Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #197

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with Heckle and Jeckle in Out Again, In Again (1948). This is a perfect example of why these films are some of the strongest shorts to come out of the Terry Toons studio. 

Next comes a Looney Tunes cartoon starring Beans the Cat (one of the Boston beans). Though not as well known Beans made his film debut in the same cartoon as Porky, I Haven't Got a Hat (1935). That cartoon was a takeoff on the Our Gang shorts and featured a bunch of little kid characters in a talent show. The studio did not know right away, which character would be the most popular, so they all appeared starred in some Looney Tunes when the studio was looking for a new character to replace Buddy (the rather bland character that had become that series' star). While Porky would become the most popular of these characters, Beans certainly had his fans in the studio as he would star in eight of these cartoons (Porky would even be relegated to a supporting role in some of these). Hollywood Capers (1935) is a good example of one of these Beans cartoons. While it may not be as laugh out loud funny as a Tex Avery or Bob Clampett Looney Tune, this is a charming little film that always puts a smile on my face. As a character Beans certainly has more personality than his predecessor Buddy. In many ways his personality is like the early Mickey Mouse before Mickey got toned down. He is very mischievous and always on a lookout for the next big adventure. Naturally this gets him in a lot of trouble but he always manages to have quite a bit of fun along the way. A quick joke has Beans disguise himself as Oliver Hardy to sneak into the movie studio. Porky would later try to do the same (less successfully) in You Ought to be in Pictures (1940). 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 we join our old friend Scrappy in Movie Struck (1933). This is another one of those cartoons filled with classic Hollywood caricatures and this makes it a special delight for fans of old movies. Even for those not familiar with the stars, this short film is a pure delight. There are some truly great gags here, with the Joe E. Brown scene being one of my favorites. Like many Scrappy cartoons, this film is also full of some truly bizarre gags, which are delightful in just how surreal they seem. 

Now we join another old friend, Dinky Duck in Flat Foot Fledgling (1952). 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

 Now for one of the rare instances of very dark satire in one of Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies, Who Killed Cock Robbin? (1935). This film shows cartoon birds at the mercy of an unjust legal system. Satire, dark humor, celebrity caricatures and slapstick abound. The most significant of the celebrity caricatures is Jenny Wren, a caricature of Mae West. Most of her animation here is handled fantastically by Ham Luske and her voice comes from Martha Wentworth who does a really good impression. This character would later appear in the Silly Symphony Toby Tortoise Returns (1936). Two of Walt's future Nine Old Men animate on this film, Eric Larson and Clyde Geronimi. Eric animates the scene where Cock Robbin falls and the cops rushing in. Clyde animates the scenes involving the blackbirds and the cops, Legs Sparrow with the cops and then going into the witness box, and the cops' raiding the area. For the year of 1935 the National Board of Review named this as one of the Ten Best American Films (not just cartoons but films as a whole). According to JB Kaufman and Russell Merrit's excellent book, Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series, the idea for making this film had been around the Disney studio as early as October 1933 but work truly began in March 1934. Wilfred Jackson was originally going to be the cartoon's director, but he was replaced with Ben Sharpsteen, who was replaced with Dave Hand, who actually directed the cartoon. Dave Hand would later be the supervising director for the Disney feature films, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Bambi (1942). My fellow Alfred Hitchcock fans will recognize that a clip from this cartoon was later used in Hitch's classic movie, Sabotage (1936). The following is a review from The Film Daily, "Ye olde master, Walt Disney, has produced another cartoon which makes a swell approach to the entertainment values he provided in 'Three Little Pigs.' It's class A stuff, effectively done in color. A mysterious shadowy figure 'kills' the fabled Cock Robbin, who, by the by, is the sweetie of a May Western type of bird. Then come the Keystonian cops, also birds, and later the trial. Finally a birdy version of Dan Cupid admits to having shot Robin but May brings him to with a Big Kiss. Catchy music helps enliven the proceedings." The following is from a 1935 issue of Modern Screen Magazine and was a letter sent in by a reader. "A short time ago I took my five-year-old son with me to a local theatre. When a colored cartoon was shown, he was immensely pleased, as were several other children near us. The cartoon was 'Who Killed Cock Robin?' I may be wrong but I'm under the impression that those pictures are primarily to amuse children. If that is true than it failed. I heard several half-grown boys snickering as 'Jenny Wren' a parody of Mae West, with a high bust, wiggling hips and a sexy voice, flirted with the judge and later indulged in a kiss with Cock Robin. The smaller children merely looked puzzled and disappointed with the whole thing. Please have more cartoons like 'The Three Little Pigs,' 'Water Babies,' etc., unless of course, I'm wrong and those comedies are for grown-ups and not for little children. - Mrs. E. DeLamater, Charleston, S.C."   

Now it is time for the silent Aesop's Film Fables short, Radio Controlled (1926). 

Now for Bugs Bunny in Super Rabbit (1943). The ending of this short film resulted in the U.S.M.C. acknowledging Bugs Bunny as an honorary marine with the title honorary Marine Master Sergeant Bugs Bunny. 

Now to close with a song we all know. 

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

Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman

https://mediahistoryproject.org/