Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection begins with Woody Woodpecker in Drooler's Delight (1949). At the time this movie was made it was common for Woody's size to not only vary from cartoon to cartoon, but often within the same film. As you watch this film notice how the difference in Woody's height in some scenes are drastically different from how tall he appears in the ending.
Next comes Betty Boop in S O S - Swim or Sink (1932). This short film has everything I love about cartoon from the Fleischer Studio at this time. That is that the whole movie is filled with an incredible sense of imagination and pure creative freedom.
In case you didn't get enough seafaring adventure in the last cartoon, up next is the Terry Toons cartoon, See the World (1934).
I love of the cartoons of Chuck Jones from any period but there is something special about his films from 1942 and 1943. At this time, he was fully getting away from his slower paced cuter output of the late 1930's but had not yet gotten to the style of films he would make in the 1950's that everybody is familiar with today. So, what we get from output during these two years are cartoons that experiment with what you can do in an animated short. It doesn't hurt that he worked with such experimental artists as layout man John McGrew. Chuck gave McGrew plenty of freedom and what John accomplished in these movies is nothing short of amazing. This is especially shown in The Case of the Missing Hare (1942), where experimentation is seen in every moment. Just watch the abstract backgrounds that show a mixture of two colors at a time, but the colors change when there is a strong action in the foreground. This is something someone may not notice on their first watch, but it is something they can feel. A review in The Film Daily stated, "Here is another hilarious, the Leon Schlesinger creation that keeps growing in comic strength with every new release." I think anyone watching this cartoon today will recognize that the antagonist is not Elmer Fudd, but one reviewer from The Exhibitor didn't as in his review he stated "...this has Elmer, as a magician..." A review from the same magazine less than a month later stated, "Elmer isn't in this." The latter is right. A review in Variety called this "One of the better Bugs Bunny subjects."
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Now for a silent movie, Bobby Bumps Detective (1916).
Next up comes a truly delightful Mickey Mouse cartoon, The Nifty Nineties (1941). This may not be the funniest Mickey Mouse short, but it is one of the most charming. This short film finds Mickey and Minnie back in the 1890's. While this may seem incredibly long ago to some of us today, it is important to remember that when this movie was made there were plenty of people who had lived through the 1890's alive at this time and probably most of them had a nostalgia for the period. One of the highlights of this cartoon is the scene involving two vaudeville performers, "Fred and Ward, those two clever boys from Illinois." These were caricatures of the Disney animators, Fred Moore and Ward Kimball. What makes this scene even more fun is that it is animated by Ward Kimball. One joke planned for this cartoon that didn't make it into the final film is that there was to be an overly emotional singer singing the words to "Father, Dear Father," who would flood the stage with her tears. This short film marked the first thing to ever air on the Disney Channel. The cartoon made its TV debut in an episode of the Disneyland TV show entitled, Four Tales on a Mouse (1958).
Next is The Pink Panther in Mystic Pink (1976). This short film has our pink hero being followed by a massive rabbit.
Today's cartoon selection closes with the next chapter of the webtoon mini-series Toon Marooned (2001) starring our favorite Looney tunes characters.
Thanks for joining me come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then many all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.
Resources Used
Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein
https://mediahistoryproject.org/
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