Hello, my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again, it is time for some classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection begins with Magoo's Three Point Landing (1958). This short benefits from some strong animation. Maurie Faigin animates the opening scene. Ed Freidman animates a lengthy scene (which is also one of the movie's highlights) were Magoo hitchhikes. Barney Posner also gets some great scenes animating Magoo driving through the airplane garage and arguing with the people therein, as well as the two pilots. Speaking of the two pilots notice that one is named Sully and is known for his "emergency landings." One of them also is voiced by Daws Butler doing a voice that sounds like The Huckleberry Hound Show's Mr. Jinx.
Up next is Mighty Mouse in The First Snow (1947). About Mighty Mouse, producer Paul Terry would state, "If you go back through history, when a person is down and there's no more hope you say, 'It's in God's hands now.' ... So, taking that as a basis, I'd only have to get the mice in a tough spot and they say, 'isn't there some one who can help?' 'Yes, there is someone; its Mighty Mouse!' So down from the heavens he'd come ... and lick the evil spirit, or whatever it was, and everything was serene again. It was a pattern-made thing." Mighty Mouse didn't always just protect mice though. In this film, he protects some bunny rabbits. In his landmark book, Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons Leonard Maltin writes, "Thus, any idea that was really good had to seem as if it came directly from Terry. So, when Klein proposed a spoof of the newly popular Superman character using a fly, Terry heard him out and dismissed the idea. A short time later he brought it up again, as if he conceived the whole thing, but in Terry's version the fly became a mouse." To be fair the idea of a super powered mouse is more endearing than that of a super powered fly.
Now for the Fox and the Crow in Foxy Flatfoots (1946). This short film was directed by Bob Wickersham, a former Disney animator who had worked on some of the classic Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies cartoons of the 1930's as well as some of the studio's early animated feature films.
For anyone interested in movie history, many of the Disney cartoons of the 1920's are essential watching. The reason for this is that many of them are directed by Walt himself. All of us know Walt Disney as a producer, a studio head, a TV personality and one of the movies' greatest ambassadors, however in these short films we get to see him in the director's chair. Next, we have one of the cartoons he directed, El Terrible Toreador (1929). This movie marked the second Silly Symphony cartoon and the first one directed by Walt. As with many early Disney films, this cartoon features many gags that go against the rules put in place in the later Disney cartoons. For instance, the later films would not allow body parts to detach or stretch to impossible lengths. Yet in this movie, both of those are common sights. There are also some somewhat risqué gags that wouldn't fit with Disney's later squeaky-clean image. Despite this only being the second Silly Symphony, the series already boasts an incredible cast of animators. Ub Iwerks (Walt's right-hand man and one of the main influences on the early Disney style) animates the bullfighting scenes and supervised the work of the other animators. Burt Gillet (who would go on to direct many great Mickey Mouse cartoons as well as The Three Little Pigs (1933)) animates the meeting of Carmen and Don Jose. Wilfred Jackson (who would direct some of the best Silly Symphonies and be one of the directors of features like Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953) and Lady And the Tramp (1955)) animates Carmen's dance. Les Clark (one of the best Mickey animators and one of Walt's nine old men) animates a close-up of Don Jose. Jack King (who would direct some excellent Donald Duck cartoons) animates Escamillo confronting Don Jose. Ben Sharpsteen (who would be the supervising director for Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940) and Dumbo (1941)) animates the introduction to the bullfighting scene. Animation for this film was done from July through August of 1929. The sound was recorded on August 12, 1929. The film was delivered in September 1929. The cartoon had its theatrical debut at the George M. Cohan (in New York) on September 13, 1929, where it played alongside the Frank Capra directed feature, Flight (1929).
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Animation fans know director Friz Freleng as a master of timing and very few comedy cartoons have come close to the perfect comedy timing of his films. This can especially be seen in his cartoon, Yankee Doodle Daffy (1943). This in my mind is one of his funniest films and just a pure delight. Despite the title, this film does not have a parotitic theme or revolve around U.S. history. With the James Cagney feature, Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) having come out the year before, this pun was probably just too good for the filmmakers to pass up. As I have spoken about Friz earlier look for a portrait of him in Porky's office. A review in The Motion Picture Daily calls this film a "Pleasant little subject." The following are Exhibitor's reviews from The Motion Picture Herald. "YANKEE DOODLE DAFFY: Looney Tunes Cartoons—This studio's cartoons lately seem to be either exiciptionally good or exceptionally bad. This is downright terrible. - W. Verricks Nevins, III, Alfred Co-op Theatre, Alfred N.Y." "YANKEE DOODLE DAFFY: Looney Tunes Cartoons—Good cartoon, but where does it get its name? - Ralph Raspa, State Theatre, Rivesdale, W. Va." "YANKEE DOODLE DAFFY: Looney Tunes Cartoons - Average color cartoon. - E.M. Freiburger, Paramount Theatre, Dewey, Okla."
Next comes The New Three Stooges cartoon, Bee My Honey (1965). The Stooges voiced themselves in this TV cartoon.
Now for the Talkartoons cartoon, Sky Scraping (1930).
Today's cartoon selection ends with The Simpsons in Punching Bag (1988). 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. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Resources Used
Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman
Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon by Leonard Maltin
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