Good concept, poorly executed.

Dreadfully Boring

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

I just got to see this animated short on Cartoon Network's sister station, Boomerang the other night & wondered "why has this stuff become so lost and obscure?" Most of the Kaptain & The Kids shorts for M-G-M were mostly shot in black & white (a sure to be prejudice in most cases),and had humor that would be somewhat dated by today's standards. Pity. The Kaptain shorts were beautifully detailed & animated & had the same kind of frantic pacing that the Tom & Jerry shorts would have a few years later in the 1940's. Although most of them lack credits,it is known that Joseph Barbara directed some of them before his teaming with William Hannah for the T&J shorts. If there was any justice in life,this stuff would be available on DVD. My hats off to M-G-M studios for maintaining the high quality of the original 35mm prints of these shorts,and Boomerang for airing them (even though it is late a night).

Petunia National Park (1939) ** 1/2 (out of 4) The series must have been doing good because this The Captain and the Kids short was filmed in Technicolor. The Captain takes the family to the title place so that they can understand the nature. A few funny bits including the best gag being where the Captain tries to avoid feeding a bear.Cleaning House (1938) ** 1/2 (out of 4) First of eighteen animated shorts of MGM's The Captain and the Kids series. The mother has the kids and the Captain doing housework but the Cap decides to play sick. Not too many laughs but the animation is nice and there's a good trick ending. It's funny to know that MGM didn't think this series would last so they went cheap and made this first film in B&W.Mama's New Hat (1939) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Final cartoon from The Captain and the Kids series and it's back in black and white. The boys buy mama a hat for mother's day but this makes a female horse jealous so she tries to steal the hat. This one here has a lot more action than the previous two films but they forgot to make the horse funny or charming.

One of the few Captain cartoons done in color, this was a parody of the travelogue shorts popular at the time. The narration is a large part of the success of this short. Funny, pointed and often sarcastic and/or irreverent, the narration is the funniest aspect of this particular cartoon, part of a series MGM did based on the comic strip featuring Der Captain and the Kids. The Captain is his typical bumbling, ill-mannered self, of course. Well worth watching. Recommended.