Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #223

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

Today's cartoon selection starts with a very important film to all animation fans, Gold Diggers of '49 (1935). This black and white Looney Tune is so important because it is the first cartoon on which Tex Avery (here billed as Fred Avery) is the credited director. Though his timing has not quite reached the legendary level it would with his later more famous films, this is certainly a very fast paced cartoon for its day, and you can see how Tex would soon help redefine the Looney Tunes style of humor. This movie also marks the second speaking role for Porky Pig and the only one where he has the deeper speaking voice that you hear here. The real star of this movie though was Beans the Cat. Porky and Beans had both made their big screen debut in the color Merrie Melodies cartoon, I Haven't Got a Hat (1935). It seemed like many of those working at Warner Brothers felt that Beans would be the next big cartoon star for the studio, as he became the star of their Looney Tunes series for a short while, before Porky Pig would take over the series. 

Now for an educational short from the UPA studio, Look Who's Driving (1954). This film was directed by Bill Hurtz, whose other work for the UPA studio included A Unicorn in the Garden (1953) and Hotsy Footsy (1952) with Mr. Magoo. He would go on to be a director for the Jay Ward studio working with such characters as Rocky, Bullwinkle, Super Chicken, Dudley Do Right, George of the Jungle, Hoppity Hooper, Mr. Peabody and Sherman. 

Up next comes Adventures of an * (1956). This was the first film that husband-and-wife team, John and Faith Hubley made together. The work that these two did together are some of the most artistically brilliant, animated shorts of all time. 

Here is a little animation that John and Faith Hubley did that appeared on Sesame Street. 

Up next is a classic Fleischer Brothers Screen Song cartoon, Please Keep Me in your Dreams (1937). Be sure to sing along each and every one of you. 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

The cartoons continue with one of the most famous cartoon shorts of all time, Steamboat Willie (1928). While contrary to popular belief this was not the first sound cartoon, there is no doubt that no cartoon before had used sound as well as this film did. This was the short that opened up the door for what sound cartoons could be and its effect could soon be felt on almost every sound cartoon being made. Though this was not the first Mickey cartoon made either (Plane Crazy and The Galloping Gaucho were both made before it), this was the film that made Mickey a true movie star. In fact, after the success of Steamboat Willie the two earlier Mickeys were given synchronized soundtracks because of Willie's success as a talkie. Willie brought about the idea that unlike early live action talkies (which often sparsely used music outside of musical numbers), sound cartoons would use music as just as important a part of the storytelling as the visuals. Even when studios like the Fleischer studio and Warner Brothers would make cartoons in their own style, this principal was largely employed. Walt would later recall "When the picture was half finished we had a showing with sound. A couple of my boys could read music and one of them [Wilfred Jackson] could play a mouth organ. We put them in a room where they could not see the screen and arranged to pipe their sound into the room where our wives and friends were going to see the picture. The boys worked from a music and sound effects score. After several false starts sound and action got off with the gun. The mouth organist played the tune and the rest of us in the sound department bammed tin pans and blew side whistles on the beat. The synchronization was pretty close. The effect on our little audience was nothing less than electric. They responded almost instinctively to this union of sound and motion. I though they were kidding me. So they put me in the audience and ran the action again. It was terrible but it was wonderful! And it was something new." The reaction from audiences when the film hit theatres was if anything even greater. It is hard to overstate just how incredible the reaction to this cartoon was when released. While this cartoon cannot have the feeling of newness or startling innovation it once had, it still works today wholly on an entertainment level. The truth is that this cartoon is still a lot of fun and the gags remain charming and clever over 90 years later. The film received the #13 spot in Jerry Beck's book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons. November 18, 1928, marked Steamboat Willie's debut at New York's Colony Theater and that date is now widely considered to be Mickey's birthday.

Up next is the Terry Toons cartoon, Pastry Panic (1951). This movie stars the character Little Roquefort and was directed by Mannie Davis, one of the Terry Toons studio's most prolific directors. While this film may not reach the same heights as the Tom and Jerry shorts, it is a fun little movie. 

Now for one of Walt Disney's silent Alice Comedies, Alice Gets Stage Struck (1925). This film stars Margie Gay, the third child actress to play Alice. The movie features Alice and her friends putting on a show of Uncle Tom's Cabin. A later Disney short (Mickey's Mellerdrammer (1933)) would feature Mickey Mouse and his friends putting on a performance of the same play. Uncle Tom's Cabin would be a comedy staple in many films both animated and live action. The live action portions of the Alice Comedies would be heavily inspired the silent Our Gang (or Little Rascals) shorts. The Our Gang kids had already briefly put on a version of the play in The Big Show (1923) and would soon take another stab at Uncle Tom in Uncle Tom's Uncle (1926). The Our Gang kids would return to Uncle Tom in the talkie era with Spanky (1932). Like all Alice Comedies, Alice Gets Stage Struck would be directed by Walt Disney himself. 

Today's cartoon selection ends with The Simpsons in Echo Canyon (1989). This short was made for The Tracey Ullman Show before The Simpsons got their own TV series. 

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

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

The 50 Greatest Cartoons by Jerry Beck

Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in its Golden Age by Michael Barrier.

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/brewfilms/look-whos-driving-3035.html