Adebar (1957)
Article 5622 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 1-18-2019
Directed by Peter Kubelka
Cast unknown
Country: Austria
What it is: Experimental film

Music plays while we see people dancing and still scenes in silhouette and/or in reverse image.

I rather enjoy delving into some of these experimental films, although it must be said that many of them only qualify as fantastic by dint of their being decidedly non-realistic. However, I can understand others having no use for them or hating them. In this case, I’m willing to bet that some people find the weird repeating musical riff that fills the soundtrack of this one to be grating and unpleasant. They can be grateful that the movie is only two and a half minutes long, but even I have to admit that this one gets old at about the halfway mark, especially when I noticed that certain of the images keep repeating themselves. And in a movie this length, there’s really no reason to have the credits repeated twice. Still, that’s part of the adventure of exploring experimental films.

Achooo Mr. Kerrooschev (1960)

Article 5621 by Dave Sindelar

Date: 1-17-2019
Directed by Stan Vanderbeek
Featuring Nikita Khrushchev
Country: USA
What it is: Experimental collage animation

No real plot; just bizarre images.

For the record, Nikita Khrushchev does not appear in this experimental short as an actor. However, photos of him (usually of his head) are featured prominently throughout the film. The second thought that ran through my head as I watched this was that I don’t suspect Mr. Vanderbeek is particularly fond of Mr. Khrushchev. That’s not to say that there is anything wrong with that; it’s just that the animation mostly consists of Khrushchev’s head appearing in place of someone else in a series of photos, and is only chased off when a hammer shows up to pound on him, and this certainly does not indicate (to me, at least) any great affection for the man. Of course, since this was my SECOND thought upon seeing the short, you’re probably wondering about my first thought. Well, that was that of all the things I’ve seen so far, this short bears a striking resemblance to the Terry Gilliam animations in “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”; you could add this short to any one of their TV episodes and it would look perfectly in place. I do wonder if Gilliam had seen any of Vanderbeek’s work prior to his work with the comedy group.

Abra Kadabra (1957)
Article 5620 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 1-16-2019
Directed by Dusan Vukotic
No cast
Country: Yugoslavia
What it is: Animated short

When a child dusting a bookshelf opts for a science fiction book to read instead of an old magic primer, a magician arises from the latter book and engages in a display of his abilities… only to find himself in competition with modern technology.

With a lowly 5.0 rating on IMDB (albeit from only six voters), this animated short doesn’t appear to have much of a reputation. I, however, was quite taken by it, at least partially because it illustrates a concept that (I think) first originated from science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, who said that a truly advanced technology would seem like magic. The magician seems to be from the time of the Arabian Nights, and he is quite startled to see some of his tricks being mimicked much more effectively by modern appliances such as radios, telephones, televisions, elevators and airplanes. The cartoon does go on a bit too long, and the ending isn’t quite satisfying, but I find it charming and interesting.

Ancient Fistory (1953)
Article 5615 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-29-2018
Directed by Seymour Kneitel
Featuring the voices of Jackson Beck, Jack Mercer, Mae Questel
Country: USA
What it is: Popeye Cartoon

Popeye wants to go to the ball to meet the princess, but evil stepfather Bluto won’t let him. Can Popeye’s fairy godfather fix things for him?

For the record, it looks like Popeye beat Jerry Lewis to the Cinderfella name by a decade. As you may have figured, this is a gender-reverse telling of the Cinderella story, which is easily the most clever thing about the cartoon. But once you get beyond that, this is pretty much the usual Popeye cartoon of the fifties with a few extra trappings, such as the archaic phrasing jokes. But by imitating a fairy tale, it does add to the fantastic content with a fair amount of magical happenings. Still, despite the gimmick, this one isn’t really all that special.