Greedy Humpty Dumpty

This is more of a comment than a review. I vividly remember this as 5 or 6 year old in the 50's. For me then, it was compelling and also somewhat scary and surrealistic. The message certainly got across though!

I love animation from Fleischer Studios, along with Disney, Rankin/Bass, Hanna-Barbera, and Studio Ghibli, and this is a great short. It is also one of my favorites from Fleischer's "Color Classics" series. I love it when all the Mother Goose characters warn King Dumpty that his greed will cause him big trouble. I always remember it. I also love the clever rhyming that was used too: "If you value your lives and also your health, do as I bid, for I want more wealth!"

You know, I have heard some negativity about the "Color Classics." But personally, I think the "Color Classics" are great cartoons.

I remember watching "Greedy Humpty Dumpty" on TV back during the 50's. This cartoon disturbed me and I never forgot it. I just purchased the Max Fleischer cartoon collection on DVD and finally saw "Greedy Humpty Dumpty" in color this time. When that bolt of lightning spanks Humpty Dumpty, kids will just freak out. Some parents may end up taking their kids to a child psychiatrist. I feel that out of control kids need to be propped up in front of a TV and compelled to see this disturbing cartoon. They'll be shell-shocked and they will no longer sass back their parents.

Thank you, Humpty Dumpty!

Growing up as a kid in the 80s, "Greedy Humpty Dumpty" was one of the more memorable cartoons for me. This cartoon was, and still is available on VHS and DVD by numerous companies as it is Public Domain. Humpty Dumpty is the king and when he learns that there is gold in the sun he decides he wants it. He forces all the people who live in his kingdom (who are all characters from other famous fairy tales) to build him a golden tower that will reach the sun. When the tower is built Humpty Dumpty is too greedy and crashes to earth and shatters. Some segments of this cartoon were filmed with the rotoscoping process, in which live actors were filmed, and then those films were traced by animators to get realistic movement for the characters. This cartoon has very memorable songs.

'Greedy Humpty Dumpty' did have quite a lot of things that fascinated me into it. Firstly, my lifelong love of animation, which encompasses all styles, all decades, most studios regardless of budget. Second, have always love it from nursery rhyme characters feature anywhere, and there have been frequent examples of them lending so well to animation. That it was made by Fleischer Studios in one of their better periods too was an interest point.

Am very happy to say that 'Greedy Humpty Dumpty' didn't disappoint me at all. Consider it actually one of Fleischer's best late-30s cartoons, as said already one of the studio's better and more consistent periods as seen in the Popeye cartoons. Also by far one of the best of the "Color Classics" cartoons, a very variable series with the 40s efforts being representative of "the fall of Fleischer", and one of the few that actually was a classic and not really anything against it. Rewatching it was one of the things that has aimed to distract me from recovering from the complications of a viral infection that has had me hospitalised all way.

It is one of the few "Color Classics" cartoons where the story didn't work against it. By all means, it is thin and covers familiar ground somewhat with it not being one of the newest of concepts, but in 'Greedy Humpty Dumpty's' case it was overlookable. Because there was so much energy, so many imaginative touches and an atmosphere that was really quite entrancing. Plus its take on the nursery rhyme characters was interesting.

Visually, 'Greedy Humpty Dumpty' is exceptionally well made as was always the case for Fleischer. Not just because the vibrancy of the colours literally pops out at you and the attention to background detail is so rich and imaginative, but there is also the clever use of the innovative technique (back then) of rotoscoping, which still looks great and blends so well with the traditional animation and is neither overused or abused. The music is a major bonus too, full of character and lushness while the songs, which prove crucial in moving the story forward, stick in the mind for a long time. As do the remarkably smart lyrics.

There are other things that stick in the mind. The building of the golden tower is wonderfully done and just loved the use of nursery rhyme/Mother Goose characters here in this sequence and throughout the cartoon. 'Greedy Humpty Dumpty's' interpretation of Humpty Dumpty himself is an interesting one, seeing him as a tyrant will be a shock though. The cartoon is full of energy, amuses and also has a wonderful strangeness that elevates it beyond potentially cutesy level. The lesson is a good and important one, and successfully avoids preachiness.

Overall, classic. 10/10