This truly is one of the greatest cartoons of not only the golden age, but also of all time. All is well in a place where everything is a live balloon. That is, until the denizens' abode is invaded by the Pincushion Man. While the other characters are good, it's the aforementioned villain who really steals the show. Both he and the pins are balloons' natural enemies, and lethal enough to destroy the delicate, rubbery material of which they're made. Musically, Carl Stalling's work is fine as usual, it's an extra special treat with the addition of the uncredited novelty ragtime artist Zez Confrey's contribution to it. As one of the few Ub Iwerks cartoons not based on a fable or fairy tale, it's nice to see this attempt at something more original and it's one of the most imaginative ever conceived, and created. I can see why it's so beloved and was a contender/nominee for the 50 Greatest Cartoons Of All Time book. I'd like to think that after defeating and getting rid of the Pincushion Man, pins would hopefully be banished and outlawed for good. Recommended.

Balloon Land (1935) *** 1/2 (out of 4) The title refers to a land where everything from the houses to the people are made out of balloons. The people are trained to fear the Pincushion Man because he can obviously kill them. Two newly formed kids decide to test that theory by going into the woods where the Pincushion Man follows them home and starts to terrorize the community. This two-strip Technicolor short from U.B. Iwerks is actually an incredibly dark little picture considering that the entire subject deals with the possible death of these people and there's a sequence where the Pincushion Man goes on a murdering rampage through the city. This was certainly a highly entertaining film thanks in large part to the characters who were either lovable (the balloon people) or downright hated (Pincushion Man). Another very big positive was the wonderful colors used for everyone. I watched this with my son and he said they looked like ICEE colors and he was pretty much correct.

Just watched this restored Ub Iwerks ComiColor cartoon on the DVD collection "Saved from the Flames". It is inhabited by creatures entirely made of balloons which includes three looking like Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, and Charlie Chaplin. Well, actually, there is a villain called the Pincushion Man who's what his name is and he likes popping anyone that comes near him so watch out! As with many of these '30s cartoons, there's plenty of music and the main characters are a boy and girl in love who persevere against all odds. The sound and colors are excellent and this was quite an entertaining cartoon from this period but I urge discretion if you want to expose your kids to this. So on that note, Balloon Land comes highly recommended.

This is a visually impressive cartoon, which should be expected from an Iwerks cartoon. As plots go, this was actually a pretty intricate one for the Iwerks studio, with a great villain voiced by a Disney regular, Billy Bletcher, who did Pegleg Pete, among others. The funniest bit for me was the town's "alarm" system. The Pincushion Man is really the most interesting character in the short, but it does offer some entertaining moments and is genuinely tense and frightening in spots. Iwerks deserves more notice and credit for what he had a responsibility for at Disney. His stint running his own studio wasn't as successful as he would have hoped, but he did produce (with an incredibly talented team, as a glance at the names of his employees will attest) some very good shorts. Balloon Land is one of the best that the Iwerks Studio created. Well worth watching. Recommended.