tries for Treasure

Felix in Hollywood

Felix Doubles for Darwin

Felix All Puzzled

Felix Monkeys With Magic

Felix Dopes it Out

Felix in Two-Lip Time

Romeeow

Hootchy Kootchy



TS18: Felix the Cat Volume 4

Includes:

Felix Busts a Bubble (1926)

Flim Flam Films (1927)

Felix Hits the Deck (1927)

Outdoor Indore (1928)

Comicalamities (1928)

Arabiantics (1928)

Pollytics (1928)

Oceantics (1930)



MISCELLANEOUS
TS04: Rare Silent Cartoons Volume 1
Classics availabe nowhere else!
Includes:
Indoor Sports (1920)
Kat in Chinatown (1920?)
Local Talent (1927)
Red Hot Rails (1927)
Tale of a Kangaroo (1917)
Man in the Moon (1910?)
Left Behind (1925)
Goldilocks and The Three Bears (1929)
The Witch's Cat (1929)
In the Land of Whiz (1929)

TS21: Bonzo Cartoons
Nearly forgotten rare cartoons by Studdy. (No music)
Bonzo (1924)
Tally-Ho! Bonzo (1925)
Aladdin Bonzo (1925) Exclusively from the Tom Stathes Collection.
Sandy McBonzo (1925) Exclusively from the Tom Stathes Collection.
Bonzo the Traveller (1925)
Polar Bonzo (1925- Together with Traveller)
Bonzo In the Army (1925) a.k.a. "Tanked"
Dog Gone (1925?)
Zoo-Ology (1925?) Edited version of Dog Gone.

TS22: Stop Motion Madness Vol. 1
Includes:
Enchanted Drawing (1900)
Humorous Phases of Funny Faces (1906)
Morpheus Mike (O'Brien, 1915)
Dinosaur and the Missing Link (O'Brien, 1915)
Swat the Fly (Hopkins, 1916)
R.F.D. 10,000 B.C. (O'Brien, 1916)
Adam Raises Cain (Sarg, 1920)
First Circus (Sarg, 1921)

*Sound Cartoons*

Van Beuren
TS23: Aesop's Sound Fables Vol. 1
Wildly and wacky surreal cartoons from the Van Beuren Studios.
Presto Chango
Skating Hounds
Jail Breakers
Night Club
Dixie Days
Western Whoopee
Snow Time
Old Hockum Bucket
Fisherman's Luck
Play Ball
Wild Goose Chase
Bring 'Em Back Half-Shot
Venice Vamp
Bugs & Books
Runaway Blackie.

Updates, etc....

It seems we may have identified the cartoon in the below post. GeneS from the Animation Show Forums tells me that this may very well be Ivanov-Vano's 1955 film "V nektorom carstve" based on the Russian tale of The Magic Pike. Thanks, GeneS!

In other news, last night I discovered that a cartoon I've been wanting to see exists in an archive. I'm going to try my best to obtain a copy; after all, the film (like so many of the silent cartoons I still do not have) is Grandfather-Claused (copyrighted and/or publicized before 1923) and is no longer protected by copyright. More details on this later--hopefully I can dig up some information.

I'm hoping to complete the new .COM I posted about awhile back. The new DVD site will be very aesthetically attractive and visually honoring of our favorite silent-era cartoon characters. I'm also hoping to coincide the design of new and improved DVD cover sleeves to appear once the new site is finished.

Without a transfer machine, there is not much more material I can make available on DVD. Hopefully this will change soon.

Well, that's enough for today's random ranting & raving, so stay tuned for more informative posts on rare and obscure early animation.

Help me identify...

Here's something that came with a recent purchase. An ASTRA TV 16mm print retitled THE MAGIC FISH. Naturally, I thought this would be the 1934 TerryToon but it is not.
I really think this is a European cartoon. In some scenes it appears the characters are speaking, but Astra replaced the soundtrack with generic music (probably to mask a foreign-language track).
Maybe one of you faithful bloggers can help me identify this cartoon.

Here is an introduction title, probably added for this version or a previous US reissue...(sorry for the bad scan)

It reads: "In a certain Kingdom, a poor peasant named Emylia caught a pike. The kind Emylia let the pike go free and the fish promised if he would but say "By the pike's will, by my desire"--- Emylia's every wish would be granted."
The Fish:

Our Hero:














Basically, this fisher boy catches a pike and certain things around the boy (his water buckets, his axe) become magical and perform tasks on their own. I forget if the King is jealous or angry for other reasons, but the King and his guards chase the boy into his cabin. Of course there is a happy ending.

Blackhawk...EARLY Precursor!

In my searches I have turned up pretty random things...and many times, these things were unexpected. For instance, last year I bought a "Kitty Kat" home movie print entitled THE FIGHTING FLEES. I was mildly familiar with this title as I once lost out on winning a print previously to a collector-peer of mine (confounded eBay!).

For those of you who are curious, this particular excerpt was taken from FELIX FULL O' FIGHT (1925).

What I did not expect was for the film to come in an "Eastin Feature Films" box. As it turns out, this box may very well be from the earliest days of the well-known Blackhawk film corporation when it first started operating in 1927.

I was almost certain that this specific line of Kitty Kat clips originated from Novelty Film Co., but maybe Eastin did have a hand in the Kat fiasco. Who knows? We need to turn up some catalog proof.

The reel itself was contained in a generic orange box which was within the Eastin box, so I cannot confirm its origin. The interior box is stamped DEC 24 1934 (in may not be visible in the scan) so this may very well have been a Christmas gift for some lucky kid that year.