Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #242

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with a film starring UPA's most famous cartoon character, Mr. Magoo. So enjoy Madcap Magoo (1955).

Up next is the Betty Boop cartoon, Making Friends (1936). Like many of the later Betty Boop films Betty plays a supporting role in this cartoon. The real star is her little dog Pudgy, who took the lead in many films of this era. 





Next comes another real classic, Falling Hare (1943). This cartoon features one of the few characters to get the upper hand of Bugs, the gremlin. Despite only appearing in this one short, the character has proven quite popular and has appeared in quite a few Looney Tunes spin offs. The original title for this film was going to be Bugs Bunny and the Gremlin. However, since Disney was working on an animated feature film about Gremlins (a movie that would never be finished), the studio took the word Gremlin out of the title of this cartoon to appease the Disney studio. The following is a review from The Film Daily, "Literally and figuratively, Bugs Bunny, already a prime favorite among current cartoon characters, gets off to a flying start in the distribution season just started. The buck-toothed, long-eared clown meets up with a gremlin and both find themselves aloft in an airplane, with Bugs or what's left of him being darn glad to get back to earth. There are plenty of laughs throughout. The tough Bunny, if this initial '43-'44 offering of his producer Leon Schlesinger, is any criterion, is in for a further rise in popularity among fans who like humor. Of course, the reel is in Technicolor. It was supervised by Robert Clampett and animated by Roderick Scribner. Warner Foster wrote the story and Carl W. Stalling handled the musical direction." This film amounts to one of my favorite Bugs Bunny cartoons and it is appropriately in Jerry Beck's book, The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes. 



Now we join our old friend Gandy Goose in The One-Man Navy (1942). 







Now it is time for a commercial break. 










Next comes a classic Disney cartoon, Mickey Down Under (1948). Though this film takes place in Australia, the cartoon opens with reused animation of the Brazilian toucans from the feature film, Saludos Amigos (1943). Though this cartoon was released as part of the Mickey Mouse series, it uses the opening theme from the Pluto cartoons in its score. Mickey even whistles this tune at the start of the film.





Now for a silent short from the Aesop's Film Fables series, Springtime (1923). This cartoon stars our good friend Farmer Alfalfa. 






Next is Woody Woodpecker in Well Oiled (1947). This short film was directed by former Disney animator Dick Lundy. While working at Disney, he was one of the studio's duck-men, a group of artists who specialized in animating Donald Duck. He would later even direct some Donald Duck cartoons. Between the Donald Duck cartoons for Disney, his various cartoons for Walter Lantz (for whom this cartoon was made) and his Barney Bear cartoons for MGM, he proved himself just as fine of a director as he was an animator. 




Let us close by singing one together. 




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. 


Resources Used

The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes edited by Jerry Beck. 

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein

Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Brothers Cartoons by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald 

https://mediahistoryproject.org/