Overlooked Classics: She Done Him Right (1933)

 

When it comes to classic theatrical cartoon shorts the studios that immediately jump to our minds are Warner Brothers, Disney, MGM, and Fleshier Brothers. However we cartoon fans too often overlook the Walter Lantz Studio (home of Woody Woodpecker, Chilly Willy and Andy Panda). However when you take a look at this studios output there is no doubt some really great cartons were made at this studio. Cartoons like The Barber of Seville, Ski for Two, The Legend of Rock-a-Bye Point, Convict Concerto, Fish Fry, Confidence and many others are definitely classic cartoons and great films by any standard. Because of this we are going to take a look at one of the Lantz studios most forgotten cartoons.  This cartoon is She Done Him Right.

The main character of this film is Pooch the Pup. Pooch the Pup was the first original cartoon character to come from the Walter Lantz Studio. The studio however got it's start making Oswald the Lucky Rabbit character. Who was as many of you know (it is so cool I can say that now) was created by Walt Disney. Walt would learn he did not own the rights to the character when his boss at that time Charles Mintz would demand the cartoons be made on a much lower budget, and Walt refused. Walt would leave the studio and create Mickey Mouse along with Ub Iwerks. Charles Mintz would briefly take over the character though soon Universal took the rights away from Mintz and give them to Walter Lantz. Pooch the Pup however was not that different from Oswald despite the fact that the studio was making cartoons with both characters at the same time.

This film had two directors one of them was Walter Lantz, himself and the other was Bill Nolan. Bill Nolan is perhaps best remembered today for helping redesign Felix the Cat and for his work with Walter Lantz. After Bill Nolan's work with Lantz he would become an animator at the Fleshier Brothers Studio, working on some Popeye cartoons and the feature length Gulliver's Travels. Walter Lantz and Bill Nolan were the studios main directors at this time. The animators for this cartoon include Manuel Moreno, Lester Kline, Fred Kopietz, George Grandpre, Ernest Smythe. Lester Kline and Ernest Smythe would spend their whole careers working for Lantz. With the exception of one cartoon at MGM (The Alley Cat) the same would be true for Manuel Moreno. Fred Kopietz would have a good career as a Disney animator later and George Grandpre would have a long career at Warner Brothers, working on many Looney Tunes and Merrie Melody cartoons. It is unfortunate however due to their lack of credit, it is unknown who that voices for this cartoon are. Hopefully someone will find that information someday.

This cartoon is one of the great examples of pre-code (referring to the production code, Hollywood's own system of censoring it's films) Lantz at it's best. This cartoon abounds with energy. It has a very lively soundtrack  with a fantastic performance of Minnie the Moochers' Wedding Day, a lot of bizarre humor and of course many jokes the censors would not allow if it was made after the production code. The whole film is just a lot of fun, and it shows why the Walter Lantz studio was so good.

Less than a week ago me and a very good friend of mine were able to see this cartoon on the big screen like it was meant to be seen . It was a fantastic experience and if any of you get a chance to watch these classic cartoon shorts on the big screen take it. It makes these great films even better.

-Michael J. Ruhland
Resourses Used
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin