Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection begins with a wonderful Christmas Merrie Melodies cartoon, The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives (1933). This movie is a favorite of mine and I always watch it multiple times every Christmas season. While corny and simplistic this short film has a real charm that makes me smile each time I watch it. Despite being a Christmas cartoon, this film was released to movie theaters on January 7, 1933, just barely missing Christmas. The animation of the dolls singing and dancing was reused from an earlier Merrie Melody, Red Headed Baby (1931).
Next we join Heckle and Jeckle in 'Sno Fun (1951). Paul Terry felt that the Heckle and Jeckle cartoons were the best ones that his studio produced, and I definitely agree.
Now we join Betty Boop and Pudgy in Happy You and Merry Me (1936). The following is an exhibitor's review from the Motion Picture Herald. " HAPPY YOU AND MERRY ME: Betty Boop Cartoons— A very fine Betty Boop. These reels are improving. - C. L. Niles, Niles Theatre, Anamosa, Iowa. Genral Patronage."
Next comes Bugs Bunny and the Tasmanian Devil in The Fright Before Christmas (1979). This short was originally created for the TV special Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales (1979). This was the final of three segments in that special and was directed Friz Freleng. This makes this the first time Taz was directed by someone other than Robert McKimson. The result like the whole special is a delightful Christmas treat and one of the best uses of Taz after the golden age of Looney Tunes. Also appearing here is Bugs' nephew Clyde. Clyde had only appeared in two theatrical shorts, His Hare Raising Tale (1951) and Yankee Doodle Bugs (1954). Both of those were directed by Friz Freleng.
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Next comes Pluto in The Sleepwalker (1942). This short film was directed by Clyde Geronimi, who was directing most of the Pluto cartoons at this time, before Charles Nicholas would take over as the series' main director in 1944. After directing Disney shorts, Geronimi would be promoted to working on the Disney feature films. He gets a co-director credit on the Disney features, Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), Lady and the Tramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1959), and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961).
Now for a silent Aesop's Film Fables silent cartoon, Fearless Fido (1922).
While it is easy to say that the DePatie-Freling cartoons of the mid and late 1970's were not on par with the studio's cartoons of the 1960's and early 70's without any sense of doubt, A Pink Christmas (1978) is a huge exception. This TV special is about as good a cartoon as the studio ever made. This dialogue-less special is somewhat based on O. Henry's The Cop and the Anthem. The Pink Panther has often been compared to Charlie Chaplin, mostly because he is a pantomime character. This though is probably the most Chaplin-esque film the cartoon cat ever stared in. It beautifully combines comedy and pathos, and the idea of a poor tramp like character looking for food of course has roots in Chaplin as well. In fact, this film borrows a gag from Chaplin's The Gold Rush (1925) (involving shoveling snow). It succussed very well. It is both very funny and very moving.
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
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
https://mediahistoryproject.org/
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