Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #270

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with a true classic starring Porky and Slyvester, Claws for Alarm (1954). This was the second of two cartoons (both directed by Chuck Jones) featuring Sylvester as the cowardly cat that must protect his owner Porky for murderous mice (the first being Scaredy Cat (1948)). Unlike other appearances of Sylvester, here the cat is treated more like a real cat and has no ability to speak. Chuck Jones would use this basic formula again for Jumpin' Jupiter (1955). That film would again feature Sylvester as a cowardly cat that must protect Porky. However, in that cartoon he would protect his master from a space alien rather than mice.  Claws For Alarm would later be used in the feature length compilation movie, Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (1988).

Next is the New 3 Stooges cartoon, Tee for Three (1965). These cartoons feature the voices of the real Stooges who also appear in the opening and closing live action segments. About the live action segments Curly Joe Derita would state, “There were 156 cartoons and we made only 40 live-action segments. So, after they ran the whole 40, they’d just start over by using these same introductions on new cartoons. This turned out to be misleading because viewers would say, ‘Oh, I’ve seen this one before.’ and they’d turn off the television. They didn’t know it was a new cartoon."  In the cartoon here the Stooges play a game of golf. They had previously played golf in the classic live action short film, Three Little Beers (1935). However, no gags are borrowed from that previous short, and the story is completely different. 

Now for the Talkartoons short, Silly Scandals (1931). This film marks the first cartoon in which Betty Boop has her first name. 

It is now time for an early Silly Symphonies cartoon, The Merry Dwarfs (1929). For Disney buffs one of the most appealing things about the Disney films of the 1920's is that many of them were directed by Walt Disney himself. While these cartoons may not be a polished or sophisticated as the Disney films of the mid to late 1930's and 40's, they give us a peek into the creative mind of one of the most important names in film history. Though there are no animation credits on this cartoon J.B. Kaufman and Russell Merritt's indispensable book about the Silly Symphonies states that Ub Iwerks, Les Clark, Johnny Cannon and Wilfred Jackson worked on this film. The background art is by Carlos Manriquez, who worked on many of the Silly Symphonies of the late 1920's and early 1930's. This film opened in New York, December 11-17, 1929, with the feature film, The Sky Hawk (1929) at the Gaiety theatre. It played at Hollywood's Grauman's Chinese Theatre running from January 17- April 11, 1930, with the feature film The Rouge Song (1930), which features one of the earliest feature film appearances of Laurel and Hardy. The short made its TV debut on an episode of The Mickey Mouse Club that aired on February 3, 1956.

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Now we join our friend Mighty Mouse in Gypsy Life (1945). This marked the only Mighty Mouse cartoon to be nominated for an Academy Award. The other cartoons nominated that year included Donald's Crime (Disney, 1945), Jasper and the Beanstalk (George Pal, 1945), Life With Feathers (Warner Brothers, 1945, the first appearance of Slyvester), Poet and Peasant (Walter Lantz, 1945), Quiet Please (MGM, 1945) and Rippling Romance (Columbia, 1945). The winner was Quiet Please marking the third time a Tom and Jerry cartoon won the Oscar. 

Up next is the Walter Lantz produced cartoon, The Big Cat and the Little Mousie (1938). I personally have a fondness for these black and white Walter Lantz cartoons. This is a really charming and fun film. It may not be exactly hilarious, but it does have a real charm to it. The whole sequence with the drunk mouse is similar to a famous sequence in the Disney cartoon, The Country Cousin (1936) and was perhaps inspired by it. While the character animation here may not be as impressive as that of the Disney film, it is still quite well done. A review in The Film Daily stated, "Kids and grownups alike will find this yarn amusing." A review in the Motion Picture Herald calls this film "unnecessary" and states, "The background commentary with its 'teeny weeny little mousie,' has a burlesque ring in light of the theme of this Oswald Rabbit subject." 

Now Mickey and friends in Potato Land (2013).

Now to 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

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

Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman.

The Three Stooges Scrapbook by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer and Greg Lanburg

https://mediahistoryproject.org/