The Further Adventures of Uncle Sam (1971) User Reviews

The Further Adventures of Uncle Sam

[CinemaSerf · 6/10 · 18 May 2024]

"Uncle Sam" is running a gas station in the middle of nowhere amidst his patriotically sculptured cacti and with his bald eagle for company. Then a mysterious car shows up and he is kidnapped! Perplexed and alone, the bird sets off to investigate - on foot for some reason, whilst we are whisked to a dastardly scenario for "Uncle" as he has been strapped to a barrel of TNT by some ruthless folks bent on stealing a distinctly curvaceous and operatic version of the Statue of Liberty. Can the eagle arrive, set his fellow icon free and then thwart the evil scheme? The animation is drab and not my favourite, and the pace is sluggishly accompanied by a confused soundtrack that complements a story that seems to want to take a ping at pretty much all things American - even to the point of mutually assured self destruction, before a denouement of epically bland proportions in ancient Rome! The socio-political message is clear but it's unoriginal and reminiscent of a 1920s cartoon that I'd no need to recall.

Stupid

[mrdonleone · 3/10 · 24 March 2020]

This sucks. The colors are damp and the story is totally not appealing whatsoever. Something which Fritz Lang could condescend as highly interactive we find now nothing but plain annoying, even in a group of fervent nudists at the beach on coronavirus tides.

Whatever You Want to Throw in There

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 18 October 2021]

This is an anything goes kind of piece. Uncle Sam has lost his way and finds himself living with the American eagle in a Southwest gas station. He is kidnapped by some bad guys who seem to be capitalists and evil industrialists. They decide to kidnap the buxom Statue of Liberty and Uncle Sam feels he needs to rescue her. Kind of an odd piece.

Very unusual film which bears repeated viewing

[llltdesq · 9/10 · 12 January 2014]

This is a fascinating animated short which was nominated for an Academy Award. Since I intend to discuss this in detail (I can't really do so adequately otherwise) here there be major spoilers:

The short starts off with the first part of the title being written across the sky in smoke and then Uncle Sam coming up in bold and vibrant colors. We then see Uncle Sam and the American Bald Eagle sitting in front of a filling station out in the middle of the desert. The eagle is wearing sneakers.

A car pulls up and villains who look like refugees from Yellow Submarine kidnap Uncle Sam. The eagle sees this and begins walking after the car (which probably explains why he's wearing sneakers).

Many words can be used to describe this short, but "subtle" isn't one of them. The villains are clearly greedy runaway capitalism (men with money bags for heads) industrialization (mechanized robots) which creates pollution (billowing black smoke everywhere) and rampant greed and violence. The short fit in perfectly in the early 1970s and resonates today just as easily. Visuals which echo the late 1960s as well as appearing to come out of today's headlines abound.

With Uncle Sam captive and slated to be blown to bits, the bad guys kidnap Lady Liberty, which arouses Uncle Sam from his torpor, the eagle rescues him and they set out on a journey to find and free Lady Liberty. The visuals here bear close attention and you probably won't catch everything on one viewing. Again, subtlety isn't anywhere in sight here. At one point, an elephant and a donkey wearing boxing gloves and punching each other can be seen, for example.

The good guys prevail (for the moment) the bad guys are routed (for the moment) and much merriment ensues. This short deserves more exposure, but that's true of a great many shorts. I'm a bit surprised that Spike and Mike didn't grab this one up when they were in full flower. I'd love to see Animation Show of Shows include this on one of their future DVD three short compilations. Well worth watching and most recommended.

Animated Uncle Sam saves US from greed etc.

[barktok · 10/10 · 21 November 2010]

I watched this many many times c.1970-71, at a film company I worked for. I have never forgotten some of the images, especially Uncle Sam sitting on a log kicking his feet. There doesn't seem to be a DVD anywhere. I can't understand this. This little film should be showing everywhere, especially now that we need such a good Uncle Sam. Victor Haboush, the wonderful artist, had a sly, multi-level sense of humor. Starts off with Uncle Sam and the Statue of Liberty bound in chains, prisoners of American greed and totalitarianism, war mongering and wall streetism, at some point in the future. (The film was made in 1970, perhaps they were living c. 2010?) Amazing how prescient some "old" films can be. I was at the time more taken with the music (I believe it was our national anthem, as sung in Lithuanian -- a bizarre touch) and the visuals -- reminiscent of the political cartoons in Harper's Weekly in the 1870s mixed with some Krazy Kat coloration and children's book sweetness, than with the political message. But the movie is undoubtedly more telling now than before -- the scandals of banks, the rants of tea-partiers, the continuing wars, the anti-immigrant demonstrations, etc., etc. would have undoubtedly seemed just a little unreal in 1970, although the dangers have always been with us. Anybody have an idea how to get a copy of the film?