Good morning my friends and welcome back for another selection of classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection begins with a wonderful Friz Freleng directed cartoon, D' Fightin' Ones (1961). This short film is a wonderful parody of the Stanley Kramer movie The Defiant Ones (1958). In that movie a white man and a black man who are chained together escape from prison. Despite the white man being a racist and the two having a strong hatred for each other the two must work together to survive. In this cartoon we have instead of a white man and a black man, we have Sylvester the cat and a big dog chained together. This idea in itself its very funny, but the cartoon is still wonderful even for those who don't know what it is parodying.
Next we join Gandy Goose and Sourpuss in Sham Battle Shenanigans (1942). This was the first of a series of cartoons made during World War 2 which put Gandy and Sourpuss in the army. They were not the only cartoon characters to be drafted into the army for a series of cartoons during World War 2. Disney's Donald Duck (despite wearing a sailor suit in civilian life) also joined the army. The following is a review from The Film Daily, "Done in Technicolor, this Terry-Toon confection is a sweet source of laughter - loud and plentiful. The action has to do with the mishaps that befall a cat and duck during war maneuvers. Being thoroughly inexperienced soldiers, the two get themselves into a lot of silly situations, out of which they manage to work themselves in an extremely funny manner. Some of the incidents are good for howls." Enjoy the cartoon and remember to have some Dunker's Donuts while watching it.
Director's Jack Kinney's Goofy cartoons are the closest the Disney studio came to Tex Avery's MGM cartoons. These short films are fast paced gag filled satires that take full advantage of the cartoon medium. They are also some of my personal favorite cartoon shorts. A great example of why these films are so great can be seen in this next cartoon, Tomorrow We Diet (1951).
Now it is time to join our flapper friend Betty Boop in one of her early appearances, Kitty From Kansas City (1931). This short film was released a year before Betty got her own series, so it is part of the Fleischer Brothers' Screen Songs series. This is the series where movie goers would follow the bouncing ball and sing along with popular songs. In many of these films there would be a popular singer of the time performing the song. Here that singer is the crooner Rudy Vallee, who had recorded the title song in 1930 and had a hit with it. The same year as this movie, Rudy would appear in Betty Co-ed (1931), another Fleischer screen song cartoon. Paramount Around the World magazine would state "Speaking of Screen Songs, 'Kitty from Kansas City,' in which Rudy Vallee appears in person, is easily the best short that this radio and stage celebrity has ever made." Of course, Paramount may have been more than a little biased here.
Motion Picture Herald, 1931
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Now for an episode of The New Three Stooges featuring the voices of the real Stooges who also appear in the opening and closing live action segments. The live action segments would often be repeated even when the cartoon was new. Curly Joe DeRita felt that this hurt the show. He thought that people would see a live action segment they had seen before and assume the show was a rerun and change the channel not knowing the cartoon was new.
Now for a silent movie starring Felix the Cat, Felix Revolts (1923).
Last but certainly not least comes an all time classic, The Dover Boys at Pimento University (1942). This is one of Chuck Jones' most daring (and arguably one of his best) films. The stylized design and animation were unlike most anything being done at this time and look forward to what UPA would become known for in the 1950's. Many have cited Chuck Jones as a very strong influence on UPA and with a cartoon like this who could argue? It is worth noting that the credited animator on this film is Robert Cannon, who would become an important director for UPA (he directed Gerald McBoing-Boing (1950) there). Much of this film's charm came from background artist, Gene Fleury and layout artist John McGrew. These were two very experimental artists and Chuck gave them plenty of room to experiment. They are a huge part of why Chuck's cartoons for this era really stand out. If you are a fan of Disney's Goofy cartoons, you will probably recognize the narrator, John McLeisch (who narrated most of the Goofy "how to..." shorts). The film's writer Ted Pierce does the voice of Tom. However the scene stealer of the voice actors is Mel Blanc as he seems to be having a blast voicing the villainous Dan Backslide (coward, bully, cad and thief). Visually Dan Backslide is a caricature of Warner's animator, Ken Harris. This film appropriately appears in Jerry Beck's book, The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes.
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
The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes edited by Jerry Beck
https://mediahistoryproject.org/
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