Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection starts with a delightful short film starring Donald Duck, Donald's Penguin (1939). This fun little movie was directed by Jack King, who was Donald's main director at this time, and written by the legendary Carl Barks, who would later create many great Donald Duck comics that are regarded by Disney fans as some of the best stories featuring the duck ever told. This short would make its TV debut on an episode of The Mickey Mouse Club that would air on October 11, 1956.
The main title sequence for Trail of the Pink Panther (1981), was created by Marvel Productions, who had bought the DePatie-Freleng company after Friz Freleng left in 1981. David DePatie would continue to work at the studio after this time. This opening sequence was directed by Art Leonardi, who had worked at the DePatie-Freleng studio since 1964. He had also worked with Friz Freleng at Warner Brothers on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts. The format of this sequence follows the basic premise of the credit sequences for the previous three feature length Pink Panther films, with an animated Insepector Clouseau chasing the Pink Panther. Like the title sequence for Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978), this one relies heavily on old school cartoon chase gags that Art would have been very familiar with. However there is a certain amount of contemporizing here as we get a referance to the new then recent Pacman and a pee joke that would not have been seen in the old Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. As for the rest of this movie, it is essentianly a clip show of moments from previous Pink Panther feature films featuring Clouseau, as well as clips that were not used in The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) and Revenge of the Pink Panther. These are tied together with new footage not featuring the character and a storyline about Clouseau being believed dead. The reason for this being that actor Peter Sellers (who played the character) had passed away and this film was intended as a tribute to him. The result is a movie with some really funny moments but is quite uneven.
With Halloween just around the corner it is a wonderful time to look at one of my favorite Flip the Frog cartoons, The Cuckoo Murder Case (1930). The following is a review from Motion Picture News, "Fifteen or more series of animated cartoons on the market at one time make the going tough for this type of short. That is unless they are turned out with the cleverness of 'Cuckoo Murder Case,' one of the Flip the Frog subjects produced by Ub Iwerks. Here the cartoonist takes the usual mystery slant but sends it over with loads to spare. The answer is in the treatment. Iwerks has Flip go through the most amazing contortions. This shows real thought."
Next comes a fun little Terry-Toon short, The Tortoise Wins Again (1946).
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Now for a classic Bugs Bunny cartoon, 8 Ball Bunny (1950). This was the second of two films that teamed Bugs Bunny with a penguin, who would become known as Playboy Penguin (the first being Frigid Hare (1949), both these films were directed by Chuck Jones). This cartoon also features a caricature of Humphry Bogart, whose appearance here is a parody of his role in the John Huston movie, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). The voice of Bogey here is provided by Dave Barry, who also voiced Bogey in Slick Hare (1947) and voiced Elmer Fudd in Pre-Hysterical Hare (1958). He can be seen in live action in the movies, Some Like It Hot (1959) and Spinout (1966) among others.
Next comes the Woody Woodpecker film, Banquet Busters (1948). This movie is a rare time in which two of Walter Lantz's most popular characters, Woody Woodpecker and Andy Panda, appeared in a theatrical short. However it was not the only time they worked together. Woody made his debut in the Andy Panda short, Knock Knock (1940). Probably the most popular pairing of the two was in the Musical Miniature cartoon, Musical Moments from Chopin (1946). Banquet Busters was the only time Andy Panda appeared in the Woody Woodpecker series as their other appearances together were in other series.
Now for one of Walt Disney's delightful silent Alice Comedies, Alice Helps the Romance (1926). These short movies would place a live action little girl into an animated world. At the start of this series the live action Alice was clearly the star of the films and the movies would start as a live action comedy starring her, before she entered the cartoon world. By this time however, the series was focusing more and more on the animated characters with less time for Alice. Alice here does not appear until rather late in the cartoon. In this movie Alice is played by Margie Gay, who took over the role from Virgina Davis.
Today's cartoon selection ends with The Simpsons in Scary Stories (1987). This is one of the early Simpsons shorts that aired on The Tracy Ullman Show, before the animated family got their own TV series.
Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.
Resourses Used
Walt in Wonderland: The Silent Films of Walt Disney by Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman
Pink Panther: The Ultimate Guide to the Coolest Cat in Town by Jerry Beck
https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/The_Disney_Wiki
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