User Reviews

Have found a lot to admire about much of Famous Studios' earlier work and while the Noveltoons series is an uneven one it is worthwhile with some very good and even great cartoons when the studio was at its peak. Their best decade being easily the 40s, then by the mid-late-50s it started to feel like a different studio and not for the better. That is not to say that every 40s Noveltoons cartoon was good, there were lacklustre ones. The studio did a number of Screen Song cartoons.

'The Funshine State' is one of the average middling efforts as far as the Screen Song series goes, which was as has been said in a couple of other reviews for other Screen Song cartoons a hit and miss one. 'The Funshine State' may not be a particularly good cartoon, but it is a mildly watchable one that may have a non-existent story (true for pretty much all the Famous Studios' Screen Song cartoons) and very variable gags but the animation and music are still generally good.

It's not a perfect cartoon sure, with the story and characterisation being paper thin (common problems with the Screen Song series). The story in fact is non-existent, with a travelogue like beginning and then the singalong portion.

Did think that this time too many of the gags were on the very corny side and are excessively predictable from being quite old hat already at the time. 'The Funshine State' was a case this time of the first half being better than the second, "Tallahassee" this time is not one of the series' better songs and the sing song portion feels on the repetitive and routine side.

On the other hand, the animation is good. Especially the vibrant colours and equally loved the background detail where a lot of care went into it, Florida looks handsome and nostalgic. The incidental music is even better, very lushly orchestrated and full of character rhythmically.

Some of the gags are amusing and cute without being corny. The story is nothing exceptional at all, but there is some nice energy thankfully, with the first half not feeling tired here and certainly not suffering from stereotypes or distaste. The characters may be thin but are nicely done.

Concluding, pretty average. 5/10.

This was a cute little cartoon short from 1949 about Florida. Perhaps I decided to watch it because I was curious to see how they lampooned my home state. There were lots of cute but VERY corny jokes throughout with topics ranging from oranges to fishing to dog racing to surfing. It was kind of cute to watch, but not especially high quality. HOWEVER, about 3/4 of the way through, all the sudden it turned into the cartoon from Hell! That's right, the most evil invention known to cartoons reared its ugly head--an horribly annoying song about the state along with the bouncing ball to get the audience to sing along. The song was so bad and so annoying it made me want to pack my bags and move! It was THAT bad!! Considering it was made by Paramount and the Fleischers, I shouldn't have been that surprised--they made several "follow the bouncing ball" cartoons. YECCH!

My children and I had just moved from the Clearwater area to Tallahassee when we saw this animated short. The film ends with a song about Tallahassee ("the people there are classy")and shows animated versions of places like the Old State Capitol. The film is a fascinating journey through the early days of Florida promotional video. Among the tourist attractions listed is the singing tower in the Lake Wales area. An interesting look at the state (and vacation destinations here) before Disney and the imagineers invaded. Well worth a look by historians and Culturists alike.