Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again, it is time for some classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection begins with Cubby Bear in The Last Mail (1933). If Cubby Bear reminds you of Mickey Mouse, this is no coincidence. When Mickey Mouse hit movie screens, he was a sensation, just as popular if not more popular than the live action movie stars of the time. As always great success in the film industry led to many imitations. Pretty much every American animation studio had a character that was pretty much a copy of Mickey.
Now that we saw a Mickey Mouse clone in the last cartoon, why don't we enjoy a Pluto clone in the next. Enjoy the World War 2 Columbia cartoon, Mutt 'n Bones (1944).
Up next is Pigeon Holed (1956). This was the last theatrical cartoon to star Homer Pigeon. When this film was released in 1956 Homer hadn't appeared in a cartoon since 1943.
Now for a black and white cartoon from the Walter Lantz studio, Nellie the Sewing Machine Girl (1938). This is the first in a series of five Nellie cartoons.
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Up next is one of the post golden age Looney Tunes shorts, That (Blooper) Bunny (1991). This cartoon was made as a response to many of the specials revolving around Warner Brothers marketing of the Looney Tunes characters, especially when celebrating Bugs' 50th anniversary. Warner Brothers marketing tried to frame the characters as good friends who always stood by each other. This was of course far from who these characters were. Many of them even tried to kill each other in the classic cartoons and when the characters were friends, they would often turn on each other to protect themselves. That is why at first we see these characters all smiling and getting along as best buddies here, until we see what happened behind the scenes and the friction that took place. This cartoon was meant to originally be released theatrically with the animated feature Rover Dangerfield (1991). However, Warner Brothers took a real dislike towards it (especially with the line "Warner Brothers doesn't have an original bone in its body.") and the cartoon would not be released until six years later, this time on TV instead of movie theaters.
Next up is a very early Mickey Mouse cartoon, the fourth one in fact, The Barn Dance (1929). Unlike the previous three Mickeys (Plane Crazy (1928), The Galloping Gaucho (1928) and Steamboat Willie (1928)), Walt Disney was not able to supervise the animation very closely. This was because at this time Walt was in New York, while his main animator Ub Iwerks was in California. Though Walt asked Ub to cut corners in the animation, because of a strict deadline, when he received the first of the animation on October 22nd of 1928, he was not happy and wrote Ub a page of criticisms of the animation. However watching this film now, it is actually a very entertaining cartoon, and it is hard to see anything actually wrong with the animation. However, Walt was working to achieve a level of perfection in his cartoons and this one as good as it did not meet that requirement in his mind. There was a planned gag for this cartoon which would feature a hen and a rooster performing a lively dance number which comes to a halt when the hen lays an egg. Though that gag did not make it into this film, it would later be used in the short, Mickey's Follies (1929).
Now for the Terry Toons short, Mystery in the Moonlight (1948).
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
Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon by Leonard Maltin
Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in its Golden Age by Michael Barrier
Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein
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