Good Old Schooldays (1930) Online

First of all, what's with the single strap suspender thing holding up everyone's shorts. That said, this is a very odd portrayal of the education system in this era. It would seem that everyone is doing everything they can to get there, but once they do, nothing happens. The teacher is useless and all she does is wack her desk with a ruler. Meanwhile, there is a piano and some singing. Not much of any cleverness here.

Van Beuren cartoons are extremely variable, especially in the number of gags and whether the absurdist humour shines through enough (sometimes it does, other times it doesn't), but are strangely interesting. Although they are often poorly animated with barely existent stories and less than compelling lead characters, they are also often outstandingly scored, there can be some fun support characters and some are well-timed and amusing.

'Good Old Schooldays' is not quite one of Van Beuren's worst or one of the worst of the Aesop's Fables cartoons. That doesn't mean that 'Good Old Schooldays' is good though, quite the opposite if with a few good things to come it from being an abomination but generally most of the usual flaws are here.

Van Beuren have actually done quite a number of watchable or more cartoons, a few pretty good even though imperfect. So it's not as if they are all being hated on.

Its best asset is the music score, pretty much the best thing consistently of Van Beuren's output (sometimes even the only good thing). It is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated, is great fun to listen to and full of lively energy, doing so well with enhancing the action.

Some of the synchronisation is nicely done and there is some liveliness pace-wise. A couple of mildly amusing moments too and it's not as confused in the action as other Van Beuren efforts.

However, pretty much all the fault of Van Beuren's cartoons are present here. The animation is not good, in fact it is downright bad most of the time with erratically sloppy character designs in particular while the simplistic background detail and lack of fluidity and crispness are just as difficult to ignore. Often you can't actually tell what the animals are actually meant to be.

None of the characters are that interesting or fun, most are over-cutesy and unmemorable and others are pretty annoying. Story is very slight to the point of non-existence, and not only doesn't go very far but it feels random and disjointed at times. If you are looking for sense too, look elsewhere.

Basically 'Good Old Schooldays' is a stringing along of gags structured in a way that's disorganised and random. generally, while having a fair bit going on, it is very low on laughs. In terms of quality few gags are amusing or inventive, rarely rising above the forgettable and there is not much absurdist about them.

In summation, not so good and very old. Not a must avoid but not particularly recommended except for curiosity's/completests' sake. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Paul Terry would soon leave Van Beuren to strike off on his own -- eventually to spend the remainder of his career as a cartoon producer working for Fox and later CBS. In the meantime, he produced this one, poor even by the standards of his work for van Beuren: stick figures, three-quarter animation, synchronized sound rather than speech, endless looping and the gags are just plunked down, nominally on a theme, but with an air of randomness about them.

Van Beuren's work would improve, but he would produce very few topnotch cartoons before he lost his contract with RKO to Disney in 1936. Terry would produce stuff aimed squarely at the kiddie market and within budget.