The James Logan Courier

First up is The Cobweb Hotel by Max Fleischer. Newly-wed flies go to stay at the Cobweb Hotel which is run by a hungry spider. Animation by David Tendlar and William Sturm. Music by Sammy Timberg and Bob Royhberg. Produced in 1936.


Click the picture to watch the cartoon, streaming in 256k MPEG4, free from the Internet Archive. For more information and format options, click here.

Next is "A Day at the Zoo," a Merry Melody cartoon and, in the words of one viewer, "a classic Tex Avery screwball production."
The hijinks involve cartoon characters spending a silly day at the Kalama Zoo. Produced in 1939.


Click the picture to watch the cartoon, streaming in 256k MPEG4, free from the Internet Archive. For more information and format options, click here.

By Steven Rea and Carrie Rickey
The Philadelphia Inquirer (MCT)

ARMY OF SHADOWS 4 stars. Jean-Pierre Melville's taut 1969 study of the French Resistance movement during World War II — and a small band of men (and a few women) who risked to fight the Nazi occupation — is nothing short of a masterpiece. 2 hrs. 25 No MPAA rating (violence, profanity, adult themes) — Steven Rea.

THE BREAK-UP 2 stars. Though the Vince Vaughn-Jennifer Aniston vehicle is marketed as a romantic comedy, this war of nerves is a mostly melancholy saga about a prickly pair who would rather play head games than house. Comic support comes from Jon Favreau and Judy Davis. 1 hr. 47 PG-13 (brief nudity, profanity, sexual candor) —Carrie Rickey

First up is "Fiddlesticks", starring Flip the Frog. According to Wikipedia.org, Flip the Frog was Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's first sound cartoon. It is about a happy-go-lucky, needy frog.

Ub Iwerks created the character in 1930. He had drawn a frog and his girlfriend in "Night'", one of the last Silly Symphonies short films he drew while working for Walt Disney.

After leaving Disney, Iwerks began the Flip cartoon series with the help of Pat Powers. " Fiddlesticks" (released on August 16, 1930), is the first in the series and it was also the first color sound cartoon ever made. "Fiddlesticks" was made in two-color Technicolor, but the rest of the Flip series were made in black and white, except for "Techno-Cracked" (1933).


Click the picture to view the cartoon streaming in MPEG4. Click here for more formats and information. Free from the Internet Archive

Next is a Noveltoon called "The Stupidstitious Cat," in which a very superstitious cat tries to catch Buzzy for breakfast but Buzzy outsmarts him. Animation by Graham Place and John Walworth. Story by Carl Meyer and Jack Ward. Scenics by Anton Loeb. Music by Winston Sharples. Produced in 1946.


Click the picture to view the cartoon streaming in MPEG4. For more formats and information, click here. Free from the Internet Archive.

By Philip Wuntch
The Dallas Morning News (MCT)

LADY IN THE WATER – M. Night Shyamalan's latest foray stars Paul Giamatti as an apartment superintendent who discovers a friendly fantasy creature in the swimming pool.

MONSTER HOUSE – In this animated tale, a couple of teens rightly suspect that the house across the street eats people.

MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND – Luke Wilson should know better than to dump Uma Thurman. Turns out, she's a superhero.

CLERKS II – Sequel takes place 10 years after the first "Clerks" and finds the slackers once again trying to break out of another dead-end job.

Today we have a double dose of Popeye the Sailor cartoons.

First up is Popeye the Sailor:Big Bad Sinbad from 1952 in which Popeye takes his nephews to the Nautical Museum and tells them a story about how he "knocked the tar out" of Sinbad, the greatest sailor in the world. Animation by Tom Johnson and William Henning. Music by Winston Sharples. Directed by Seymour Kneitel. Produced by Associated Artists Productions & Famous Studios Productions. Running time 6:00 minutes. In color.



Click the picture to start the cartoon in streaming 256 Kb MPEG4. For more format choices and information, click here.

Next is Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves (1937)
Based on the classic Arabian adventure, Popeye and Olive Oyl travel in their fantastic airplane to Arabia to battle the evil Ali Baba, a guise of Bluto. Olive is capture and set to work doing the Forty Theives laundry until the inevitable rescue. This fabulous cartoon, originally produced in 1937 by Fleischer Studios and now in the public domain, utilizes a revolutionary animation technique than results it an amazing sense of depth. Running time:16:58 minutes. In color.



Click the picture to start the cartoon in streaming 256 Kb MPEG4. For more format choices and information, click here..

By Steven Rea and Carrie Rickey
The Philadelphia Inquirer (MCT)

THE BREAK-UP 2 stars. Though the Vince Vaughn-Jennifer Aniston vehicle is marketed as a romantic comedy, this war of nerves is a mostly melancholy saga about a prickly pair who would rather play head games than house. Comic support comes from Jon Favreau and Judy Davis. 1 hr. 47 PG-13 (brief nudity, profanity, sexual candor) —Carrie Rickey

Click the picture to view Woody Woodpecker in the classic cartoon "Pantry Panic, " in which Weatherby Groundhog predicts a cold winter and advises all the birds to fly south. But Woody Woodpecker decides to stay, and nearly starves. Animation by Alex Lovy and Lester Kline, story by Ben Hardaway and L.E. Elliott, music by Darrell Calker. Free from the Internet Archive.


Click the picture to watch the Betty Boop cartoon "Snow White," featuring an appearance by Cab Calloway, performing "St. James Infirmary." Free from the Internet Archive.

Click the picture to view a streaming version of the 1941 cartoon, Superman, from www.archive.org

Click the picture above to watch Tarts and Flowers, starring Lil Audrey, from 1940, from www.archive.org.