2009 Aesop's Fables: 21 Classic Cartoons. Alpha Video Classics: Alpha Home Entertainment.
Might this dvd of 21 "Aesop's Fables" cartoons by Van Beuren Studios between 1929 and 1933 be related to the 2009 dvd "Aesop's Fables from the Van Beuren Studio, Volume 2"? "Toy Time," as on our dvd "2004 Cartoon Craze," remains a classic as two mice frolic through a toy store, playing with toys and then using them to terrorize the attacking cat. I also tried the first two cartoons on the disc. "Happy Polo" breaks animals down into machines and has separable parts frequently coming together again. A romantic interest between two mice is interrupted by an intruding cat. Even goalposts take on characteristics of humans and machines! "Summertime" has animals playing plants as orchestral instruments. The animation in these cartoons is by our standards rudimentary.
1993 Aesop's Fables: 1993 Calendar. Illustrations by Rodney McRae. Printed in Korea. Petaluma, CA: Pomegranate Calendars & Books. Gift of Roseanne FitzGerald, Dec., '92. Extra copy gift of Mary Keane, Feb., '93.
What a great find! The calendar is based on the book Aesop's Fables by McRae, first published in Australia in 1990. The twelve fable illustrations, conveniently brought together on the back cover, are lively and colorful. The back cover's blurb is right to speak of McRae's folk-art style as exciting. It is! Part of the excitement is that there are really many folk-art styles here. I enjoy particularly April's Mycenean "The Heifer and the Ox" and August's "The Farmer and the Fox" from Africa.
