Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #257

 Happy Saturday morning my friends and welcome back for some more classic cartoons. 

Possibly the best of the Fleischer Brothers' Color Classics cartoons and a must watch for me every Christmas season is Christmas Comes but Once a Year (1936). As well as a really catchy title song and some fun gags, this cartoon has a warm Christmas-y feel. Unlike some of the studio's other attempts at sentimentality, this film never feels forced in this respect. Instead, the sentimentality feels genuine and earned. Though most of the Color Classics featured one off characters, this short stars Grampy from the Betty Boop cartoons. Grampy was one of the best things about the later Betty Boop films and he definitely gets to shine here. The title song in this short movie would later be reused in the Popeye cartoon, Let's Celebrake (1938) with the lyrics changed to be about New Years instead. Some of Grampy's household toy ideas would later be used in the Casper cartoon, True Boo (1952). 

Disney cartoons have long been associated with sentimentality and cuteness. Yet this wasn't always the case. The early black and white Mickey Mouse films were mostly pretty much the opposite. They focused purely on the gags and jokes and with keeping the comic momentum going. A perfect example of this is Mickey's Orphans (1931). This movie has all the makings for a sentimental cartoon. It takes place at Christmas time and the involves Mickey adopting a bunch of orphans. Yet all of this is played strictly for laughs and some of the kids can be a little sadistic. A review in the Motion Picture Herald stated, "The youngsters will get a real kick out of this short, and the oldsters will extract a bit of enjoyment." A review in The Film Daily gave the same sentiment stating, "It will delight all children and get many a laugh from their elders." An issue of The Film Daily (Dated February 7, 1932) stated "In addition to El Brendel in person this week's show at the Roxy is a special treat for the kids. The presentation includes four scenes based on 'Mickey's Orphans,' the Mickey Mouse cartoon that was held over for three weeks at this house. The characters of Mickey and Minnie are portrayed by the Arnaut Brothers, popular pantomimists. Patricia Bowman, Fred Waring's orchestra in a novelty entitled 'Dancing Melodies,' and the Roxyettes also are part of the proceedings. In the Mickey scenes, the Roxyettes and ballet group are made up to represent kittens, musical notes and animated furnishings in Minnie's boudoir." This cartoon was reissued to theatres in 1934.

      

Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?

Now comes a Famous Studios Screen Song cartoon, Toys Will Be Toys (1949). Look for a cameo by one of the studio's biggest stars, Popeye the Sailor, as well as the old Fleischer Studios character, Koko the Clown. 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Now for a musical break. 

Next is one of my favorite Christmas cartoons of all time, Mickey's Good Deed (1932).  This film was from 1932, at this time, Mickey was at the absolute height of his popularity. He was famous in a way that no cartoon character before had ever been. Critics often compared his popularity to that of Charlie Chaplin's little tramp, and like that character Mickey had fans of all types. He was equally popular with intellectuals and small children. In fact, this same year Walt Disney would receive a special Academy Award for creating Mickey. Renowned Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein (best known for his silent film The Battleship Potemkin (1925)) was a huge fan and even wrote essays on Walt Disney, that discussed the brilliance of Mickey Mouse cartoons (He would remain a huge Disney fan and even later call Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) the single greatest film ever made). Almost every other American cartoon studio was copying what Disney had done with Mickey Mouse. Characters like Foxy (at Warner Brothers) and Cubby Bear (at Van Beuren) were extremely thinly disguised copies of Mickey himself. In fact, in 1931, the Van Beuren studio was sued by Walt for using two mice characters that looked exactly like Mickey and Minnie. There was no doubt, Mickey was movie royalty. Mickey did for animated comedies, exactly what Charlie Chaplin's little tramp had done for live action comedies. Like the comedy films made before Chaplin, the animated comedies before Mickey were often very funny, but you very rarely felt any other emotional response to what was happening on screen. Mickey changed all that and nowhere was it clearer than in Mickey's Good Deed. You may notice that this doesn't sound like your typical cartoon short of the era, and my point is it isn't. This film while not sacrificing the slapstick comedy, also adds a lot of drama to the story itself. However, the Disney studio understood exactly what Chaplin had found out earlier. If the comedy and the drama are both driven by the story and characters, they can both easily co-exist. This idea is done to absolute perfection in this cartoon. This is a beautiful and moving film, while it never forsakes the comedy. The following is a review from The Film Daily, "Right up there with the best of these animated cartoons. Subject has a special holiday flavor in that it shows how Mickey and his dog manage to bring cheer into a big family of needy animal folks. Clever and lively as usual." The following is an exhibitor's review from The Motion Picture Herald, "Mickey's Good Deed: Mickey Mouse - Christmas cartoon. Kids like Mickey. That's why they come. One Mickey Mouse cartoon on your Saturday's program brings the kiddies out to the matinee. Running time, eight minutes. - Edmund M. Burke. Fort Plain Theatre, Fort Plain, N.Y. General Patronage."  

Today's cartoon selection ends with one of the loveliest Christmas TV specials of all time, The Snowman (1982). 



 

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

The Disney Villain by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson

Disney by Sergei Eisenstein  

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

https://mediahistoryproject.org/