Have a Krazy Day

 

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #79

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with a classic Mickey Mouse film, Mickey's Rival (1936). The titular character is a mouse named Mortimer. Those of you who know your Disney history will know, that Mortimer was a name that was considered for Mickey. This was Mortimer's first appearance though he bared more than a little resemblance to Mr. Slicker a character that appeared in the Micky Mouse comic strip. Though Mickey's Rival was his only appearance in a theatrically released short film, it was not his only appearance in animation. He became a reoccurring character in the television shows, Mickey Mouse Works (1999-2000) and House of Mouse  (2001-2003). He also has a role in the direct to video movie, Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999) and has appeared briefly in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006-2016) and Mickey and the Roadster Races (2017-present). Outside of animation he has been used very often in the Disney comic strips and began to appear in them around the same time he made his debut in movie theaters. Mortimer's design is said to be based off of Walt Disney and those who have seen pictures of a young Walt, will find this easy to believe. The ending to Mickey's Rival has Mickey and Minnie simply shaking hands. However it was originally planned for Mickey to have a buzzer on his hand to play a Mortimer type prank on Minnie. Though this would have been out of character for Mickey at this time it would have fit perfectly in with the Mickey Mouse of the late 1920's. A review in The Motion Picture Herald stated "The subject is less complex than many of the recent Disney fabrications but wholly entertaining." The following is an exhibitor's review from The Motion Picture Herald, "Mickey's Rival: Mickey Mouse - We find that the bad characters often frighten our small children and they go out into the foyer until it is passed over. - Harland Rankin, Plaza Theatre, Tilbury, Ontario, Canada, General Patronage." The following is another exhibitor's review from the Motion Picture Herald, "Mickey's Rival: Mickey Mouse—Played this the second time as it is one of the best of the Mickeys.— C. L. Niles, Niles Theatre, Anamosa, Iowa. General patronage." A review in The Motion Picture Daily stated, "Clever animation and fast-moving, but there have been better Mickey's. For instance 'Alpine Climbers.'" The following is from a 1936 issue of The Film Daily, "United Artists' latest Walt Disney release, 'Mickey's Rival', introducing Mortimer Mouse, will open at the Radio City Music Hall with 'Swing Time' on Thursday, and at the Rivoii Theater with 'The Last oi the Mohicans.'"

The following is from a 1930 issue of Close Up.

Up next is another classic Disney cartoon from 1936, this one being a Silly Symphony, Three Little Wolves (1936). When talking about Disney sequels many quote Walt as saying "You can't top pigs with pigs." This quote refers to the sequels that the Disney studio made to Three Little Pigs (1933). Yet for sheer entertainment value, I personally love these sequels and my favorite of the bunch is Three Little Wolves. Humor-wise this is probably the best of the cartoons staring the three pigs and their wolf nemesis. The working titles of this movie were Wolf in Sheep's Clothing and The Boy Who Cried Wolf. The latter of those working titles should give you an idea of the basic story here. Like how The Big Bad Wolf (1934) put the characters into the story of Little Red Riding Hood (Little Red Riding Hood was a working title for that film), Three Little Wolves places them in the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. This cartoon was very popular upon its release. It was the first Disney film to be held over for multiple showings at the Radio City Music Hall in New York. It first played with The King Steps Out (1936) from May 28 - June 10th, 1936. Then it played with Private Number (1936) from June 11-17, 1936. Its world premiere was at the Majestic in Dallas Texas with Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times (1936) (how much I would have loved to see these two great films together in a theatre) from April 18-24, 1936. It was also held over there and played again with Captain January (1936) from  April 25- May 1. A review in the Motion Picture Herald stated, "The subject is a sheer triumph for Disney, who must have known the hazard involved in returning the Three Little Pigs in a manner to circumvent the almost inevitable anti-climax expectable in view of their original success. 'The Three Little Wolves'  is the eminently qualified result. It is immensely satisfying, manifestly advertisable, altogether excellent." A review in The Film Daily stated "In anticipation of the natural and provocative question: 'Is it as good as The Three Little Pigs?' - the answer is emphatically 'Yes!' Although 'Pigs' has the edge because it is the original, for all commercial purposes the sequel should be better. Benefitting from the well publicized reception given its predecessor, 'Wolves' is the only cartoon subject that can command as much fan interest as the return appearance of a feature production star." Some of Frank Churchill's music for this cartoon was reused in the wartime training film, Stop That Tank (1942).

Motion Picture Herald, 1936

The Film Daily, 1936

The Film Daily, 1936

Next is a classic silent Out of the Inkwell film, Koko Backtracks (1927). Like most of these shorts this movie cleverly combines animation and live action, as Koko the clown once again battles with his live action creator and often times rival, Max Fleischer (played by himself). Of course one of the joys of these movies for animation buffs is that they can actually see Max interacting with his characters. The joke of Koko making the outside live action world move backwards looks forward to a later Betty Boop film, More Pep (1936). In that short Betty also interacts with a live action Max and the world around him and accidently makes the live action world outside speed up to ridiculous speeds. The idea idea of Koko wreaking havoc on the outside world was a common theme in the Out of the Inkwell films.

Today's selection continues with a later Popeye from Famous Studios, Insect to Injury (1956). Though Famous Studios at this time most stuck to the formula of Popeye fighting Bluto over Olive, this was an exception. It is also one of the best Popeye's of this late era.







Today's cartoon selection ends with a delightfully strange Columbia Krazy Kat cartoon, Cinder Alley (1934).

Thank you for joining me, come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then peace, love and cartoons.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #56

Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning, welcome back for another round of classic cartoons. 

We resume with our good buddy Krazy Kat in Krazy's Race of Time (1937). This cartoon is a take off on The March of Time newsreels. This film gives us a look into the impossibly far away future of 1999. A review in the Motion Picture Herald states "Imaginatively contrived with the comic situations certain to draw an amused response." An exhibitors review from the Motion Picture Herald stated "Just an average cartoon with a few wise cracks." Another called the cartoon, "A very good filler." This film has some of my favorite jokes from any of the Krazy Kat shorts.  


Next is one of the great early Scrappy cartoons, Showing Off (1931). This film has all the entertaining surreal-ness that so many of us cartoon fans love about the early Scrappy's.

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Film Daily, 1931

   Much like in the later Mickey Mouse cartoons, the later Betty Boop cartoons would often times have the supporting characters becoming the focus of the films. The characters who would take over the series were Grampy and Betty's dog Pudgy. The pudgy centered cartoons would have a softer and gentler feel than the early Betty cartoons. Those who know their Fleischer Studio history will know that while Dave Fleischer always got director credit, the first animator listed did much of the directing. Therefore it is not much of a surprise that the first animator listed for this movie is Myron Waldman who specialized in these gentler cartoons. The film is Riding The Rails (1938) and while it may not be one of the best Betty Boop's it is still quite entertaining. A review in The Motion Picture Herald stated "Metropolitan audiences will derive the greatest amount of enjoyment from the cartooning of Subway travel, but the subject's pace is so fast and amusing that even non-subterranean riders should get several good laughs." An exhibitor's review from The Motion Picture Herald stated, "This is a fair cartoon, but they are getting shorter and shorter each issue and we notice that by the last series are played there will be no more. Too bad as they are a good draw here." 1939 would be the last year of Betty's big screen career.

 

Next up comes one of the most infamous Silly Symphonies shorts, The Country Cousin (1936). The highlight of this movie is Art Babbitt's animation of a drunk Abner the Mouse. There has been a lot of drunk animation over the years yet this is probably the best drunk animation ever done. There is as much comedy, personality and artistry here as there is in the classic Charlie Chaplin short, One A.M. (1916). Art Babbitt's animation of Abner isn't the only animation highlight of this cartoon. A montage sequence animated by Cy Young was so good it was later reused in the Mickey Mouse short, Mickey's Delayed Date (1947) and was still up to par with all the technical advancements Disney had made since 1936. This film was based on the Aesop's Fables story, The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, so not surprisingly the original working title was Town Mouse and Country Mouse. In 1970 Bob Clampett would later say that Abner was the inspiration for the Warner Brother's character Sniffles. Frank Tashlin went further saying that he inspired every cartoon mouse including Jerry over at MGM. An exhibitor's review in The Motion Picture Herald stated "Is there no end to the versatility of this Disney fellow? This is one of the finest and funniest cartoons we have ever had the pleasure of offering our patrons and comments indicated their complete approval."

This post ends with one of my favorite Tom and Jerry cartoons, Trap Happy (1946). This movie is one of the most pure Tom and Jerry cartoons ever made. There is no time wasted on story or set up. This is simply seven minutes of pure fast paced slapstick goodness.



Thank you for joining me come back next week for more animated goodies. Peace, love and cartoons.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Silent Era Cartoon Advertisements

Hello again my friends in this post I will be sharing with you some classic advertisements for silent era cartoons in old movie magazines.

Photoplay, 1916

Motion Picture News, 1919

Exhibitors Herald, 1927

Moving Picture World, 1920

Motion Picture News, 1920

Motion Picture News, 1916

Film Daily, 1924

Exhibitors Herald, 1924

As a bonus here is a Jerry on the Job cartoon.





Peace, love and cartoons.

-Michael J. Ruhland 

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #55

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

I personally love the Walter Lantz Oswald cartoons of the late 1920's and early 30's. Though in 1935 the Lantz studio would cutesy up this great character and make him loses much of his charm, the Lantz Oswalds before that are delightful affairs, that I am always in the mood to watch. I know these films don't have the best reputation because of unfavorable comparisons to the Walt Disney Oswalds. However this has never stopped me from loving though. However I will admit I was very familiar with these cartoons before I ever saw a Disney Oswald. Here is a highly enjoyable example of these early Lantz Oswald films, Permanent Wave (1929). Notice how the villain is Peg Leg Pete, Mickey Mouse's main nemesis. Peg Leg Pete dated back to an Alice Comedy called Alice Solves the Puzzle (1925) and had appeared in some of Walt Disney's Oswald cartoons. The character was carried over when Universal continued making Oswalds without Walt Disney, yet Walt would the character himself for his self-produced cartoons. This makes him one of the rare characters to appear in cartoons from two major cartoon studios at the same time. 

When I first saw one of the Columbia Krazy Kat cartoons, I was immediately disappointed in how little they resembled George Herriman's comic strip (which I have been a huge fan of for most of my life). However the more of these films I watched the more I began to appreciate them for what they were. They were fast paced, funny and very creative cartoons. Next is a typically fun example of the series, A Happy Family (1935). A reviewer in The Motion Picture Herald however wasn't impressed calling the film "poor in idea and execution." Another review called the cartoon simply “fair.” An exhibitors review for Krazy Kat cartoons as a whole stated, "I believe the children would try and mob me if I discontinue these."  As someone who enjoys old rubber house cartoony animation of the 1930’s, I find this film to be a lot of fun.


   

I have mentioned many times on this blog that I consider the Goofy cartoons Jack Kinney directed for Disney to be among some of the funniest cartoons ever made. Here is another great example, Goofy Gymnastics (1949).




With all the Looney Tunes cartoons that were made from 1931 to 1969 it should come as no surprise that two should share the same name. Such is the case with an early Bosko cartoon and a later Bugs Bunny cartoon, both called Dumb Patrol  (1931, 1964). With a title referencing the Howard Hawks World War One movie it should be no surprise that both these films take place during the great war. Here are both of these cartoons.








The following few pages from a 1931 article from the Motion Picture Herald discuss Junior Matinees including a Krazy Kat Klub. If you have trouble reading click on the following pages and use your touch screen to zoom in.

 





Thanks again for joining me come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then peace, love and cartoons.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #54

Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Of course that means it is time for more classic cartoons. 

Ever wonder how jazz music came to be. Well let Krazy Kat teach you in his very educational film, The Birth of Jazz (1932). 


Terrytoons while very enjoyable cartoons were always behind the times when compared to other cartoons of their times. Though made in 1940, Club Life in the Stone Age (1940) feels like a cartoon from the early 1930's and this was not just due to it being in black and white when many studios were making color cartoons. The gags, their execution and especially the character designs, all feel like they belong to a bygone era. An exhibitor's review in The Motion Picture Herald stated "A very good black and white cartoon. Was afraid of this after the color cartoons but it went over very well." Another exhibitor's review called the film, "Just an ordinary cartoon." Another was much harsher stating "Poor. No Laughs." I personally enjoy this cartoon, especially the ending gag. Still it certainly seems a little primitive for 1940.




For cartoon fans what could be better than a Tex Avery cartoon from MGM. So enjoy a true laugh out loud classic with Doggone Tired (1949).




Foney Fables (1942), is an enjoyable little Merrie Melodie cartoon parodying various fairy tales and nursey rhymes. This film was directed by Friz Freleng and there is no denying that it is not one of Friz's very best and perhaps Tex Avery could have done this better (both are great directors but a short like this does feel more up Tex’s alley). Still for what it is this is quite an enjoyable cartoon with some really good gags. I especially like the Sleeping Beauty scene and the Old Mother Hubbard joke. A review in The Film Daily stated "The irreverence pays off with plenty of laughs." A review in The Motion Picture Daily stated, "There are some chuckles in the lot." A review in Variety called the cartoon, "Only moderately humorous."




I have never been shy on this blog about my love of the cartoons Jack Kinney directed for Disney. These are some of the fastest paced and funniest cartoons of all time. Up next is another example of this with the Goofy cartoon, Californy or Bust (1945). A review in The Film Daily said the cartoon "... had enough amusement to warrant it being booked." An exhibitor's review in The Motion Picture Herald stated, "It is on the unusual side and it is entertaining." While these are positive reviews, I feel that I still like this cartoon much more than those reviewers did.




Let us close with a song.




Thanks for joining me, come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then Peace, Love and Cartoons.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #46

Hello my friends and welcome back to another Saturday morning full of classic cartoons. 

We begin with an offbeat Disney short from the early 1960's. By this time the Disney studio was no longer producing animated shorts regularly as they had done in the 1930's or 40's. However the studio had not stopped producing these films as a whole and cartoons like this would appear at times. These films were of the same high quality that Disney cartoons had always been. As a country music fan, this following short has a special interest for me as its music is provided by Rex Allen and The Sons of the Pioneers. So enjoy The Saga of Windwagon Smith (1961).

Anyone familiar with the Columbia Krazy Kat cartoons knows they bare little to no rebalance to the George Herriman comic strip on which they were supposedly based. Krazy was turned into a Mickey Mouse clone and the supporting characters disappeared completely. There was however one exception to this and that was the cartoon, Lil' Ainjil (1936). This film does a surprisingly good job at capturing the feel of the classic comic strip. This is especially true of the background art, which had the same distinct look that appeared in the comic strip. The cartoon also features other characters from the strip including Ignatz Mouse, Offissa Pup and Mrs. Kwack. Much of the story also revolves around the idea of Krazy enjoying Ignatz hitting him/her with bricks. Cartoon buffs may recognize Offissa Pup's voice as that of Billy Costello, the first voice of Popeye.  Interestingly with how this cartoon was so different from any other in the Columbia cartoon series a review in The Film Daily called it "The usual troubles of Officer Pup while trying to keep Ignatz Mouse from socking Krazy Kat with bricks." The same review called this film "Just fair." This is not a perfect cartoon, but it is quite fun to see how this series could have been had it been more faithful to the strip.

Dancing Mice (1931) could have been an appropriate title for many of the black and white Terrytoons, consider how full of mice these films often were. However it was the name of this one. This is a very typical yet enjoyable example of the Terrytoons cartoons of this era.




When Gene Deitch took over the Terrytoons studio in 1956, he drastically changed the style of the studio's output and got rid of all the studio's reoccurring characters in favor of new ones. However there was one Terrytoon from this era that used the one of the previous characters. That character was Dinky Duck and the cartoon was It's A Living (1957). This cartoon served as a satire on the films the studio used to put out, Cinemascope (which this film was made in) and TV commercials. This is an excellent and very funny film that is one of the best Terrytoons from this era.

This week's selection of cartoons ends with an especially good Pink Panther cartoon, Dial P For Pink (1965). Enjoy.


Thanks for joining me come back next week for more animated treasures.

-Michael J. Ruhland

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 #40

Hello my friends and welcome back for another Saturday Morning featuring more classic cartoons. 

As many of you know Mighty Mouse cartoons often followed a strict formula with little variation. That is what makes the following cartoon stand out. While it still maintains some of the same formula such as the last minute rescue it does feature enough differences to make it not feel like the same thing again. Such changes include Mighty Mouse appearing in disguise and the lack of defeating a villain. Enjoy Spare the Rod (1954).


During Prohibition many American cartoons revolved around alcohol. As during prohibition alcohol was more popular than when it was legal. The Beer Parade (1933) is a oddity among these shorts as it stars the character Scrappy who is supposed to be a little boy. To be fair the beer is drunk by gnomes and only served by Scrappy and the even younger Oopy. An exhibitors review from The Motion Picture Herald called this cartoon "Extra good."




Next comes another early 1930's cartoon from Columbia. This cartoon revolves around another topical subject. This time it's The Great Depression. The American entertainment industry combatted the Depression with overwhelming optimism. This was especially true when it come to cartoons. This following cartoon, Prosperity Blues (1932) is a pure example of that. This cartoon feature Columbia's other cartoon star of the period Krazy Kat. These cartoons had scant resmblance to the George Herriman comic strip on which they were based. Krazy even went from being a character of undefiend gender to clearly a male and Ignatz Mouse and Officer Pupp are not to be found. Still these films are quite enjoyable on their own weird merit. The following is an exhibitors review from the Motion Picture Herald. "Prosperity Blues: Krazy Kat - Better than the average, music excellent. Krazy Kat cartoons are always good. Running time 6 minutes. -Marion F. Bodwell, Paramount Theatre, Wyomoing, Ill. Rural Patronage."

 



Next up comes one of my favorite Pink Panther cartoons, We Give Pink Stamps (1965).



We end our time of watching cartoons together with a classic Tweety and Sylvester short directed by Friz Freleng, Tom Tom Cat (1953). Friz directed almost all of the classic Tweety and Sylvester cartoons (Hawaiian Aye Aye (1964) was directed by Gerry Chiniquy (that cartoon and Dumb Portal (1964) where the only classic Warners cartoons he directed)). This cartoon features much of what made Friz a great director, great timing, fantastic slapstick and use of off screen space. However one has to wonder what a whole tribe of cats is gonna do with one small bird like Tweety.

  

Thanks for joining me and come back next week for more cartoon goodies.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #35

Hello my friends and welcome to another round of classic cartoons. 

I have mentioned before on this blog how I am a fan of Walter Lantz's Oswald cartoons. They are so cartoony and over the top strange that I just can't help but have an affection for them. The Hash Shop (1930) is one of my favorites. These gags are so unashamed about how corny they are and the animation is the very over the top cartoony early 1930's style that I love so much. So enjoy this great cartoon. A review in The Film Daily stated, "All in all 'The Hash Shop' is a filler certain of providing considerable entertainment."
 

I have also mentioned before that I am also a fan of the cartoons Jack Kinney directed for Disney. These were some of the studio's funniest, often providing an almost Tex Avery like sense of humor that I find irrespirable. Next comes one of those great cartoons, Motor Mania (1950). Despite this film being such a comedic tour de force, it also had a successful life as a safety film. This film received the National Safety Council Award. This cartoon was even used in 1953 in Oakland, California as a mandatory part in its Traffic Violator School. No need to look at this film as an educational experience, it is just as fast paced and funny as any of Jack Kinney's great cartoons for Disney.

 

Though the Columbia Krazy Kat cartoons bared little to no resemblance to George Herriman's classic comic strip (even changing the title character from a character without a stated gender to an obviously male character) on which they were supposedly based, they are quite fun in their own right. Case in point, Weenie Roast (1931).




We end with an early Looney Tunes cartoon. In fact this is the third one released, Hold Anything (1930). This is a fun little musical cartoon starring the first Looney Tunes star, Bosko. I love Frank Marsales' music in many of these early Looney Tunes and this one is no exception. Also those mice don't look anything like Mickey, do they?




-Michael J. Ruhland

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #7

Happy Saturday Morning again my friends. Again that means it is time to share some more classic cartoons.

To start off with let us enjoy some coyote and roadrunner. As well as The Bugs Bunny Show, these two Also had their own TV show made up of theatrical shorts with new bridging sequences, appropriately called The Road Runner Show (1966-1968). Most episodes would start with a coyote and roadrunner cartoon, then shift into a Tweety and Sylvester cartoon and then end with any Looney Tune or Merrie Melodie. The bridging sequences all were quick black out gags with the coyote and roadrunner. These sequences were created by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, who produced the theatrical Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies from 1964-1967 (Update: I wasn't completely right about this as you can see by looking at the comments). The Freleng from DePatie-Freleng was Friz Freleng who had worked on Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies from the very beginning and helped create such classic characters as Porky Pig, Yosemite Sam and Sylvester. The show also has one of the catchiest theme songs ever, a little ditty written by Barbara Cameron. Barbara had been a popular singer in the 1940's, even being a regular vocalist on the Moon River (1930-1970) radio show (another vocalist on that show was an obscure little singer named Doris Day, just getting her start). The following video includes the theme song as well as some of the bridging sequences.

    

Speaking of Looney Tunes, I have always felt one of the most underrated Looney Tunes directors is Norm McCabe. Most of his Looney Tunes (the ones he directed not the ones with him as an animator) are overlooked partly because all of them are in black and white, but also because most of them are full of World War 2 references. However his cartoons are truly funny and often laugh out loud funny. Our next cartoon is a fantastic example of how great of a cartoon director he was. It is also one of his most World War 2 themed. This is also one of the few Looney Tunes around this time, that did not feature Porky Pig. It was a rule throughout the mid to late 1930's that Porky had to be in every Looney Tunes cartoon. In the early 1940's this rule was starting to get broken sometimes, though Porky still appeared in the majority of Looney Tunes. So without further ado here is, The Ducktators (1942).

Next let us look at one of the funniest of Disney's Goofy cartoons, Hold That Pose (1950). In his must read book The Disney Films Leonard Maltin even refers to this as "one of the funniest cartoons ever made." It certainly is a great one. It is also a perfect example of what director Jack Kinney did best, fast paced gag filled cartoons. Anyone who thinks of Disney cartoons as nothing but cute and sweet should really look at how laugh out loud funny and fast paced Kinney's cartoons are. In this cartoon Goofy tries his hand at being a wildlife photographer. Donald Duck had previously done this in two cartoons, Donald's Camera (1941) and Clown of the Jungle (1947).

During the 1910's many animated cartoons were heavily inspired by newspaper comics. Not only did many cartoons feature characters from comic strips, but many felt like a Sunday comic that moved. A perfect example of this is Krazy Kat Goes a Wooing (1916), which featured George Herriman's famous comic strip character Krazy Kat. Notice that the opening title card states in big letters "A Cartoon by George Herriman" and then in smaller letters "Animated by Leon Searl." Truth is Herriman probably had little input on this cartoon.






Not all animated short films for the golden age of cartoons were silly and funny. Some were very consciously artistic and set out to make political and social commentary. One of the best is Berthold Bartosch's L'idee (1932). In this French film a beautiful and pure idea is shown in the form of a naked woman. However everyone tries to make the idea into what they want it to be instead of accepting it for what it is. This message is just as powerful and true today as it was when the film was originally made.




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

-Michael J. Ruhland