Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #207

 Hello my friends and happy Saturday Morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons. 

Today's cartoon selection begins with the first of Merrie Melodies cartoons, Lady Play Your Madolin (1931). While in later years, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were practically the same, at this time there was a distant difference in them, reflecting the differences between the Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphony shorts at Disney. The Looney Tunes shorts did not have to center around a song and all of them would star the character, Bosko, while the Merrie Melodies would have different characters and always center around a song. Despite the Merrie Melodies series soon staring miscellaneous characters, there were some early attempts to create a starring character for the series. This cartoon features the first of these attempts, Foxy. Many cartoon studios at this time made characters that were simply imitations of Disney's Mickey Mouse and Foxy is about as obvious of an imitation as you can get. Foxy would never truly catch on, as he would only two more theatrical cartoon shorts, Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! (1931) and One More Time (1931). Much later he would appear in an episode of the TV series, Tiny Toons Adventures entitled, Two-Tone Town (1992).

Now we join The Pink Panther in Super Pink (1966).

 Now for one of the rare instances of very dark satire in one of Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies, Who Killed Cock Robbin? (1935). This film shows cartoon birds at the mercy of an unjust legal system. Satire, dark humor, celebrity caricatures and slapstick abound. The most significant of the celebrity caricatures is Jenny Wren, a caricature of Mae West. Most of her animation here is handled fantastically by Ham Luske and her voice comes from Martha Wentworth who does a really good impression. This character would later appear in the Silly Symphony Toby Tortoise Returns (1936). Two of Walt's future Nine Old Men animate on this film, Eric Larson and Clyde Geronimi. Eric animates the scene where Cock Robbin falls and the cops rushing in. Clyde animates the scenes involving the blackbirds and the cops, Legs Sparrow with the cops and then going into the witness box, and the cops' raiding the area. For the year of 1935 the National Board of Review named this as one of the Ten Best American Films (not just cartoons but films as a whole). According to JB Kaufman and Russell Merrit's excellent book, Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series, the idea for making this film had been around the Disney studio as early as October 1933, but work truly began in March, 1934. Wilfred Jackson was originally going to be the cartoon's director, but he was replaced with Ben Sharpsteen, who was replaced with Dave Hand, who actually directed the cartoon. Dave Hand would later be the supervising director for the Disney feature films, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Bambi (1942). My fellow Alfred Hitchcock fans will recognize that a clip from this cartoon was later used in Hitch's classic movie, Sabotage (1936). The following is a review from The Film Daily, "Ye olde master, Walt Disney, has produced another cartoon which makes a swell approach to the entertainment values he provided in 'Three Little Pigs.' It's class A stuff, effectively done in color. A mysterious shadowy figure 'kills' the fabled Cock Robbin, who, by the by, is the sweetie of a May Western type of bird. Then come the Keystonian cops, also birds, and later the trial. Finally a birdy version of Dan Cupid admits to having shot Robin but May brings him to with a Big Kiss. Catchy music helps enliven the proceedings." The following is from a 1935 issue of Modern Screen Magazine and was a letter sent in by a reader. "A short time ago I took my five-year-old son with me to a local theatre. When a colored cartoon was shown, he was immensely pleased, as were several other children near us. The cartoon was 'Who Killed Cock Robin?' I may be wrong but I'm under the impression that those pictures are primarily to amuse children. If that is true than it failed. I heard several half-grown boys snickering as 'Jenny Wren' a parody of Mae West, with a high bust, wiggling hips and a sexy voice, flirted with the judge and later indulged in a kiss with Cock Robin. The smaller children merely looked puzzled and disappointed with the whole thing. Please have more cartoons like 'The Three Little Pigs,' 'Water Babies,' etc., unless of course, I'm wrong and those comedies are for grown-ups and not for little children. - Mrs. E. DeLamater, Charleston, S.C."   

Now for a fun little Terry Toons short, The Brave Little Brave (1956).

Motion Picture Herald, 1935

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Now for one of the best of the Max Fleischer Color Classics, Somewhere in Dreamland (1936). This charming little film is probably the Fleischer Studios best foray into sentimentality. This movie can hold its own against any of the best sentimental cartoons from Disney, something that can rarely be said about any sentimental cartoon from this era not from Disney. This is also a wonderful visual treat that shows the beautiful artwork (including the great 3D backgrounds) that populated Fleischer cartoons of this era and helped make them stand out as something special. This is seen to an even greater advantage due to this wonderful restoration by Fabulous Fleischer Cartoons Restored! The following is an exhibitor's review from Motion Picture Herald, "Somewhere in Dreamland: Color Classics - Color cartoon of the very best. It was perfect and this little reel drew about as many comments as most good features. - R. J. Schimdt, Star Theatre, Geneva, Ind. General Patronage."

Now for a silent movie starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, The Mechanical Cow (1927). 

Up next is Tweety's first appearance in a cartoon, A Tale of Two Kitties (1942). Sharp eyed viewers may notice that Tweety is not yellow in this film, but pink. Since he was a newborn baby bird, it made sense for him not to have feathers. According to director Bob Clampett, he based the character off of a nude baby photo of himself. Tweety already has his famous line, "I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat." According to animation historian Jerry Beck's book, I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat: Fifty Years of Sylvester and Tweety, This line also originated with Bob Clampett when in the mid-1930's he wrote a letter to a friend on MGM stationary. Next to Leo the MGM lion, Clampett drew a small bird with a word balloon with "I think I taw a titty-tat." Instead of Sylvester Tweety is here pitted against two cats named Babbit and Catstello. As should be obvious by the names, these cats were a take-off on the infamous comedy team Abbott and Costello, who had just made their movie debut just a couple years earlier in One Night in the Tropics (1940). The voice of Catstello was provided by the man of a thousand voices, Mel Blanc (who also voiced Tweety) and Babbitt was voiced by writer Tedd Pierce. A reviewer in Showman's Trade Review was very impressed with these voices stating, "Either the famous comedy pair furnished the accompanying dialogue themselves or the impersonators are the last word in perfection." Though they would not catch on the way Tweety did, these characters would reappear in other cartoons. Some of these cartoons would even feature the duo as mice instead of cats. They would appear with Tweety much later in a 1998 episode of the TV show, Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries. This cartoon was reissued to theaters in 1948, the year Abbott and Costello made their most popular movie, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).  

Now to close with a song.

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another selection of animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.