Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

TheLittleSongbird Van Beuren cartoons are extremely variable, especially in the number of gags and whether the absurdist humour shines through enough (sometimes it does, other times it doesn't), but are strangely interesting. Although they are often poorly animated with barely existent stories and less than compelling lead characters, they are also often outstandingly scored, there can be some fun support characters and some are well-timed and amusing.The "Rainbow Parade" cartoons are a fairly good example of this. The series is a very mixed bag, with some good cartoons and not so good ones, though none of the series' worst are as bad as the worst of the studio's Tom and Jerry and Cubby the Bear cartoons for examples. 'The Sunshine Makers' is one of the series' best, it's one of the good ones and one is surprised it comes from Van Beuren, with it being in a different league to most of their efforts. A classic 'The Sunshine Makers' isn't quite. The story is slight, with the conflict fairly predictable. Plus anybody wanting a funny cartoon with gags coming thick and fast and laugh a minute is best watching something else, 'The Sunshine Makers' isn't that kind of cartoon with it having a serious subject and message. If one knows what to expect, it won't be a problem. Really liked the animation here though, generally Van Beuren came on a long way when they went to colour technically even though simple in colour scheme and not exactly advanced. 'The Sunshine Makers' is one of the best looking of the "Rainbow Parade" cartoons, and adopts a wider range of colour in accord to the sunshine-filled good and gloomy evil sides, it is lusciously coloured, there is more refinement in the drawing than one would expect from the studio and the backgrounds meticulous in detail.Even better is the music score, it is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated, is great fun to listen to and full of lively energy, doing so well with enhancing the action. Particularly in the war scenes and climax, which is a quite powerful one. The title song is unforgettably catchy. While not a "funny" cartoon, the good versus evil concept while predictable provides a good deal of emotional power and the message conveyed is potent and relevant still today without preaching. 'The Sunshine Makers' is cute (mostly in the characters) without being too sugary or saccharine, suitably strange without being incoherent or muddled and dark without being too frightening, a lot of it is charming and makes one happy. Characters are not too bland.Overall, enjoyable and one of the better cartoons in the series. 8/10 Bethany Cox

tavm Having read about this cartoon short from the Van Beuren Studios for several years, I finally got to see this when I randomly picked animated shorts on YouTube. What a wonderfully strange and musically humorous cartoon this was! Seeing all those happy little elves singing of glad times while making milk in contrast to all those sad ones warbling of how they're "happy when they're sad" and then turn into the opposite due to the milk being forced into their mouths with the sunshine brightening their bodies is nothing short of psychedelic three decades before that became fashionable! This, along with Disney's Fantasia, might have been a "hit" with the hippie crowd during the late '60s! And dig the fact that it's sponsored by Borden! I'm surprised someone didn't try to add Borden's mascot Elsie the Cow! So on that note, I highly recommend The Sunshine Makers.

mikeg994 In my humble opinion the old animated cartoons from the 1930's were some of the best that were ever made, and were more strange, imaginative, and charming than much of what followed.This has got to be one of the weirdest cartoons I have ever seen. Would that it were as simple as that to bring someone out of their depressive state. What is in that milk? Zoloft? The Sunshine makers were much happier and had far better weaponry, which did not kill but made the enemy happy even as it caused their tissues to become transparent and even glow.One wonders what influence the historical context may have had on this film. A pacifist dream? The onset of the "Great Depression" was certainly depressing. People were probably wondering aloud "If only there were more confidence, monetary and emotional." Perhaps the swamp men were investors? Or maybe the swamp men did not get enough calcium in their diet? And internationally the situation was bad too, with bad, depressing regimes in Germany and Russia, who were probably stockpiling poison gas.It is a shame you couldn't just bomb the currently worrisome miscreants in the Middle East with happy milk. Nobody would have to die, very little would be destroyed, and everyone would feel better after it was over. Now go pick up all that broken glass before someone cuts themselves.

Raymond Valinoti, Jr. (SPOILER although it isn't much.) In its eight years of existence from 1928 to 1936, the Van Beuren animation studio never achieved the illustriousness of other studios like those of Walt Disney and Max Flesicher. They never developed a star like Mickey Mouse or Betty Boop and their cartoons, on a whole, did not create a lasting impression. However, the studio did produce a few authentic gems. THE SUNSHINE MAKERS is one of these gems.The story isn't much. Cheerful gnomes spread happiness through bottled sunshine milk. Miserable goblins decide to spoil the fun with gloom-inducing gas. A battle erupts and the gnomes bombard the goblins with sunshine milk, turning them into happy, lovable creatures.What makes the cartoon memorable is the way the story is presented. First of all, the animation crew under the direction of Ted Eshbuagh and Burt Gillette devise a picturesque fantasy world. Even in the faded print I saw, the contrast between the gnomes' rosy world and the goblins' grim milieu is well established. The gnomes are depicted in bright hued in sunny, pastoral surroundings. On the other hand, the goblins are drably hued in a bleak, Gothic environment. Winston Sharples's music enhances the atmosphere, buoyant for the gnomes and sombre for the goblins.Then there's the climactic battle. The animation stuff imaginatively illustrates the effects of sunshine milk on the goblins and their environment. Particularly memorable is a scene where two goblins undergo the effects of sunshine milk. Their skin brightens, they begin to smile, and they start to sing and dance. Meanwhile flowers sprout in the background, brightening their milieu. Sharples' score enhances the war scenes, building to a lively crescendo.One cannot fully appreciate THE SUNSHINE MAKERS from reading this review. It's one of these pictures that seem trite on paper but are remarkable on the screen. One cannot articulate WHY it's so remarkable-one can only feel exhilarated from watching it. If all of Van Beuren's cartoons were so memorable, the studio might have dominated the animation field rather than dwindled into oblivion.