Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #176

 Hello my friends and welcome back for another selection of classic cartoons. 

Today's cartoon selection begins with Mouse-Taken Identity (1957). This was the 11th film pitting Sylvester against Hippety Hopper. All these cartoons follow the same basic plot with Sylvester mistaking baby kangaroo Hippety for a giant mouse. Like all the films in this series, the cartoon was directed by Robert McKimson. Hippety would only appear in two more short films after this. 

Now we join Donald Duck, Chip and Dale in Working for Peanuts (1953). This short film was directed by Jack Hannah, which is no surpise as at this period, Hannah was both the main director of Donald Duck and Chip and Dale cartoons. The film would be featured in an episode of the Disneyland TV show (by that time retitled, Walt Disney Presents) entitled This is Your Life, Donald Duck (1960). 

Now for a later day Betty Boop cartoon, Service With a Smile (1937). This film is in my opinion one of the best of the post-code Betty Boops. Around this time Betty (like Mickey Mouse at Disney) was becoming a supporting character in her own cartoons. The best of these cartoons with her as a supporting character were the ones featuring that kooky inventor Grampy. He was such a charming and fun character and he lead to some of those very clever invention gags that the Fleischer Brothers excelled at. 

Motion Picture Daily, 1938

Up next is the first Dudley Do-Right cartoon, The Dis-loyal Canadians (1961). 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Next comes one of the most famous and important of Disney's Silly Symphonies cartoons, Flowers and Trees (1932). This film was the first Silly Symphony in color and it is obvious that even from this first attempt the Disney cartoons had a mastery of color in a way few film would ever reach. Walt knew that color was not just a novelty or a way to make films look pretty but could be a vital part of storytelling. The colors in these cartoons often added to mood of the scene in a way an audience can feel. Walt was alone in believing Technicolor would help boost the quality of his cartoons and many tried to talk him out of it but as was always true of Walt, he stuck with his instinct and it paid off. The short received much praise (including an academy award) and it still remains a great cartoon to this day. Walt signed a contract with Technicolor for three years, giving them exclusive right to the process in the field of animation. This is why some of the other studios would soon use less famous and less effective color processes for their cartoons of this period. The cartoon itself was directed by Burt Gillett, who would soon direct the most famous Silly Symphony, The Three Little Pigs (1933). J.B. Kaufman and Russell Merritt's book, Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series states, "David Hand animated most of the film, partly by himself and partly with apprentices."  David Hand would later be supervising director on the Disney features, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Bambi (1942). The following is a short article from The Film Daily (dated Sept. 17, 1932), "As a result of the tremendous reception at the Grauman's Chinese in Los Angles and the Roxy in New York of the first Silly Symphony, in natural color, Walt Disney, its creator says all the Symphonies released this year  by United Artists will be done in Technicolor and that later the Mickey Mouse may also be photographed in natural color. The first Silly Symphony in Technicolor 'Flowers and Trees,' was in the nature of a feeler. It was made to touch [sic] out the public reaction to color in an animated short feature. After the first showing in Hollywood, in conjunction with MGM's 'Strange Interlude,' Disney had decided that he hit upon one of his most popular moves. Sid Grauman also was highly enthusiastic about 'Flowers and Trees.' The same thing happened at the Roxy. And now the second Silly, 'King Neptune' will have its premiere at the opening of 'Mr. Robinson Crusoe,' Douglas Fairbanks new feature, at the Rivoli next Wednesday." 

Now we join Flip the Frog in The Village Barber (1930). The only person credited on this film is Ub Iwerks, someone who Disney fans should be quite familiar with. His work with Walt Disney (the two basically co-created Mickey Mouse) on the early Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies cartoons, as well as the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit shorts and Alice Comedies, helped shape Disney animation and to fully state his impact on Disney history is impossible. Yet he would be lured away from Disney to head his own cartoon studio, where he would make this film. After his own cartoon series didn't catch on with the public the way his Disney work had, he wound up back at Disney. There he did special effects for such Disney movies as The Three Caballeros (1944), Song of the South (1946), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), and Mary Poppins (1964). He even worked on some episodes of Disney's TV children's show, The Mickey Mouse Club (1955-1958). Away from Disney, he did special effects work on Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). 

The Film Daily, 1931

Now it is time for a silent Jerry on the Job cartoon, A False Alarm (1920). 

Today's cartoon selection ends with Popeye in Bride and Gloom (1954). 

Thanks as always for joining me and come back next week for another selection of classic cartoons.

Resources Used

Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman 

https://mediahistoryproject.org/