Cartoons 'R Fun

The company's logo.

**Cartoons 'R Fun** is a series of VHS tapes featuring classic public domain cartoons released by Home Video Syndications Ltd.

## History

The Cartoons 'R Fun series was mostly created in New York in 1989. The covers were originally designed by Home Video Syndications Ltd. and later by Vidtape, Inc. of Placentia, California. By 1990, HVS was shut down until Vidtape became the main distributor of the Cartoons 'R Fun series. Since Vidtape did not release any other series of tapes, they changed the company name to Cartoons 'R Fun in 1990. Cartoons 'R Fun continued releasing tapes through the 1990s.

The Vidtape brand was briefly revived in 1999 to release classic short films on VHS. Vidtape changed their name to Videozone in 2000 and went out of business shortly afterward.

## Tape quality

The Cartoons 'R Fun series became famous for its notoriously poor quality. This is because the tapes were produced as cheaply as possible, leading to many problems. Video noise and artifacts were common problems. The sound was also of poor quality. This was due to the tapes being recorded in the EP mode, instead of the LP mode used by most PD companies.

The tapes were also criticized for the cartoons being edited. In most cases, the original opening cues have been removed or edited to remove studio captions, and the original end cues were plastered with a fake "The END" card (originally lifted from the 1970's NTA redrawn colorized prints of original B&W *Betty Boop* cartoons), or, in some cases, have been cut out entirely. In addition, most cartoons are slowed down slightly from their original speed. Any black and white cartoon featured on any of the tapes has a sepia-tone added to them. There were also instances where footage within the cartoon was edited. As an example, *Porky's Preview* (featured at the start of the Old McDonald's Farm tape) starts partway in and not from the beginning. However, there were some instances where cartoons on these tapes did contain the original studio captions.

The original HVS tapes contained four cartoons on each tape, and were recorded in SP mode. When Vidtape took over Cartoons R Fun, they began recording the tapes in EP mode, and gradually began using shorter tapes. The last Cartoons R Fun tapes contained only two cartoons, despite claiming to have four.

One of the most common complaints was that the tapes stopped before the cartoons were over, resulting in an abrupt ending. It is not known why this happened. It is possible that the tapes were duplicated incorrectly, or that the tapes were all erased in some way. In some instances it was also due to the tapes not being of adequate length to hold all four cartoons.

Individual copies of the tapes also varied in terms of presentation. On some copies, there is a black lead in screen before the start of the first cartoon whilst on others the first cartoon starts as soon as the tape is put in. Technically, on these copies there is greater risk of the beginning of the first cartoon deteriorating in quality as this area of the tape is most at risk of getting worn due to contact with the video heads. The ending of the tapes also varies due to the fact that the tapes used were of varying lengths. On some copies, the tape cuts abruptly from the end caption of the fourth cartoon to a static screen whilst on others a more common place black lead out screen is shown which either remains on the screen until the end of the tape is reached or eventually cuts to a static screen. On some copies, the tape immediately runs out as soon as the fourth cartoon has finished. Some copies of individual tapes contained a logo from a company called "Duratape, Inc." at the end of the tape.

Lastly, one other fact attesting to the tapes' cheapness was the tapes themselves. Many Cartoons 'R Fun tapes were recorded over other tapes. The tapes used for this purpose varied greatly, from National Geographic specials to NordicFlex workout tapes to even old home movies. In these cases, Cartoons 'R Fun simply applied their label over the previous one, without removing it. Other tapes had no labeling whatsoever, and some even had generic home video labels (from BASF) applied. One instance of reused tapes (from the UK line of Cartoons R Fun tapes) had the tape's cartoons recorded over a defective *Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends* tape (namely "Troublesome Trucks and Other Stories", of which ends before the final episode on the tape (*Percy Runs Away*) has properly finished). One YouTube commenter on Oddity Archive's video on public domain VHS companies recalled viewing a Cartoons R Fun tape that had the tape's cartoons recorded over a home movie of a graduation ceremony, and there are also reports of Cartoons R Fun tapes that had been recorded over adult videotapes.

By comparison, Celebrity Home Entertainment's *Classic Cartoons* series also were recorded in EP, had severely degraded prints and cartoons were frequently omitted. Nevertheless, the *Cartoon Classics* series had substantially higher quality tapes, had consistent time lengths and the cartoons were edited more adeptly.

## Packaging

The Cartoons 'R Fun series went through several packaging variations. The HVS boxes featured a list of the four cartoons contained on each tape, as did the original Vidtape releases. As Vidtape began to cut down the number of cartoons on each tape, they replaced the lists with the title of the featured cartoon, followed by "And many more!" Around 1990, Vidtape moved from Placentia, California to West Babylon, New York, and the boxes were changed to reflect this. The packaging for the UK releases also varied depending on how many cartoons were contained on each tape. A number of copies containing only three cartoons used boxes from the German releases with labels outlining the tape's english title being applied over the top of the German text. Similarily, on the back cover, the German translation of the tape content is covered over with a label outlining the featured character on the tape and with the words "And Many more".

In addition to the label differences described above, most tapes can also be found with four box variations. Some had Vidtape's information in a black box, and others had the same information in a white box on top of the black box. There were also variations to the labels used for the UK releases from Videozone. Some copies had a generic green and yellow label just containing the words "Cartoons R Fun" and "Video Zone" but without the name of the tape displayed. Others had a light blue and white label which in some instances listed the name of the tape and in other instances didn't. Other copies had the Cartoons R Fun logo printed directly onto the cassette shell in either light blue, brown or pink.

On some copies of the tapes where the fourth cartoon was omitted, the boxes were altered to reflect this fact by the title of the 4th cartoon being crossed out with black marker pen. Additionally, the original stated running time of 30 minutes was altered either by means of a sticker which stated that the running time was 25 minutes or alternatively by having all references to the 30 minute running time being crossed out by black marker pen.

However, there were instances where the actual tape did not match what was indicated on the box in terms of running time and cartoon content. Some copies which last all four cartoons on the back end up having one of the cartoons omitted and other copies for which the box indicates that the tape only contains three cartoons do actually end up containing all four.

There were also variations to the endings of the tapes containing only three cartoons. On some copies, the tape simply cut to a blank screen after the ending of the third cartoon, whilst on others, a few seconds of the fourth cartoon was shown before the tape cut to a blank screen, or, on some releases, actually ran out and ejected.

The original HVS releases were labelled with the title of the individual tapes. This was also the case for some of the UK releases distributed by Videozone. Vidtape initially used a generic Cartoons R Fun label for each tape, then dropped the labels altogether. Some Cartoons R Fun tapes sold in Canada were distributed by other companies, and featured a variety of labels to reflect this.

## Foreign-language releases

Depending on where you live in different parts of the world, Cartoons 'R Fun tapes have been poorly dubbed into another language. The most infamous of these examples is the Spanish-translated tapes, which were presumably dubbed by two middle-aged Hispanic men voicing male and female characters. These dubs have become quite cheap and that they were edited very sloppily.

A more recent example happens to be the Dutch-dubbed tapes which has the same editing quality as the Spanish releases, though they fair differently with one another. Surprisingly, the international WonderToons releases have a few connections with the UK releases, in that the ink labels and covers leave the BBFC U rating on them. "Bugs Bunny and Friends", on the other hand, uses a Childrens' Video Network print despite being a CRF/WonderToons release.

As of now, only the Spanish and Dutch-dubbed VHS tapes exist online from the Cartoons 'R Fun label.

#### Spanish

1. El Conejo Loco (literal translation: "The Crazy Rabbit")
2. Cartoons R Fun: Heckle y Jeckle y Las Urracas (literal translation: "Heckle and Jeckle and the Magpies")
3. El Puerco Porky y Su Jardin (literal translation: "Porky the Pork and His Garden")
4. El Viejo Mac Donald (literal translation: "The Old Mac Donald")
5. WonderToons: Pequeña Lulu y Sus Amigos (literal translation: "Little Lulu and Her Friends") (Catalog number: SWT 009)

#### Dutch

1. WonderToons: Bugs Bunny en Vrienden (literal translation: "Bugs Bunny and Friends") (Catalog number: DWT007)
2. WonderToons: Felix the Cat en Vrienden (literal translation: "Felix the Cat and Friends") (Catalog number: DWT010)

## List of English-language releases

1. 101 Bugs Bunny: The Wacky Wabbit
2. 102 Elmer Fudd: Corny Concerto
3. 103 Little Lulu
4. 104 Porky Pig: Pastry Pirates
5. 105 Bugs Bunny: Fresh Hare
6. 106 Daffy Duck: Scrap Happy
7. 107 Heckle & Jeckle: The Talking Magpies
8. 108 Mary’s Little Lamb
9. 109 Elmer Fudd: To Duck or Not to Duck
10. 110 Bugs Bunny: All This and Rabbit Stew
11. 111 Bugs Bunny: Came To Supper
12. 112 Porky Pig: Midnight Matinee
13. 113 Porky Pig: Porky’s Garden
14. 114 Superman
15. 115 Superman: Magnetic Telescope
16. 116 Porky Pig: Porky’s Railroad
17. 117 Egghead: Hamateur Night
18. 118 Little Lulu: Little Lulu About
19. 119 Daffy Duck: Southern Exposure
20. 120 Casper: The Friendly Ghost
21. 121 Daffy Duck: Henpecked Duck
22. 122 Daffy Duck: Daffy Duckaroo
23. 123 Old MacDonald: And His Farm
24. 124 Felix The Cat
25. GREAT EIGHT VALUE PACK