Lets start off with a classic cartoon short from the one and only Disney studio. Now it has become common when talking about golden age cartoons to talk about Warner Brothers and MGM being full of wild and crazy humor, while Disney cartoons were sweet and cute. People say that Disney cartoons despite their technical advancements were simply not as funny as the ones from those other studios. If we are to go by this than obviously the Goofy cartoon had to be an exception. By the 1940's the Goofy films had become as funny as any other cartoon series coming out of Hollywood. These were fast paced and funny cartoons that could rival the best from other studios. This is especially true of the ones directed by Jack Kinney. Kinney was Disney's wildest and funniest short subject director at the time as a quick look at any of his Goofy or Donald Duck cartoons would prove. The following is from a fantastic series of Goofy shorts that are often known as the "How To..." shorts. These would feature a narrator (Fred Shields in this film) telling us how to do a certain activity as Goofy tries to demonstrate with little luck. The following is one of the best of these cartoons, How To Play Golf (1944).
One of the most popular animated TV shows of the late 1950's and early 1960's was The Huckleberry Hound Show (1958-1962). The show was extremely popular with a large demographic of people from all ages. Looking at this show there is no wonder why. It is one of the most cleverly written, funniest and all together entertaining TV shows ever to grace the small screen. Many of you may know that this show was divided into three segments. These were a Yogi Bear cartoon (Later to be replaced by Hokey Wolf when Yogi got his spin off show), a Pixie and Dixie cartoon and a Huckleberry Hound cartoon. In-between these cartoons though were short "bumpers" featuring the character interacting with one another and introducing the cartoons as well as plugging their sponsor Kellogg's. Here are some of these, many of which are just as fun as the main cartoons themselves.
Now comes a classic Looney Tunes take on the Grasshopper and the Ants story called Porky's Bear Facts (1940). At this time Looney Tunes were in black and white while their sister series Merrie Melodies were in color. All Looney Tunes at this time featured Porky Pig, while Merrie Melodies featured a variety of starring characters. This cartoon is directed by the legendary Friz Freleng, who was actually mostly directing Merrie Melodies at this time.
I am quite a fan of Van Beuren's Little King cartoons of the 1930's and here is a great one here, The Fatal Note (1933). This one features animation by legendary Jim Tyler. It is also the first of the series. The director is Vernon Stallings who would direct some excellent entries in this series. Disney buffs might know him as a writer on some great Disney films including Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941), Bambi (1942), Song of the South (1946), Magician Mickey (1937), and Ferdinand the Bull (1938). During the silent era he worked as a director on the Colonel Heeza Lair cartoons. Before becoming an animated character, the Little King enjoyed success as a popular newspaper comic strip, written by O. Soglow. In The Fatal Note I love the design of the villain and the scene involving the fight on the stairs. So without further ado here is the cartoon,
How about a Pink Panther cartoon now. This is one I personally love and in my mind one of the best post-1960's cartoons with the character. Like many of the best Pink Panthers this one features a crew of Looney Tunes veterans, including director Art Leonardi, Writer John Dunn, animators Don Williams and Virgil Ross, background artist Richard H. Thomas and cameraman John Burton. So here is Pink Plasma (1975).
Now for a Terry Toon staring the one and only Mighty Mouse. This is Mighty Mouse and the Wolf (1945), directed by one of Terry Toons most prolific directors, Eddie Donnelly. With how many superhero reboots we have today, where's Mighty Mouse's Reboot?
Stay toned for more next Saturday morning. Until then peace, love and cartoons.
-Michael J. Ruhland
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