Play Safe

An early film from the Fleischer studios using the Technicolor three-strip process which they had been previously restricted from using because of an exclusive deal between Disney and Technicolor that had expired a few months before, this is a great looking cartoon which manages to build to quite a suspenseful climax.

The story involves a cute little kid who's wild about trains and who keeps trying to run out of the garden when one flies past but is usually stopped from doing so by a lovable old dog. One day the kid gets out and winds up unconscious on the tracks with a locomotive on its way.

This one is worth watching for a short dream sequence alone which makes use of innovative 3D techniques to fashion memorable images - especially combined with a tracking shot. Even without the technical innovations the film is inventive and enjoyable and not to be missed if you get the chance to see it.

A real sweet little cartoon. We see a young boy playing in his yard with toy trains. He LOVES them and dreams of riding one. Sleeping nearby is an adorable big, old dog watching over him. A real train stops on tracks outside the boys backyard. He tries to get out and see it but the dog stops him. He manages to tie the dog and get out. He starts examining the train and, while onboard, the train starts. He falls off and lands on the rail. He then proceeds to have an incredible dream sequence chockful of animation, models and some incredible 3-D images. Meanwhile the dog is frantically trying to get loose and wake the boy up...because another train is coming. It all ends happily though. A thoroughly wonderful cartoon for children and adults. It cautions children to play...but play safe. Well worth seeing.

This film was included in the three DVD set "Saved From the Flames"--a collection of mostly ephemeral movies that have managed to avoid turning to powder, catching fire or melting--something that usually happened with the nitrate film stock used up through the 1950s.

According to the notes with the DVD set, this is one of the first non-Disney cartoons that was made with the new Three-Color Technicolor. It seems that the Technicolor folks and Disney had signed an exclusive contract that had just expired and the Fleischer Brothers were quick to jump on the Three-Color bandwagon. This cartoon does look amazingly vibrant for its time because of the Technicolor as well as because it has been restored for the collection.

"Play Safe" begins with an ultra-cutesy kid (the sort they loved to feature in the 1930s) playing with his train set. However, the kid is apparently mentally imbalanced and soon chases after a real train and nearly gets himself killed. When he's thrown from a speeding train and knocked out, he has a cool dream about trains--where he once again seems to have a death wish. Wow, I wonder if Freud ever got to see this film--what he could have told us about this character! However, instead of analyzing his phallic fixation or death instinct, the film is apparently a lesson on playing it safe--which the kid learns by the time the film ends when the family dog is forced to save his life.

As for the quality of the animation, it's really slick. They used a short sequence where they combined a toy train with animation--and it's nice. However, what really impressed me and which was a hallmark of the Fleischers was their 3-D look they perfected in the late 1930s. Very nice--and one of the cases where this studio actually was ahead of Disney. Worth seeing.

Just watched this restored Max Fleischer Color Classic with French credits on the DVD collection "Saved from the Flames". It concerns a boy who plays with toy trains who tries to get on a real one but is kept from doing that by a St. Bernard that watches him. Of course, that doesn't last for long! I'll stop there and just say if you're familiar with these Fleischer cartoons then you probably won't be surprised by a sequence that has real train models in the background during a dream sequence. And that there are some faces on inanimate objects that talk. All in all, this was quite an entertaining cartoon that should provide quite a lesson for children who don't always follow instructions. Oh, and the 3-strip Technicolor process is so awesome! So on that note, I highly recommend Play Safe.

Play Safe is absolutely fantastic. The title may make the direction this cartoon is going in pretty obvious, but the anticipation makes this silly little cartoon quite enjoyable. A young boy obsessed with trains sneaks out to play with the real trains that run just a few feet from the fence around his house. When he falls off of one and is knocked unconscious, he has a dream sequence that's, as is typical is a Fleischer cartoon, gorgeously animated in pseudo-3D. Overall, Play Safe is sweet and fun, and I highly recommend it.