yourhumbleservant99

Ray Harryhausen would later go on to work on special effects in some of the most famous monster movies of all time (Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans, and many more). This short retelling of the Greek myth of the greedy King Midas is different from such work, because it is entirely animated with stop-motion techniques - no real actors appear. Because of this, some of the facial expressions can be quite primitive, especially when transitions between expressions are necessary. But despite some of its flaws, this is quite an enjoyable little movie, with heart and wit. If you don't know the story of King Midas (which is quite famous) he gains the Golden Touch, which (as the name implies) turns everything he touches to gold - and he finds out that it's not all that it's cracked up to be.

I'm not sure if this short is available on the DVD "Ray Harryhausen: The Early Years". I saw it on the GoodTimes DVD, "The Greatest Sci-fi Cartoons of all Time."

Although it's available on a GoodTimes "Best of Sci-Fi Cartoons", I really have no idea what this short has to do with sci-fi, since it consists of dragons, which are usually thought of as fantasy. The storyline of the cartoon is super-basic, consists of the nasty clique of dragons, complete with head bully "Dragoon" and sleazy females, all of whom celebrate cigarettes. Meanwhile, our hero, the individualist and non-conformist, "Dragknight", refuses to have anything to do with the clique, and eventually defeats Dragoon at arm-wrestling and racing, which obviously proves that smoking is bad and evil.

The quality of the animation is - well, let's be generous and say pretty worthless. The jazz music may be of interest to aficionados, but the recording quality is equally poor. This one is easily missed for those who aren't interested for historical reasons.