Man of Action (1955)

★★★★★ · The Devil Did It · Steve Baldwin · 2004-05-15

A memorable animated feature with a great bluesy sound track and a simple message: that neighborhoods can organize to defeat the "devil of decay" before it wrecks them. Nothing wrong with the message here, except that it glosses over the complex reasons for the decay of many neighborhoods in the mid-20th century, reasons which include white flight, the rise of the automobile, and other political factors. One might further argue that "urban renewal" - which this film calls for, often did more harm than good, but this is all Monday Morning quarterbacking. A very entertaining, highly recommended…

★★★★ · The Devil Meets the Average Homeowner · Christine Hennig · 2006-07-04

This animated film features an âaverage fellowâ who meets the Devil (or his envoy, anyway), who has a plan to turn his nice neighborhood into a slum. The devilish character tells the homeowner all about the recent transformation of Paradise Gardens, a housing development that the homeownerâs grandfather used to live in, from a suburb to a slum, and how the homeownerâs neighborhood is right on schedule in his slum transformation book. The homeowner bucks the devilâs urban planner by stealing his book and going to the city council to try to get them to take steps to prevent the creation of…

★★★★ · Slumlord = The Devil · Spuzz · 2003-11-26

HIGHLY entertaining look at urban renewal. A man lets his house go to waste. When the devil (or should I say, "The devil's associate" comes a knocking because according to the associate's book it's about to fall, the man argues there's nothing the matter with his house. The associate disagrees and they take a trip to Paradise Gardens, where the man shudders and says "It's a slum!". It didn't use to be, it was all peaceful, until CARS came in! (which is peculiar). Convinced by this, the man steals the associate's book and fights city hall, which is nothing but paper-pushing and stalling. The…

★★★★ · The devil is in the details · Steve Nordby · 2003-11-02

"Average Fo" (faux? foe?*) wakes up to find his pleasant suburban home urbanized and is outraged. Luckily the Devil (uncredited voice but I'm sure it's Ray Walston) shows up to explain things, with a book to prove it! Average Fo steals the book but City Hall only cares about the tax complaint of the slum lords. So it's off to the slums where the book says a disaster is about to happen. Our hero saves the day and begins a campaign that hopes a coat of paint will keep the devil away (as if the care you take of your property matters one iota to eminent domain condemnation). The stylized devil is…