Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #254

 Hello, my friends and welcome back for a spooky edition of Saturday Morning Cartoons. 

Today's spooky cartoon selection begins with The Haunted House (1929). Despite its spooky setting, this film was released closer to Christmas, premiering in movie theaters on December 2, 1929. Still the spooky setting is very effective, and this sense of atmosphere makes it one of my favorite early Mickeys. Though legendary animator and pioneering Disney director, Ub Iwerks had by this time mostly been dedicating himself to the Silly Symphony shorts rather than the Mickey Mouse, you can see some of his work here. However, this is in reused footage from the famous first Silly Symphony, The Skelton Dance (1929), which was released earlier the same year. This film did run into trouble with the state censors though not for any of the creepy parts. Instead, they objected to gags involving a chamber pot and an outhouse.

Now for the Pink Panther in Pink Plasma (1975). This short was directed by Art Leonardi, who had been an animator for Friz Freleng's unit at Warner Brothers (Friz of course was one of the producers of the Pink Panther cartoons). He would later become a director for the TV series, Tiny Toons Adventures. The writer for this cartoon was one of Friz's favorite writers John Dunn.

Next comes a classic Norman McCabe directed Daffy Duck cartoon. Though he only directed three Daffy cartoons, Norman McCabe more than proved himself as a perfect match for this character. Though his Daffy was still wild and crazy, Norman's cartoons gave him a more fully formed personality than previous directors did. Besides just the personality these films were extremely high energy cartoons that were extremely fun. Norman McCabe would continue working with the Looney Tunes characters well past the golden age of Looney Tunes, as he would be a timing director for the TV shows, Tiny Toon Adventures (1990-1991), Taz-Mania (1991-1995) and The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries (1995-1996). So, enjoy Impatient Patient (1942). 

Now comes the Terry Toons cartoon, Pandora (1934). 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Now for Felix the Cat in Skulls and Sculls (1930). 

Now for something completely different here is a completely serious cartoon short of the 1950's, The Tell-Tale Heart (1953). This film is not surprisingly from the UPA studio. The UPA studio at this time sought to move away from the violent slapstick of Warner Brothers or MGM cartoons, or the more realistic "illusion of life" featured in many Disney cartoons. They often experimented with what could be done with the color and design in animated films. These films often experimented with flat backgrounds, purposely limited animation and abstract color schemes that reflect the emotion of a scene rather than what something would really look like. As is true of all cartoon studios that do a lot of experimenting, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. Tell-Tale Heart is one of the most successful and one of the most extreme experiments. Most American audiences at this time had never seen an animated short quite like this and many would never see something like this again. When a 1954 article in Home Movies talking about the Cannes Film Festival got to Disney's Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953) winning a prize, the writer had this to say, "It is unpardonable however that Disney should so openly and fully steal the style of the cartoon developed by the most excellent groups of artists, Steven Bosustow's UPA. It was no secret this was the case among those as the festival as UPA is well known and well respected in France. It is a shame that UPA recent and excellent 3D cartoon, The Tell-Tale Heart could not be shown at the festival, for it most certainly won the prize awarded to Disney." This cartoon is placed at 24 in Jerry Beck's book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons. 

Next comes Woody Woodpecker in Spook-a-Nanny (1964). This is the only original cartoon made for TV's Woody Woodpecker Show. For the most part the cartoons on this show consisted of the theatrical short films from the Walter Lantz studio. However, this cartoon has become a Halloween tradition for many cartoon fans (including me). The title song is ridiculously catchy. 

Today's cartoon selection ends with The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror segment, The Raven (1990). This cartoon comes from the first of The Simpsons' many Halloween specials. The first Treehouse of Horror was released during season two and with the show in its 37th season, it has continued to do one of these Halloween specials every season since. This still ranks as one of my favorite Treehouse of Horror segments. 

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


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

The 50 Greatest Cartoons edited by Jerry Beck