Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #234

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with an early Looney Tunes cartoon, Ride Him, Bosko! (1932). This short stars Bosko, the very first Looney Tunes star. The ending of this film is a pure delight. 

Now we join Honey Halfwitch in Poor Little Witch Girl (1965). This short film marked her cartoon debut. This movie is directed by Howard Post. Post is better known for his comic work rather than his animation work. He created the comic strip The Dropouts and DC Comics character Anthro. He had also worked for Harvey Comics on various Casper comic books and on the Heathcliff and Care Bears comics for Marvel as well as being an editor on Looney Tunes Magazine and Tiny Toons Magazine for DC. 

Next is the Fleischer Screen Song cartoon, Let Me Call You Sweetheart (1932). This short film features a brief appearance by Betty Boop, whose own starring series would begin later the same year. 

As I have stated before while Popeye cartoons are often assumed to be simply the same storyline over and over, this was not the case, as there were many that did not revolve around Popeye and Bluto fighting over Olive. One of the great cartoons that don't follow this formula is Goonland (1938). This film introduces new characters to the animated cartoons. However, these characters were not brand new. They had existed previously in E.C. Segar's comic strip, Thimble Theatre for which Popeye was also originally created. The characters of the goons would first appear in the comic strip in 1933, before appearing in this cartoon. This was the only of the theatrical cartoon shorts to feature the goons, however they would later appear in animated Popeye TV cartoons. Poopdeck Pappy first appeared in the comic strip in 1936. While Goonland was his first appearance in a theatrical cartoon short, it was hardly his last, as he would become a reoccurring character in the cartoons. This film would later be remade as Popeye's Pappy (1952), though that cartoon would replace the goons with stereotypical African natives.

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Today's cartoon selection continues with the Pink Panther short, In the Pink (1967). This film has everything I love about Pink Panther cartoons with a generous amount of creative slapstick and some great pantomime. With these cartoons, the filmmakers really helped keep the spirit of silent comedy alive long after the silent era had passed. This movie opens with some reused animation from Pink Panic (1967) where the Pink Panther gets out of the shower. Pink Panic was only released a few months earlier. This scene was animated by Norm McCabe. As McCabe also animated the final gag, we both start and end with his animation. Art Leonardi animates very little of this cartoon. He animates the very beginning of the shadow boxing scene (up until the shadow first punches our pink buddy out) and then Manny Gould animates the rest of the scene. 

Next comes one of Walt Disney's silent Alice Comedies, Alice's Fishy Story (1924). Like many of the earliest Alice comedies, this movie features live action wraparounds before and after the cartoon portion. During these live action wraparounds, you can see Walt Disney as the person driving the car. Virgina Davis, the first actress to play Alice, plays Alice here and Leon Holmes plays her heavier set fishing buddy. Holmes was probably chosen for the role due to his physical similarity to Joe Cobb who was appearing in the Our Gang (or Little Rascals) shorts of the time. This cartoon would mark the second appearance of the animated Julis the cat. He had appeared in Alice's Spooky Adventure (1924) before this, and distributor Merget Winkler must have liked him (probably because of the popularity of Felix the cat). In the Alice Comedy following Alice's Spooky Adventure, Alice's Wild West Show (1924) a dog would be used as Alice's sidekick and Winkler would write Walt saying, "I might suggest that in your cartoon stuff you use a cat whenever possible and don't be afraid to let him do ridiculous things." This second film with the cat directly follows Alice's Wild West Show.  



 

Now we join Mr. Magoo in Magoo's Lodge Brother (1959). 

Now let us close with a song. 

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 in Wonderland: The Silent Films of Walt Disney by J. B. Kaufman and Russell Merritt.

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

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-pink-panther-in-the-pink-1967/