Saru Masamune aka The Monkey Sword Masamune (1930) animated by Yasuji Murata.
Category Archives: THE CARTOON CRYPT
THE CARTOON CRYPT: Doctor of Forest and Brave Warrior of Sanitary Gown
Another mysterious old Japanese cartoon from YouTube… this one is titled 森ã®ãŠåŒ»è€…ã¨ç™½è¡£ã®å‹‡å£«, which Babel Fish translates as Doctor of Forest and Brave Warrior of Sanitary Gown. The cartoon part starts a quarter of the way in. I like how the Brave Warrior of Sanitary Gown seems to be saluting a monkey.
THE CARTOON CRYPT: Sankichi the Monkey in The Storm Troopers (1934)
THE CARTOON CRYPT: The Monkey Fleet (1936)
THE CARTOON CRYPT: The Bicycling Jazz Samurai
I can’t tell you anything about this, other than I like it. The title on YouTube is ç ‚ç…™ã‚Šé«˜ç”°ã®ã‚°ãƒ©ã‚¦ãƒ³ãƒ‰, which Babel Fish translates as Sand Smoking Takeda’s Ground.
THE CARTOON CRYPT: Samurai Elf Versus Mickey Mouse and his Legion of Snakes
An utterly bizarre Japanese cartoon from 1934, found courtesy of the excellent Cartoon Brew website. A whole lot more interesting information on this can be found in the comments there.
Here is part of a comment there by “EricW”:
This appears to be Komatsuzawa Hajime’s “Toybox Series #3: Picture Book 1936″ (a.k.a. Momotaro vs Mickey Mouse). I found this description at http://www.kinema.uwaterloo.ca/white962.htm: “One very popular cartoon character was Momotaro, the “Peach boy,†who appeared in a number of cartoons designed not just for domestic consumption within Japan, but for propaganda use in occupied countries as well. For example, Picture Book 1936 (Momotaro vs. Mickey Mouse) presented fanged Mickey Mouse look-alikes riding giant bats, attacking peaceful Pacific islanders (represented by cats and dolls, for some reason); the hero Momotaro jumps out of a picture book, repels the American mice, and cherry trees blossom throughout the island as the grateful natives sing “Tokyo Chorus.â€
THE CARTOON CRYPT: Popeye the Sailor (1933)
THE CARTOON CRYPT: Betty Boop and the Little King (1936)
Here is a third Betty Boop cartoon guest starring a character from the funny pages… Otto Soglow’s Little King. Again, they have made a silent character from the funnies talk for no discernible reason.
You can read more about this cartoon on The Big Cartoon Database here.
THE CARTOON CRYPT: Betty Boop with Henry, the World’s Funniest American (1935)
Here’s another Betty Boop cartoon with a guest star from the funny pages… here with Carl Anderson’s Henry. Unlike the comic strip, for some reason they decided Henry should talk in the movie. A strange decision, as I don’t think it adds much to have him talk in the cartoon, or even to the storytelling… and it is certainly a big part of his comic strip’s appeal. Boy oh boy does Henry look wrong with a mouth. Come to think of it, boy does Henry look wrong.
THE CARTOON CRYPT: Betty Boop and Little Jimmy (1936)
Here’s a Betty Boop cartoon featuring Jimmy Swinnerton’s Little Jimmy (I’ll be presenting some Little Jimmy strips soon for your reading pleasure). Betty is using a vibrating belt machine to lose weight… I remember playing with one of these at some relative’s house as a kid. I don’t think anyone ever lost weight with one of these contraptions, and it would be a good bet that a lot of people met their chiropractors with their assistance. This cartoon also reveals the little known fact that laughing causes obesity, which explains why fat people are always so damned jolly.
Read more about this cartoon on The Big Cartoon Database here.