Le petit mécano

An early film from the Fleischer studios using the Technicolor three-strip process which they had been previously restricted from using because of an exclusive deal between Disney and Technicolor that had expired a few months before, this is a great looking cartoon which manages to build to quite a suspenseful climax.

The story involves a cute little kid who's wild about trains and who keeps trying to run out of the garden when one flies past but is usually stopped from doing so by a lovable old dog. One day the kid gets out and winds up unconscious on the tracks with a locomotive on its way.

This one is worth watching for a short dream sequence alone which makes use of innovative 3D techniques to fashion memorable images - especially combined with a tracking shot. Even without the technical innovations the film is inventive and enjoyable and not to be missed if you get the chance to see it.

This film was included in the three DVD set "Saved From the Flames"--a collection of mostly ephemeral movies that have managed to avoid turning to powder, catching fire or melting--something that usually happened with the nitrate film stock used up through the 1950s.

According to the notes with the DVD set, this is one of the first non-Disney cartoons that was made with the new Three-Color Technicolor. It seems that the Technicolor folks and Disney had signed an exclusive contract that had just expired and the Fleischer Brothers were quick to jump on the Three-Color bandwagon. This cartoon does look amazingly vibrant for its time because of the Technicolor as well as because it has been restored for the collection.

"Play Safe" begins with an ultra-cutesy kid (the sort they loved to feature in the 1930s) playing with his train set. However, the kid is apparently mentally imbalanced and soon chases after a real train and nearly gets himself killed. When he's thrown from a speeding train and knocked out, he has a cool dream about trains--where he once again seems to have a death wish. Wow, I wonder if Freud ever got to see this film--what he could have told us about this character! However, instead of analyzing his phallic fixation or death instinct, the film is apparently a lesson on playing it safe--which the kid learns by the time the film ends when the family dog is forced to save his life.

As for the quality of the animation, it's really slick. They used a short sequence where they combined a toy train with animation--and it's nice. However, what really impressed me and which was a hallmark of the Fleischers was their 3-D look they perfected in the late 1930s. Very nice--and one of the cases where this studio actually was ahead of Disney. Worth seeing.

Play Safe is absolutely fantastic. The title may make the direction this cartoon is going in pretty obvious, but the anticipation makes this silly little cartoon quite enjoyable. A young boy obsessed with trains sneaks out to play with the real trains that run just a few feet from the fence around his house. When he falls off of one and is knocked unconscious, he has a dream sequence that's, as is typical is a Fleischer cartoon, gorgeously animated in pseudo-3D. Overall, Play Safe is sweet and fun, and I highly recommend it.

1936 was a very solid year, well actually quite a bit more than that, for Fleischer Studios and one of their most consistent. Not perfect mind, with for example a post-code and toned down Betty Boop when her later cartoons became comparitively bland and being nowhere near as daring. It also however boasted some of the best cartoons in the Popeye series, in one of the series' best periods and most consistent years quality-wise.

'Play Safe' is one of the best non-Popeye cartoons from this period, only saying that just in case anybody is wondering because 1936 was a very prolific year for that series. It also is one of the best of the very uneven "Color Classics" series, made before the studio declined badly from around 1940 with most of the "Stone Age" and "Animated Antics" cartoons and then the worst of the Gabby series. It is a great cartoon and doesn't play it safe.

Story-wise, 'Play Safe' is unoriginal but there is very, very little that is wrong with it.

There is so good that is good and even great, its best elements fantastic. Two elements stand out and they are a consistently good asset, even in the mediocre at best cartoons. Can't decide which is even better between the music and animation, with them being equally fantastic. The music is not once discordant or at odds with the action, which as a musician myself is a fear of mine. Instead it adds a lot to it, with the right amount of lushness, whimsy and eeriness matching beautifully the charming, adventurous and suspenseful elements present throughout 'Play Safe', plus it actually sounds appealing and beautifully orchestrated. Loved the three dimensional look of the animation and its best moments are indeed dazzling in a way that is quite imaginative. Of the equally superbly done colours, backgrounds and drawing (all detailed and smooth) the vibrant and atmospheric colours stand out in particular. The dream sequence is just incredible, have not seen a dream sequence this well animated, clever or inventive.

Despite the lack of originality, that doesn't stop the story from never being dull. It is chockfull of charm, while the lesson is never preachy (an oft-danger fallen into a lot), sentimentality and saccharine over-cutesiness is avoided, the suspense is not once too dark or too scary and has genuine tension timed well and the characters are ones in a "Color Classics" cartoons that are actually interesting and likeable, my favourite being the dog. 'Play Safe' is not a comedy-laden cartoon or rich in gags, this is a case of it not mattering because it was not about that.

Altogether, great. 9/10

This cartoon is the model train collector's dream come true and should be included in their collection. The animation is standard Fleischer full animation which is expected, but it is their use of the 3-Dimensional set as the backgrounds set along with the cel animation that make this a unique looking cartoon. Though they had used this method in other films primarily Popeye vs Bluto, the use of the very stylized train layouts and trains and cars is used in a wonderful manner. Play Safe is an amazing eye catching display of the artistry of diorama building, and the vivid color used in the display is dazzling. Worth the price to find and keep a copy! I have always wondered what ever happened to those train set layouts, the customized locomotives and cars, and if there had ever been any merchandising through the Lionel, Gilbert's American Flyer, or Marx Toys that came out of their very artistic efforts.