Cartoon Rarities: Aesop's Fables On DVD

Film producer Amadee J. Van Beuren partnered with legendary animator Paul Terry in 1920 to create their Aesop's Fables cartoons. In 1929, Terry quit to go on his own, and the Van Beuren Studio was born. The twenty-one rare cartoons in this collection were produced by Van Beuren between 1929 and 1933. With John Foster heading animation and bandleader Gene Rodemich handling sound recording and synchronization, the studio churned out scores of classic Aesop's Fables cartoons until 1936, when they could no longer compete with industry giant, Disney, for distribution.

These shorts are loaded with the classic characters and animals that still influence cartoonists today. And in almost every episode, you can guarantee that a corn cob, a skeleton or an exotic creature will morph into keyboards in time for a jazzy piano solo!

Volume 1:

• "Happy Polo" (1929)
• "Summertime" (1929)
• "The Iron Man" (1929)
• "Hot Tamale" (1930)
• "Gypped In Egypt" (1930)
• "Noah Knew His Ark" (1930)
• "Bugville Romance" (1930)
• "The Haunted Ship" (1930)
• "A Romeo Robin" (1930)
• "Good Old Schooldays" (1930)
• "Oom Pah Pah" (1930)
• "Makin' 'Em Move" (1931)
• "In Dutch" (1931)
• "The Family Shoe" (1931)
• "Red Riding Hood" (1931)
• "Toy Time" (1932)
• "Fly Frolic" (1932)
• "Chinese Jinks" (1932)
• "A Cat-Fish Romance" (1932)
• "The Farmerette" (1932)
• "Silvery Moon" (1933)

Volume 2:

• "Skating Hounds" (1928): Directed by Paul Terry & Mannie Davis
• "House Cleaning Time" (1929): Directed by Paul Terry
• "Laundry Blues" (1930): Directed by John Foster & Mannie Davis
• "Circus Capers" (1930): Directed by John Foster & Harry Bailey
• "Midnight" (1930): Directed by John Foster & Mannie Davis
• "The King Of Bugs" (1930): Directed by John Foster & Harry Bailey
• "The Animal Fair" (1931): Directed by John Foster & Mannie Davis
• "Radio Racket" (1931): Directed by John Foster & Mannie Davis
• "College Capers" (1931): Directed by John Foster & Harry Bailey
• "The Fly Guy" (1931): Directed by John Foster & Harry Bailey
• "Love in a Pond" (1931): Directed by John Foster & Mannie Davis
• "Spring Antics" (1932): Directed by John Foster & Mannie Davis
• "A.M. To P.M." (1933): Directed by Harry Bailey
• "Tumbledown Town" (1933): Directed by John Foster & Harry Bailey
• "Love's Labor Won" (1933): Directed by John Foster & Mannie Davis
• "A Dizzy Day" (1933): Directed by Harry Bailey
• "The Last Mail" (1933): Directed by Mannie Davis
• "Runaway Blackie" (1933): Directed by Harry Bailey
• "Fiddlin' Fun" (1934): Directed by George Stallings; Animation by Steve Muffati