Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection begins with The Pink Panther in The Pink Quarterback (1968). Like many of the best Pink Panther cartoons, this film is based around an extremely simple storyline that the filmmakers get as many slapstick gags as they can from. The highlight of this movie is the ending, which is just a perfect gag.
With Thanksgiving over, for many people, myself included, that means it is officially Christmas season. Because of this these posts will start to include Christmas cartoons. There will be a few Christmas cartoons in each Saturday Morning Cartoons post until Christmas day, which will be nothing but Christmas cartoons. First up is one of my favorite Christmas cartoons, The Little King in Christmas Night (1933).
Home Movies, 1943
Next comes the last cartoon featuring our old friend Scrappy, The Little Theater (1941).
Next comes one of the greatest Christmas cartoons of all time, Santa's Workshop (1932). This movie marks the fourth Silly Symphony in color and as is true of many of Disney's early color films, the filmmakers never took color for granted. I would dare to say that few filmmakers have ever used color as effectively as the Disney studio did at this time. All these decades later and this cartoon still looks incredible. Many of you may know that Walt Disney himself voiced Mickey in many cartoons. In this movie we get to hear him voice another character in a similar falsetto voice, this is one of Santa's elves and I am sure many of you will quickly recognize the voice. The other elves were voiced by J. Delos Jewkes and Pinto Colvig (the voice of Goofy). Walter Geiger voiced Santa. A working title for this film was Santa's Toy Shop. It premiered at the Roxy in New York on December 16, 1932 playing alongside the feature film, Man Against Woman. It played with this movie from the 16th to the 23rd. It would continue to play at the theatre from the 24th to January 1st, 1933 this time playing alongside the feature. Rare for a short cartoon at this time, Santa's Workshop was revived in big name movie theatres in 1933. This film went through production relatively fast beginning in September 1932 and hitting movie theatres by December of the same year. This cartoon would later receive a sequel, The Night Before Christmas (1933). In 1936 an idea for another Silly Symphony cartoon centering around Santa and his helpers at the north pole was proposed. In this cartoon a little boy would have been shrunk to the size of a toy and given a chance to see Santa's workshop. One title for this would have been The North Pole. This idea never came to be. The following is an Exhibitors Review from the Motion Picture Herald. "Santa's Workshop: This is the greatest one-reeler we have ever had the pleasure of screening in our theatre and did the kids flock in! It is filmed in glorious color and there is only one word that can describe it - beautiful. Just as the name suggests, it shows Santa's workshop where all of the toys are made and just the type of short for this season. We played this three days and many patrons young and old, saw it two or three times. Many thanks to Walt Disney and United Artists for this great short. Running time, eight minutes - J.J. Medford, Orpheum Theatre, Oxford, N.C. General Patronage." The following are some Exhibitors Reviews from the Motion Picture Herald. "Santa's Workshop: Silly Symphony - An excellent all color short you will do well to book. They just rave over it. Running time, seven minutes - Wm. A. Crute, Victoria Theatre, Vancouver, B.C. Neighborhood Patronage." "Santa's Workshop: Silly Symphony - Excellent and drew considerable business. - B.R. Johnson, Orpheum Theatre, Kerrobert, Canada, Rural Patronage." "Santa's Workshop: Silly Symphonies - These cartoons are good but an exhibitor can feed his public up on them by booking too many. Once a week is plenty. Running time, eight minutes. - Edmund M. Burke, Fort Plain Theatre, Fort Plain, N.Y. General Patronage."
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Next comes Betty Boop in Judge for a Day (1935). This movie has everything I love about Betty Boop cartoons from the 1930's as it is equal parts cute and sadistic. The following is an exhibitor's review from The Motion Picture Herald, "Judge For A Day: Betty Boop Cartoons - Just a fair one reeler, not much to laugh at. Running time one reel. -Rudolf Duba, Royal Theatre, Kimball, S.D. Small Town Patronage."
Variety, 1958
Next comes Speedy Gonzales and Daffy Duck in Well Worn Daffy (1965). Around the mid to late 1960's, many Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were being made that pitted Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales against each other (two characters who had not worked together previously). This not being a natural teaming (like say a cat and a mouse), each film had to find a different reason to pit them against each other. To do this Daffy Duck often had to take a new role. While he had already changed from the wild and crazy duck of his earliest cartoons to a greedier self-centered duck, these films often made him an all-out villain. In this movie, Daffy is especially villainous even denying the little mice a drop of water.
Let us wrap up by singing one we all know.
Resources Used
Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by Russell Merrit and J.B. Kaufman
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