Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #280

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with Magoo Breaks Par (1957). This cartoon was directed by Pete Burness, who directed quite a few Mr. Magoo cartoons at this time. My fellow Tom and Jerry fans might recognize his name from the credits of many early Tom and Jerry cartoons, where he worked as an animator. He also spent a brief time as an animator at Warner Brothers on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. 

Next, we join Heckle and Jeckle in Taming the Cat (1948). 

Mickey’s Fire Brigade (1935) teams up Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy for the second time (and the first time in color). This time they were firemen. Walt had earlier used the idea of firefighters for slapstick comedy with the silent Alice Comedy Alice the Firefighter (1926) and the Mickey Mouse cartoon The Firefighters (1930). This cartoon opens on a fantastic note. The title of the film appears on screen like an average Disney cartoon of this time. However soon a fire burns the title letting the cartoon officially start. This imaginative opening sets us up perfectly for the great cartoon we are about to watch. Though Art Babbitt did not animate on this cartoon the personality he had already injected into Goofy can be seen here. This is especially true of a scene where Goofy tries to throw things out of the window (animated by Woolie Reitherman) and a scene where he tries to tell Clarabelle Cow her house is on fire (animated by Bill Tytla). In this film Clarabelle Cow spends most of the time taking a bath unaware of the fire around her. However, she is very upset by “peeping toms” Mickey, Donald and Goofy, who of course are just trying to tell her about the fire. Her animation is mostly handled by Grim Natwick and Bill Tytla. There is of course some great slapstick humor in this short. Though the studio was doing much less gags involving long stretching or detachable body parts they were still doing quite a few impossible gags that can only be done in a cartoon. Such an example here has to do with the treatment of the fire itself. It is given human characteristic and often appears to be having its own thoughts and feelings. One of the best uses of this is when the fire chases Donald up a ladder and is seemingly taunting him along the way. The following is an exhibitor's review from the Motion Picture Herald, "Mickey's Fire Brigade: Mickey Mouse: One of the best of the Mickey Mouse series. Running time, eight minutes. -M.H. Harrington, Avalon Theatre, Clatskanie, Ore. Small Town and Rural patronage." A review in the Flim Daily stated, "This is one of the liveliest and funniest of the Walt Disney cartoon creations."

Next comes the Fleischer Screen Song cartoon, Row, Row, Row (1930). This is very much a pre-code cartoon and there are a lot of sexual jokes here that would not fly at all a few years later. 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Now for some Saturday Morning Minions. 

Next up comes a classic black and white Looney Tunes short, Hollywood Capers (1935). This short film stars Beans the Cat. Beans and Porky Pig made their film debut in the same cartoon, I Haven't Got a Hat (1935). However those making these cartoons felt that Beans would be the big star of these cartoons and as such a few cartoons with Beans as the main character would be made. This short features a gag that Porky Pig would later do in You Oughta be in Pictures (1940). This is when Beans dresses up as Oliver Hardy to sneak into a movie studio. However, Beans is much more successful than Porky is.  Look in the background for a poster advertising a fight between “Punchy” Pierce and “Hurricane” Hardaway. This is referring to two of the writers of Warner Brothers cartoons at the time, Tedd Pierce and Bugs Hardaway. Also, Beans is voiced by Tommy Bond here (who played Butch in the Our Gang shorts). 

Now it is silent movie time so enjoy, Policy and Pie (1918) starring the The Katzenjammer Kids. This cartoon was directed by Gregory La Cava, who would later become a director of live action features including My Man Godfrey (1936) and Stage Door (1937).

Now let's close with a song we all know.

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another selection of animated treasures. Until then may all your tune be looney and your melodies merry. 

Resources Used

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


https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/mickeys-fire-brigade-1935/

https://mediahistoryproject.org/