Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #284

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with our old friend Farmer Alfalfa in The Mechanical Cow (1937). This short film was directed by Jack Zander, who would later be an animator on the early Tom and Jerry shorts.

Next, we join Daffy Duck in Scrap Happy Daffy (1943). This short film marks Daffy Duck's last appearance in a black and white cartoon. It is also simply a delightful film. The short is directed by Frank Tashlin, who would go on to direct many live-action feature films. His Looney Tunes are some of the most cinematic and feature wonderful filmmaking. The use of editing and montage here are excellent and holds up quite well to many of the great live action films of the time. Yet this is also simply a very funny cartoon, including one of the funniest fade-out/fade-ins in the history of cartoons. This cartoon appears in Jerry Beck's book, The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes.

Now for a classic early UPA short, Giddyap (1950). This short film was directed by legendary former Disney animator, Art Babbitt. While working at Disney, his animation helped define the character of Goofy. His other work at Disney included a much-praised sequence with a drunk mouse in the Silly Symphony The Country Cousin (1936) as well as work on the evil queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Geppetto in Pinocchio (1940). 

Next we join the one and only Mighty Mouse in The Port of Missing Mice (1945). 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Up next comes the film that introduced the character of Woody Woodpecker to movie-goers, Knock Knock (1940). However, this cartoon is part of the Andy Panda series and Andy Panda, and his dad are the true stars of the movie. Yet it is Woody who gets the best laughs and steals the show. Producer Walter Lantz would later state that the idea for this film would be inspired by a woodpecker hammering at his roof during his honeymoon at Sherwood Lake California. However, this story has been disproven by many film historians. Leonard Maltin would write in his landmark book, Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons, "This delightful story has apparently undergone some showmanly embellishment, since the honeymoon occurred one year after the production of the cartoon." If Woody here seems very familiar to the early Daffy Duck or the early prototype characters for Bugs Bunny, this is not a coincidence. Recently having joined the Lantz staff was Ben "Bugs" Hardaway, who had worked for Looney Tunes and with said characters. In fact, Bugs Bunny is said to have gotten his name for Hardaway's nickname. This cartoon feels a lot like many of the Warner Brothers cartoons that Hardaway had directed. Also helping add to the similarity is that Woody is voiced by Mel Blanc, who voiced many of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies characters. 

Now for one of Walt Disney's silent Alice Comedies shorts, Alice the Peace Maker (1924). This short film features Virigina Davis, the first child actress to play Alice in these films. 

Now for Hoot Kloot in Giddy Up Woe (1974). Hoot Kloot starred in 17 short films all released to theaters in 1973 and 1974. 

Today's cartoon selection ends with the first Itchy cartoon, Manhattan Madness (1919). Enjoy this milestone in animation history. 

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.

Resources Used

50 Greatest Cartoons Edited by Jerry Beck

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