Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection begins with the classic Goofy film, Two Weeks Vacation (1952). As I mentioned before on this blog, director Jack Kinney's Goofy short films are some of my all time favorite cartoons. Kinney was simply a great comic mind and Goofy was simply a perfect character for him. Though Kinney's humor appears in its purest form in short films, he did work on some of Disney's animated feature films. He was a sequence director on such features as Pinocchio (1940), Dumbo (1941), Saldos Amigos (1942), The Three Caballeros (1944), Melody Time (1948) and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949).
Hop and Go (1943) is a fantastic late black and white Looney Tunes cartoons. This film was towards the very end of Looney Tunes appearing in black and white. The first color Looney Tune had been released the year before with The Hep Cat (1942) and the last black and white Looney Tune, Puss n' Booty (1943) would be released later the same year. This short film was directed by Norm McCabe. Though McCabe's Looney Tunes shorts have not been a staple of TV, due to being in black and white and having many direct references to World War 2 (when these films were made), many cartoon fans (including myself) have a real fondness for his Looney Tunes, which have a fun and unique style all their own. His work in the world of Looney Tunes hardly ended with the theatrical shorts though. He was the timing director on the Looney Tunes TV shows, Tiny Toons Adventures, Taz-Mania and Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries. He was also an animator on the feature length movie Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (1988). If the voice of Claude sounds familiar in the cartoon you are about to watch that is because it is provided by Pinto Colvig, who was also the voice of Goofy.
Up next is the Terry Toon cartoon, Club Life in the Stone Age (1940). The following are a couple of exhibitor's reviews from The Motion Picture Herald, "CLUB LIFE IN THE STONE AGE: Terry-Toons— A very good black and white cartoon. Was afraid of this after the colored cartoons but it went over very well. - Gladys E. McArdle, Owl Theatre, Lebanon, Kansas. Small Town Patronage." "CLUB LIFE IN THE STONE AGE: Terry-Toons— Just an ordinary cartoon. Running time, 7 Minutes. E.M. Freiburger, Paramount Theatre, Dewey, Okla. Small Town Patronage."
Boxoffice, 1937
Now we join Pink Panther in The Pink Pro (1976).
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Up next is the Roland and Rattfink cartoon, A Taste of Money (1970). This short film is the only cartoon in the series to not feature Roland. Instead, this is fully a Rattfink cartoon. This film is also a remake of the Yosemite Sam cartoon, Honey's Money (1962), which in turn is a remake of the Daffy Duck film His Bitter Half (1950).
Up next is one of Disney's early Silly Symphonies, Monkey Melodies (1930). Like many of the Silly Symphonies of this era, this film has a very loose storyline that is simply meant to establish a mood and be a framework for a succession of gags. Also like most of the Silly Symphonies of this time the film includes an all star cast of animators. David Hand, who would later be the supervising director for the Disney features Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Bambi (1942), animated the opening scene, the alligators surfacing and the underwater chase with the alligators. Jack King, who would go on to direct some great Donald Duck cartoons, animated the ape in the vines, the monkey couple kissing on the log and the closing scene. Norm Ferguson, whose animation would help define the character of Pluto, animates the two monkeys scratching and the alligator dance. Dick Lundy, who would become a great Woody Woodpecker director, animates the Aba Daba Honeymoon (the song with nonsense lyrics) musical number. Ben Sharpsteen, who would be the supervising director on the Disney features Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940) and Dumbo (1941), animates the parrotts as well as the alligator triping the monkeys off the log. LEs Clark, one of the foremost Mickey Mouse animators and one of Walt's Nine Old Men, animates the Monkey's swinging on each other's tails and the introduction of the film's hero. Wilfred Jackson, who would be the co-director of such Disney features as Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953), animates the boy monkey giving the girl flowers and the romantic dance. Tom Palmer, who would direct cartoons for both Warner Brothers and Van Bueren animated the boy offering the girl a banana and the monkeys meeting the hippo. Johnny Cannon, who animated on many Disney shorts of the 1930's, animates the boy monkey chasing the girl monkey through the vines.
Let us close by singing one we all know.
Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.
Resources Used
Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman
https://mediahistoryproject.org/
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