Title: "Classic 1930's Van Beuren Cartoons

                      Volume 1 featuring Tom and Jerry"

                      Running Time:  70 minutes - B&W      

                            ISBN 1-56629-021-X

                               Retail: $29.95

  Bosko Video is proud to announce the release of these rare animated classics

  from the Van Beuren Studio.  Made between 1931 and 1934, they are typical

  of the unique pioneering animation of the period.  Many of these films have

  not been available for many years.  Some were rereleased on t.v. in the

  1950's, but had the titles changed.  Bosko Video has restored these titles.

  As is our custom, all of these tapes are duplicated in SP speed in Hi-Fi.

  These films are invaluable to colleges, universities and film students.

  With the ever-growing interest in animation and animation art collecting,

  these tapes have a large demand from animation lovers of all types.

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  Nine cartoons are presented on this tape:   1931  "Wot A Night",

  1931 "Trouble", 1931 "Jungle Jam", 1931 "A Swiss Trick", 1932 "Rocketeers",

  1932 "Rabid Hunters", 1932 "In The Bag", 1932 "Pots And Pans",

  1934 "Grandfather's Clock".

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                                  REVIEW

       Volume One of the Classic 1930's Van Beuren Cartoons is probably the

  strangest and most obscure tape that Bosko Video puts out.  The Van Beuren

  Studios were located in New York, and their films shared a certain comic

  sensibility with those of the Fleischer Studios (which were located across

  the street).  Many of their shorts starred a pair of Mutt and Jeff-types

  named Tom and Jerry (not the same as MGM's cat and mouse team, although Joe

  Barbera used to work there), who are unlike any cartoon characters you have

  ever seen.  These cartoons are crazy and surreal, with hot jazz soundtracks,

  heavy doses of ethnic stereotyping and sexual inuendos.  The collection

  opens with their first cartoon, "Wot A Night" (1931).  The story is so

  surreal and illogical that the film is a mini-masterpiece of its kind.    

  Many of the cartoons on this tape are equally weird.  The music is peppy

  and jazzy, but also includes crazy yodelling songs, kazoo solos and tinny

  vaudeville tunes.  The films are very slightly letterboxed and appear uncut.

  If you yearn for the rarest of the rare, here it is!

                   Stephen Worth - STORYBOARD MAGAZINE