Rankin Bass' Cinderella

This is the third episode of Rankin Bass’ Festival of Family Classic that ran on TV in 1973. Every episode is a different story, and some are two parter if they ran more than the runtime of 22 minutes; the stories are bare bone with a limit. Now we’re approaching to Cinderella. *sigh* I barely like this story that may echo in my life in two ways.

The story is about as you basically know it. Cinderella lives with an evil step-mother with two ugly lazy step-sisters as their servant. (One of them is male. Maybe that’s where Shrek 2 got it from.) Cinderella remains at home while her step family goes to the royal ball, until her fairy godmother comfort her by making her in transportation, a pretty dress, and glass slippers to go to the ball to meet her Prince Charming (Derek from Swan Princess or Prince David from Gulliver’s Travels?).

This is one of the stories I couldn’t like, partly because of the famous Disney version I sadly grew up with. The most annoyance I’ve got from that film was the mice, and they were usefully annoying as much more or less as the gargoyles from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and they got half of the focus. Thankfully Disney didn’t have the mice after Cinderella to sound high pitch as they gave them normal yet less irritating voice, as heard in Ben and Me, Rescuers, Robin Hood, etc. Despite the high pitch voice kind of makes sense given their size. The mice in the Rankin Bass version are tone down, as it focuses on the title character. Obviously people mostly prefer that version with the evil fearing step mother than a useless bitch, the Mary Blair background, most of the music, and less likely the recent remake would capture those  elements.  There have been many versions, before and after. It’s kind of similar to Betty Boop’s version of Cinderella, including with a living jack-o-lantern apparently, and that’s about it for the similarity. Cinderella in this version is just there. She’s pretty, and maybe sneaky with the mousetrap to not set it up, but best to sum her with a funny version of Derek than the less interesting prince they got.

“You’re just so beautiful and nothing else!”

-Derek from Swan Princess, dubbed by Doug Walker/ Nostalgia Critic in his review of Swan Princess.

I think the only character that does stand out is the knight, who is an enjoyable doofus to get the message from the kingdom with snarky comment such as comparing the “beautiful madams” in the scroll to the step sisters, or his routine by trying to stay on his horse.

When people think of the best Cinderella, usually Ever After came to mind, yet I haven’t watched that yet. Otherwise, I’ve haven’t heard the best yet. The Rankin Bass version isn’t awful, but not good either, as it doesn’t stand out than a style. We’ll see Cinderella and Prince later in Rudolph Shiny New Year. Many can agree at least it’s better than Cinderella 2.

OK, let’s see what’s the next episode for the series? I hope it’s not another version from a popular Disney film.

*I looked up the episode guide, and the next one is the 2-parter of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. I end the review with a Peter Lorre impression.*

Oh no, master! 

Red Baron

Now we get to Rankin Bass and Filmation’s Red Baron. 

Sorry it took a long time since April to do these reviews. I was busy with other better work, and my feeling about this film, as you can tell with the criticism.

A radio announced that troubles happening, as the Red Baron prepares for action.

The fighter jets get defeated by the villains in a literal dogfight. The good king of Pretzel is simply furious. So the Red Baron slowly gets his plane ready to fight with the enemies to smoke them out. This makes the lead of the villain simply furious.

One of the general of the villain has a girlfriend, who is a princess, of course. The evil made a princess double to dispose of the Red Baron. The Princess Double trap Red Baron in a Shark Blimp, but she last as long as Vanessa (Austin Powers 2) and broke down. Now he deals with this bulldog lady, who’s in charge of the blimp. Red Baron gets free with the Bulldog lady, and get to the princess with a chase and stuff.

The meh news is I’ve found the video on youtube, the bad news is in Swedish, but that won’t stop me in reviewing it since I’ve reviewed Chinese films earlier, and youtube does have a subtitle setting (at least part 1 does.), but the translation isn’t accurate. So I’ll write it with what I’m visually watching, then I’ll pinpoint the story with an edit.

The good news is this is the only time Rankin Bass team up with Filmation. Filmation is one of the worst animated companies I’ve seen. Filmation’s pro is unique designs, basic coloring, and sometimes the villain with Skeletor, Malice, and the princess in this film is cute dog princess I got to admit. Filmation’s con is their characters themselves, recycle animations, focus away from the titled character(s) to the cartoony useless sidekick (as Red Baron’s cat and the princess sort of prove that point.), and spend too much on dialogue that it’s impossible to be invested to the characters as much as politics, reality TV, and soap operas.

The conversations and music drag on too long, very similar to how Filmation does the direction in the Star Trek Animated Series. I can see how Haim Saban and Shuki Levy would make better music for He-man. For odd reason when we get to the climax, they reuse the music that was playing in Cricket and the Hearth, and most in Festival of Family Classic. Yet that’s the better music than their slow Victorian music. Everything can be said and done simply under few seconds. Not Filmation, most of their films moments take more than minutes to say or do a thing. What Rankin Bass and Filmation do in common with their cons is they don’t animate planes well in animation or stop-motion. This is kind of proven in Mad Monster Party and He-man. We had better plane animation in the past, and yet one better stop-motion plane in Puppetoons. The difference is Rankin Bass can pull Flying Reindeers, Hot Air Balloon, and Reinsnake (?). Now some of you suddenly wonder, “Why review this, but not animated King and I?” King and I has design of a Richard Rich film, as Red Baron has a Rankin Bass design than Filmation's design, as proven that general designer Paul Coker Jr. did this film.

I definitely choose Mushi Company over Filmation, namely their animation is more active, alive, and has better coloring. The only reason in theory why Rankin Bass team up with Filmation is Mushi Company has their limit of films, and they prices with out of country payment. Filmation’s production is mainly American, and is against outsourcing, at least that’s what Cartoon Hero said when he reviewed Robin & The Dreamweavers to quote.

“…Filmation is one of the very last companies to animate Animerican content in America. Nowadays, like everything else in America, animation has been outsourced. I’m not complaining, it looks good, but it’s not hard to think bull****. Especially because there are animators here, who would gladly take the job, but for the most part, they can’t.”

-Eli Stone/ Cartoon Hero, review of Robin & The Dreamweavers. 10/3/2016.

This is probably the dullest of the Rankin Bass so far. It’s pretty bad when Snoopy vs the Red Baron, who speaks less, fly more, and has more of a personality than this film, and that made 7 years earlier with 5 years earlier for the music by The Royal Guardsmen. So it’s best to pass this film.

Now what’s next on my agenda for Rankin Bass Review should I do that isn’t a series.

*Going through the list of Rankin Bass films, and That Girl In Wonderland.*

That’s lazy, they want to avoid copyright of the public domain story, or they don’t like the name Alice.

*Look through the clip and IMDB information*

Oh, it’s That Girl the series. OK, I guess they want to have a replacement for…

*Look up Alice In Wonderland in Rankin Bass’ Festival of Family Classic.*

OK, there are two versions. What are my other options after that?

*Rankin Bass’ Hobbit appeared with the music of Ballad of Bilbo Baggins, and the calendar appeared as August with October, a little November, and a big December.*

Yeeesh! I might as well go through episodes of Festival of Family Classics, as I promise I would in order. So let’s start with Hiawatha or Yankee Doodle…

*No English video existed. Up to episode 3:Cinderella*

OK, join me next time for my review of Festival of Family Classics’ episode of Cinderella. Ooh, cruel fate!