Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #192

 Note: Due to technical difficulties, this post is up a little late. 

Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning (?), it is once again time for some classic cartoons. 

Today's cartoon selection begins with a wonderful Chuck Jones directed cartoon, The Ducksters (1950). This short film features Daffy Duck in quite a villainous role, of the kind that would be more common for him in the 1960's then in the 1950's.   

The Return of the Pink Panther (1975) not only brought director Blake Edwards and actor Peter Sellers back to the Pink Panther franchise but also brought the Pink Panther cartoon character back to the feature film series as he would star in the opening credits sequence for the first time since the first movie. He would appear in the opening credits for every Pink Panther feature film after this as well. This opening credits sequence features an animated version of Inspector Clouseau chasing The Pink Panther for the first time. This would become a reoccurring theme for the opening credits of these movies. This marks the first of two times the opening credits would be done by Richard Williams (many of you may know him for being the animation director for Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)) instead of DePatie-Freleng. Also working on this sequence is Ken Harris (who worked on many of Chuck Jones’ Looney Tunes cartoons). 

While many cartoon fans praise the Donald Duck cartoons directed by Jack Hannah, I feel the Donald shorts directed by Jack King do not get enough praise. They are often really funny. An especially good example is Chef Donald (1941). I love the use of I Got No Strings from Pinocchio (1940) in a particularly funny spot. 

Up next comes Flip the Frog in The Soup Song (1931). This movie has everything I love about Flip the Frog cartoons in it, especially the incredibly odd sense of humor and logic that could only come from an early 1930's cartoon.

Now it is time for a commercial break.

Ever wonder how cartoons are mde well wonder no more. Van Bueren Studio explains the whole process to us in the short In a Cartoon Studio (1931). 

Now we join our favorite rodent superhero in Super Mouse Rides Again (1943). You will quickly notice the cartoon you watch below has been retitled Mighty Mouse Rides Again. This was done because the character's name in his earliest films was Super Mouse. However to avoid confusion with a comic book character named Super Mouse, the character's name was changed to Mighty Mouse, which is a better name anyway. Naturally for this movie's TV airings the title was changed to have the current name of the character. I love how this version still keeps in our hero autographing his name as "Super Mouse." 

Today's cartoon selection ends with Woody Woodpecker in Fair Weather Fiends (1946). This movie was directed by Shamus Culhane. Culhane had worked at Disney, Warner Brothers and many other classic cartoon studios, however in my opinion his best work is seen in the films he directed for Walter Lantz studio. These may not only be some of his best work but they are arguably some of the finest films to come out of the Walter Lantz studio. Fair Weathered Fiends may not be my favorite of the bunch but it is still a throughly delightful cartoon, that I could watch many times and not get tired of. 

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

 

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #111

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with a later Famous Studios, Popeye cartoon and one of my favorites from that era. The film is Spree Lunch (1957). Instead of fight over the affections of Olive Oyl, here Popeye and Bluto are restaurant proprietors fighting over Wimpy as a customer (something I believe to be pointless because I doubt he really pays for a hamburger on Tuesday). The story recalls an earlier Fleischer Popeye Customers Wanted (1939) in which they similarly fight over Bluto as a customer (though owning penny arcades instead of restaurants). While Wimpy had played a role in quite a few Fleischer Popeyes, in the Famous Studios era he was rarely used at all and most of time when he was it was in reused clips from Fleischer cartoons. This makes it rather refreshing to see him not only in this cartoon, but playing a prominent role. Sadly since the theatrical Popeye cartoons were coming to an end around this time, this film marked the last appearance of both Wimpy and Pluto in a theatrical Popeye short. 





 

Broadcasting, 1961


Next comes an extremely funny, silly, crazy and somehow still kind of sweet animated short film from The National Film Board of Canada, The Big Snit (1985). This short was placed at 25 in Jerry Beck's book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons.

Next comes a black and white Looney Tunes short that I have always had a real fondness for, Porky's Bear Facts (1941). This cartoon was directed by Friz Freleng and while it is not as completely crazy as the black and white Looney Tunes directed by Tex Avery, Bob Clampett or Frank Tashlin it does certainly have moments that show what was quickly becoming the studio's signature sense of humor. Characters break the fourth wall and silly visual gags certainly find their way in at times. Yet at the same time the film feels more grounded and story driven than some of the studio's other efforts at this time. The story itself is somewhat of a takeoff on The Grasshopper and the Ants (which Disney had made a Silly Symphony based around in 1934). In typical Warner style the ending here goes completely against the moral of the story. Like many Porky cartoons of this era, Porky's role is very minimized. The truth was most of the directors were getting tired of working with the pig and this made him become a supporting character in his own cartoons for a while. A reviewer in The Film Daily was not that impressed with this cartoon stating "Rate it just as fair." A reviewer in the Motion Picture Daily found the true main character of the film quite likable stating, "An engaging character that shiftless bear." The following is an exhibitor's review from The Motion Picture Herald, "PORKY'S BEAR FACTS: Looney Tunes — Fine. Vitaphone is our best bet for good cartoon fare. Running time, nine minutes.—Fred C. Allen, Princess Theatre, Piedmont, Ala. Small town patronage."

Ub Iwerks is a legend of animation if their ever was one. His work with Walt Disney (the two co-created Mickey Mouse) in the 1920's remain some of the highlights of Disney history and it is hard to imagine where Disney would be without Ub. However thoughts on the cartoons he himself heading after leaving Walt prove not to be as popular with cartoon fans. While I do agree that none of this work reaches the height of the best of his Disney work, I personally feel there is a lot to enjoy about these cartoons and that includes his Flip the Frog cartoons. Up next is one of those, The Cuckoo Murder Case (1930). The following is a review from Motion Picture News, "Fifteen or more series of animated cartoons on the market at one time make the going tough for this type of short. That is unless they are turned out with the cleverness of 'Cuckoo Murder Case,' one of the Flip the Frog subjects produced by Ub Iwerks. Here the cartoonist takes the usual mystery slant but sends it over with loads to spare. The answer is in the treatment. Iwerks has Flip go through the most amazing contortions. This shows real thought."  

Charles Nichols' Pluto cartoons are not the most popular among cartoon fans. They often get get criticized for being too cute, tame and safe. That is why it is great to see a Pluto cartoon directed by him that is as wild crazy and surreal as what Jack Hannah was doing with Donald Duck and Jack Kinney was doing with Goofy. Plutopia (1951) remains one of my favorite Pluto cartoons because it is just so cartoony. I love this short so much and I hope you do as well. 

Next comes one of the great silent Out of the Inkwell shorts, Cartoon Factory (1924).

Last but not least is Tweety and Sylvester in Tweet and Lovely (1959).  

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

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #41 - Pre-Code Edition

Happy Saturday morning my friends. Once again it is time for more classic cartoons. This week centers completely around cartoons from the pre-code era.

We start with a cartoon from Columbia starring our buddy, Scrappy. This cartoon is called The Wolf At the Door (1932), and stars Scrappy and Oppy as Mounties trying to help a door goat who has a wolf at his door. A surpising large portion of this film involves Oppy trying to get out the door. These scenes feel like they could have been inspired by Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush (1925). Strictly pre-code gags involve where Scrappy puts hot water for Oppy and a gesture the house makes at the end of the film. An exhibitors review in The Motion Picture Herald stated, "A very satisfactory comic. Patrons enjoyed this very much."

 

Next comes possibly the best of Columbia's Krazy Kat cartoons, The Minstrel Show (1932). This is a fast paced cartoon with great music and very imaginative (and often quite funny gags). This is just pure 1930's cartoon fun at its best. An exhibitors review in The Motion Pictured Herald stated, "An extra good cartoon. Several of the grownups stayed to see this one twice."




The next cartoon is probably the most pre-code of the films included here. Honestly even those who are very familiar with pre-code Hollywood might be shocked by just how much this film gets away with. Raunchy gags seems to follow raunchy gag here, as a pretty secretary is the butt of many dirty jokes. As well as these raunchy gags around the secretary there is also the shocking site of a toilet, 28 years before Psycho (1960). This is one of the fastest paced and most enjoyable Flip the Frog films. So enjoy, Office Boy (1932).




Betty Boop is certainly the queen of early 1930's cartoons. Watching her films this becomes no surprise. These films are full of the pure unbridled creativity that marks the best cartoons of this era. A perfect example of this is Betty Boop For President (1932). This is an extremely fun cartoon and the political satire is still just as true today as it was back then. The ending image is a reference to prohibition by the way. An exhibitors review in The Motion Picture Herald stated "Boop is giving Mickey Mouse a close race. Everyone enjoyed this short reel." Another stated, "This is the best cartoon we have run in a long time. Betty stands Number 1 with our patrons above all others. Paramount has the shorts."

This post ends with the pre-code cartoon character who is the most well remembered and popular today, Mickey Mouse. Here is one of his very early films, Wild Waves (1929).




-Michael J. Ruhland

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #21

Hello my friends and welcome back for another Saturday Morning to be filled with classic cartoon-type goodies. 

Let us start with one of the great Bugs Bunny cartoons of the 1940's Bob Clampett's Falling Hare (1943). This cartoon is the famous one where Bugs meets up with a gremlin (who ain't Wendell Willikie). The working title for this film was going to be Bugs Bunny and the Gremlin. This name was dropped because Walt Disney was making an animated feature based on Roald Dahl's book, Gremlin Lore. Because of this the Walt asked other animation studios not to make films about gremlins. Warner Brothers had this cartoon and one more about gremlins too far down the line of production. So they agreed instead to take the word gremlin out of the title for both. The other was originally titled Gremlins From the Kremlin but would be renamed Russian Rhapsody (1944). This is a fast paced highly energic cartoon which features Clampett's group of animators (especially Robert McKimson and Rod Scribner) at their absolute best. 


Next comes a later Warner Brothers cartoon and one that features the strange, but often used in the 1960's pairing of Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales. This is also one of the later Daffy Duck films where the duck has become a full on villain. So enjoy Well Worn Daffy (1965). 

 Now for one of the rare instances of very dark satire in one of Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies, Who Killed Cock Robbin? This film shows cartoon birds at the mercy of an unjust legal system. Satire, dark humor, celebrity caricatures and slapstick abound. The most significant of the celebrity caricatures is Jenny Wren, a caricature of Mae West. Most of her animation here is handled fantastically by Ham Luske and her voice comes from Martha Wentworth who does a really good impression. This character would later appear in the Silly Symphony Toby Tortoise Returns (1936). Two of Walt's future Nine Old Men animate on this film, Eric Larson and Clyde Geronimi. Eric animates the scene where Cock Robbin falls and the cops rushing in. Clyde animates the scenes involving the blackbirds and the cops, Legs Sparrow with the cops and then going into the witness box, and the cops' raiding the area. For the year of 1935 the National Board of Review named this as one of the Ten Best American Films (not just cartoons but films as a whole). According to JB Kaufman and Russell Merrit's excellent book, Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series, the idea for making this film had been around the Disney studio as early as October 1933, but work truly began in March, 1934. Wilfred Jackson was originally going to be the cartoon's director, but he was replaced with Ben Sharpsteen, who was replaced with Dave Hand, who actually directed the cartoon. Dave Hand would later be the supervising director for the Disney feature films, Snow White and the Seven Drwafs (1937) and Bambi (1942). My fellow Alfred Hitchcock fans will recognize that a clip from this cartoon was later used in Hitch's classic movie, Sabotage (1936).

     

Ub Iwerks was one of the legends of early Disney cartoons. His animation defined the style of early Disney animation and he co-created Mickey with Walt. However he eventually left Walt, when he was offered to head his own cartoon studios. The cartoons that would be made there are not fondly remembered but they are often so bizarre that they have to be seen to be believed. The first starring character would be Flip the Frog and Funny Face (1932) is perhaps the best of his cartoons.



Now let us close by singing one we all know.

 

Thank you for joining me, come back next week for more cartoon treasures.

-Michael J. Ruhland