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My favourite cartoons at the moment all seem to come from the Fleischer Brothers Studios. Perhaps this is because I have seen all the Looney Tunes and Disney cartoons several times and that because I am so unfamiliar with Fleischers, everyone of their cartoons that I discover is a treat that I have had to track down. Unfortunately there are no official dvd releases of any Fleischer cartoons, except for the Superman related ones that are on the just released Superman and Superman II special edition dvds, and the forthcoming Complete Popeye dvd. This is because Warner Bros own the rights to Superman and Popeye whilst Lions Gate Entertainment have just bought the other Fleischer cartoons, including Betty Boop. (Lions Gate also own the rights to Famous Studios and Terrytoons cartoons!)

Here is a cartoon that I have been searching for a long time. It is Fleischer’s The Raven from 1941 or 42. It’s one of the final cartoons made by the studio before Max and Dave Fleischer were ousted by Paramount and the studio name was changed to Famous Studios.

The cartoon is somewhat based on the Edgar Allen Poe poem.