Date with Duke (1947) User Reviews

Date with Duke is a quite entertaining George Pal Puppetoon with Ellington himself on board

[tavm · 8/10 · 1 November 2009]

Just rewatched this George Pal Puppetoon on YouTube years after first discovering this on AMC in the '90s when that channel was still commercial-free. Legendary musician Duke Ellington plays the "Perfume Suite" as some perfume bottles come to life and ask to be conducted by him which he agrees to. Later, a male bottle gets grouchy and simply refuses to dance to anything but when Duke again plays his piano, this male bottle just can't resist some steps! Quite an amusing live action/puppet animated musical short that still provide ample charms even today provided you're the sort of person that loves jazz. So, yes, that's a recommendation for Date with Duke.

An Entertaining/Inspirational Duet

[Seamus2829 · 10/10 · 15 March 2009]

I first saw this George Pal animated short some years ago on American Movie Classics,when that station was worth watching. It incorporates animation with live action (okay,nothing new in itself---but stop motion puppet animation with live action?). Duke Ellington is seated at a piano,when several figures pop out of a series of bottles to interact with Ellington (and perform with him,as well). As musical shorts were the in thing at the time, George Pal's stop motion animation was a major plus on this short, which is sadly missing these days from the airwaves (the Paramont live action shorts,like the animated ones are hard to track down,due to the fact that the original distributors that sold the 16 & 35mm prints to television in the mid 1950's/early to mid 1960's had all gone out of business by the late 1960's,leaving behind some battered & scratchy prints that sometimes turned up on late night television). I'm sure some of the George Pal Puppet Toons can be found on various video compilations on budget video releases (check your local department stores)

Entertaining mix of Duke Ellington on the piano and Puppetoons in support

[llltdesq · 9/10 · 7 January 2014]

This is a live action/animation combination Puppetoon featuring Duke Ellington and some Puppetoons. Mild spoilers ahead:

The short begins with Duke Ellington playing a piano when a perfume bottle notices that "That's Duke Ellington!", causing three other perfume bottles to wake up and take notice. They get Ellington's attention and one shyly asks if they might play along with him in accompaniment on (naturally) "The Perfume Suite". They play the horn section.

After the first performance, a rather cantankerous bottle with a yellow top shows up to declare quite loudly that he refuses to dance, which Ellington playfully accepts as a "challenge" by playing a faster and more jaunty piece. Of Course, Mr "I won't dance" makes his way over to the piano and begins to dance.

The most engaging aspect of the short is the ease with which Ellington interacts with the puppets. The end of the short is charming and funny. Ellington was a showman with a great deal of charisma.

This short, with a number of other Puppetoons, has been included as an extra on a recent Blu-Ray release of The Puppetoon Movie done in a limited release of 3000 copies. The Blu-Ray is an excellent release well worth purchasing and Date with Duke is well worth watching. Highly recommended.

A Date With Duke - A Wonder From The Past

[krocheav · 9/10 · 23 August 2019]

Saw this just resently, was almost as I remembered it from so long ago. George Pal gave us so much imagination over a long time span. Bless these good folk for being there. Hard work, created with love! And to think...if the Nazis had their way... there would have been nothing!

Thank God for America giving these poor souls a safe haven and a new life - so they could produce good things to enrich our lives!