Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Welcome back for another selection of classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection begins with the film that introduced the character of Woody Woodpecker to movie-goers, Knock Knock (1940). However, this cartoon is part of the Andy Panda series, and Andy Panda and his dad are the true stars of the movie. Yet it is Woody who gets the best laughs and steals the show. Producer Walter Lantz would later state that the idea for this film would be inspired by a woodpecker hammering at his roof during his honeymoon at Sherwood Lake California. However, this story has been disproven by many film historians. Leonard Maltin would write in his landmark book, Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons, "This delightful story has apparently undergone some showmanly embellishment, since the honeymoon occurred one year after the production of the cartoon." If Woody here seems very familiar to the early Daffy Duck or the early prototype for Bugs Bunny this is not a coincidence. Recently having joined the Lantz staff was Ben "Bugs" Hardaway, who had worked for Looney Tunes and with said characters. This cartoon feels a lot like many of the Warner Brothers cartoons that Hardaway had directed. Also helping add to the similarity is that Woody is voiced by Mel Blanc, the voice of Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny.
Next comes the Fleischer Screen Songs cartoon, Time on My Hands (1932). This short has an early appearance of Betty Boop (as a topless mermaid) and a song performed by Ethel Merman. Betty even turns into Ethel Merman at one point.
Now for the Terry Toons cartoon, The Little Red Hen (1955). This short is directed by Connie Rasinski.
Rare for a character from a Disney feature film (at least during the Walt era), Jiminy Cricket continued being used at the Disney studio well after being introduced to audiences in Pinocchio (1940). He would go on to appear in another Disney feature, Fun and Fancy Free (1947), he would appear in some episodes of the Disney anthology series and would be a regular presence on TV's The Mickey Mouse Club. He would appear in the theme song and host various short segments, where he would function in the role of an educator, teaching kids about safety, science and health. One of these segments was the I'm No Fool segment, where he would teach kids how to be safe. These segments first aired on the TV series but were later sent to schools as 16mm educational films. Now enjoy, I'm No Fool with Fire (1955).
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Now for the early Looney Tunes cartoon, Bosko Shipwrecked! (1931). This was the first Looney Tunes cartoon to be solely directed by Hugh Harman. In the previous cartoons Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising would direct the films together. However, from this point on, for the most part, Hugh Harman would direct the Looney Tunes, while Rudolf Ising would direct the Merrie Melodies. The shot of Bosko running away from the lion would be later used in the opening credits of the Futurama episode, Anthology of Interest I (2000).
Now for a classic silent cartoon with Krazy Kat Invalid (1916). For those of you unaware Krazy Kat was a newspaper comic strip that ran from 1913 to 1944 (I highly recommend seeking it out and reading it as it is still very funny today). The comic strip origins are very obvious here as this cartoon feels like a moving comic strip.
Today's cartoon selection ends with The Simpsons in Watching TV (1987). This is one of the shorts made for The Tracey Ullman Show before the animated family got their own TV series.
Thanks for joining me. Be sure to come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.
Resources Used
Pinocchio: The Making of a Disney Epic by J.B. Kaufman
https://likelylooneymostlymerrie.blogspot.com/2011/08/16-bosko-shipwrecked-1931.html
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