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Apr 01, 2019 By Austin Trunick Issue #65 - Mitski and boygenius

These first two volumes of Cartoon Roots are the work of Tommy Stathes, an animation historian doing a laudable job of saving a criminally underappreciated era of cartoons from disappearing. Represented on both are films from animation’s first decades, long before Disney and television would dominate the medium, restored from rare prints with newly-commissioned musical scores.

The first collection spotlights work from numerous studios and animators, resulting in a collection that, while somewhat scattershot, functions as a nice overview of cartoons’ earliest period. The Bray Studios tightens focus on the pioneering animation company of the same name. At their heights from WWI through the death of the silent era, the prolific Brays produced many different series including early work by cartoon legends such as Walter Lantz (Woody Woodpecker), Max Fleischer (Betty Boop) and Paul Terry (Mighty Mouse). Fifteen hard-to-find shorts are here including, looking very good considering they average a century old, and feature characters like Koko the Klown and Krazy Kat. Anyone interested in the early history of animation will greatly appreciate the bonus features overflowing from this volume, including vintage publicity materials, audio commentaries, and reflections by J.R. Bray himself recorded in the 1970s. Here’s hoping the series yields more such detailed installments.

(facebook.com/cartoonsonfilm)