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Puppetoons

 Puppetoons
type
TVTItem
 Puppetoons
label
Puppetoons
 Puppetoons
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Puppetoons
 Puppetoons
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Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })George Pal's Puppetoons (also released under the name of Madcap Models) was a series of Stop Motion puppet films, made from 1932 to 1947, with several recurring uses of the name in George Pal's later feature film work. The series was initially made in Europe during the 1930's, but Pal moved to the US in the 1940's (just two months before his native Holland was ravaged by the Nazi regime) and got a contract with Paramount to produce Puppetoons there.The films are notable not only for their Art Deco aesthetic, but for their dynamic use of stop motion; mostly eschewing articulated limbs used in films like King Kong (1933), Pal developed his own unique method; each individual movement or expression of a puppet, be it a walk, pose or expression change, required either a new part or an entirely new puppet to be made altogether for the film. As such, a single Puppetoon required thousands of custom made models for each scene. But as a benefit to the expensive, time consuming process, the Puppetoons achieved a cartoon like motion that would have been difficult or flat out impossible to achieve with standard stop motion effects, such as broad Squash and Stretch effects, and this allows the characters to move very expressively and with vigor and vitality, and in very creative ways to boot.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })The initial batch of Puppetoons were very experimental fantasy pieces, centered around pop culture of the day or charming fantasy stories, and often featured advertisements for products of the time (such as Horlick's Malted Milk or a Philips Radio) but when Pal moved to the US, the pressure to make the Puppetoons more commercial prompted him to work with more recurring characters (and thus allowing the films to be made somewhat faster and cheaper), such as the recurring African American child named Jasper.The series concluded on a literal high note with an adaptation of the children's record Tubby The Tuba. George Pal went on to work as a producer and director in live action films, directing among other works the iconic 1960 adaptation of The Time Machine. The Puppetoon process would find work in other films, such as Pal's "The Great Rupert" (1949), Tom Thumb (1958) and The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1963).Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })The series got back into the limelight again with the release of Arnold Lebovit's The Puppetoon Movie, a compilation feature with a framing device guest-starring Gumby, in 1987. This has been released on VHS, DVD and a very limited Blu-Ray release in 2014 (the latter including several never-before-released shorts as extras). As of 2020, a sequel The Puppetoon Movie 2 became available on DVD with plans for a third film.Suffice it to say, the series laid the groundwork for Pal's later film work (such as the esteemed 1953 adaptation of The War of the Worlds), and provided inspiration for many future greats in the field of stop motion animation.The series is also notable for adapting two of Dr. Seuss' early stories into stop motion (albeit without emulating his trademark art style); "The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins" (1943) as well as "And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street" (1944). Several shorts in the franchise have received Academy Award nominations, including "Rhythm in the Ranks" (1941), the anti-Nazi war allegory "Tulips Shall Grow" (1942), "Jasper and the Beanstalk" (1945), "John Henry and the Inky-Poo" (1946) and "Tubby the Tuba" (1947).
 Puppetoons
fetched
2022-12-08T21:13:11Z
 Puppetoons
parsed
2022-12-08T21:13:11Z
 Puppetoons
processingComment
Dropped link to BugsBunny: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Puppetoons
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Dropped link to DukeEllington: Not a Feature - IGNORE
 Puppetoons
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Dropped link to HistoricalDomainCharacter: Not a Feature - IGNORE
 Puppetoons
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Dropped link to JasperAndTheBeanstalk: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Puppetoons
processingComment
Dropped link to JohnHenryAndTheInkyPoo: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Puppetoons
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Dropped link to RogerRabbitEffect: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Puppetoons
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Dropped link to TheCancanSong: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Puppetoons
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Dropped link to TubbyTheTuba1947: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Puppetoons
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Dropped link to TulipsShallGrow: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Puppetoons
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Puppetoons / int_119ea1fd
type
Stop Motion
 Puppetoons / int_119ea1fd
comment
Stop Motion
 Puppetoons / int_119ea1fd
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1.0
 Puppetoons / int_119ea1fd
featureConfidence
1.0
 Puppetoons
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Puppetoons / int_119ea1fd
 Puppetoons / int_14beeefd
type
Darker and Edgier
 Puppetoons / int_14beeefd
comment
Darker and Edgier: "Tulips Shall Grow", due to it being an allegory of the Nazis conquering Holland. The John Henry adaptation in contrast to the otherwise cartoony Puppetoons shorts. The designs are very naturalistic and the story is treated completely serious. The protagonist even dies at the end!
 Puppetoons / int_14beeefd
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1.0
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Puppetoons / int_14beeefd
 Puppetoons / int_18436785
type
EasternAnimation
 Puppetoons / int_18436785
comment
Eastern Animation: Initially, until Pal moved to the US.
 Puppetoons / int_18436785
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1.0
 Puppetoons / int_18436785
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1.0
 Puppetoons
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Puppetoons / int_18436785
 Puppetoons / int_1b65dfad
type
The Cameo
 Puppetoons / int_1b65dfad
comment
The Cameo: "Jasper Goes Hunting" features an authorized cameo of Bugs Bunny (complete with Mel Blanc voicing him for two lines) for several seconds when the Scarecrow aims his gun down a rabbit hole, which prompts Bugs' famous "What's up, doc?" line. It's justified due to the whole thing being part of a Dream Sequence.
 Puppetoons / int_1b65dfad
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1.0
 Puppetoons / int_1b65dfad
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1.0
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Puppetoons / int_1b65dfad
 Puppetoons / int_1ba8eb64
type
Visual Pun
 Puppetoons / int_1ba8eb64
comment
Visual Pun / Punny Name: The Screwballs, portrayed as literal walking balls with a screw winding up and down in their heads. And while their leader is goose-stepping, the camera cuts to a duck following right behind it doing the same thing. The titles for "Jasper in a Jam" (which has Jasper getting caught up in a ghostly jazz jam session) feature Jasper popping his head out of a jar of Jam.
 Puppetoons / int_1ba8eb64
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1.0
 Puppetoons / int_1ba8eb64
featureConfidence
1.0
 Puppetoons
hasFeature
Puppetoons / int_1ba8eb64
 Puppetoons / int_1bf94a24
type
The Movie
 Puppetoons / int_1bf94a24
comment
The Movie: The Puppetoon Movie is really just a feature-length anthology of some of the series' best shorts, all wrapped in a Framing Device involving Gumby learning why George Pal was such an important figure in the history of stop-motion animation.
 Puppetoons / int_1bf94a24
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1.0
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Puppetoons / int_1bf94a24
 Puppetoons / int_1e1afc1b
type
Framing Device
 Puppetoons / int_1e1afc1b
comment
Framing Device: The Puppetoon Movie involves a veteran puppet dinosaur named Arnie showing Gumby many of George Pal's old Puppetoons shorts, to show him why he was such an influential filmmaker.
 Puppetoons / int_1e1afc1b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_1e1afc1b
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1.0
 Puppetoons
hasFeature
Puppetoons / int_1e1afc1b
 Puppetoons / int_255608b2
type
Public Domain Animation
 Puppetoons / int_255608b2
comment
Public Domain Animation: Several of the shorts have fallen into the public domain.
 Puppetoons / int_255608b2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_255608b2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Puppetoons
hasFeature
Puppetoons / int_255608b2
 Puppetoons / int_363f1f98
type
Former Child Star
 Puppetoons / int_363f1f98
comment
Former Child Star: "Jasper's Derby" features Jasper befriending High Octane, an old racing horse who was a racing star as young as being a filly.
 Puppetoons / int_363f1f98
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1.0
 Puppetoons / int_363f1f98
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1.0
 Puppetoons
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Puppetoons / int_363f1f98
 Puppetoons / int_36c64123
type
Gentle Giant
 Puppetoons / int_36c64123
comment
Gentle Giant: Arnie the T-Rex in the opening of The Puppetoon Movie. He became a vegetarian and doesn't even have the desire to act scary in a movie after working with George Pal in the past. (Notably he's voiced by voiceover legend Paul Frees, who actually did vocal work on two of Pal's features, The War of the Worlds and Atlantis: The Lost Continent.)
 Puppetoons / int_36c64123
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1.0
 Puppetoons / int_36c64123
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1.0
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Puppetoons / int_36c64123
 Puppetoons / int_418a10e2
type
Motion Blur
 Puppetoons / int_418a10e2
comment
Motion Blur: In another rarity for stop motion, the animation sometimes employed the use of drybrush smears when a character moved particularly fast.
 Puppetoons / int_418a10e2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_418a10e2
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 Puppetoons
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Puppetoons / int_418a10e2
 Puppetoons / int_4554eb51
type
The Twelve Principles of Animation
 Puppetoons / int_4554eb51
comment
The Twelve Principles of Animation: Due to the unique (but laborious) method of using individually carved puppets per frame, this allowed the series to use principles like Squash and Stretch to great (and hilarious) effect.
 Puppetoons / int_4554eb51
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_4554eb51
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1.0
 Puppetoons
hasFeature
Puppetoons / int_4554eb51
 Puppetoons / int_5768d31
type
Super-Speed
 Puppetoons / int_5768d31
comment
Super Speed: High Octane the horse, from "Jasper's Derby", can reach impressive racing speeds that would otherwise be impossible for a horse of his old age, whenever Jasper plays his violin. Jasper sometimes pulls this off, although it's obviously for comic effect.
 Puppetoons / int_5768d31
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1.0
 Puppetoons / int_5768d31
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1.0
 Puppetoons
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Puppetoons / int_5768d31
 Puppetoons / int_5bf2aa37
type
Western Animation
 Puppetoons / int_5bf2aa37
comment
Western Animation: Became this when Pal moved to the U.S.
 Puppetoons / int_5bf2aa37
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_5bf2aa37
featureConfidence
1.0
 Puppetoons
hasFeature
Puppetoons / int_5bf2aa37
 Puppetoons / int_5f70322e
type
Public Domain Soundtrack
 Puppetoons / int_5f70322e
comment
Public Domain Soundtrack: "Mr. Strauss Takes A Walk" is based entirely around Johann Strauss II's "Tales of the Vienna Woods".
 Puppetoons / int_5f70322e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_5f70322e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Puppetoons
hasFeature
Puppetoons / int_5f70322e
 Puppetoons / int_6bda9a30
type
Meaningful Name
 Puppetoons / int_6bda9a30
comment
Meaningful Name: High Octane, an old racing horse who was once a champion, but has long since retired and is not in top shape. Jasper's violin unintentionally allows him to regain his old speed when it's playing.
 Puppetoons / int_6bda9a30
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_6bda9a30
featureConfidence
1.0
 Puppetoons
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Puppetoons / int_6bda9a30
 Puppetoons / int_7c4f6612
type
Comic-Book Adaptation
 Puppetoons / int_7c4f6612
comment
Comic-Book Adaptation: The Puppetoons recieved a short lived comic tie-in during the 40's. It also gave the Scarecrow and Crow from the Jasper subseries names; Professor and Blackberry, respectively.
 Puppetoons / int_7c4f6612
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_7c4f6612
featureConfidence
1.0
 Puppetoons
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Puppetoons / int_7c4f6612
 Puppetoons / int_81a1960f
type
Silence Is Golden
 Puppetoons / int_81a1960f
comment
Silence Is Golden: Many of the Puppetoons are dialogue-light, using the music and visuals to carry the action. "Tubby the Tuba" notably uses a narrator to speak for the characters, who otherwise only "speak" with their respective instrumental sounds.
 Puppetoons / int_81a1960f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_81a1960f
featureConfidence
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 Puppetoons
hasFeature
Puppetoons / int_81a1960f
 Puppetoons / int_84c5ec0b
type
Free-Range Children
 Puppetoons / int_84c5ec0b
comment
Free-Range Children: Jasper, especially in "Jasper in a Jam". That short has Jasper visiting a big city at night during a thunderstorm.
 Puppetoons / int_84c5ec0b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_84c5ec0b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Puppetoons
hasFeature
Puppetoons / int_84c5ec0b
 Puppetoons / int_8c23b321
type
Harmless Villain
 Puppetoons / int_8c23b321
comment
Harmless Villain: The Scarecrow, who is a manipulative nuisance to Jasper, but isn't actively malicious and never tries to actually harm Jasper (other than going loony from telling a story and chasing Jasper at the end of one short).
 Puppetoons / int_8c23b321
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_8c23b321
featureConfidence
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 Puppetoons
hasFeature
Puppetoons / int_8c23b321
 Puppetoons / int_985795ab
type
Medium Blending
 Puppetoons / int_985795ab
comment
Medium Blending: The shorts occasionally used hand-drawn animation alongside the stop motion in sporadic circumstances (i.e. effects animation of a cannon firing or a character smearing, a close-up of Jasper's hand "walking" across his violin in "Jasper's Derby", a painting falling asleep in the "Sleeping Beauty" short, Bugs Bunny's cameo in "Jasper Goes Hunting"). The "Mulberry Street" adaptation notably features a live-action opening and ending.
 Puppetoons / int_985795ab
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_985795ab
featureConfidence
1.0
 Puppetoons
hasFeature
Puppetoons / int_985795ab
 Puppetoons / int_986dad9a
type
Killer Robot
 Puppetoons / int_986dad9a
comment
Killer Robot: The Screwballs from "Tulips Shall Grow" and "Bravo, Mr. Strauss".
 Puppetoons / int_986dad9a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_986dad9a
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1.0
 Puppetoons
hasFeature
Puppetoons / int_986dad9a
 Puppetoons / int_a07afea2
type
Random Events Plot
 Puppetoons / int_a07afea2
comment
Random Events Plot: Shorts like "Philips Broadcast" had no plot to speak of, and were basically showcases for music and ads for the Philips Radios of the day.
 Puppetoons / int_a07afea2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_a07afea2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Puppetoons
hasFeature
Puppetoons / int_a07afea2
 Puppetoons / int_a68421bb
type
Animated Adaptation
 Puppetoons / int_a68421bb
comment
Animated Adaptation: Two Dr. Seuss stories, as well as the children's record Tubby The Tuba.
 Puppetoons / int_a68421bb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_a68421bb
featureConfidence
1.0
 Puppetoons
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Puppetoons / int_a68421bb
 Puppetoons / int_a73cfb7f
type
Animate Inanimate Object
 Puppetoons / int_a73cfb7f
comment
Animate Inanimate Object: Living radio tubes (also called "radio valves") appear in "Radio Valve Revolution" and then again in "Ballet Of The Red Radio Tubes." The Jasper 'toons have a fair few as well- "Jasper In The Haunted House" sees random objects from around the house come alive to dance along to the ghost's piano playing (with the possibility that the piano could actually be playing itself as well), while "Jasper And The Beanstalk" has a talking harp that begs him to rescue her from the giant. The harp's model is later reused in "Jasper In A Jam", where she is joined by a whole host of other living instruments who inhabit an old pawn shop. The "Tool Box" segment animated for Curiosity Shop features tools in a toolbox coming alive.
 Puppetoons / int_a73cfb7f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_a73cfb7f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Puppetoons
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Puppetoons / int_a73cfb7f
 Puppetoons / int_a76505a
type
ShoulderPet
 Puppetoons / int_a76505a
comment
Shoulder Pet: The crow that always sits on the Scarecrows shoulder.
 Puppetoons / int_a76505a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_a76505a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Puppetoons
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Puppetoons / int_a76505a
 Puppetoons / int_ba0a370c
type
Color Failure
 Puppetoons / int_ba0a370c
comment
Color Failure: The Scarecrow has this reaction to an elephant stalking behind him in "Jasper Goes Hunting".
 Puppetoons / int_ba0a370c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_ba0a370c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Puppetoons
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Puppetoons / int_ba0a370c
 Puppetoons / int_c2288824
type
A Nazi by Any Other Name
 Puppetoons / int_c2288824
comment
A Nazi by Any Other Name: The Screwballs from "Tulips Shall Grow" and "Bravo, Mr. Strauss" are a very unsubtle jab at the Nazis, portraying them as mindless, robotic tools that carelessly destroy anything in their path.
 Puppetoons / int_c2288824
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_c2288824
featureConfidence
1.0
 Puppetoons
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Puppetoons / int_c2288824
 Puppetoons / int_c335b9ec
type
Irony
 Puppetoons / int_c335b9ec
comment
Irony: The companion of the Scarecrow is a crow who is almost perpetually mounted on his shoulder.
 Puppetoons / int_c335b9ec
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_c335b9ec
featureConfidence
1.0
 Puppetoons
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Puppetoons / int_c335b9ec
 Puppetoons / int_c364c51e
type
Wartime Cartoon
 Puppetoons / int_c364c51e
comment
Wartime Cartoon: "Tulips Shall Grow" is a blatant allegory for the Nazis taking over Holland during World War II. "Bravo, Mr. Strauss" features Johann Strauss taking on the Screwballs and leading them to their doom with his music.
 Puppetoons / int_c364c51e
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1.0
 Puppetoons / int_c364c51e
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 Puppetoons
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Puppetoons / int_c364c51e
 Puppetoons / int_c3b8ac93
type
Rubber-Hose Limbs
 Puppetoons / int_c3b8ac93
comment
Rubberhose Limbs: Many of the Puppets featured these in addition to more naturalistic limbs. And unlike the otherwise wood-carved puppets, the limbs were often literally made out of rubber, with articulated joints.
 Puppetoons / int_c3b8ac93
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1.0
 Puppetoons / int_c3b8ac93
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Puppetoons / int_c3b8ac93
 Puppetoons / int_ca87e3ec
type
No Name Given
 Puppetoons / int_ca87e3ec
comment
No Name Given: The Scarecrow and his companion Crow, a pesky recurring foe in the Jasper cartoons. However, a short-lived comic book adaptation of Puppetoons named them Professor and Blackberry.
 Puppetoons / int_ca87e3ec
featureApplicability
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 Puppetoons / int_ca87e3ec
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Puppetoons / int_ca87e3ec
 Puppetoons / int_d99a228f
type
Unusually Uninteresting Sight
 Puppetoons / int_d99a228f
comment
Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Nobody in the "Jasper" shorts finds a walking, sentient scarecrow odd.
 Puppetoons / int_d99a228f
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1.0
 Puppetoons / int_d99a228f
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Puppetoons / int_d99a228f
 Puppetoons / int_dd3d1f69
type
Wicked Witch
 Puppetoons / int_dd3d1f69
comment
Wicked Witch: The villain of the "Sleeping Beauty" short.
 Puppetoons / int_dd3d1f69
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1.0
 Puppetoons / int_dd3d1f69
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Puppetoons / int_dd3d1f69
 Puppetoons / int_eb7c34cf
type
Crossover
 Puppetoons / int_eb7c34cf
comment
Crossover: Besides Bugs Bunny's appearance in "Jasper Goes Hunting", the framing device of The Puppetoon Movie prominently features Gumby and Pokey, and the finale features cameo appearances by many other iconic stop-motion puppets including the original Alka-Seltzer mascot, the Pillsbury Doughboy, and even a Gremlin!
 Puppetoons / int_eb7c34cf
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Puppetoons / int_eb7c34cf
 Puppetoons / int_edde4197
type
Woodland Creatures
 Puppetoons / int_edde4197
comment
Woodland Creatures: The animals that accompany Johann Strauss in "Mr. Strauss Takes A Walk".
 Puppetoons / int_edde4197
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_edde4197
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Puppetoons / int_edde4197
 Puppetoons / int_f511ea9b
type
Product Placement
 Puppetoons / int_f511ea9b
comment
Product Placement: The '30s Puppetoons often feature these, such as ads for Horlick's Malted Milk or Philips brand radios. This ties into the Puppetoon concept being hatched when Pal was working on a traditionally-animated advertisement for cigarettes and came up with the idea for a stop-motion short that used the actual cigarettes.
 Puppetoons / int_f511ea9b
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Puppetoons / int_f511ea9b
 Puppetoons / int_f9439c84
type
Haunted House
 Puppetoons / int_f9439c84
comment
Haunted House: Featured in the short "Jasper and the Haunted House", though it's apparently inhabited by an Invisible Man rather than ghosts.
 Puppetoons / int_f9439c84
featureApplicability
1.0
 Puppetoons / int_f9439c84
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Puppetoons / int_f9439c84
 Puppetoons / int_f9e16ef
type
Distressed Dude
 Puppetoons / int_f9e16ef
comment
Distressed Dude: Jim Dandy in "Hoola Boola"; he's captured by natives and later rescued by a pretty hula lady he met earlier.
 Puppetoons / int_f9e16ef
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Puppetoons

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Puppetoons
hasFeature
Animate Inanimate Object / int_1d9ceac5
 Puppetoons
hasFeature
Land of Tulips and Windmills / int_1d9ceac5
 Puppetoons
hasFeature
Scary Scarecrows / int_1d9ceac5
 Puppetoons
hasFeature
Sky Pirate / int_1d9ceac5
 Puppetoons
hasFeature
Stop Motion / int_1d9ceac5
 Puppetoons
hasFeature
Awesome Art / Sugar Wiki / int_1d9ceac5