Today's cartoon selection begins with 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."
Next is Daffy Duck in Boston Quackie (1957). This film is a parody of the character Boston Blackie. That character first appeared in a 1914 book by Jack Boyle, followed by many other books featuring the characters. In only a few years the character was appearing in silent films. In the 1940's Chester Morris played the character in a series of 14 B-movies. In 1944 Morris also played the character in a radio series. In 1951, Kent Taylor played the character in a TV series called Boston Blackie that ran for 58 episodes.
Now for some black and white Terry-Toons fun with Home Town Olympics (1936).
Possibly the best of the Fleischer Brothers' Color Classics cartoons and a must watch for me every Christmas season is Christmas Comes But Once a Year (1936). As well as a really catchy title song and some fun gags, this cartoon has a warm Christmas-y feel. Unlike some of the studio's other attempts at sentimentality, this film never feels forced in this respect. Instead the sentimentality feels genuine and earned. Though most of the Color Classics featured one off characters, this short stars Grampy from the Betty Boop cartoons. Grampy was one of the best things about the later Betty Boop films and he definitely gets to shine here. The title song in this short movie would later be reused in the Popeye cartoon, Let's Celebrake (1938) with the lyrics changed to be about New Years instead. Some of Grampy's household toy ideas would later be used in the Casper cartoon, True Boo (1952).
Motion Picture Herald, 1936
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Now for a delightful early Looney Tunes cartoon, The Booze Hangs High (1930). This short film predates such characters as Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny. Instead the star of the movie is Bosko, who was the first starring character for the Looney Tunes cartoons. While this movie may not feel much like the Looney Tunes cartoons that were yet to come, it is still a fun little film. The Booze Hangs High was only the 4th Looney Tunes cartoon.
If the Columbia cartoon, Up N' Atom (1947), feels like a Looney Tunes cartoon, there is a reason for this. The cartoon was directed by Bob Clampett, who directed some legendary cartoons for Warner Brothers, and directed by Sid Marcus, who would later write the first Tasmanian Devil cartoon for Warner Brothers. Notice that the cat in this film looks a lot like Sylvester.
Today's cartoon selection ends with the TV special, A Garfield Christmas Special (1987).
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/
No comments:
Post a Comment