The Cuckoo (1948) Online

One of David Hand's Animaland cartoons, long believed lost, THE CUCKOO plays like a short version of a cross between the "Pink Elephants On Parade" number from Dumbo and some of the darker sequences of PINOCCHIO. This is hardly surprising, as Hand was a Disney alumnus who was brought to England to build a cartoon studio that could compete with American studios. The lush animation makes you expect something much simpler and far more childish than it turns out to be.

The problem with this and the other cartoons in the Animaland series is that there is no clear sense of lasting characterization. There is no star for the series to center around. When one was finally produced, it was the rather poorly defined Ginger Nutt and the cartoons declined into oblivion.

Yet, even though these are not great cartoons, they are good cartoons and definitely worth a look should they come your way.