Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #300

 Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning once again it is time for some classic cartoons. 

Today's cartoon selection starts with Gandy Goose in Peace-Time Football (1946). Why Gandy is on a team called The Mice that otherwise is only mice is not a question I know the answer to. 

Next comes the Fleischer Screen Songs cartoon, I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now (1931). The title song was written in 1909 by lyricists Will M. Hough and Frank R. Adams and composers Joseph E. Howard, Harold Orlob. In 1909 the song was already being recorded by the popular crooner Henry Burr. Over the years such artists as Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Danny Kaye, Ray Charles, Bobbin Darrin, Dean Martin, George Hamilton IV and Anne Murray.  

Next is the early Porky Pig cartoon, Plane Dippy (1936). This is the movie in which we learn Porky's full name, Porky Cornelius Washington Otis Lincoln Abner Aloysius Casper Jefferson Philbert Horatius Narcissus Pig. I'm sure you all will memorize that name. As well as Porky this film also has some other characters that also premiered in the Merrie Melodies cartoon, I Haven't Got A Hat (1935) such as Little Kitty (who plays an important role here). Comic fans may also notice that the character of Professor Blotz looks extremely similar to a character from the Mickey Mouse comic strip, Professor Ecks. Though this movie is directed by Tex Avery, don't except the pure insanity of his later cartoons, as this was still early in his directorial career and he hadn't fully developed his style yet. Still this cartoon has many very funny gags in it, I especially love Porky writing his name. The following is an exhibitor's review from the Motion Picture Herald, "PLANE DIPPY: Looney Tune—This is a very comical cartoon. Above the average.—Paul J. Pope, Avon Theatre, Geneva, Ala., Small Town and Rural Patronage." 

Now for a Columbia Phantasy cartoon, Polly Wants a Doctor (1943). This short film was directed by former Disney animator and future Hanna-Barbera animator Howard Swift.

Now it is time for a commercial break.

Most Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoons follow the same basic formula and therefore feel very repetitive. Boo Moon (1954) is a delightful exception and my favorite Casper cartoon. This short film features our hero heading to the moon and meeting and befriending a bunch of tiny men and even becoming their protector. If this sounds like Gulliver's Travels to you, then the similarities were certainly not lost on the filmmakers either. This film uses similar designs (and even reuses some) to the Lilliputians from the Fleischer Brothers' animated feature length movie version of Gulliver's Travels (1939). This was also the first and only Casper cartoon to be released in 3-D, however most of us today know it much better in 2-D.

Now for an early Aesop's Sound Fables cartoon, The Faithful Pup (1929). 

Up next is the Mickey Mouse cartoon, The Castaway (1931). This was the first cartoon to be directed by Wilfred Jackson who would direct some of the best Disney cartoons of the 1930's. Jackson had become a director hugely through a misunderstanding. He wanted to animate a whole short by himself and he asked Walt if he "could handle a picture" himself. Instead of animating a cartoon by himself he would up directing The Castaway. According to Jackson, "we never did get this misunderstanding cleared up." Walt ended up very unhappy with the finished film and Jackson remembered overhearing Walt and Roy Disney having a conversation about it. Roy said, "But Walt, it doesn't look like a Disney picture. I don't know if we ought to release it." Walt replied, We've got to release it to meet our schedule Roy." Despite this the cartoon is actually pretty good and should delight Disney and movie fans of all ages. This movie also marked the first time Frank Churchill would do a musical score for a Disney film. He would later score music for such Disney features as Snow White (1937), Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942)

Now to close with a song. 

Resources Used

Working With Walt: Interviews With Disney Artists by Don Peri

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein 

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

Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in its Golden Age by Michael Barrier

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

What's New Scooby-Doo: Fright House of a Light House (2005)

 

A delightful episode. 

In the season three premiere of What's New Scooby-Doo, the gang investigates when a ghost of a lighthouse keeper is haunting an old lighthouse. While investigating the gang meets a young sleuth who is a lot like Velma only seemingly even better at her job. Velma naturally grows jealous of this young woman. 

There is a lot to enjoy about this episode. The lighthouse ghost is an excellent Scooby villain with a great and memorable design. The character is creepy in a way that perfectly fits the lighthearted fun of this franchise. The mystery of who is behind the mask is quite well done and love how well it uses misdirection. There is a wonderful sense of atmosphere here and the background art is gorgeous to look at. Velma's jealousy of the new young sleuth also adds a lot of fun.  

This episode was written by George Doty IV, who wrote quite a few episodes of this show as well as the direct to video movies, Scooby-Doo! and The Loch Ness Monster (2004) and Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy (2005). The episode was directed by Chuck Sheetz, one of the show's producers as well as a director of several episodes. 

The song in this episode is called High Five. It was performed by the rock band Calibretto 13 and appeared on their 2000 album, Enter the Danger Brigade before its use in this episode. Here the full version of this song below. 

 

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo: The Incredible Cat Lady Caper (1982)

 

A fun Scooby and Scrappy short. 

In this short, Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy try to stop The Cat Lady Burglar.

There is a lot to enjoy about this short. The villain is a lot of fun. Her design is quite good and her device that allows her to communicate with cats makes her feel like a comic book villain in a good way. Much of the story could have made a good golden or silver age superhero comic book. This gives it a fun and unique feel among Scooby adventures. This episode also has some strong action and chases. The humor is never laugh out loud funny, but it is charming. Scooby trying to volunteer Scrappy by saying Scrappy's catchphrase put a smile on my face for instance. 

'

This is a unique and fun little Scooby adventure. 

Movie Review: Verity

 

Michael's Movie Grade: C

Thiller starts out well but loses its way.

In this film a writer who has had very little success gets the opportunity to write the next book in a popular series, when the original author is the victim of a car crash. She must live in the house of the famous author and her husband. Though the famous author is supposedly paralyzed, the new house guest believes that she is seeing the author move around watching her. It is then she begins to doubt whether anything is truly as it seems. 

Like many thrillers this movie does a great job setting the story up. We quickly grow to care about our main character and her desire to finally get some form of external validation. When she arrives at the house the story seems to get better. There is a real sense of mystery as to what is going on here and the scenes of the famous offer moving, when only our main character can see it are unnerving. 

However, as the story really gets underway, it falls apart. There is twist after twist but none of these twists are that good. There is no proper build up to most of them. Because of this we may not see them coming but that doesn't make them feel satisfying. It doesn't help that all of these twists have been done better elsewhere. In better films these same twists have come naturally out of the characters and story, making them very effective. Here the filmmakers just simply appear to be going through the motions with each major twist. This all leads up to an extremely unsatisfying ending.  

Yet even in its worst moments the performances from Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson do much to elevate this movie. They give their all here and it shows on screen completely. They are fully engaging and convincing even when the story is not. 

Despite a good start and strong performances, this film unfortunately falls far short of what it could have been.   

Movie Review: Forgotten Island

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A very pleasant surprise.

In this movie two girls dream about going to the mystical world of Nakali as little kids. With this dream the two become incredibly close friends. As they grow up and are about to head for college, they are going to have to part for the first time since their friendship started. Before this can happen though they finally find the mystical world.

After the previews, I had little hope for this movie. I thought it simply looked obnoxious and annoying. What I did not expect is that this film would have such a strong emotional core. I grew to really care about these two girls and their friendship. Both of these characters are completely realized and quite well thought out on their own. However together is when the really shine. Each brings out something in the other, making the other feel more whole and complete. Because of this, we can see how these two were meant to be best friends even if on the surface they seem quite different. As their friendship is put to the ultimate test here, the emotional stakes become quite high. There are some very emotional moments here that quite moved me. 

The humor is very hit and miss for me though. The character-based humor probably hits the best. This is why the early scenes in the real world are funnier than when they actually reach the magical world. Watching these two play off each other is a lot of fun. Jo's wild antics and her school performances having splash zones is hilarious. However, once they reach the fantasy world the humor becomes less about the characters and more about the absurdity of the setting. This is decidedly less funny. The humor can feel random for the point of being random. The delivery of this humor is not much better. It is so fast paced and loud that it can come off as kind of obnoxious (in the way I feared this whole movie would be). 

Despite some weak humor, this film hits very hard emotionally. 

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo: A Bungle in the Jungle (1980)

 

A weaker Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo short. 

In this cartoon, Scooby, Scrappy and Shaggy go butterfly hunting in the jungle. However, when the Tarzan-like Nazrat of the Jungle believes that they are trespassing, the trio find themselves in danger.  

There is little to recommend about this cartoon. Nazrat of the Jungle is a rather bland and forgettable villain. There is little fun or creativity in this character. He never is either that intimidating or funny. The humor simply falls flat. These are unimaginative and tired slapstick gags that are also poorly executed (with very poor timing). The only thing that really works here is that the background art. 

A forgettable and bland cartoon.    

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo: Disappearing Car Caper (1982)

 

One of the best Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo shorts. 

In this cartoon, Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy investigate a mysterious disappearance in cars. While on a stakeout, the Mystery Machine is shrunk along with our heroes inside. 

This is a really fun cartoon. The villain, Pistons McGee, is a wonderful villain. He has a great design (that is a bit reminiscent of the Batman villain Hugo Strange) and a great voice. He also feels like a real threat to our heroes and despite not being in a monster costume is a bit reminiscent of classic Scooby villains in being such a threat. A giant rat, who appears here even brings some delightful creepiness into an era that was lacking just that. The gimmick of a shrinking ray allows for a cartoon that feels unique among Scooby adventures. This allows for some very clever, playful and imaginative moments. Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy are all each well utilized here, each having their moment to shine. Plus, the final gag is delightful. 

Writer Ron Sellz remembered having great trouble with the shrink ray. He originally referred to it as a shrinking gun, but network censors were dead set against any sort of gun appearing in a cartoon watched by children. Not only could it not be referred to as a gun, but it couldn't look like one either. Sellz remembered, "The animators were given the task of drawing or attempting to draw a shrinking device that didn’t look like a gun. After several drawings were turned down, I was summoned once again. The producers, “Joe Ruby and Ken Spears”, informed me that if a solution wasn’t found, the episode would be scrubbed. Afterall, we can’t have a shrinking device that resembles a gun. When I was a kid, I remembered that the toy company, “Wammo” had a device called an air blaster. It used compressed air to shoot targets., I drew a picture to show them that it couldn’t be confused as a gun, but they said that it looked like a gun, so my idea was thrown out. Back to the drawing board. Anyway, several more secret meetings ensued and a solution was reached. I was sent a drawing of the shrinking device. Would you believe, it looked like a gun! That’s right! It was truly a circle jerk. Back to square one. What a waste of everyone’s time."

The villain was quite similar to actor Lionell Atwill. Some readers of this blog might be familiar with Atwill, who played villains in such classic 1930's horror movies as Doctor X (1932), The Vampire Bat (1933), Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) and Murders in the Zoo (1933). About the similarity Sellz stated, " They kept saying that the car thief was a Lionel Atwill type. I pretended to know who Lionel Atwill was because he was before my time. As it turned out, I saw a picture of him and the car thief looks like him. He always played a mad scientist or something. A good bit of casting."

This episode features the only time Shaggy's uncle Fearless Shagaford appears onscreen. He is mentioned in other episodes but never shown. He is only shown briefly here, but he never talks. 

A superior Scooby and Scrappy short. 

Resources Used

https://planet-scooby.com/mysteries/disappearing-car-caper/

https://scoobydoo.fandom.com/wiki/Disappearing_Car_Caper