Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #227

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

Since Easter is tomorrow, what better way to start this post than with an Easter cartoon. Today's first film is a Silly Symphony called Funny Little Bunnies (1934). This cartoon does not feature much of an actual story beyond the idea of bunnies getting ready for Easter. However, people at the time did not seem to mind this at all. The following is a review from The Film Daily, "This is a likely entry for the best short of 1934. While it may appear that its vogue would be more or less limited to the Easter season because its purely imaginative substance deals with the manufacture and decoration of Easter eggs and bunnies by a colorful rabbit crew, the splendor and variety of coloring and the highly diverting action lift it far above any seasonal appeal. Musical accompaniment is pleasing." The following is a review from The Motion Picture Herald, "Unusually clever, highly entertaining, especially for the youngsters but potentially equally enjoyable for adults, this number of the Walt Disney Silly Symphonies pictures in the inimitable Disney cartoon fashion the manner in which the bunnies, in their woodland workshop, carve out Easter statues of themselves, paint the Easter eggs, with various colors obtained from the end of the rainbow. In this spring season despite the fact that Easter has passed, the subject is highly appropriate and cannot fail to meet with the favor of the entire audience, anytime, anywhere." The cartoon also won the gold medal for "Best Animated Film" at the Venice film festival in 1934. Still as is always the case not everyone was impressed. An exhibitor's review from The Motion Picture Herald was not very positive stating about Walt Disney, "He'll never make another 'Three Little Pigs.' In 1935 this movie was part of a four-week run of Disney cartoons. Here is The Film Daily talking about that, "Starting April 4, Walt Disney productions, released through United Artists, are being featured on the Trans-Lux Theater program for four consecutive weeks. Opening with 'The Tortoise and the Hare,' the next three programs feature the following Disney productions: 'Mickey's Man Friday,' 'Funny Little Bunnies,' and 'The Band Concert,' Disney's first Mickey Mouse subject in Technicolor." One thing I love about the color Symphonies is that they never take color for granted but instead always make sure it is used to full effect. That is definitely true of this cartoon. This movie was reissued to theaters on April 7, 1950.

Up next is a Columbia Color Rhapsody, Mother Hen's Holiday (1937). 

Now we join Mighty Mouse in The Champion of Justice (1944)

Next comes an animated short film with an emphasis on the short. This is a cartoon, whose title should tell you exactly what to expect. This is Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969). No one can say it doesn't live up to that title. What simply is a one joke film has made people laugh for decades and will continue to do so. Film student Marv Newland made this film when he couldn't get the right shot of a sunrise for a live action short, he was making. This film was made in only the last two weeks of his school semester, but it is better remembered than any other film made in that class. This film would receive the 38th spot in Jerry Beck's The 50 Greatest Cartoons.

Now for a commercial break. 

Now for one of the best post-Walt short films from Disney, It's Tough to be a Bird (1969). This short was the brainchild of Ward Kimball, one of the most brilliant and individualistic artists at the Disney studio. Some of the films he headed in his later years at the studio barely feel like Disney films at all. That is definitely true of this short, which rather than the typical Disney "illusion of life" embraces its own artifice, often employing various different art styles. Ward wanted the lead character to appear obviously hand drawn. Animator Burny Mattinson would remember Ward stating, "I don't want you guys cleaning this stuff up, just keep it rough. Just tie loose ends together and that's all but keep it very rough 'cause we're gonna Xerox it and I just want it as simple as possible." This film had an animal rights message to it and did not offer a very positive picture of humanity. Not everyone at the Disney studio was happy about this. Ward recalled that he felt "an unspoken air of resentment because you're attacking an institution, man, and his idealness and goodness. That's Disney. And you can't even in a subtle, subconscious way make fun of that." Ward did make one concession when it came to this though. He took out a sequence involving seagulls stuck in an oil spill (inspired by a real tragedy that happened near Santa Monica). Ward was told to take this out because the Gulf oil company was sponsoring the Disney TV show. However, when the film won an Academy Award, Ward stated in his acceptance speech, "I also want to extend my condolences to the unfortunate seagulls in Santa Barbara (when there had recently been the largest oil spill on record)" Though this short was originally intended as a segment on the Disney TV show, Card Walker (executive vice president of operations) liked the short so much that he decided to release it to movie theaters instead. It would first play with the live action Disney feature-length comedy, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969).  

From 1976 to 1982 Warner Brothers made a series of 16 TV specials featuring the Looney Tunes characters. Some of these specials were brand new half hour stories, others featured clips for or whole classic cartoon shorts and still others featured a set of brand-new cartoons. Daffy Duck's Easter Special (1980) featured three brand new cartoons with bridging sequences inspired by Duck Amuck (1953). Here is one of the new cartoons from that special, The Chocolate Chase (1980). This short is very much in the mold of the mid to late 1960's cartoons which pitted Daffy Duck against Speedy Gonzales. 

It is now silent movie time with Bobby Bumps Helps Out a Book Agent (1916). I apologize that the video pauses a few times. 

Now it is time for a few Quick Shticks. 

Let us close with a classic film from that cinema legend Señor Spielbergo. All I can say is boo-urns. 

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

The Life and Times of Ward Kimball: Maverick of Disney Animation Todd James Pierce. 

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

The 50 Greatest Cartoons edited by Jerry Beck

https://mediahistoryproject.org/