A year or so ago I picked up a crazy looking bootlegish VHS set called Kid Pics. I didn’t think much of it at the time, and the main reason I picked it up was for the gaudy airbrushed art on the cover. It wasn’t until quite some time later that I actually popped it in to check out the toons, and discovered The Happy hamster.

Apparently, a company called Amvest Video thought it would be a good idea to bundle a bunch of cartoons together and try to pawn them off as quality collections, when in fact they were insane compilations. They surrounded the shorts with clips of The Happy Hamster dancing and saying creepy things in front of a blue screen. Take a look at the titles featured on this Walt Disney edition of Kids Pics.

I love how they included some of the old Alice Comedies under the Mickey Mouse category. Seven Dwarfs and Friends? Really? I wouldn’t have been too excited by The Winged Scourge when I was five years old.

The fact that Hooked Bear came out in 1956, and they included their company’s contact information on the box makes me think that it is somehow legit, but who knows. Did the Happy Hamster even get used in other sets? Did anyone actually join the club and get one of those awesome shirts?

Did any of you have any bizarre VHS bootlegs growing up?