Old Town Music Hall: Vintage Cartoon Festival

This has easily become one of my favorite annual events. Each year at the Old Town Music Hall a selection of classic cartoons from the 1930's play with Animation Historian (and huge influence on me) Jerry Beck hosting. It is always a delight and this year was no exception.


This year's cartoons consisted of Betty Boop's May Party (1933, Betty Boop Cartoon), We're in the Money (1933, Merrie Melodies), The Merry Old Soul (1933, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon), The Tortoise and the Hare (1935, Silly Symphony), Porky's Double Trouble (1937, Looney Tunes), A Clean Shaven Man (1936, Popeye the Sailor Man), Merrie Mutineers (1936, Color Rhapsodies), Thru the Mirror (1936, Mickey Mouse Cartoon), The Milky Way (1940, MGM Cartoon) and Daffy Duck and Egghead (1938, Merrie Melodies). As many cartoon fans will immediately recognize this is a fantastic selection of films. These are cartoons that I have seen so many times that I know them by heart. Still to see these in an actual movie theater surround by other cartoon lovers makes the whole experience feel fresh and new. Hearing an audience that loved cartoons, but didn't have these memorized audibly reacting to these films was a joy. There were moments when I just couldn't wait to hear them react to my favorite jokes. Again watching these films this way is an important reminder to us cartoon buffs. These are not just silly cartoons, these are an important part of cinema. As such they are meant to be experienced in a cinema setting. As much as I love collecting the DVDs of these shorts (and watching at home during my free time) and catching them whenever they appear on TV, watching them the way they were intended, gives them a completely different feel that every cartoon fan must experience sometime in their lives. So any cartoon fans who are in Southern California, when this festival comes around next year, don't miss it, this is certainty a must see event and one I highly look forward to each year.


As always at The Old Town Music Hall the films were proceeded by musical performances by the very talented musicians John Reed Torres and Bill Field. Much of this was performed on the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ (a massive organ that dates back to 1925). Also before the show was a singalong with such old songs as Mairzy Doats, My Blue Heaven, I've Been Working on the Railroad and My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean. This helped enhance the feel of an old time day at the movies, like the ones were these cartoons were originally seen.


-Michael J. Ruhland