Hello my friends and welcome back for another selection of classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection begins with one of the most famous cartoon shorts of all time, Steamboat Willie (1928). While contrary to popular belief this was not the first sound cartoon, there is no doubt that no cartoon before had used sound as well as this film did. This was the short that opened up the door for what sound cartoons could be and its effect could soon be felt on almost every sound cartoon being made. Though this was not the first Mickey cartoon made either (Plane Crazy and The Galloping Gaucho were made before it), this was the film that made Mickey a true movie star. In fact after the success of Steamboat Willie the two earlier Mickeys were given synchronized soundtracks because of Willie's success as a talkie. Willie brought about the idea that unlike early live action talkies (which often sparsely used music outside of musical numbers), sound cartoons would use music as just as important a part of the storytelling as the visuals. Even when studios like the Fleischer studio and Warner Brothers would make cartoons in their own style, this principal was largely employed. Walt would later recall "When the picture was half finished we had a showing with sound. A couple of my boys could read music and one of them [Wilfred Jackson] could play a mouth organ. We put them in a room where they could not see the screen and arranged to pipe their sound into the room where our wives and friends were going to see the picture. The boys worked from a music and sound effects score. After several false starts sound and action got off with the gun. The mouth organist played the tune and the rest of us in the sound department bammed tin pans and blew side whistles on the beat. The synchronization was pretty close. The effect on our little audience was nothing less than electric. They responded almost instinctively to this union of sound and motion. I though they were kidding me. So they put me in the audience and ran the action again. It was terrible but it was wonderful! And it was something new." The reaction from audiences when the film hit theatres was if anything even greater. It is hard to overstate just how incredible the reaction to this cartoon was when released. While this cartoon can not have the feeling of newness or startling innovation it once had, it still successeds today wholly on an entertainment level. The truth is that this cartoon is still a lot of fun and the gags remain charming and clever over 90 years later. The film received the #13 spot in Jerry Beck's book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons. November 18, 1928 marked Steamboat Willie's debut at New York's Colony Theater and that date is now widely considered to be Mickey's birthday. I personally have this cartoon on my mind after building a LEGO set of it (a hobby I have got into during lockdown).
Next comes another masterpiece of a cartoon, Minnie the Moocher (1932) starring the one and only Betty Boop. This cartoon is a pure example of what the Fleischer studio did better than anyone else. The film is full of incredibly creative, surreal and just plain weird gags that are executed to complete perfection. This cartoon is the first of three Bettys to feature jazz singer Cab Calloway (the other two being Snow White and the Old Man of the Mountain). In all three of these cartoons, the singer was not only used to sing his song, but his iconic dancing was captured by the dancer via rotoscope. A review in the Film Daily stated "This swell Max Fleischer musical cartoon is the best turned out so far with the cute pen and ink star, Betty Boop, who seems to get more sexy and alluring each time and her boyfriend Bimbo. The musical selection is supplied by Cab Calloway and his orchestra and what these boys can't do to the Minnie the Moocher number is not worth mentioning."
Next comes Woody Woodpecker in To Catch a Woodpecker (1957).
Now we will join our friend Toby the Pup, Down South (1931). While Charles Mintz was producing Krazy Kat cartoons for Columbia , he decided to create a separate series of cartoons for RKO, these starring a character named Toby the Pup. To head this series Mintz handed the duties to Dick Huemer, Art Davis and Sid Marcus. Dick Huemer had been a major contributor to the style of the Fleischer studio earlier and this is probably why these shorts have a Fleischer-type feel to them. Huemer, Davis and Marcus would later be the major creative factors for Columbia's Scrappy cartoons (also produced by Mintz).
Next we join Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in Fresh Hare (1942). Many of you who grew up watching this cartoon on TV might have thought its ending was awfully abrupt and non sensical. The reason for this is simply the ending gag was cut from most TV broadcasts (for reasons that will be obvious once you see it). This is also one of those cartoons where Elmer is heavier than we are used to seeing him. This was due to a brief and unsuccessful attempt to make Elmer more resemble his voice actor Arthur Q. Bryan. Though this version of Elmer never caught on, certain cartoon fans (including myself) have a fondness for these cartoons. Later director Friz Freleng would express that he had a dislike for using Elmer as Bugs' adversary. The reason for this being that he felt Elmer was too sympathetic of a character and too easy of a character for Bugs to defeat. Despite this Friz's cartoons with both these characters are often quite good (including this one).
Today's cartoon selection continues with another Friz Freleng classic, Daffy the Commando (1943). The following is an exhibitor's review from the Motion Picture Herald, "Daffy the Commando: Looney Tunes Cartoon - This is Daffy's best. By the way where has Vitaphone being keeping Daffy Duck? This is the first I played in a long while. -Ralph Raspa, State Theatre, Rivesville, W. Va."
Today's cartoon selection ends with Blackie Sheep in Much Ado About Mutton (1947).
Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.
Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon by Leonard Maltin.
The 50 Greatest Cartoons by Jerry Beck
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