Cartoons For Saturday Morning #1

Happy Saturday morning, my friends. Of course with it being Saturday morning, you know what that means it is time to watch cartoons. That is why each Saturday morning I am going to share some classic cartoons with you.

First up is a cartoon from the kings of Saturday Morning themselves, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. This cartoon stars Peter Potamus and his sidekick So-So. As was common in the Hanna-Barbera television cartoons of the 1950's and 60's, our main character's voice was based off of a popular actor. Peter's voice (provided by Daws Butler) voice was based off the comedic actor Joe E. Brown (best remembered for his role in Some Like It Hot (1959)). The Hanna-Barbera character Lippy the Lion had pretty much the same voice. Also like most of the Hanna-Barbera TV shows of this era, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera are credited with the direction of this cartoon. This show premiered in 1964 and that is the year this episode comes from, enjoy.




Though many of us today associate Looney Tunes with characters like Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck, the first staring Looney Tune character was Bosko, a little black boy who shared much in common with Mickey Mouse. This character was created by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, who were former Disney animators and later major directors for MGM's cartoon output. When they left in 1933, they would take the rights of this character with them, which led Warner Brothers to have to create new characters. This is the very first Looney Tunes cartoon ever, Sinkin' in the Bathtub (1930). The credited animator of this film is Friz Freleng (credited as Isadore Freleng), who would later become one of series' main directors as well as the creator of Porky Pig, Yosemite Sam, Sylvester and (not for Looney Tunes) Pink Panther.  




For a more modern Looney Tunes take, I was personally quite a fan of The Looney Tunes Show (2011-2014). Here is one of my favorite songs from that show.

Next up is a classic Terry Toons cartoon staring my favorite Terry Toons characters, Heckle and Jeckle. Here is Blue Plate Symphony (1954). This cartoon was directed by Connie Rasinski who had been directing for the studio since 1937.





 Last but not least is a classic Mickey Mouse cartoon, Mickey's Gala Premiere (1933). This cartoon features Mickey Mouse having his new cartoon premiere at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Showing up are all sorts of Hollywood stars of the era. Those who love old movies like I do will have tons of fun trying to pick out all the old stars.



The following are some exhibitors reviews for Mickey's Gala Premiere.


Motion Picture Herald, December 9, 1933. “Mickey’s Gala Premiere: Mickey Mouse – The best to date. Shows all the stars in review and just watch the patrons pick them out. Disney’s cartoonist certainly stepped out in this one. Book it without hesitation. Running time, seven minutes. – William A. Crute, Victoria Theatre, Vancouver, BC. Neighborhood Patronage.”
Motion Picture Herald, March 10, 1934
“Mickey’s Gala Premiere: Mickey Mouse – This cartoon is better than the average. Be sure to play it. Running time, 9 minutes. – A.H. Edwards, Orpheum Theatre, Orwigsburg, PA, Small Town and Rural patronage.”
Motion Picture Herald, April 7, 1934
“Mickey’s Gala Premiere: Mickey Mouse – One of the best cartoons of the year. Plenty of laughs and will appeal to both young and old. Plenty of good caricatures of practically all of the screen actors and actresses. One of the best shorts I have seen in the past year. – J.J. Medford, Orpheum Theatre, Oxford, N. C., General Patronage.”
Motion Picture Herald, August 19, 1933
“Mickey’s Gala Premiere: Mickey Mouse – In our opinion the best Mickey Mouse of them all and that is going some. – Charles Niles, Niles Theatre, Anamosa, Iowa. General Patronage.”

The following is from an article in The Film Daily (dated June 23, 1934).
“It seems that in dear ole England the audiences very seldom applaud a feature pix, let alone a short but at a theater in Huddersfeild they showed Walt Disney’s ‘Mickey’s Gala Premiere’ and blimey if the bally customers didn’t cheer and whistle and stomp their hooves for several minutes. The main feature had started the management had to stop the reel and rerun Mickey Mouse.”

Stay tooned next Saturday morning for more cartoon treasures.

-Michael J. Ruhland