In this cartoon, Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy visit Shaggy's hillbilly relatives, the Shaggbillies. However, they are feuding with the McGurks because Shaggy's relative Betty Lou won't go to hoedown with him because he won't take a bath.
Like many of the Scooby and Scrappy shorts, this cartoon is enjoyable but not especially memorable. Some of the slapstick here is pretty enjoyable and the ending is chuckle worthy. Still there is a little here that hasn't been done in many other cartoons and this storyline and these gags would work just as well with any number of cartoon characters. There is nothing about this episode that particularly benefits from these characters, especially when the characters take a back seat to the slapstick gags.
Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again, it is time for some classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection begins with the Fleischer Screen Song cartoon, I'd Climb the Highest Mountain (1931). The title song comes was written by lyricist Lew Brown and composer Sidney Clare. The same year this cartoon came out, Bing Crosby sang this song in the short film, One More Chance (1931). In 1926 this song was recorded by Al Jolson. Decades later the song would become a hit for Ricky Nelson.
Next is Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote in Compressed Hare (1961). This movie marked the fourth time Bugs and Wile E. would be pitted against each other. Unlike in the Roadrunner cartoons, in these films, Wile E. talks quite a bit. There would be only one more theatrical cartoon pairing the two characters, Hare-Breadth Hurry (1963). However, in Hare-Breadth Hurry, Wile E. would not speak.
Now for Dinky Duck in The Orphan Egg (1953). Despite being released in the 1950's, this film feels more like a 1930's cartoon, along the lines of the Silly Symphonies or especially Happy Harmonies shorts. There is a cute moralistic story and even a chorus singing the narration. This is a far cry from the fast paced, gag filled cartoons that Warner Brothers, MGM or even Disney were making or the experimental and graphically daring films UPA was making.
It is time for a true classic with the Disney Silly Symphony short, The Tortoise and the Hare (1934). This was an especially important cartoon in the history of American animation and is often credited with bringing a real sense of speed that had not previously been seen in cartoons. Director Wilfred Jackson once told in a 1939 studio lecture that this was their first film where "we depicted speed on the screen. Before that time nobody dared to move the character across the screen in five frames." However, unlike future fast paced cartoon this film was not simply a quick procession of gags. Animator Dick Huemer told film historian Joe Adamson, "If [any other studio] had done The Tortoise and the Hare it would have been a series of assorted gags about running one after another. Not all this clever, boastful stuff like stopping with little girls and bragging and being admired and showing off how he could play tennis with himself." The character of Max Hare perhaps has a greater significance to cartoon history rather than just starring in this great film. Tex Avery and Frank Tashlin (both of whom had directed cartoon for Warner Brothers) have stated that Bugs Bunny was greatly inspired by Max Hare. Animator Ham Luske also stated that Mortimer in the Mickey Mouse cartoon Mickey's Rival (1936) was based off of Max Hare (Ham animated on both cartoons). Such a cartoon however would not have the effect it does now if not for the top-notch group of animators working at Disney at this time. They were the ones who made not only the speed work but made these characters feel more real and full of personality here. Louie Schimdt animates the opening scene with the crowd at the starting line. Dick Lundy (who would go to direct cartoons for both MGM and Walter Lantz) animates the introduction of Toby Tortoise and Max Hare and Toby running with the snails, dodging branches and passing Miss Cottontail's school. Milt Schaffer animates the crowd in the bleachers and at the finish line. Frenchy de Trémaudan animates the starter. Ham Luske animates Max running, tricking Toby, showing off for the girls and playing tennis and baseball with himself (some of the tennis animation would later be reused in the Donald Duck cartoon, The Hockey Champ (1939). Future Disney legend and one of Walt's Nine Old Men was Ham's assistant animator. Larry Clemmons animates the trees being uprooted. Eric Larson (another of Walt's Nine Old Men) animated Max passing the picket fence and crane. Les Clark (another of Walt's Nine Old Men and one of the finest Mickey Mouse animators) animates the little girls. Dick Huemer animates the finish of the race and of the film. A song was written for this cartoon called Slow but Sure. This song had music by Frank Churchill and lyrics by Larry Morey. While the lyrics are never heard an instrumental version is used as Toby's theme music. About the music in this film Wilfred Jackson would state in another 1939 studio lecture, "We tried to phrase it so the peaks of the siren [used as a repeating sound effect] would fall naturally on the peaks of the music and still give us time to cut back and forth." This cartoon would make its TV debut on an episode of the Disneyland TV show entitled From Aesop to Hans Cristian Anderson (1955). Max and Toby would later star in a sequel film Toby Tortoise Returns (1936) and would appear in the opening of TV's The Mickey Mouse Club.
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Next is one of my favorite Walter Lantz produced Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons, Wax Works (1934).
Now for Herman and Katnip in Frighty Cat (1958).
Next comes an excellent Daffy Duck cartoon, A Coy Decoy (1941). This film was part of a series of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies in the 1930's and 1940's that featured books coming to life at night. The first of these was I Like Mountain Music (1933) and the last was Book Revue (1946, also starring Daffy Duck). This cartoon features the early Daffy Duck meaning he is not yet the greedy and attention seeking duck he would be later. He is just simply crazy which works perfectly with this crazy short. As much as I love the later Daffy, I have a special fondness for this early crazy duck. A review in The Motion Picture Daily states, "The net result is moderate amusement." The following is an exhibitor's review from The Motion Picture Herald, "COY DECOY, A: Looney Tunes Cartoons—A dandy black and white cartoon.—C. L. Niles, Niles Theatre, Anamosa, Iowa, General Patronage."
Now let us close with a song.
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
Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon by Leonard Maltin
Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman
Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Brothers Cartoons by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald
In this cartoon, Shaggy remembers when Scrappy was born. In flashback we see Scooby and Shaggy with Scooby's sister Ruby-Doo as she is about to have a baby. When Scrappy is born, he ventures around the hospital causing trouble for Scooby and Shaggy.
This cartoon has strong ideas. It is cool to meet another member of Scooby's family and an episode revolving around how Scooby and Shaggy met Scrappy is a good premise. However, sadly these ideas are never fully taken advantage of. There are very few actual gags here and the gags that are here are never that funny. The timing is off for all these gags and many of them lack any real payoff. Ruby-Doo is barely on screen and despite a good design she is not especially memorable. It also simply doesn't help that the baby voice Scrappy is given here is quite annoying.
Despite a strong premise, this is a rather bland cartoon.
In this episode, the gang goes on a cruise and come across the Ghost of Captain Pescado, a kelp monster and an octopus monster.
There is a lot to love about this episode. There is a wonderful sense of atmosphere throughout. Having a mystery aboard a cruise ship was a perfect idea. Being aboard a ship with no way off gives the episode a great sense of danger. The use of fog and lighting also help give this episode an eerie feel. The great background art also helps greatly in this area, emphasizing just how enclosed our heroes are. The humor is just the type of corny fun us Scooby fans love. There are nautical puns galore and each one is delightfully corny. The action and chase scenes expertly blend excitement and slapstick.
The Ghost of Captain Pescado has a wonderfully eerie design. He looks creepy enough to be threating but not too creepy to take away from the lighthearted fun. Unfortunately, the kelp and octopus monsters don't fare as well. They simply look too goofy to be creepy or feel like much of a threat.
The largest flaw in this episode is that the mystery is too easy to solve due to a lack of suspects.
In this episode, the gang goes out to enjoy a day of waterskiing. However, when an ancient demon shark appears, the gang has another mystery on their hands.
There is so much to love about this episode. First off, the design of the demon shark is excellent. This design is the perfect level of creepy for a Scooby villain. He is creepy in a way that gives this episode a delightfully spooky feel, while never being too scary to take away from the lighthearted fun. It is too often in these episodes when a demon animal just looks like a regular animal. This makes me appreciate that this shark looks creepier than your typical cartoon shark. Also helping give this episode a delightfully spooky feel is the use of fog. The fog helps give the episode the same feel as an old Universal monster movie. The backgrounds here are also wonderfully detailed and atmospheric, especially during the climbing scenes. This episode also does a great job mixing comedy and mystery. Quite a bit of the episode cuts back and forth between Fred, Daphne and Velma asking questions to solve the mystery and slapstick gags involving Shaggy and Scooby. Both of these types of scenes work very well. The slapstick is often funny, and the mystery elements are very well handled. While you can probably figure out who did it, the way he did it and the clues that lead up to this reveal are great.
Run Time: 6 minutes. Studio: Pathé Frères. Director: Segundo de Chomón.
It is October once again and that means it is time to watch spooky themed films. One of my favorite types of spooky films is the haunted house flick. This sub-genre has been around since cinema was young. This month we take a look at one of the earliest haunted house flicks, a 1908 French classic, The Haunted House.
Being only six minutes, the storyline here is very basic. Three friends are taking a trip together and decide to rest at an abandoned house, not knowing that the house is haunted.
Like much cinema from this time period the narrative simplicity and brief running time are a part of this film's charm. Sometimes it is simply fun to watch something that is simple and directly to the point. And if you want to watch a haunted house movie, this film provides exactly that. This film puts our characters in that haunted house right away and soon after creepy stuff is already happening. Despite being a haunted house film, the main point here is not to scare you. Instead, it is to delight you with a flux of pure imagination. Much of the haunting comes from stop motion animation and camera tricks. There is a real playfulness to how these are executed that I find irresistible. It feels like everyone involved was having a great time making this and that feeling translates to the audience.
Despite its age many of the visuals hold up quite well. The opening outdoor scene as well as our first view of the house (from the outside) are simply lovely to look at and quite atmospheric. While the special effect can seem simplistic compared to those of today, they still get the job done and are fun to watch. The demon (if that is what he is supposed to be) looks fantastic and I simply love his costume. The final scene offers wonderful horror movie visuals that are as fun and creative as anything modern horror filmmakers could come up with.
If you want to watch this delightful film, you can do so below.
A well-acted and stylistic but ultimately empty thriller.
This film follows journalist Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson) as he tracks down a high-profile pedophile for Dateline NBC's To Catch a Predator.
The most impressive part of this movie (and the main reason to watch) is the cast. The entire cast is fantastic here. Robert Pattinson is the lead credit here and he is great as always. In recent years he has truly proved himself to be a great acting talent. This can be seen to its fullest extent here. He is simply magnetic in this main role. He at once seems powerful and a force of nature as well as deeply human and venerable. Neither of these seem in contrast with each other and this is mostly because of Pattinson's performance. Skyler Gisondo comes close to matching Pattinson. He is truly wonderful as the decoy that is meant to lure in the pedophiles. He perfectly captures the vulnerability of the character, the need to prove himself and the desire to be somebody. Through all this he is simply incredibly compelling to watch. This film is also quite visually striking. The use of lighting and colors perfectly capture the look of early 2000's reality TV. It looks like something that was shot on a portable camera on the spot, which subtly makes the film feel more authentic.
The problem with this movie, however, is that it doesn't really have a point to it. For a film that takes us into such dark and uncomfortable subject matter, it doesn't really have anything to say. The filmmakers touch on certain themes but never delve deeply enough into any of them to say anything beyond surface level. As I left this movie, I was shocked that something that touched on such dark and serious subject matter gave me no real strong emotional reaction. Rather than feel disturbed, angry or emotionally drained, I just simply thought about how well acted and shot it was.
There is a lot to appreciate about this movie, but it simply is lacking any real substance.
