Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #200

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with a classic Tom and Jerry short, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse (1947). Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse was nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. Its competition included, Chip an' Dale (1947, Disney), Pluto's Blue Note (1947, Disney), Tubby the Tuba (1947, George Pal Puppetoon) and Tweetie Pie (1947, Warner Brothers). The Oscar would go to Tweetie Pie, which would mark the first Oscar for a Warner Brothers cartoon. Tweetie Pie also has historical significance because it is the first film to pair Sylvester and Tweety. In that cartoon Slyvester is actually called Thomas. The following is a review from The Film Daily, "Frightening Satire To prevent Jerry from drinking milk from the refrigerator, Tom brews a deadly potion. Instead of polishing off the rapid rodent as intended, it imbues him with super-mousean powers and for a while the familiar cat-after-mouse chase is reversed. When the brew wears off the familiar routine begins once again, with amusing, if frightening results. Some pretty strong stuff for kids but amusing overall." I don't know about you, but I was able to handle this cartoon just fine as a kid. Tom and Jerry would return to the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story in an episode of Hanna-Barbera's TV cartoon series, The Tom and Jerry Show entitled See Dr. Jackal and Hide (1975). In that episode Tom and Jerry work as assistants in Dr. Jackal's lab and are terrified when Dr. Jackal turns into a monster. 

Next is Mickey Mouse cartoon, The Chain Gang (1930). This movie is said to be the introduction of Pluto, but this Pluto bears little resemblance (outside of how he visually looks) to the character we know today. He is not Mickey's dog or even his friend here. In this movie two identical looking bloodhounds are chasing Mickey. Neither of the bloodhounds are differentiated in anyway, so it is hard to say which one would go on to a long film career and which one would fade into obscurity. It is worth noting that a scene involving them would be animated by Norm Ferguson, whose later animation of Pluto is often credited with helping give the dog his personality. Animation from this scene would later be reused in four cartoons featuring Pluto. Ferguson would also animate the opening scene of the picture. The first appearance of these dogs was animated by future Woody Woodpecker and Barney Bear director, Dick Lundy (he also animated their little dance). Les Clark, who would later go on to be considered one of Mickey's best animators, doesn't animate the mouse much here. Instead, he animates the guard yelling, the dogs howling to the musical number, the guards with the machine guns and the pig getting shot. Future supervising director of Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940) and Dumbo (1941), Ben Sharpsteen animated the prisoners with the picks and the scene with the horses and the wagon. Future Donald Duck director Jack King animated the pig trying to smash the rock, the cat playing the cow's tail like a musical instrument and the guard yelling for help. Tom Palmer animates Mickey trying to break the rock, Mickey being pulled back by the ball and chain when he tries to run and the final shot of the picture. Johnny Cannon animates the guard sleeping, the cat dancing, the whistles blowing and Mickey running downhill. Future supervising director for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Bambi (1942) animates the cow playing the pick like a piccolo, Mickey playing a rock like a musical instrument and Mickey falling through the roof of the prison. 

Now for the Terry Toons cartoon, Phoney News Flashes (1955). 

It is now time for an early Silly Symphonies, The Merry Dwarfs (1929). For Disney buffs one of the most appealing things about the Disney films of the 1920's is that many of them were directed by Walt Disney himself. While these cartoons may not be a polished or sophisticated as the Disney films of the mid to late 1930's and 40's, they give us a peek into the creative mind of one of the most important names in film history. Though there are no animation credits on this cartoon J.B. Kaufman and Russell Merritt's indispensable book about the Silly Symphonies states that Ub Iwerks, Les Clark, Johnny Cannon and Wilfred Jackson worked on this film. The background art is by Carlos Manriquez, who worked on many of the Silly Symphonies of the late 1920's and early 1930's. This film opened in New York, December 11-17, 1929, with the feature film, The Sky Hawk (1929) at the Gaiety theatre. It played at Hollywood's Grauman's Chinese Theatre running from January 17- April 11, 1930, with the feature film The Rouge Song (1930), which features one of the earliest feature film appearances of Laurel and Hardy. The short made its TV debut on an episode of The Mickey Mouse Club that aired on February 3, 1956.

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Next comes an excellent Daffy Duck cartoon, A Coy Decoy (1941). This film was part of a series of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies in the 1930's and 1940's that featured books coming to life at night. The first of these was I Like Mountain Music (1933) and the last was Book Revue (1946, also starring Daffy Duck). This cartoon features the early Daffy Duck meaning he is not yet the greedy and attention seeking duck he would be later. He is just simply crazy which works perfectly with this crazy short. As much as I love the later Daffy, I have a special fondness for this early crazy duck. A review in The Motion Picture Daily states, "The net result is moderate amusement." The following is an exhibitor's review from The Motion Picture Herald, "COY DECOY, A: Looney Tunes Cartoons—A dandy black and white cartoon.—C. L. Niles, Niles Theatre, Anamosa, Iowa, General Patronage."

Now for a classic silent Felix the Cat short, Daze and Knights (1927). 

Now for Donkey Kong in Banana Bikers (1983). This cartoon comes from a TV Show called Saturday Supercade. Each episode of this show was made up of multiple cartoons based on popular video game characters. Other video game characters featured in this show included Frogger, Donkey Kong Jr., Q*bert, Space Ace, Kangaroo and Pitfall Harry. In this cartoon, Donkey Kong is voiced by Soupy Sales, a comedian best known for his TV work in the 1950's and 60's. Mario is voiced by Peter Cullen, best known as the voice of Optimus Prime in Transformers.

Happy spooky season, everybody. 

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

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

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

https://lantern.mediahist.org/

https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Dr._Jekyll_and_Mr._Mouse