Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #135

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

Today's selection begins with Mickey's Parrot (1938). This movie is one of the few short films directed by Bill Roberts (who also directed Brave Little Tailor (1938) and Society Dog Show (1939)). Bill Roberts mostly directed segments of Disney's feature length films. This cartoon was originally planned to center mainly around Pluto, but the film was reworked to have Mickey play a larger role. Walt loved the idea of this movie stating, "You have these two characters - Mickey and the dog scared stiff. That's a swell Mickey type of story." Like many of the best Disney cartoons of this time this movie benefits from a very cinematic feel. Much of this is helped by some excellent effects animation by Josh Meador and Cornett Wood. The opening shot is the work of Cornett Wood and perfectly sets up the mood for the whole picture. The cartoon also features a great cast of Disney animators. Shamus Culhane was making a name for himself as one of the finest Pluto animators. Here he animates Pluto chasing the parrot into the piano as well as the two fighting after Pluto blows him into the chair. Les Clark is hailed as one of Mickey's finest animators and would become one of Walt's nine old men. He animates very little here. He does animate the parrot saying "shiver me timbers," Mickey saying "the killer," and the closing shot. Dick Lundy, who would later direct some really good cartoons for both MGM and Walter Lantz animates Mickey and Pluto getting scared while listening to the radio and them hiding in the bed. The lion's share of the animation is handled by Fred Spencer including the parrot in the basement window, the action with the parrot and the can, Pluto and the fishbowl, Pluto and the umbrella, the chase in the kitchen, the parrot biting Pluto's tail (as well as the staring contest afterwards) and the parrot and the popcorn. A review in Boxoffice magazine stated, " Never a dull moment in this one, thanks to the Disney wizardy. It’s a continuous .succession of humorous situations good from mild to hearty belly laughs." The following is an exhibitor's review from the Motion Picture Herald, "MICKEY'S PARROT: Walt Disney Cartoons—Disney makes the cartoons. There's no use of arguing. A theatre without them is the same as no salt on your meat.—Harland Rankin, Plaza Theatre, Tilbury, Ontario, Can. General Patronage."

Up next is The Pink Panther in Congratulations It's Pink (1967).

Today's cartoon selection continues with Sylvester in Fish and Slips (1962). This movie begins with Sylvester and his son watching TV. The announcer on TV mentions Treg Brown. This was the sound effects man for the Warner Brothers cartoon studio. Sylvester's son, Sylvester Jr. was almost exclusively used in cartoons directed by Robert McKimson (though he was used in Friz Freleng's Goldimouse and the Three Cats (1960)). 

Up next is one of Ub Iwerks Comi-Color cartoons, Brave Tin Solider (1934). Ub Iwerks had previously been Walt Disney's right hand man playing a major role in the creation of Mickey Mouse, animating on Walt's Alice Comedies and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons and directing the earliest Silly Symphonies. When distributor Pat Powers offered Ub the chance to head his own studio he left Walt (though he would later return). Ub's own studio would never receive the success that the Disney studio did, but he turned out some films that still delight cartoon buffs to this day. His Comi-Color series was a thinly veiled imitation of Disney's Silly Symphonies cartoons, adapting many classic fairy tales and simular stories. However these cartoons are a bit odder than the Silly Symphonies and there are some jokes in these movies you would not see in a Disney cartoon. Brave Tin Solider is in my mind one of the finest of the Comi-Color cartoons. 

                                     Independent Exhibitor's Film Bulletin, 1934

Next up is the first appearance of Betty Boop's dog, Pudgy, Betty Boop's Little Pal (1934). Though Dave Fleischer is credited as the director of this cartoon, it is widely accepted in animation circles that the first credited animator of the Fleischer cartoons did much of the directing. Not surprisingly the first credited animator here is Myron Waldman. Myron Waldman excelled at cute cartoons and this is about as cute as a Betty cartoon can get. The following are some exhibitor reviews from The Motion Picture Herald. "BETTY BOOP'S LITTLE PAL: Betty Boop Cartoons — This is another good cartoon from Betty. We liked it here. Running time, one reel—J. A. Verchot, Opera House, Abbeville, S. C. Small town patronage." "BETTY BOOP'S LITTLE PAL: Betty Boop Cartoon—Fair cartoon. Betty has made much better ones. —John H. Forrester, The Fines Theatre, Waldron, Ark." 

Up next is a real treat, some bridging sequences from TV's The Bugs Bunny Show.

Let us close by singing a song together.

Thanks for joining me come back next week for another selection of classic cartoons. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.

-Michael J. Ruhland 

Resources Used

http://afilmla.blogspot.com/search/label/Shorts_RKO

Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon by Leonard Maltin.

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by David Gerstein and J. B. Kaufman.