Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #136

 Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons.

Today's selection begins with The Grocery Boy (1932) starring Mickey Mouse. This is a sweet simple little cartoon of the type that the Disney studio excelled at. The movie is helped by some truly excellent character animation and a great cast of animators. David Hand (who would be the supervising director for Snow White (1937) and Bambi) animates the film's opening. Tom Palmer animates Mickey and Minnie on the phone, a long sequence that begins with Mickey and Pluto entering the house and ends with Minnie kissing a bump on Mickey's head and the closing moment. Ben Sharpsteen (who would be the supervising director for Pinocchio (1940) and Fantasia (1940)) animates Pluto pulling at the table as well as the statue falling on Mickey. Rudy Zamora animates Mickey and Pluto running to Minnie's house. Future Donald Duck director, Jack King animates Minnie stirring and Mickey shelling the peas. Les Clark (one of Walt's Nine Old Men and one of the studio's top Mickey animators) animates Mickey getting the stuffing out of the turkey. A review in Variety stated, "Nothing outstanding in this one, but a good example of the Disney product." The climatic ending of this cartoon would later be adapted for the Mickey Mouse newspaper comic strip.

Next comes Porky Pig in Meet John Doughboy (1941). This is very much a movie of its time. At this time the U.S.A. had yet to enter World War 2, yet it was very much excepted that we would join. Because of this a peace time draft was initiated. American films (often very patriotic) dealing with the draft became increasingly popular. Though this is technically a Porky Pig cartoon, Porky has little to do and simply serves to introduce the picture. This was something that director Bob Clampett was doing often around this point. Porky was still very much the star of Looney Tunes but Bob seemed disinterested in making cartoons revolving around the character at this time instead wanting to focus on other characters or make spot gag cartoons. Therefore using Porky in tiny inconsequential roles was the ideal way to make the cartoons he wanted while still using the series' star character.

While I personally strongly dislike many of the Filmation Studio's comedy cartoons (what they did to Tom and Jerry and Droopy is incredibly awful), I really like their superhero cartoons. True they are corny as all get out, but I have a special fondness for really corny superhero stories. Here is the first episode of the studio's TV cartoons starring The Flash, The Chemo-Creature (1967). Worried about bad guys taking over. Don't worry The Flash will be there in a flash.

Stephan Bosustow, cartoon producer and one of the founders of the UPA studio (home of Mr. Magoo and Gerald McBoing Boing) had a strong interest in creating an animated feature film based on the work of writer James Thurber. However he could not get the funding for this, so he asked UPA director William T. Hurtz to adapt one of Thurber's stories as an animated short film. Hurtz took this idea very seriously and studied nearly every drawing Thurber made. The result was A Unicorn in the Garden (1953). Bosustow was reportedly disappointed with the end result. Because of this he refused to submit the movie for consideration for an Academy Award and changed plans for the studio's first feature to one starring Mr. Magoo. Cartoon fans certainly aren't disappointed by the result. This movie is not only beloved by cartoon fans but received the 48th spot in Jerry Beck's book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons.

Now it is time for a commercial break.

Next comes a great Fleischer Brother's Talkartoon, The Grand Uproar (1930). This movie has everything you could want out of a Fleischer cartoon, lots of weird bizarre gags that are filled with the creativity that makes their Betty Boop and Popeye cartoons so beloved. If the mice characters look a bit like Mickey and Minnie, it should be noted that nearly every studio was doing this at this time.

Next comes The Inspector in Cock-A-Doodle Deux Deux (1966).

Now let us end with a song.

-Mchael J. Ruhland Resources Used The 50 Greatest Cartoons edited by Jerry Beck Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein http://afilmla.blogspot.com/search/label/Shorts_Columbia