Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #233

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

Today’s cartoon selection starts with Daffy Duck and Porky Pig in The Ducksters (1950). This movie is a takeoff on old radio quiz shows, as such it is a more dialogue heavy short. Yet the dialogue is often excellent and despite this, the film has some nice visual slapstick that accompanies each auditory gag and this makes it just as fun to watch as any of the best Looney Tunes cartoons. 

Up next is a very fun Talkartoon cartoon from the Fleischer Brothers, Hide and Seek (1932). This movie is full of all the surreal gags and unlimited imagination that I love about the Fleischer films of this era.  

Next comes a delightful Terry Toons spoof of The Lone Ranger, Mysterious Cowboy (1952). This short film is a remake of the black and white Terry Toons cartoon, The Stranger Rides Again (1938). 

Toby Tortoise Returns (1936) is maybe my favorite Silly Symphony cartoon. Like many great comedy shorts the story for this cartoon is extremely simple. Max Hare and Toby Tortoise (returning from the earlier Symphony, Tortoise and the Hare (1935)) fight each other in a boxing match. This leads to some amazingly good slapstick. Again, those who think of Disney cartoons as cute and sweet while Warners cartoons were wacky and funny might be surprised to see this film. This cartoon in fact even resembles a Looney Tunes or Merrie Melody from this time period. The slapstick is fast and furious and there is a real wise guy tone to much of the humor. The idea itself came from Ward Kimball, an animator who had joined the studio a year earlier. Ward would soon become one of Walt’s favorite animators and a major asset for the studio’s animated films. Ward is hugely known by Disney buffs today as one of the studio’s most comedic animators, so it comes as no surprise that he would suggest the story for one of the studio’s funniest cartoons. As well as coming up with the story Ward also was one of the film’s animators. One of the scenes he animated was early in the film where the referee is introducing the fighters. There are no real jokes here, but the animation itself is quite funny. The character doesn’t look funny, but he moves funny. This is something that is much more important to animated comedies. This over the top and quite funny animation sets you up perfectly for the slapstick you are about to see. This cartoon is in fact full of fantastic slapstick comedy.  The part with the water was mostly animated by Bob Stokes. The fireworks section was animated by Dick Huemer with the exception of the tiny bit where Max blows out of the ring and into the ambulance, which was animated by Jack Hannah. What all three of these animators understood was using speed for comic effect. This kind of speed was fairly new to cartoons and while Tortoise and the Hare mastered animating speed, this film masters using this type of animation to its full comic potential. Another delight in this cartoon is the use of other characters from Silly Symphonies cartoons in the audience. Just as it is fun for movie buffs to spot all the stars in Mickey’s Gala Premiere (1933), it is fun for cartoon buffs to catch all the cartoon characters seen here. A review in The Film Daily stated, "Aside from the loud laughs, its beautifully done in Technicolor."

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Now for Betty Boop in When My Ship Comes In (1934). The following is an exhibitor's review (for Betty Boop cartoons as a whole) from the Motion Picture Herald. "Betty Boop Cartoons: I believe these cartoons are getting better all the time. My Patrons like them better than Mickey Mouse and I am running them both. The sound on these cartoons is wonderful and the cartoon is original and clever. Get the Betty Boop and Bimbo buttons and give them to the kids. The Bimbo and Betty Boop dolls are clever and worth the price for advertising. -S.H. Rich, Rich Theatre, Montpelier, Idaho. Town and rural Patronage." 

Broadcasting, 1958

Now for a silent movie starring Mutt and Jeff, The Outposts (1916). 

Moving Picture World, 1916

Now we join the Tijuana Toads in Croakus Pocus (1971). The Tijuana Toads was a series of 17 theatrically released animated short films from the DePatie-Freleng Studio (the same studio that produced the Pink Panther shorts). This movie features a cameo by Roland from the Roland and Ratfink cartoons (also made by the DePatie-Freleng studio). 

Today's cartoon selection ends with a 1967 Filmmation TV cartoon staring the DC Comics Superhero, The Atom. Yes this cartoon is incredibly corny, but it is just the kind of corny this superhero fan loves. 

Thank you 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. 

Resources Used

Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon by Leonard Maltin

Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman

https://lantern.mediahist.org/