The Puppetoon Movie: Volume 2 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Puppetoon Movie: Volume 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 3, 2020

The Puppetoon Movie was one of the more pleasant surprises of my reviewing duties, not just for its charming main feature, but perhaps even more so due to its aggregation of the titular Puppetoons, relatively early quasi-stop motion pieces by the venerable George Pal. Those wanting a bit of background on all of this are encouraged to read my original The Puppetoon Movie Blu- ray review, which speaks to a bit of the history of both Pal and the Puppetoons. This second volume doesn't offer a feature film (which may make this release's title a bit misleading), but instead offers a new collection of Puppetoon shorts ranging from the mid-1930s to the mid-1940s, along with some supplemental material.

This was an effort spearheaded by George Pal acolyte Arnold Leibovit, and the disc has a few odd choices and authoring oddities. Among the slightly odd choices is an unexplained separation of the Puppetoon shorts into two collections, A and B (see screenshot 20 for a look at the Main Menu). A slightly clunky decision to have the disc exit to the Main Menu and the "B" selections after any of the A selections are played individually may also frustrate some viewers, and either playing the shorts individually or utilizing the Play All option under both the A and B listings does not allow for chapter skipping ahead to the next short or back out to the Main Menu, as the case may be. I also encountered some kind of weird issues where I'd click on something and the disc would move somewhere unexpected.

The disc's main Puppetoon contents are as follows:

Puppetoons A

• Dipsy Gypsy (1940)
• Radio Valve Revolution (1934)
• Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1935)
• A Hatful of Dreams (1944)
• Rescue Brigade (1937)
• In Lamp Light Land (1935)
• Jasper and the Choo Choo (1942)
• Love on the Range (1938)
• The Gay Knighties (1941)

Puppetoons B

• Two Gun Rusty (1944)
• How An Advertising Poster Came About (1938)
• Jasper Goes Hunting (1944)
• Sky Pirates (1938)
• Jasper's Close Shave (1945)
• The Ship of the Ether (1934)
• Good Night Rusty (1943)
• Wilbur the Lion (1946)
• Jasper Tell (1944)

This is another hugely winning collection of Puppetoon shorts, though as can be seen in some of the screenshots accompanying this review, some of the shorts feature more traditional cel animation as well as some live action elements. The Puppetoons, though, are the undeniable attraction, with the allure of Pal's really wonderful design aesthetic which is almost like Busby Berkeley meets Chuck Jones at times (and a Chuck Jones stalwart actually shows up in one of the Jasper Puppetoons in a cameo, as seen in screenshot 11). Speaking of Jasper, I had mentioned the perhaps objectionable characterizations in the Jasper shorts in my review of The Puppetoon Movie, and in that regard it's interesting to note the disclaimer that appears at disc boot up on this volume, as seen in screenshot 19.

The Puppetoon Movie: Volume 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Puppetoon Movie: Volume 2 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Puppetoon.net with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.37:1 (some shorts vary slightly, as can be seen in some of the screenshots accompanying this review). A dedicated team (including Steve Stanchfield of Thunderbean) did pretty heroic work on rescuing these from the ravages of time, but limitations in some of the source elements utilized means there are some pretty wide variances in quality seen here. Arnold Leibovit provides some interesting information in the insert accordion foldout and on the back cover of this release, stating the shorts were "transferred from their original 35mm Technicolor Successive Exposure Negatives (SEN) or 35mm IB (Imbibition) Technicolor Nitrate Prints" (the insert accordion foldout specifically notes which shorts are SEN sourced). For the most part, the "American" shorts that I'm assuming were curated by Paramount tend to look the best, with appealing saturation and some really nice detail levels. Grain may not quite be as evident as some might expect, but resolves naturally. Unfortunately, some of the foreign versions don't fare as well in terms of overall video quality, with at times pretty soft looking transfers. Some line instability in some of the traditional cel animation also intrudes from time to time in these foreign versions. Occasional signs of age related wear and tear do intrude, including some fairly bad scratches and other blemishes, but given the challenges involved in both finding and restoring these shorts, the results should certainly please most fans of Pal and/or the Puppetoons.

The Puppetoon Movie: Volume 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Unfortunately, unlike The Puppetoon Movie which featured lossless audio, this second volume offers only lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 mono tracks. Those who regularly read my reviews know I'm of the opinion that Blu-ray releases should offer at least one lossless audio option, and my score above reflects that opinion, but also hampering a higher score is some expected age related damage and overall boxy fidelity. Again, as with the video element, the audio can sound noticeably more raggedy on some of the foreign language versions than the "domestic" releases. The optional English subtitles turn out to be only for those foreign language versions, offering translations of both credits, text rolls and occasional dialogue. Subtitles for the English language shorts are not provided.

The Puppetoon Movie: Volume 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• This is Oil, No. 1: Prospecting for Petroleum (480p; 22:00) is a kind of wacky 1946 promotional feature made for the Shell Oil Company.


• Trailers from Hell: Arnold Leibovit on The Puppetoon Movie (480i; 4:48) is actually an excellent place for those unacquainted with either Pal, the Puppetoons, or Leibovit to start, as Liebovit gives a brief but interesting overview of Pal and the Puppetoons.


• Trailers from Hell: Arnold Leibovit on The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (480i; 4:58) features a somewhat younger looking Liebovit offering a few more comments before the trailer for his homage to his hero plays.


• The Puppetoon Movie Speedy Alka-Seltzer Promo (480i; 4:47) is an archival piece featuring the iconic advertising character who appears in a cameo in The Puppetoon Movie.


• The Puppetoon Movie Montage (480i; 10:42) is a slideshow of sorts, though it features both animated snippets and stills, separated into various decades of Pal's productions.


• Full Production and Donor Credits (1080i; 5:42)

As with the main shorts, whether or not the Play All option for the supplements is utilized, chapter skipping ahead is not permitted.

Additionally, there's a really interesting insert presented in an accordion fold style that offers both some history, but good write ups on each of the Puppetoon shorts included, as well as information on the provenance of the transfers. The only downside is there's so much information presented in such small space that some may need their glasses to read the font.

The Puppetoon Movie: Volume 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This second volume of Puppetoon shorts is hugely enjoyable and provides another unique insight into George Pal's immense creativity. Some of the depictions, notably the Jasper outings, may chafe at modern sensibilities, but the overall feeling here is actually kind of sweet and warmhearted. Source limitations hamper some of the presentations, notably in terms of some of the foreign versions, but the historical importance of this release can't be overstated. Recommended.