Saturday, August 10, 2024

Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #289

 Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for more classic cartoons. 

Today's cartoon selection begins with a true classic, Bugs Bunny in Little Red Riding Rabbit (1944). This short placed #39 in Jerry Beck's book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons and obviously appeared in his book The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes




Next comes the Terry Toons short, Park Avenue Pussycat (1956). This cartoon was directed by Connie Rasinski.






Next comes the classic Disney cartoon, Orphan's Benefit (1934). This film marks the second Donald Duck cartoon, and the first time Donald appeared alongside Mickey and friends. As many of you know, Donald first appeared in The Silly Symphony short, The Wise Little Hen (1934). However, some of those who worked on the Disney cartoons at this time (including Walt), misremembered this as the first Donald Duck cartoon. This may be because the short was the first one the studio started work on. Historian J.B. Kaufman has stated that the Disney story department began work on this cartoon (with an outline entitled The Surprise Party) in November 1933, before they started work on The Wise Little Hen.  However, this outline was quite different from the finished film. Donald was a small boy who was dragged to a party by his mother and made to recite Mary Had a Little Lamb. The recitation of Mary Had a Little Lamb has its origins in the origin of Donald's voice. Clarence Nash had created this voice as a child himself not to be the voice of a Duck but of a crying baby goat. He used to entertain his friends by reciting Mary Had a Little Lamb in this voice. He would later do this act professionally both live and on radio. Walt Disney, having heard Nash do this voice on radio, felt that it sounded more like a duck and pitched the idea of voicing a duck to Nash. In the early 1940's several older Disney cartoons were considered for some shot for shot remakes. However, only one of these were made and that was Orphan's Benefit (1941). The remake was almost exactly like the earlier picture except being that in color and using the 1941 designs of the characters. In fact, the remake even uses the exact soundtrack of the original. However, I personally prefer this 1934 black and white original and I hope you love it too. A review in The Film Daily stated, "It's all very clever, screamingly funny and with a dandy of a musical score." 




Now for the UPA short, The Oompahs (1952).




Now it is time for a commercial break. 





















Now for a silent Aesop's Film Fables cartoon, Amateur Night at the Ark (1923). This short film features our old friend Farmer Alfalfa. 




We continue with Popeye in I'm in the Army Now (1936). This short film is a bit of a cheater and features clips from previous Popeye cartoons. The cartoons that clips are used from include Blow Me Down (1934), Shoein' Hosses (1934), Choose Your 'Weppins' (1935) and King of the Mardi Gras (1935). This is one of my favorite cheater cartoons, because the new scenes are just as entertaining as the clips. I especially love Bluto talking about what a big star he was in the movies. This serves as a good reminder for those of us who grew up watching these films on TV that they were originally made for movie theaters. 




Now for the Columbia Krazy Kat cartoon, Taken for a Ride (1931). 




Now to close with a song we all know by heart. 




Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry. 

Resources Used

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/orphans-benefit-revisited/

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/origins-of-the-duck/

Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin

The 50 Greatest Cartoons edited by Jerry Beck

The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes edited by Jerry Beck

















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