This film was included in the three DVD set "Saved From the Flames"--a collection of mostly ephemeral movies that have managed to avoid turning to powder, catching fire or melting--something that usually happened with the nitrate film stock used up through the 1950s.
According to the notes with the DVD set, this is one of the first non-Disney cartoons that was made with the new Three-Color Technicolor. It seems that the Technicolor folks and Disney had signed an exclusive contract that had just expired and the Fleischer Brothers were quick to jump on the Three-Color bandwagon. This cartoon does look amazingly vibrant for its time because of the Technicolor as well as because it has been restored for the collection.
"Play Safe" begins with an ultra-cutesy kid (the sort they loved to feature in the 1930s) playing with his train set. However, the kid is apparently mentally imbalanced and soon chases after a real train and nearly gets himself killed. When he's thrown from a speeding train and knocked out, he has a cool dream about trains--where he once again seems to have a death wish. Wow, I wonder if Freud ever got to see this film--what he could have told us about this character! However, instead of analyzing his phallic fixation or death instinct, the film is apparently a lesson on playing it safe--which the kid learns by the time the film ends when the family dog is forced to save his life.
As for the quality of the animation, it's really slick. They used a short sequence where they combined a toy train with animation--and it's nice. However, what really impressed me and which was a hallmark of the Fleischers was their 3-D look they perfected in the late 1930s. Very nice--and one of the cases where this studio actually was ahead of Disney. Worth seeing.
