Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #221

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd in To Duck or Not To Duck (1943). This cartoon is directed by Chuck Jones. At this time many of Chuck's cartoons had been slower paced and less comedy oriented, than the other Looney Tunes directors' films. While this cartoon is nowhere near as fast paced as Chuck's later films, it definitely moves faster and has more comedy compared to what he did in the past. Elmer's dog Larimore gets some of the best laughs in the film. It is also worth noting that Daffy had not become a born loser at this time yet. We will not see Elmer shooting Daffy's bill off in this cartoon. 

Up next is the Van Beuren cartoon short, A Dizzy Day (1933). This film predates the studio's Little King shorts, but the art style is very similar to that cartoon series. 

Now for Cubby Bear in Love's Labor Won (1933). The following is a review from The Film Daily (dated February 1, 1933). "Not much to laugh at in this cartoon. The animation is good and several quartet numbers are well handled, but it lacks gags and situations that will bring the laughs. The cartoon centers around Cubby Bear and his girl friend who meet with the usual trouble when they try to be alone." This short film is only the second Cubby Bear cartoon. 

Variety, 1958

 Next comes the UPA cartoon, The Rover Boys in Peril (1948). This short film was made specifically for the navy but unlike many films made for the military this one is just as entertaining to us civilians. This cartoon is somewhat similar to the classic Chuck Jones Warner Brothers cartoon, The Dover Boys (1942). Both shorts feature narration by John McLeish and animation by Bobe Cannon as well. 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Today's cartoon selection continues with a true Mickey Mouse classic, Thru the Mirror (1936). Well before the Disney Studios feature length adaption of Alice in Wonderland (1951), this short film adapts Lewis Carrol's Alice Through the Looking Glass. It is a very loose adaption, but it captures the spirit better than most feature length versions of Carrol's Alice books do. I have always loved Disney cartoons that are not afraid to be silly. This is one of the perfect examples of that. One of the highlights is a sequence with Mickey do a Fred Astaire type dance which was animated by Dick Lundy, who specialized in dancing animation. Dick Lundy would later direct some great cartoons for Walter Lantz and MGM. Elements of this movie would play a major role in the video game Epic Mickey.

Up next is the silent film, Krazy Kat - Bugologist (1916). This short features the classic comic strip character, Krazy Kat. Unlike the later talkie Krazy Kat cartoons, this film is very much in the style of the comic strip in which the character originated. 
  

Now we join those Wacky Racers in The Ski Resort Road Race (1968). 

Today's cartoon selection ends with The Simpsons in Bathtime (1989). This was one of the shorts shown on The Tracey Ullman Show before The Simpsons got their own TV show.  

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 J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein 

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

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-rover-boys-in-peril-1948/

https://mediahistoryproject.org/