Do you know that sound-synchronised cartoons are nearly a hundred years old? Are you aware Aladdin was screened decades before Disney used actor Robin Williams for Genie’s voice? Would you believe that Superman fought ‘machines’ and ‘flying and ‘flying men’ long before Producer James Cameron (Terminator/Avatar) was born?

For such cartoons, you should log into Prime Video and watch the four hour-long episodes of Greatest Cartoons of the Golden Era.

Award-winning filmmaker Charles Dewandeler takes you on a nostalgic journey through animation history. The show is not only a countdown, it also features your beloved characters like Superman, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Popeye and Woody Woodpecker. The shows are also filled with information, something that would be new to you. It would be hard to believe that all these cartoons were produced when computers did not exist.

Dewandeler revealed that Wizard of Oz was a cartoon before it was turned into a proper feature film. In the other episode, he connects a Woody Woodpecker adventure with The Simpsons, and at one point, he traces the origin of Sinbad cartoons with Popeye the Sailor’s outings.

One gets to know about Mel Blanc, the man of a thousand voices. Blanc lent his voice to Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Woody Woodpecker, and many others in a career spanning six decades. You’ll also meet other classic characters like Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck and Felix the Cat. Plus, you’ll see the only coloured cartoon of Betty Boop, one of the oldest cartoon characters ever created.

During the 1940s, especially during World War II, cartoons were used extensively as propaganda tools to influence public opinion, boost morale and convey political messages. The government and filmmakers recognised the power of animation to reach wide audiences, including children, and employed it to promote their wartime agendas. Cartoons like Bugs Bunny and Popeye were used to lift the spirits of the American public and soldiers, Donald Duck was used to encourage viewers to save money for taxes to fund the war; while Daffy Duck, in its peculiar style, was seen ridiculing Hitler, the German Chancellor, in one of the cartoons.

The show is fast-paced and keeps you interested the whole time, thanks to Dewandeler’s fun way of presenting it. Whether you love old cartoons or just want to know where today’s cartoons came from, the Greatest Cartoons of the Golden Era is worth watching!

Published in Dawn, Young World, August 24th, 2024