Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #268

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with one of my favorite cartoons from director Norm McCabe, Daffy's Southern Exposure (1942). I absolutely love the way this film treats Daffy. He is very much in his early wild and crazy mode. But at the same time there is a bit more to him than just being crazy. He is also the type of duck who is always simply looking for a good time and will ignore the warnings of others if they try to get in the way of him having fun. Still even when getting his comeuppance, he never learns any sort of lesson and remains the same duck he was the beginning of the cartoon. This is a fun characterization for Daffy, especially as he is still fun of the pure energy that makes the early Daffy so popular. This is just as much of a fully formed character as the one we would see in the later Chuck Jones classics of the 1950's. The following is an exhibitor's review from the Motion Picture Herald, "DAFFY'S SOUTHERN EXPOSURE: Cartoon- Good black and white cartoon. Enjoyed by people that saw it.—Conrad H. Tapia, Chief Theatre, Casa Grande, Ariz."

Next comes the Fleischer Screen song cartoon, Bedelia (1930). The title song was first recorded in 1903 by the singer Arthur Collins and was written by William Jerome and Jean Schwartz. Born on February 7, 1864, Collins was a very popular singer in his day and would often be referred to as "king of the Ragtime Singers." Other songs he recorded include (Won't You Come Home) Bill Bailey (1902), Under the Bamboo Tree (1902), Any Rags (1903), The Preacher and the Bear (1904) and Steamboat Bill (1911). Arthur Collins is little known today because of racial stereotypes that make much of his work problematic for a modern audience. This can be evidenced on the sheet music for Bedelia which refers to the song as "The Irish Coon Song Serenade." The essential website for old music, Hearing the Americas states, "It’s not clear what makes this record, sung by Arthur Collins, a 'coon' song. It has some elements of the ragtime syncopation that 'coon songs' helped introduce, and Collins was nicknamed 'the King of Ragtime.' Possibly the singer was imagined as an African American in love with an Irish immigrant, but the singer makes no effort at dialect. As the image indicates, women sang the song as well as men. It may simply be an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the genre while also appealing to Irish Americans. The song demonstrates the way American popular music mixed genres and used ethnic, gender and racial identity in slippery ways." However, there are no racial stereotypes in this cartoon based on the song. (Obvious Disclaimer: The use of the word "coon" was wrong then and it is wrong today. It appears here for historical and educational purposes. I do not endorse the use of this word.)

Next comes the New Three Stooges cartoon, Woodsman Bear That Tree (1965).

Now for a truly classic Disney short film, Pluto's Judgement Day (1935). This cartoon was released as part of the Mickey Mouse cartoon series, but the true star of the film is Pluto. Pluto would not receive his own cartoon series until 1940. The writers who brought us this cartoon were Joe Grant and Bill Cottrell. The same year this film came out this story team also brought us the Silly Symphonies shorts, Who Killed Cock Robin and Three Orphan Kittens. This cartoon made it TV debut on an episode of The Mickey Mouse Club that aired on February 4, 1958. A 1938 article (in an issue of World Film News) about films that frightened young children stated, "Not exactly frightened; but the court scene in Pluto's Judgement Day was disliked intensely. I have known some of the younger ones to be rather scared by some of the more terrifying Disney characters. Only momentarily o close-ups of the villains' faces. Never really frightened. The usual gasps are heard when anything grotesque, such as an enormous spider, is shown, but this type of scene is invariably received as part of the picture. The youngest ones by the portrayal of ogres, spiders, etc. Only when the Robber Cat appears in the cartoons, and little ones afraid by Pluto's Judgement Day. Very occasionally, by closeups of weird spiders. Horrific animals. Several Disney cartoons - Donald and Pluto and Modern Inventions have Machiavellian incidents which to many children are frightening. The fear subsequently gives way to sympathy for the victim, so that Donald Duck is liked on a basis of tragedy rather than comedy." 

It is now time for a commercial break. 

Now comes the Pink Panther in Dietetic Pink (1978). 

Now for one of Walt Disney's great silent Alice Comedies, Alice's Wild West Show (1924). This is probably my favorite film in the series. The series combined animation with live action. The early entries in the series (which this is one of) feature extensive use of fully live action scenes with a few cartoon scenes. The cartoon scenes would feature our live action Alice interacting with animated characters (including Walt's first cartoon star, Julis the Cat) in a cartoon environment. Later films would do away with the fully live action scenes and often put Alice in supporting roles. Alice was played by four young actresses over the course of the series: Virginia Davis, Dawn O'Day, Margie Gay and Lois Hardwick. In this short Alice was still played by her first actress Virginia Davis (Leon Holmes and Tommy Hicks also appear in this film). Walt directed this short as well as serving as an animator (Rollin "Ham" Hamilton also animated on this film). Working in the Ink and Paint department was Walt's future wife, Lillian Bounds. A review in Moving Picture World states, "This makes an interesting reel, with considerable pep, human interest and comedy, which should prove a pleasing novelty with the average patron and appeal especially to children."

Up next is Mighty Mouse in Love's Labor Won (1948). 

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

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

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

https://hearingtheamericas.org/s/the-americas/item/93

https://mediahistoryproject.org/