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So much average

It is a performances centric movie

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I mean that in a good sense of course. I first saw this cartoon short on a a video entitled "6 Hour Cartoons." It was what introduced me to Raggedy Ann and at the time I had no idea how popular she was. When I first watched it, I was a kid and didn't understand story structure at the time, so I didn't understand until my adult years, that Billie was blind. The story goes, like so, Raggedy Ann in sort of a running joke based off her trademark rag doll appearance; gets thrown out presumably by a previous owner. Officer Patrick Flannigan picks her up and decides it would make a nice present, for the nice blind girl Billie. Once given, Raggedy comes to life (The only doll show other than Toy Story to do this without scaring people.) and teaches Billie how to see through imagination. Prompting her to believe that her rundown New York Neighborhood is a wonderful fantasy world, filled with friendly people and fun games to play. The song "You can see with your heart." Is a recurring theme in the short, which teaches us that you don't have to rely on your eyes to live your life wonderfully. Aside from Ann, there are wonderful characters who help Billie on her adventure, such as Giuseppe the Organ Grinder and the Halloween kids. In my opinion, this movie should have won an Oscar. If it did, then it would be the best way to remember the Raggedy Ann franchise, before the Musical adventure movie tarnished it with it's trippy imagery.

As far as the Raggedy Ann cartoons go, The Enchanted Square has to be somewhere towards the top. As a child it was enchanting and had a lot of emotional staying power, and it still holds up today as very magical and touching.Where The Enchanted Square really appeals is in the animation, the music and the way the story is told. The drawing in the animation is very smooth and elegant, and with no signs of roughness or jerky movements. The backgrounds are imaginative in look, are incredibly detailed with every one looking like hours went into making just that one. The colours and shades are well and truly lavish, with the darker colours giving off real atmosphere and the livelier colours being really sumptuous.Famous Studios regular composer Winston Sharples provides the music score here. Not only does it compliment the whimsy and poignancy of the story and visuals brilliantly, but it's just a wonderful score on its own as well. Rhythmically it has so much character, and once again Sharples shows the remarkable knack of not just matching what's going on screen but actually adding even more to it. The orchestration is lush-sounding and very rich in texture and tone colour, the lusher moments not being too syrupy at all. Sharples' scores often are one of the pleasures of the cartoons they feature in, and often were the best thing about the Popeye and in particular Herman and Katnip cartoons, so the music in The Enchanted Square doesn't disappoint in any way.The story is just beautifully done and told here. The Enchanted Square could easily have had a story caked in over-sentimentality and corniness, but neither is the case here. Sure the story is sentimental, but never overly so. The emotion here is actually incredibly touching and often tear-jerking, and the whole story is told in a deeply heart-warming way. There is also just the right amount of whimsical charm without being coy or cloying and enchanting surrealism without being too weird or tonally unsettling. The characters are sweet and engaging, with Raggedy Ann being a quite endearing title character, while everything here is written with genuine warmth and charm.In summary, touching and enchanting. 10/10 Bethany Cox

'The Enchanted Square' is one of those animated shorts like most of the other shorts from Famous Studios that has sadly gotten the s**t end of the stick (most of the non Popeye shorts produced by Fleischer & Famous Studios that were released by Paramont Studios got sold to various film distribution firms in the mid to late 1950's in 16mm to television stations,and subsequently got lost in a black hole in space in the late 1960's,making them extremely hard to find,although badly scratched prints have turned up on cheaply produced VHS video copies years later). This is one of the few Raggedy Ann shorts that Famous Studios produced. The story concerns a Raggedy Ann doll,found in the trash & found by a kind policeman (voiced by Jackson Beck),and is given to the mother of a little blind girl. When Ann comes to life (in the girl's fantasy),and points out to the girl about how she can see more than she can with eyes. This is a beautifully illustrated & animated short that is a depart from the usual laugh filled shorts (i.e. Popeye,Little Lulu,etc)that Famous was known for. Pity that these long lost shorts aren't available for a generation that could appreciate early cell animation.

This was my first look ever at a "Raggedy Ann" animated short, so I had no idea what to expect. Being part of a package of old cartoons put on DVD, I expected some humor. However, this story - and maybe her others (I'll find out) - are not meant for comedy. This is simply an inspirational little movie, a really nice story with nice people and a nice message. It also has some dazzling artwork, although the copy I saw is in desperate need of some "restoration."In a nutshell, this introduces a rag doll, the famous "Raggedy Ann," to a blind little girl named "Billie." Through the doll, the girl learns to use her imagination and "see" things, for the first time.It is a very touching sentimental story. At first I thought this was strictly for little girls, but not so: the message and the way it's presented is pretty profound for people of any age and gender.