Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #80

Hello my friends and welcome back for another selection of classic cartoons.

Today's selection begins with one of the great Mickey, Donald and Goofy cartoons, Mickey's Trailer (1938). Like many of these shorts the storyline is simplistic, but the execution is very elaborate and funny. The result is thrill comedy at its best. Motion Picture Daily proved that their Disney knowledge was not perfect when they stated in a review, "Mickey, Donald Duck and Horace Horsecollar embark on a trailer." To many Disney fans it may seem shocking to see Goofy referred to as Horace Horsecollar, but until fairly recently Horace had been a much more prominent Disney character than Goofy. Horace wasn't the only character Goofy was confused for at this time, as you can tell by the following exhibitor's review from The Motion Picture Daily, "MICKEY'S TRAILER: Walt Disney Cartoons—The usual antics of the famous trio, but Donald Duck and Pluto, the dog, steal the whole show. Running time 9 minutes. - R.W. Crickmore, Rainbow Theatre, Newpost, Wash. General Patronage." Interestingly the following exhibitors review comes from a 1939 issue of The Motion Picture Herald, just one year after the cartoon originally premiered, "MICKEY'S TRAILER: Walt Disney Cartoons— Quite old but it is still a dandy. If you haven't used it pick it up for they'll like it fine. Running time, eight minutes.—Den Bloxham, Palace Theatre, Exira, Iowa. General and Rural Patronage." 



Next comes one of Columbia's delightful Fox and the Crow cartoons, Woodman Spare That Tree (1942). The title comes from a poem written by George Pope Morris in 1830. That poem would later become a song when in 1837 Henry Russell (who also set A Life on the Ocean Wave by Epes Sargent to music). A excerpt is performed by the Fox and the Crow in this movie. The film was reissued to movie theatres in 1956.




Next is the last cartoon for your friend and mine Scrappy. The film is The Little Theatre (1941), and Scrappy makes sure he puts on quite a performance before leaving the movies. While not as weird as Scrappy's best movies (though there are two delightfully weird gags), this cartoon ends his career on a rather enjoyable note. Appropriately Scrappy ends the film by taking a bow.




I have really been enjoying the Anthony's Animation Talk YouTube channel. This channel is made up of audio commentaries on various Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. Here is a sample.














Thank you for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. May all your tunes be looney and your melodies merrie.

-Michael J. Ruhland