Acensbart
Excellent but underrated film
SpunkySelfTwitter
It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.
FirstWitch
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
TheLittleSongbird
While not one of my favourites, Ub Iwerks was responsible for a lot of interesting work. Especially when working with Walt Disney, his oldest friend and one of his best, and co-creating one of animation's most famous characters in Mickey Mouse. His career since opening his own studio had interest value but the quality was variable, often being successful in the animation and music but wanting in the story and variable in gags, lead characters and tone.1933 to 1936 saw twenty five cartoons, mostly based on famous fairytales and familiar stories, as part of Iwerks's "ComiColor" series. The "ComiColor" series is very much worth watching and interesting, as is the case with many series some cartoons are better than others but there are no real animation nadirs. 1935's 'Balloon Land' is one of the very best cartoons of the series, only put 'Jack Frost' above it.'Balloon Land' doesn't actually have much wrong with it. There is much more of a story than some of the other cartoons in the series and other Iwerks works, and feels much more than just a series of gags and events. It doesn't feel saccharine and has some substance. It is slight though and maybe a bit too simple. However 'Balloon Land' has enough freshness to stop it from being stale. It avoids the over sentimental factor and is never dull. There are a lot of imaginative visuals and the transitions are smooth.There are a few amusing moments that aren't too corny and never repetitive, it's very charming, is touching at times and there is a genuine likeability and cuteness without being over-sentimental. Plus the conflict is entertaining and frightening. The characters are nice enough in 'Balloon Land', the best being the deliciously wicked Pincushion Man who by default steals the cartoon. Billy Bletcher sinister vocal characterisation is a big part of why.Furthermore, the animation is great. Meticulously detailed, fluid in drawing, vibrant in colour and often rich in imagination and visual wit. The music is cleverly and lushly orchestrated, is infectiously catchy and adds a lot to the cartoon. Concluding, very well done. 9/10 Bethany Cox
Dawalk-1
This truly is one of the greatest cartoons of not only the golden age, but also of all time. All is well in a place where everything is a live balloon. That is, until the denizens' abode is invaded by the Pincushion Man. While the other characters are good, it's the aforementioned villain who really steals the show. Both he and the pins are balloons' natural enemies, and lethal enough to destroy the delicate, rubbery material of which they're made. Musically, Carl Stalling's work is fine as usual, it's an extra special treat with the addition of the uncredited novelty ragtime artist Zez Confrey's contribution to it. As one of the few Ub Iwerks cartoons not based on a fable or fairy tale, it's nice to see this attempt at something more original and it's one of the most imaginative ever conceived, and created. I can see why it's so beloved and was a contender/nominee for the 50 Greatest Cartoons Of All Time book. I'd like to think that after defeating and getting rid of the Pincushion Man, pins would hopefully be banished and outlawed for good. Recommended.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Balloon Land" is a cartoon from 1935, which means this one had its 80th anniversary last year. And that's why I think for its time, it was a rock-solid work and you could see in this one too that the Golden Age of Animation was approaching quickly. I do believe however that this one here (despite having color and sound) was just too generic for my taste. They created an interesting world (town) of unique creatures, but they failed to elaborate on it convincingly. It is all by the books. This one runs for 7 minutes as they usually do. Early on, we see the town where the action takes place, see some of the characters too and we are introduced to a balloon boy and girl who turn out the main characters. Then we meet the villain, a guy who has lots of needles and who looks a bid like a bad wolf (fittingly the door scene) and who is very dangerous to the balloon population. We also see him kill several balloon trees and also balloon soldiers during the film, which makes it pretty brutal if you think about it. Then the bad guy meets our two heroes and in the end, an army of balloon soldiers fights him and defeats him. I must say there is little in this film that has memorable value beyond the creatures being made of balloons. Iwerks and Bletcher, who made this one, are known to cartoon lovers of course, but this little film may not have been a contender for their best work. I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.
Robert Reynolds
This is a visually impressive cartoon, which should be expected from an Iwerks cartoon. As plots go, this was actually a pretty intricate one for the Iwerks studio, with a great villain voiced by a Disney regular, Billy Bletcher, who did Pegleg Pete, among others. The funniest bit for me was the town's "alarm" system. The Pincushion Man is really the most interesting character in the short, but it does offer some entertaining moments and is genuinely tense and frightening in spots. Iwerks deserves more notice and credit for what he had a responsibility for at Disney. His stint running his own studio wasn't as successful as he would have hoped, but he did produce (with an incredibly talented team, as a glance at the names of his employees will attest) some very good shorts. Balloon Land is one of the best that the Iwerks Studio created. Well worth watching. Recommended.
