Hello, my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection begins Bugs Bunny in Super Rabbit (1943). The ending of this short film resulted in the U.S.M.C. acknowledging Bugs Bunny as an honorary marine with the title honorary Marine Master Sergeant Bugs Bunny. The following is an exhibitor's review from the Motion Picture Hearld, "SUPER RABBIT: Merrie Melodies Cartoons - One of the best Merrie Melodies. The kids sure like cartoons of this kind. I run one every Sunday and believe they draw the kids better than the feature. - Victor E. Dahl, Fayette Theatre, Fayette, Iowa."
Next comes the Terry Toons cartoon, The Mechanical Bird (1952). This lovely short film is an adaption of the 1843 Hans Christian Anderson short story, The Nightingale. While it doesn't fully capture the charm of that classic short story, this is a very sweet and very charming film.
Next comes a Modern Madcap cartoon, The Robot Ringer (1962).
Next is a late Fleischer Studios Popeye short, I'll Never Crow Again (1941). The year after the release of this cartoon Max and Dave Fleischer would find themselves no longer making cartoons for Paramount and many of their employees continuing to make Popeye and Superman shorts for Paramount without them. Many critics of the Popeye series claim that all the cartoons simply feature Popeye and Bluto fighting over Olive. However, a look at the sailor's filmography shows that there were in fact many cartoons that did not follow this formula in the slightest. The song that Popeye and Olive sing at the beginning of this cartoon is from the first of Fleischer Studio's two feature films, Gulliver's Travels (1939). A review in The Motion Picture Daily called this cartoon, "Good for a few laughs." A review in Showman's Trade Review stated, "While this is not the usual type of Popeye cartoon, the novelty is not sufficient enough to raise it out of the 'fair' class." The following is an exhibitor's review from The Motion Picture Herald, "I'LL NEVER CROW AGAIN: Popeye the Sailor— Popeye Cartoons are always enjoyed, but this was not as good as average. Running time, 7 minutes. —J. M. Thomsen, Center Theatre, Marlette, Mich. Rural patronage."
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Now for one of the rare instances of very dark satire in one of Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies, Who Killed Cock Robbin? (1935). This film shows cartoon birds at the mercy of an unjust legal system. Satire, dark humor, celebrity caricatures and slapstick abound. The most significant of the celebrity caricatures is Jenny Wren, a caricature of Mae West. Most of her animation here is handled fantastically by Ham Luske and her voice comes from Martha Wentworth who does a really good impression. This character would later appear in the Silly Symphony Toby Tortoise Returns (1936). Two of Walt's future Nine Old Men animate on this film, Eric Larson and Clyde Geronimi. Eric animates the scene where Cock Robbin falls and the cops rushing in. Clyde animates the scenes involving the blackbirds and the cops, Legs Sparrow with the cops and then going into the witness box, and the cops' raiding the area. For the year of 1935 the National Board of Review named this as one of the Ten Best American Films (not just cartoons but films as a whole). According to JB Kaufman and Russell Merrit's excellent book, Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series, the idea for making this film had been around the Disney studio as early as October 1933 but work truly began in March 1934. Wilfred Jackson was originally going to be the cartoon's director, but he was replaced with Ben Sharpsteen, who was replaced with Dave Hand, who actually directed the cartoon. Dave Hand would later be the supervising director for the Disney feature films, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Bambi (1942). My fellow Alfred Hitchcock fans will recognize that a clip from this cartoon was later used in Hitch's classic movie, Sabotage (1936). The following is a review from The Film Daily, "Ye olde master, Walt Disney, has produced another cartoon which makes a swell approach to the entertainment values he provided in 'Three Little Pigs.' It's class A stuff, effectively done in color. A mysterious shadowy figure 'kills' the fabled Cock Robbin, who, by the by, is the sweetie of a May Western type of bird. Then come the Keystonian cops, also birds, and later the trial. Finally, a birdy version of Dan Cupid admits to having shot Robin but May brings him to with a Big Kiss. Catchy music helps enliven the proceedings." The following is from a 1935 issue of Modern Screen Magazine and was a letter sent in by a reader. "A short time ago I took my five-year-old son with me to a local theatre. When a colored cartoon was shown, he was immensely pleased, as were several other children near us. The cartoon was 'Who Killed Cock Robin?' I may be wrong but I'm under the impression that those pictures are primarily to amuse children. If that is true than it failed. I heard several half-grown boys snickering as 'Jenny Wren' a parody of Mae West, with a high bust, wiggling hips and a sexy voice, flirted with the judge and later indulged in a kiss with Cock Robin. The smaller children merely looked puzzled and disappointed with the whole thing. Please have more cartoons like 'The Three Little Pigs,' 'Water Babies,' etc., unless of course, I'm wrong and those comedies are for grown-ups and not for little children. - Mrs. E. DeLamater, Charleston, S.C."
Next is a very sweet and sentimental MGM cartoon from Hugh Harman, The Little Mole (1941). This is a beautiful looking and charming little film, though its final message seems to be an uncomfortably pessimistic one, when you think too much about it.
Next is the silent Out of the Inkwell cartoon, The Boxing Kangaroo (1920).
Let us close with a song.
Thank you 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
Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
https://mediahistoryproject.org/
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