An animated version of the epic Indian tale of Ramayana set to the 1920s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw.
Movie Name: Sita Sings the Blues
Stars: Annette Hanshaw, Aseem Chhabra, Bhavana Nagulapally
Director: Nina Paley
The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird, 1952
An animated short by Paul and Pierre Grimault
“A chimney sweep and his beloved shepherdess are aided by Wonderbird in their escape from a ruthless dictator” (IMDB)
Run Time: 1 hour, 3 minutes, 56 seconds
Educated Fish, 1937
An animated short by Dave Fleischer
“A rebellious fish refuses to listen to his teacher until he ventures out into the real world and discovers the importance of education” (IMDB)
Dancing On The Moon, 1935
by Dave Fleischer
“Honeymooning couples of various animal species take a rocket ship excursion to the moon. Spectacular lunar scenery.” (IMDB)
Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp, 1934
A film by Shamus Culhane (uncredited), Ub Iwerks (uncredited)
“Aladdin is a child laborer who works for a guy that exchanges “new lamps for old”. This guy swaps a “new” lamp for 2-3 replacement old lamps, then brings back the old lamps for Aladdin to polish and make look like new. One day Aladdin sees a princess riding by as he looks out the window, and he falls for her. But then he must return to his lamp polishing. As he polishes one of the old lamps, a genie comes out and offers Aladdin the opportunity to escape the drudgery of his life…” (IMDB)
PM Picnic, 1950
An animated short by Chad McKee Grothkopf (as Chad)
“Mr. Bee spreads the word that there is going to be a ‘PM Picnic’ in the barn latter that evening. He tells everyone in the countryside, from Mr. Bear to Mr. Rabbit, although he does not invite Mr. Tortoise because he’s too slow. This was a promotional film made for PM (Pleasant Moments) Whiskey to promote their new ad campaign, that features animated woodland creatures along with the slogan describing PM Whiskey and it’s ‘Clear, Clean Taste’.” (IMDB)
Have you got any castles, 1938
An animated short by Frank Tashlin, Friz Freleng (uncredited)
“Another entry in the “books come alive” subgenre, with possibly more books coming alive than any other. We begin with some musical numbers, notably the various pages of Green Pastures all joining in on a song, The Thin Man entering The White House Cookbook and exiting much fatter, and The House of Seven (Clark) Gables singing backup to Old King Cole. The Three Musketeers break loose, become Three Men on a Horse, grab the Seven Keys to Baldpate, and set the Prisoner of Zenda free…” (IMDB)
A is for Atom, 1953
An animated documentary short by Carl Urbano
For its time this animation is a well-presented, short documentary about atomic science, which explains how nuclear energy is harnessed for peace-time use. Though it briefly mentions the atomic bomb, it doesn’t cover the horrors of nuclear war or the environmental down-side of nuclear power, which was just in its infancy at that time.
Chicken A La King, 1937
An animated short by Dave Fleischer
“A rooster sultan is bored by his harems. A duck strongly resembling ‘Mae West’ entices him. Her lover arrives, and they do battle; the lovers leave, and the sultan, humiliated, turns to his harem, who beat him up…” (IMDB)
Santa’s New Ride, 2003
An animated short by Sven van der Hart
In this cute stop motion animation made with Playmobil toys, Santa is tempted by something bright, red and shiny while out delivering presents with the rain deer. This may explain why some of us didn’t get many toys this year.
