Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons.
Solid Serenade (1946) is one of the most iconic Tom and Jerry films. Tom playing the big bass fiddle, while singing Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby is an image that is etched in the minds of cartoon fans and always will be. A huge reason why this film is so endearing to me, and many other cartoon fans is the song, Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby. This jazz classic has now become immortalized because of this cartoon. However, it was not created for this film. The song dates back to just a few years before the cartoon. In 1943 jazz singer and bandleader Louis Jordan (with His Tympani Five) recorded this song (which Jordan himself co-wrote with Billy Austin) and had a #1 hit with it. It would soon afterwards be recorded by the likes of Bing Crosby, Glenn Miller and The Andrew Sisters. In this cartoon it was sung by Ira “Buck” Woods, an African Amercian singer and trumpeter who appeared in small parts in a few feature films, most prominently in Reunion in France (1942), which features Joan Crawford and John Wayne. His rendition of this song is simply fantastic and there is no wonder that this cartoon and this performance would bring immortality to this song. The animation for this film was divided mostly by giving animators lengthy sequences. The opening scene is animated Ray Patterson as was the scene in which Spike chases Tom after putting the more vicious dentures in his mouth. Ken Muse animates the whole scene of Tom serenading Toodles with the exception of the tiny insert of Jerry getting the pie set to throw at Tom (which is animated by Ed Barge). Ed Barge animates Tom and Jerry's chase in the kitchen. Michael Lah (who had replaced Irv Spence who moved to John Sutherland Productions) animates the funniest scenes in the film, including the aforementioned scene in which Tom hits Spike on the head with a brick. He also animates Tom throwing the stick and telling Spike to fetch it, Tom sneaking in kisses from Toodles as he is avoiding Spike and Tom accidentally romancing Spike instead of Toodles. The ending of the film starting from when Tom thinks he has trapped Jerry in the doghouse is all animated by Pete Burness. Pete Burness and Ray Patterson would be uncredited for this cartoon. Clips from this film would later be reused in the Tom and Jerry cartoons, Jerry's Diary (1949), Smitten Kitten (1952) and Smarty Cat (1955). The gag of the jazz music making Jerry bounce out of bed and around his bedroom was somewhat reused in one of Hanna-Barbera's TV cartoons, The Flintstones episode, The Swimming Pool (1960) as the music at a pool party causing a neighbor to do pretty much the same thing.
Next is a classic Terry Toons short, Golden Egg Goosie (1951).
Now for Sylvester and Tweety in Tweet and Lovely (1959). This is one of my favorite Sylvester and Tweety films. Voice actor Mel Blanc would later write, "Sylvester has always been a favorite of mine. He's always been the easiest character for me to play. When I was show the first model sheet for Sylvester with his floppy jaws and generally disheveled appearance, I said to Friz Freleng, 'A big sloppy cat should have a big shthloppy voice. He should spray even more than Daffy.' While recording Sylvester cartoons my scripts would get so covered in sylvia I'd repeatedly have to wipe them clean. I used to suggest to actress June Foray, who voiced Tweety's vigilant owner Granny that she wear a raincoat to the sessions."
Next is Krazy Kat in The Restless Sax (1931). Though in the earliest Krazy Kat cartoons for Columbia, the character greatly resembled the Krazy Kat in George Herriman's classic comic strip (which these cartoons were supposedly adaptations of), by this time the character had been turned into a Mickey Mouse clone. Despite this, the film is still very much worth watching due to some very creative and surreal gags that can be truly funny. The scene at the cafe is especially delightful.
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Now for a classic silent Out of the Inkwell short, Koko's Crib (1929).
I have mentioned many times on this blog that I am a fan of the cartoons Jack Kinney directed for Disney. These were some of the studio's funniest, often providing an almost Tex Avery like sense of humor that I find irrespirable. Next comes one of those great cartoons, Motor Mania (1950). Despite this film being such a comedic tour de force, it also had a successful life as a safety film. This film received the National Safety Council Award. This cartoon was even used in 1953 in Oakland, California as a mandatory part in its Traffic Violator School. No need to look at this film as an educational experience, it is just as fast paced and funny as any of Jack Kinney's great cartoons for Disney.
Up next is the last of 17 theatrical cartoon shorts starring The Blue Racer, Little Boa Peep (1974). In this short film, our favorite blue snake tries to be a sheepdog. The only problem is he doesn't know what a sheep looks like.
Now to close with a country music classic.
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
I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat: Fifty Years of Sylvester and Tweety by Jerry Beck
https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/tom-jerry-in-solid-serenade-1946/
https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Solid_Serenade
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