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.
'Sultan Pepper' is the eighth of eleven Van Beuren cartoons based on Otto Soglow, and the sixth to star The Little King. For me, it's among the better ones (although a better job is done in other The Little King cartoons to be faithful to Otto Soglow's visual and humour style) and one doesn't expect The Little King or Van Beuren to be so racy, a fair bit is gotten away with and it is amazing at how it got past the censors.
It is flimsy in story, as with all The Little King and pretty much standard for Van Beuren.
The Sultan is a bit too much of a creep in places, especially in the keyhole gag, and the keyhole and 13 is an unlucky number gags are a bit too tasteless to be funny.
Actually though, there is a huge amount to like about 'Sultan Pepper' and it vastly outweighs the flaws. It demonstrates why Van Beuren's cartoons adapted from Soglow's work are among the studio's better, more ambitious and more entertaining efforts.
One expects Van Beuren cartoons to generally not be well animated. That's not the case with 'Sultan Pepper', the studio's Soglow adaptations come to think of it were all among their better-looking cartoons and showed more detail and crispness. It may not quite be as imaginative visually and have the ambitious human character designs of 'The Fatal Note', which introduces The Little King, but for Van Beuren this animation is surprisingly good.
Music as always with Van Beuren, very nearly always the best thing about their cartoons and sometimes the only good thing, is lively and beautifully and cleverly orchestrated. The gags are amusing, well-timed and charming, if not quite as subtle as in the first two Van Beuren/Soglow cartoons. The elephant trunk and automat gags come off best. The Little King is appealing as a lead.
In summation, pretty good and surprisingly racy. 7/10 Bethany Cox
'Sultan Pepper' is the eighth of eleven Van Beuren cartoons based on Otto Soglow, and the sixth to star The Little King. For me, it's among the better ones (although a better job is done in other The Little King cartoons to be faithful to Otto Soglow's visual and humour style) and one doesn't expect The Little King or Van Beuren to be so racy, a fair bit is gotten away with and it is amazing at how it got past the censors.
It is flimsy in story, as with all The Little King and pretty much standard for Van Beuren.
The Sultan is a bit too much of a creep in places, especially in the keyhole gag, and the keyhole and 13 is an unlucky number gags are a bit too tasteless to be funny.
Actually though, there is a huge amount to like about 'Sultan Pepper' and it vastly outweighs the flaws. It demonstrates why Van Beuren's cartoons adapted from Soglow's work are among the studio's better, more ambitious and more entertaining efforts.
One expects Van Beuren cartoons to generally not be well animated. That's not the case with 'Sultan Pepper', the studio's Soglow adaptations come to think of it were all among their better-looking cartoons and showed more detail and crispness. It may not quite be as imaginative visually and have the ambitious human character designs of 'The Fatal Note', which introduces The Little King, but for Van Beuren this animation is surprisingly good.
Music as always with Van Beuren, very nearly always the best thing about their cartoons and sometimes the only good thing, is lively and beautifully and cleverly orchestrated. The gags are amusing, well-timed and charming, if not quite as subtle as in the first two Van Beuren/Soglow cartoons. The elephant trunk and automat gags come off best. The Little King is appealing as a lead.
In summation, pretty good and surprisingly racy. 7/10 Bethany Cox
