Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #291

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with our friend Little Roquefort in City Slicker (1952). This is a take on the classic country mouse and city mouse story with some delightful slapstick twists of course.

To follow on the country mouse/city mouse theme, here is an especially great Silly Symphony from Disney, The Country Cousin (1936). Like many Disney films of this time this short is especially notable for its great animation. Some of the best Disney animators worked on this cartoon. Probally the one who has been singled out the most has been Art Babbitt for his excellent animation of the drunken mouse. This is appropriate because this animation is a highlight of the film. Still there is much more great animation to be found. In fact Cy Young's animation of the traffic montage was so good that the studio reused it later in the Mickey Mouse cartoon, Mickey's Delayed Date (1947).  The opening animation of the country mouse leaving for the city was by Milt Schaffer. Johnny Cannon animates the two mice meeting as well as the country mouse finding his way into a light socket and the film's ending. Marvin Woodward animates the scene with the mouse trap. Les Clark (a future member of Walt's nine old men and expert Mickey Mouse animator) gets to shine with his animation of the mice on the table and the country mouse after eating hot mustard. Future Donald Duck director, Jack Hannah doesn't have much to animate in this film. He only animates the plates falling on the floor. Paul Allen animates the two mice parachuting and some of the action with the cat. This cartoon won the Academy Award for best animated short film. It won the Academy Award for Best Cartoon Production. The cartoon made its TV debut on an episode of the Disneyland TV show entitled, From Aesop to Hans Christian Anderson (1955). 

Now for the Talkartoons cartoon, The Robot (1932). This film stars Bimbo, who started off as a starring character but would later become a supporting character for Betty Boop, whose stardom would eclipse his. You can see a primitive early version of Betty in this film. 

Next is the Terry Toons cartoon, Uncle Joey (1941). The title character is a caricature of comedian/actor Joe E. Brown. A review from the National Board of Review Magazine stated, "A cute cartoon about a mouse and a cat. The cat isn't as wicked as cartoon cats usually are, but he gets worsted anyway."

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Next comes the last of the great series of cartoons of the 1940's teaming Donald Duck and Goofy together, Crazy With the Heat (1947). These cartoons are delightful all the way, with Goofy's obliviousness to his circumstances (however bad they may be) playing off of Donald's insane temper. This just gets Donald more and more annoyed as the films get funnier and funnier. This is a rare Disney cartoon short directed by Bob Carlson, who mostly worked as an animator by the studio. With how funny this film is that certainly seems a shame. A review in The Film Daily called this cartoon, "Exceptionally good." I can't argue with that.

Next comes one of my favorite early Bugs Bunny films, The Wabbit Who Came to Supper (1942). One of the things you will notice first about this cartoon is how the characters are drawn. Bugs will often go off model in a way you would never see in a later short (around 1944 this would come to an end). Elmer is also in his heavier set design. Bob Clampett had redesigned the character for his cartoon Wabbit Twouble (1941) and that design would stick for four more cartoons (including this one). The design was based off of Elmer's voice artist, Arthur Q. Bryan. Yet there is so much to enjoy about this cartoon that you won't care how the characters look. Director Friz Freleng is known for how perfectly he could time a gag and this is incredibly evident. There are also plenty of incredibly clever gags from writer Michael Maltese (who would go on to form a writer/director partnership with director Chuck Jones that would result in some of the funniest and most famous cartoons of all time). Many of these gags would take cartoon logic to ridiculous and hilarious extremes. A review in The Film Daily called this short, "Tremendously hilarious." A review in The Exhibitor stated, "This has many humorous moments, even if not ranking with the best of the B.B. series. However with that title and his popularity, this offers an opportunity." The following is an exhibitor's review from the Motion Picture Herald, "Wabbit Who Came to Supper: Merrie Melodies Cartoons- Good. This series is taking off fast. They are asking when we are having our next 'carrot eating rabbit.' - A.H. Goldson, Plaza Theatre, Chicago, Ill." 

Next comes the Color Rhapsody cartoon, Lucky Pigs (1939). 

 

Now to close with a song. 

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all tunes be looney and your melodies merry. 

Resources Used

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

Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Brothers Cartoons by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald 

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

 

Silent Film of the Month: The Adventures of Pinocchio (1911)

 

Run Time: 50 minutes. Studio: Società Italiana Cines. Director: Giulio Antamoro. Main Cast: Polidor, Augusto Mastripietri, Natalino Guillaume, Lea Giunchi. 

The 1940 Disney film version of Pinocchio has had a permanent effect on how people view the character and his story. Though there have been many film versions of the character since then, almost all of them have been at least partially inspired by the Disney movie. However, the story of Pinocchio has been around much longer than that. In fact, Disney's version wasn't even the earliest film adaption of Collodi's classic story. In hindsight it is a bit shocking to watch a film version of Pinocchio that came out before the Disney version was even thought of and was not affected at all by that landmark movie. However, that is also what makes this 1911 silent movie such a joy to watch. 

The storyline here definitely reflects Collodi more than it does Disney. While Disney created a tightly woven and traditionally structured story, this silent film keeps the very episodic nature of Collodi's original version. The storyline here is simply treated as an excuse for the wooden puppet to get into one misadventure after another. Unlike the Disney version, Pinocchio's goal to become a real boy is less important than the various misadventures he gets in along the way. 

With its episodic structure, this is easily the most playful film adaption of the story. Imagination and fun set pieces take front stage here. As such it lacks the emotional connection of later film adaptions or the depth of Collodi's original story. However, it makes more than up for this in pure fun. There is such a surrealistic and playful tone here that I couldn't help but have a great time watching it. The movie doesn't take itself too seriously and we don't have to either. We can just enjoy the pure imagination and silliness. This is heavily enhanced by the look of the film, which embraces the more surrealistic and adventurous feel of the story. There are times when the costumes can look a bit more like something out of a play version than a film adaption, but this actually fits perfectly with the tone of the film.  Ferdinand Guillame (an acrobatic clown who was already well known to Italian movie goers) is very charming and energetic in the main as the main character. He can mug at times but that honestly fits considering the tone of the film. 

As an adaption, this film is rather strange. Most of the set pieces come directly from the original. However, they seemed to be shuffled into a completely random order. The result is that none of the sequences seems to lead into the next. As episodic as the original story was, each misadventure seemed directly lead into the next. As fun as this movie is, the shuffling of scenes from the original story can make it feel a bit disjointed in a way that the source material did not.

The same year this film was released, Collidi's original story was reissued in a new storybook version which featured new illustrations by Attilio Mussino. Interestingly the look of this film is extremely similar to that of Mussino's illustrations. For many Italians of that generation Mussino's illustrations become the definitive look for Pinocchio.

If you want to watch this fun film, you can do so below.

Resources Used

Pinocchio: The Making of The Disney Epic by J.B. Kaufman

https://wise-cafe.com/2023/08/31/pinocchi-o-rama-8-pinocchio-aka-the-adventures-of-pinocchio-1911/