Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #243

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with a delightful short film starring Mickey Mouse, Musical Farmer (1932). This was the next to last film Mickey made for Columbia Pictures before his shorts would be distributed by United Artists. The latter part of this cartoon with the henhouse being treated as an assembly line recalls an earlier Disney film, the Alice Comedy, Alice's Egg Plant (1925). This idea though would be best used not in a Disney short but in a Warner Brothers cartoon, Swooner Crooner (1944). Musical Farmer was released to theaters on June 8, 1932 and was the next to last Mickey Mouse cartoon to be distributed by Columbia before the Disney films would be distributed by United Artists. This short film made its TV debut on an episode of The Ink and Paint Club entitled Musical Mickey (1998). 

Up next is the Fleischer Screen Song short, Whispers in the Dark (1937). The title song was written by Friedrich Hollaender and Leo Robin. Other songs written by this duo include My Heart and I, Awake in a Dream and Moonlight and Shadows. Whispers in the Dark was written for the feature film, Artists and Models (1937) (not to be confused with the Martin and Lewis movie of the same name), which starred Jack Benny and Ida Lupino. In that movie the song was performed by Connee Boswell with Andre Kostelanetz and His Orchestra and received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song (it lost to Sweet Leilani from the Bing Crosby movie Wakaki Wedding (1937)). In this cartoon the song is performed by Gus Arnheim and his Band with June Robbins. This short film reached theatres on September 24, 1937.

In 1997 animation legend Chuck Jones wrote a children's book starring Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny titled Daffy Duck for President. When Warner Brothers decided to follow the feature film, Looney Tunes Back in Action (2003) with a series of new animated Looney Tunes shorts for movie theaters, one of these shorts was a cartoon based off this book. Daffy Duck For President (2004) never got the theatrical release it should have as Looney Tunes Back in Action proved a disappointment at the box office. However, this is a truly delightful cartoon. It was dedicated to Chuck who had passed away in 2002. 

Next comes the Blue Racer in Camera Bug (1972). 

Now it is time for a commercial break.

Now it is time for a classic silent film with Mutt and Jeff in A Restless Night (1916).

Now comes Mickey Mouse in Big House Mickey (2001). This cartoon originally aired in the House of Mouse episode, Rent Day (2001). 

Next is the Aesop's Fables cartoon, The Family Shoe (1932). Like many cartoons from the Van Beuren studio, the highlight is the lively musical score by Gene Rodemich.

For those of you still in suspense, here is the epic conclusion, Maggie in Peril (The Thrilling Conclusion) (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 American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein 

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Musical_Farmer#Television

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Big_House_Mickey