Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #203

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with a yuletide favorite, Pluto's Christmas Tree (1952).  This movie features a great cast of animators including, George Kreisl, Fred Moore, Bill Justice, Volus Jones, Blaine Gibson and Dan MacManus. Dan MacManus animates the opening scene of the cartoon. Fred Moore is recognized as one of the greatest Mickey animators of all time and he gets to show that off here as he animates Mickey chopping down the tree, Mickey decorating the tree, Mickey with the Christmas gifts, Mickey's reactions to Pluto's antics, Mickey holding the chipmunks and him and Pluto looking out the window. Bill Justice and Volus Jones animate much of the Chipmunks. Justice also animates the cameo of Minnie, Donald and Goofy at the end. George Kreisl animates much of Pluto's antics. Blaine Gibson animates very little in this movie with the tree lights going off and on. Pluto's Christmas Tree was a rare Mickey Mouse cartoon directed by Jack Hannah, who mostly directed Donald Duck cartoons. However this is not too surprising as this cartoon features two of Hannah's creations, Chip and Dale (whom the director most often used as adversaries for Donald). Hannah had directed an earlier Mickey Mouse cartoon that co-starred Chip and Dale with Squatters Rights (1946). Despite Hannah being one of the main directors of Disney shorts during this period, these marked the only two Mickey shorts he actually directed.

Next we join Little Roquefort and Percy the Cat in Seasick Sailors (1951). While these Terry Toons shorts, never quite lived up to Tom and Jerry, they could be a lot of fun on their own terms, as is the case here. 

Up next is one of my favorite of the early Merrie Melodies cartoons, The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives (1933). I love the atmospheric feel to the early scenes in this cartoon. There is a delightful amount of detail in these opening moments. I also simply love the title song. Despite being a Christmas cartoon, this movie was released to theaters on January 7, 1933, just barely missing Christmas. The animation of the dolls singing, and dancing was reused from an earlier Merrie Melody, Red Headed Baby (1931).

Now for a silent movie starring KoKo the Clown, Egg Cited (1926). 

To read the article below, just click on the page and use your touch screen to zoom in. 

Pictures and the Picturegoer, 1924

Now it is time for a commercial break.

Now it is time for some Saturday Morning Minions. 

Next we join Daffy Duck in Scrap Happy Daffy (1943). This movie marks Daffy Duck's last apperance in a black and white cartoon. It is also simply a delightful film. The short is directed by Frank Tashlin, who would go on to direct many live action feature films. His Looney Tunes are some of the most cinematic and feature wonderful filmmaking. The use of editing and montage here are excellent and hold up to many of the great live action films of the time. Yet this is also simply a very funny cartoon, including one of the funniest fade-out/fade-ins in the history of cartoons. This cartoon appears in Jerry Beck's book, The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes.

Now for Popeye in Floor Flusher (1954). 

While it is easy to say that the DePatie-Freling cartoons of the mid and late 1970's were not on par with the studio's cartoons of the 1960's and early 70's without any sense of doubt, A Pink Christmas (1978) is a huge exception. This TV special is about as good a cartoon as the studio ever made. This dialogue-less special is somewhat based on O. Henry's The Cop and the Anthem. The Pink Panther has often been compared to Charlie Chaplin, mostly because he is a pantomime character. This though is probably the most Chaplin-esque film the cartoon cat ever stared in. It beautifully combines comedy and pathos, and the idea of a poor tramp like character looking for food of course has roots in Chaplin as well. In fact, this film borrows a gag from Chaplin's The Gold Rush (1925) (involving shoveling snow). It succussed very well. It is both very funny and very moving.





 

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

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

The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes edited by Jerry Beck 

http://afilmla.blogspot.com/search/label/Shorts_RKO?updated-max=2006-08-26T01:00:00-07:00&max-results=20&start=25&by-date=false

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #12

Happy Saturday morning again my friends, as you probably guessed it is once again time to look at some classic cartoons.

Last week's Saturday Morning Cartoon post began with a Betty Boop cartoon which featured the voice of Cab Calloway. Cab Calloway was not the only jazz singer to sing for Betty Boop cartoons however. Another who had this honor was the great Satchmo, Louis Armstrong. A typically great and highly creative Betty Boop short, this film's appeal is only heightened by the work of a music great. The brief live action appearance of Armstrong in the opening was one of the first time the earliest appearances of the jazz legend. So enjoy I'll Be Glad When Your Dead You Rascal You (1932).

The earliest Merrie Melodies cartoons had their own sperate reoccurring staring character from the Looney Tunes. This was Foxy. If Bosko (the first starring Looney Tunes character) was a bit of a knockoff of Mickey Mouse, Foxy was more so. Just take the pointy ends off his ears and get rid of the bush tail and you've got Mickey. Despite any unoriginality though, the character's cartoons are actually excellent films, full of fast paced fun energy. The character would only last for three Merrie Melodies (Lady Play Your Mandolin, Smile Darn Ya Smile and One More Time (all 1931)). My favorite of the three, One More Time is the cartoon we have coming up next. The music here is provided by a very popular jazz band leader of the 1920's, 30's and 40's, Abe Lyman. His music here is extremely fun and adds tons of energy to this film. Abe and his band would also provide the music for other early Merrie Melodies cartoons and those would be just as delightful.



My fellow Bing Crosby fans might like to know that Bing made a great recording of the title song of the previous cartoon in 1931 backed up by Gus Arnheim and his orchestra. As a little bonus here that is.






Next up comes a great early Mickey Mouse cartoon, Mickey's Follies (1929). This cartoon brought about the first original song written for a Disney cartoon, Minnie's Yoo Hoo and Mickey ends the cartoon singing it himself. An instrumental version of this song would become the main theme for the Mickey Mouse cartoons through 1933. Singing this song would also become a ritual at the various Mickey Mouse clubs that formed in neighborhood theaters starting in 1929. Walt would create a sing along short including just the song number. Film historian and huge influence on me, JB Kaufman wrote about that short here.






The whole internet seems to be obsessed with providing nostalgia for 80's and 90's kids (I'm a 90's kid myself). Here is my conforming to that. Here are various bumpers for the early years of Cartoon Network. Man I wish Cartoon Network was still like it was back then.


 


Stay tooned for more classic cartoons next week. Until then peace love and cartoons.

-Michael J. Ruhland