Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #206

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with a classic early Merrie Melody, The Queen was in the Parlor (1932). This cartoon features the character Goopy Geer. This was one of Rudolph Ising's attempts to come up with a reoccurring character for the Merrie Melodies cartoons (earlier attempts had been Foxy and Piggy). Goopy only appeared in three short films, Goopy Geer (1932), Moonlight for Two (1932), and this movie. He would much later appear in the Tiny Toon Adventures episode, Two-Tone Town (1992). 

Next we join Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy in Moose Hunters (1937). This film was not the first time Mickey had hunted a moose. In The Moose Hunt (1931), Mickey and Pluto had hunted a moose. However these two cartoons are very different despite a similar idea. This movie made its TV debut with the Disneyland TV show episode, The Goofy Success Story (1955). The following is a review from The Film Daily, "Plenty of action and fun stud this highly entertaining short with Mickey cast in the role of a hunter. On stilts and enshrouded with foliage, the renowned rodent is camouflaged as a tree. For his two companions, the Goof and Donald Duck, disguise themselves as an alluring female of the moose family so as to attract the majestic Mr. Moose to the spot marked for the kill. Literally ladening the air with the scent of perfume, the plotters succeed not only one but two romantically inclined gentlemen moose to the woodland clearing, where in keeping with classical male tradition, they fight over the lady fair. But when they discover that that the lovely maiden moose is the mean machination of Donald Duck and the Goof they charge to the attack. Mickey and his allies fortunately escape in a canoe. Young and old will love this top-notch reel."   

Next is the Fleischer Brothers Superman cartoon, Billion Dollar Limited (1942). Paramount (the distributors of the Fleischer cartoons) brought the screen rights to the famous superhero in 1940, and gave it to the Fleischers to make a cartoon series out of. The studio was not quite sure about this venture after all animated cartoons had not yet done anything similar to a pure action film. They tried to dissuade Paramount by asking for four times the usual budget for one of the studio's cartoon shorts ($100,000) thinking Paramount would refuse. Shockingly they accepted and the series began production. Voicing Superman himself was Bud Collyer, who was already the character's voice on radio. The famous lines "Look up in the sky- it's a bird - no, it's a plane - no its superman" made their first appearance in Superman lore with these cartoons. The following are some exhibitor's reviews from the Motion Picture Herald, "Billion Dollar Limited: Okay. Too bad the animation is so jerky, however.  - Palace Theatre, Penacook, N.H." "BILLION DOLLAR LIMITED: Superman Color Cartoons — Poorest of this series so far. Even the kids didn't like this one. Too extreme to get by. The other two we have shown got by pretty well. - S.L. George, Mountain Home Theatre, Mountain Home, Idaho. Small town patronage." "SUPERMAN IN THE BILLION DOLLAR LIMITED: Superman Color Cartoons — We hardly know how to rate these cartoons. Played with a Gene Autry western and the program brought in a lot of kids. Maybe it was the cartoon. - Horn and Morgan Inc., Star Theatres, Hay Springs, Neb. Small Town Patronage." The following is a review from The Motion Picture Daily, "This version of The Great Train Robbery is quite a departure from the original. It involves a billion dollar train shipment. Bandits in an armored car attempt to take over with dynimite, machine guns and other implements of persuasion. Superman speeds to the scene. When the bridge is blown up and train goes toppling over, he dives down, gets a firm grip on it, and brings it back to the tracks. With bullets bouncing off his chest, he then tows it back into the station. The bandits retreat. Apart from the short's obvious value as children's fare, it is so fantastic that adults too should go for it. Running time, 8 mins. Release Jan. 9, 1942."

Now for a Fleischer Brothers Talkartoon, Up to Mars (1930). 

Now for a commercial break.

Now for the Pink Panther in Psst Pink (1971). This is the TV version of the short, which unlike the theatrical version contains a laugh track. I chose this version because I really enjoy the little bumpers this show had between the cartoons and this video includes one of those. 

Motion Picture Exhibitor, 1966

The Exhibitor, 1964

Now for a Terry Toons short starring Little Roquefort and Percy the Cat, Playful Puss (1953). These shorts may never reach the heights of MGM's very similar Tom and Jerry, but they are quite fun in their own right, even if they continue to go overlooked. This movie in particular has some delightful moments and a fun premise. 

Today's cartoon selection ends with Bugs Bunny in Bewitched Bunny (1954). This cartoon marked the first appearance of Witch Hazel in a Looney Tunes cartoon. Rather than being voiced by June Foray (who would take over the voice in the next film, Broomstick Bunny (1956)), here the character is voiced by Bea Benaderet, who would later voice Betty Rubble on The Flintstones. As some of you probably know Disney made a Donald Duck cartoon featuring a witch named Witch Hazel, before this film (that character was voiced by June Foray). Bewitched Bunny would later be used in the feature length compilation film, Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales (1982).

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another selection of classic cartoons. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry. 

Resources Used

https://lantern.mediahist.org/

Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by David Gerstein and J.B. Kaufman

Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin

 

 

 

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #196

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with the first of Chuck Jones' cartoons featuring Charlie Dog, Little Orphan Airedale (1947). Despite this being the first Charlie Dog cartoon, the template for these films was clearly set up by the Bob Clampett cartoon, Porky's Pooch (1941). This film is pretty much a remake of that earlier film. This cartoon also has one of my favorite Chuck Jones jokes in it, where Charlie tells us why he "shouldn't be roughly handled." 

Curse of the Pink Panther (1983) is by far my least favorite of all the feature length Pink Panther movies. This was the first of The Pink Panther features (with the exception of Inspesctor Clouseau (1968)) to not feature Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau. Instead of recasting the character for a whole movie, it was decided that this film would star a new character, Sgt. Clifton Sleigh, who would be played by Ted Wass. Ted Wass stated in a studio publicity release, "Blake Edwards says that if Clouseau was Charlie Chaplin then Sleigh is Harold Lloyd." If only the character was anywhere near as funny as Harold Lloyd. Unfortunately this has the biggest fault any Pink Panther movie can have and that is that there are very few laughs. The only good thing about this movie is the animated opening credits. Like Trail of the Pink Panther this sequence would be directed by the always wonderful Art Leonardi, who was a veteran of Warner Brothers and DePatie-Freleng (which did the opening titles for most of the previous Pink Panther feature films) and was produced by Marvel Productions (DePatie-Freleng's successor). The title sequences for this film and Trail of the Pink Panther were produced back to back, much like how the live action majority of both movies were filmed simultaneously. This sequence is a delight and should have been part of a much better film. 

Now we join our good friend Gandy Goose in The Frame-up (1938).

Next we join Goofy in The Olympic Champ (1942). As I have stated many times on this blog, the Goofy cartoons, Jack Kinney directed for Disney are some of my favorite cartoons of all time. This short perfectly shows why, it is a fast moving and very funny example of slapstick humor at its best. To me Jack Kinney was a master of pure cartoon slapstick and deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Tex Avery or Chuck Jones. This short film made its TV debut on the episode of the Disneyland TV show, The Goofy Sports Story (1956). It would appear again on the episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, In Shape with Von Drake (1964). 

Now it is time for a commercial break.

Now for something completely different here is a completely serious cartoon short of the 1950's, The Tell-Tale Heart (1953). This film is not surprisingly from the UPA studio. The UPA studio at this time sought to move away from the violent slapstick of Warner Brothers or MGM cartoons, or the more realistic "illusion of life" featured in many Disney cartoons. They often experimented with what could be done with the color and design in animated films. These films often experimented with flat backgrounds, purposely limited animation and abstract color schemes that reflect the emotion of a scene rather than what something would really look like. As is true of all cartoon studios that do a lot of experimenting, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. Tell-Tale Heart is one of the most successful and one of the most extreme experiments. Most American audiences at this time had never seen an animated short quite like this and many would never see something like this again. When a 1954 article in Home Movies talking about the Cannes Film Festival got to Disney's Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953) winning a prize, the writer had this to say, "It is unpardonable however that Disney should so openly and fully steal the style of the cartoon developed by the most excellent groups of artists, Steven Bosustow's UPA. It was no secret this was the case among those as the festival as UPA is well known and well respected in France. It is a shame that UPA recent and excellent 3D cartoon, The Tell-Tale Heart could not be shown at the festival, for it most certainly won the prize awarded to Disney." This cartoon is placed at 24 in Jerry Beck's book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons. 

Next enjoy one of the Fleischer Studio's early Talkartoons, Wise Flies (1930). 

Next comes the Coyote and Roadrunner in Rushing Roulette (1965). This film was made after Chuck Jones had left the Warner Brothers cartoon studio and therefore unlike the earlier Roadrunner films, this one was not directed by Chuck Jones. Instead this cartoon was directed by Robert McKimson. 

Today's cartoon selection ends with one of the Simpsons shorts for The Tracey Ullman Show, Zoo Story (1988). 

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another selection of animated gems until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry. 

Resources Used

The 50 Greatest Cartoons edited by Jerry Beck

Pink Panther: The Ultimate Guide to the Coolest Cat in Town! by Jerry Beck

Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon by Leonard Maltin.

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/The_Disney_Wiki

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

 

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #166

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

Despite Taz's extreme popularity with Looney Tunes fans today, he only appeared in 5 of the original short films. My favorite of these cartoons is Ducking the Devil (1957). This movie marks the only time during the golden age of Looney Tunes that Taz was paired against Daffy Duck. In the other four films, Taz had worked against Bugs Bunny. This movie like the other Taz cartoons is directed by Robert McKimson. 

Next Little Lulu tries to break into the movies, despite her cartoons already playing in movie theaters, in Lulu on Hollywood (1944). The storyline of this cartoon however is very appropriate as Little Lulu had been a star of cartoons that appeared in The Saturday Evening Post before Hollywood called on her to be a movie star. Not everyone was impressed with her animated screen antics though as is evidenced by a review of this cartoon in The Showman's Trade Review, which stated, "This promising little cartoon character is suffering from faulty scripting. In her mischievous nature rests on her popular following, but on the screen her antics are falling short of their protentional laugh punch." Still the range of emotions in her acting, during the screen test scene always puts a smile on my face. 

Motion Picture Herald, 1943

Next comes an early Merrie Melody cartoon that I really love, You're Too Careless with Your Kisses (1932). Like many of the Merrie Melodies of this time this short film very much resembles Disney's early Silly Symphonies. However this cartoon does not come off as a pale imitation of Disney but as a fun little movie that is very charming. There are some really clever gags here (such as one involving a couch) and the villain is a lot of fun. The themes of drunkenness and infidelity remind one that these cartoons were not made only for children but all movie audiences.   

Next comes an early Disney Silly Symphonies cartoon, Playful Pan (1930). One thing that separates Disney from other cartoon studios of the time is that they would sometimes completely throw away work that the filmmakers weren't happy with to make them work better. This costs time and money, something other studios held too dear to do such a thing. Though animation began on October 24, 1930, in early November of the same year. the film's opening scenes were completely redone. This redone animation lasts from the opening to when the tree is sawed in half with lightning. Because of this, the opening scenes of this short film were the last ones animated. Speaking of animators this cartoon features an all star cast of Disney animators. The beautiful opening is animated by Tom Palmer, a great animator who was also briefly a director for Warner Brothers. The scenes involving the daisies dancing, the fire attacking the tree and the squirrels were all animated by Les Clark. Les Clark is a true Disney legend and would become one of Walt's Nine Old Men and is often recognized as one of Mickey Mouse's best animators. Future Donald Duck director Jack King animates the great scene where Pan causes the flames to follow him. The flames actually jumping into the water was animated by Norm Ferguson, another Disney legend who played a huge role in developing Pluto's personality. Wilfred Jackson (who would become one of the best Silly Symphonies directors) animated the worms dancing. Johnny Cannon, who animated on many of Disney's best films from the 1930's would animate the scenes with the birds in the fire. Dave Hand, who would be the supervising director for the Disney features, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Bambi (1942), animated the trees and clouds dancing. Ben Sharpsteen, who would be the supervising director for the Disney features Pinocchio (1940) and Dumbo (1941) animates the lightning and the flames leaving the trees. Frenchy De Tremaudan, another great animator who worked on a lot of Disney's best shorts at this time, animates the animals squirting water. Dick Lundy, who animated Donald's first tantrum and would become a director of some great Woody Woodpecker cartoons at Walt Lantz studio, animates the animals running and the raccoon alerting Pan. Jack Cutting, who would later direct a couple of Silly Symphonies animates the fox whose tail is on fire. 

National Board of Review Magazine, 1931

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Now we join The Pink Panther in Tickled Pink (1968). 

Up next is one of The Van Beuren Studio's Aesop's Sound Fables cartoons, Good Old Schooldays (1930). Notice two mice in this movie who look a lot like Mickey and Minnie. In 1931, Walt Disney would sue the Van Beuren Studio for making cartoons with characters too much like Mickey and Minnie for his comfort. 

Today's cartoon selection ends with our friend Goofy in Father's Weekend (1953). By the 1950's Goofy had turned from Mickey's silly friend to an everyman, who had to endure the little problems in life that pretty much every moviegoer could relate to. Much of this change occurred under the direction of Jack Kinney. I feel that too often Jack Kinney is overlooked when the great cartoon directors are listed. However his hilarious short films for Disney, perfectly show why he deserves to be listed with other greats like Tex Avery or Chuck Jones. This movie is a perfect example of his true gift with comedic cartoons and it never fails to make me laugh. 

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



Resources Used

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

The Disney Films by Leonard Maltin

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

Video Link: Behind the Tunes - "Once Upon A Looney Tune"

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #134

 Hello my friends and welcome back for another round of classic cartoons. 

Today's cartoon selection begins with a black and white Looney Tune, Porky's Midnight Matinee (1941). This is an early effort from Chuck Jones and is typical of his output at the time. The pace is slower moving than any of Warner Brother's other cartoon directors. Though Chuck Jones would later be known for fast paced slapstick like the coyote and roadrunner cartoons at this point his timing was often deliberately slow. Chuck also tended to rely on pantomime around this time and it was common for him to use characters that didn't talk. The ant here does not speak at all and Porky even receives very little dialogue. The ant also is typical of the smaller size characters (Sniffles, Joe Glow the Firefly, Tom Thumb, The Book Worm) that Chuck seemed to favor at this time. The following is an Exhibitor's Review from the Motion Picture Herald.

Next we join Popeye in Greek Mirthology (1954). 

Next comes a real classic, Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953). Though this is a Disney cartoon, it does not visual resmeble what one excepts from a Disney film. The short has a stylized look that was clearly inspired by what the UPA (Mr. Magoo, Gerald McBoing Boing) was doing at the time. This movie was very much legendary Disney animator (and one of the infamous Nine Old Men ), Ward Kimball. Though C. August Nichols receives a co-director, he soon had little to do with this movie leaving all the creative decisions to Ward. Ward later remarked, "I was the one who did that picture all the way." As well as the high stylized look this short also uses limited animation. This is not limited animation used for budgetary reasons (like so many Saturday Morning Cartoons) but an artistic choice. Ward later commented on this decision stating, "you have to hold drawings. Watch and you'll see that sometimes the mouth just moves or an eye blinks. That is the difference between full animation and limited animation." Some at the Disney studio did not approve of the look or movement in this cartoon, with Ward even stating that for some it was "regarded as sacrilegious for Disney at the time." Iwao Takamoto for instance would state, "I believe that Ward in a sense took advantage of Walt's growing interest in live action during the early 1950's and that Walt was away from the studio more than he had been previous. This is how [Ward] was able to produce things that Walt would have never been in favor of, such as 'Toot Whistle, Plunk and Boom' which … was drawn in that stark, modern UPA style that Walt tended to disparage."  However some were inspired by the short. Director Jack Hannah would even use similarly flat stylized designs in a few of his future cartoons. As this movie was almost finished. Walt Disney got a call from Darryl Zanuck (head of 20th Century Fox) who asked if they had any cartoons to go with his Cinemascope features. Walt said, "Well, I'll look around." Walt approached Ward Kimball about releasing this film in Cinemascope to which Ward replied, "We're almost finished with it but ok I'll go back and redesign some of the gags for the bigger screen." It turned out to be a much more complex and daunting task than this though. Kimball would state about these changes that they "would have to change the size of the celluloid sheet on which we make our drawings and paintings - from 12 1/2 by 15 1/2 inches to 12 1/2 by 31 inches." He also learned the difference between making a cartoon for Cinemascope. He would later state, "In Cinemascope cartoon characters move not the backgrounds. Because there is more space, the characters could move about without getting outside the visual angle … characters could no longer perform in one spot against a moving background but are moved through the scenes." Still Ward was able to meet the deadline. The movie was a huge success winning the Acedmy Award for Best Animated Short Subject. However since a live action Disney nature documentary short was also nominated for an award that night, Walt came up and accidentally thanked the "Naturalist photographers who have played such a great part in making the nature films." This short receives the number 29 spot in Jerry Beck's book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons. 

 

Now it is time for a Garfield Quickie. 

Next comes a delightful Pink Panther short, Pink Punch (1966). This movie was directed by Hawley Pratt, who had been a  layout artist for producer (and co-creator of the panther) Friz Freleng, when Friz was directing Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. 

Next comes a classic one shot Merrie Melodies cartoon, Have You Got Any Castles? (1938). This movie is part of a series of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts that revolved around objects coming to life in a book store over night. These cartoons began with Three's a Crowd (1933) and ended with Book Revue (1946). Have You Got Any Castles? is one of the finest of these films. This movie is directed by Frank Tashlin (who also directed another variant on this theme the same year, You're An Education (1938)), who deserves a place among the finest cartoon director of the 1930's and 40's (he would later direct live action features starring the likes of Bob Hope, Jayne Mansfield and Jerry Lewis). There is little in the way of story here, but plenty of gags, music and fun. The Swing For Sale musical number  features reused animation from a Friz Freleng directed Merrie Melody Clean Pastures (1937). The following is a couple of exhibitor's reviews from the Motion Picture Herald. "HAVE YOU GOT ANY CASTLES: Merrie Melodies —A swell little cartoon in color. Another smash hit, very clever and it impressed me as it did the older people. Kiddish enough for the kiddies. Yet to understand it, it would get a real laugh from the older folks. Running time, seven minutes.—Pearce Parkhurst, State Theatre, Torrington, Conn. General patronage." "Have You Got Any Castles: Merrie Melodies - To sit down and watch these cartoons is like watching something happen in the line of a miracle. You can't beat them. This is a knockout. Running time, eight minutes. - George Khattar, Casino Theatre, Whitney Pier, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. General Patronage."

Next is a silent Mutt and Jeff cartoon, When Hell Freezes Over (1926). 

Now let us close with a song.

Resources Used

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

The 50 Greatest Cartoons Edited by Jerry Beck

The Life and Times of Ward Kimball: Maverick of Disney Animation by Todd James Pierce. 

 

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #109

 Hello my friends and welcome back for another selection of classic cartoons. 

Today's cartoon selection begins with one of the most famous cartoon shorts of all time, Steamboat Willie (1928). While contrary to popular belief this was not the first sound cartoon, there is no doubt that no cartoon before had used sound as well as this film did. This was the short that opened up the door for what sound cartoons could be and its effect could soon be felt on almost every sound cartoon being made. Though this was not the first Mickey cartoon made either (Plane Crazy and The Galloping Gaucho were made before it), this was the film that made Mickey a true movie star. In fact after the success of Steamboat Willie the two earlier Mickeys were given synchronized soundtracks because of Willie's success as a talkie. Willie brought about the idea that unlike early live action talkies (which often sparsely used music outside of musical numbers), sound cartoons would use music as just as important a part of the storytelling as the visuals. Even when studios like the Fleischer studio and Warner Brothers would make cartoons in their own style, this principal was largely employed. Walt would later recall "When the picture was half finished we had a showing with sound. A couple of my boys could read music and one of them [Wilfred Jackson] could play a mouth organ. We put them in a room where they could not see the screen and arranged to pipe their sound into the room where our wives and friends were going to see the picture. The boys worked from a music and sound effects score. After several false starts sound and action got off with the gun. The mouth organist played the tune and the rest of us in the sound department bammed tin pans and blew side whistles on the beat. The synchronization was pretty close. The effect on our little audience was nothing less than electric. They responded almost instinctively to this union of sound and motion. I though they were kidding me. So they put me in the audience and ran the action again. It was terrible but it was wonderful! And it was something new." The reaction from audiences when the film hit theatres was if anything even greater. It is hard to overstate just how incredible the reaction to this cartoon was when released. While this cartoon can not have the feeling of newness or startling innovation it once had, it still successeds today wholly on an entertainment level. The truth is that this cartoon is still a lot of fun and the gags remain charming and clever over 90 years later. The film received the #13 spot in Jerry Beck's book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons. November 18, 1928 marked Steamboat Willie's debut at New York's Colony Theater and that date is now widely considered to be Mickey's birthday. I personally have this cartoon on my mind after building a LEGO set of it (a hobby I have got into during lockdown). 

Next comes another masterpiece of a cartoon, Minnie the Moocher (1932) starring the one and only Betty Boop. This cartoon is a pure example of what the Fleischer studio did better than anyone else. The film is full of incredibly creative, surreal and just plain weird gags that are executed to complete perfection. This cartoon is the first of three Bettys to feature jazz singer Cab Calloway (the other two being Snow White and the Old Man of the Mountain). In all three of these cartoons, the singer was not only used to sing his song, but his iconic dancing was captured by the dancer via rotoscope. A review in the Film Daily stated "This swell Max Fleischer musical cartoon is the best turned out so far with the cute pen and ink star, Betty Boop, who seems to get more sexy and alluring each time and her boyfriend Bimbo. The musical selection is supplied by Cab Calloway and his orchestra and what these boys can't do to the Minnie the Moocher number is not worth mentioning."

Next comes Woody Woodpecker in To Catch a Woodpecker (1957). 

Now we will join our friend Toby the Pup, Down South (1931). While Charles Mintz was producing Krazy Kat cartoons for Columbia , he decided to create a separate series of cartoons for RKO, these starring a character named Toby the Pup. To head this series Mintz handed the duties to Dick Huemer, Art Davis and Sid Marcus. Dick Huemer had been a major contributor to the style of the Fleischer studio earlier and this is probably why these shorts have a Fleischer-type feel to them. Huemer, Davis and Marcus would later be the major creative factors for Columbia's Scrappy cartoons (also produced by Mintz).

Next we join Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in Fresh Hare (1942). Many of you who grew up watching this cartoon on TV might have thought its ending was awfully abrupt and non sensical. The reason for this is simply the ending gag was cut from most TV broadcasts (for reasons that will be obvious once you see it). This is also one of those cartoons where Elmer is heavier than we are used to seeing him. This was due to a brief and unsuccessful attempt to make Elmer more resemble his voice actor Arthur Q. Bryan. Though this version of Elmer never caught on, certain cartoon fans (including myself) have a fondness for these cartoons. Later director Friz Freleng would express that he had a dislike for using Elmer as Bugs' adversary. The reason for this being that he felt Elmer was too sympathetic of a character and too easy of a character for Bugs to defeat. Despite this Friz's cartoons with both these characters are often quite good (including this one).  

Today's cartoon selection continues with another Friz Freleng classic, Daffy the Commando (1943). The following is an exhibitor's review from the Motion Picture Herald, "Daffy the Commando: Looney Tunes Cartoon - This is Daffy's best. By the way where has Vitaphone being keeping Daffy Duck? This is the first I played in a long while. -Ralph Raspa, State Theatre, Rivesville, W. Va." 

Today's cartoon selection ends with Blackie Sheep in Much Ado About Mutton (1947). 

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.

The 50 Greatest Cartoons by Jerry Beck

John W. Burton on Photographing Cartoons

 Cinematography has become a major point of discussion for live action film. Yet photographing animated films is something that is rarely discussed. That is what makes the following article so interesting. This is a 1941 article written by an actual camera man for animated cartoons, John W. Burton (remembered by animation buffs today for his work on Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons), for International Photographer magazine. 

"A far cry from the glamorous conditions of Class A feature production, animated cartoon photography, undoubtedly is no mystery to most of you, but for those of you who have never had the pleasure of being in a cartoon studio, a few words of explanation. 

"Those of you who are familiar with the subject know that motion pictures are photographed at the rate of ninety feet a minute which is exactly twenty four frames a second. The film thus obtained gives a photographic record of progressive positions of the action.

"In animated cartoon production this procedure is practically reversed. We analyze the action to be photographed, then make a series of cartoon drawings representing the number of frames required by the timing we want. These drawings are painted on clear sheets of celluloid and photographed in their proper sequence over a background that has been painted to represent the scene or setting. The result is a strip of motion picture film of progressive cartoon drawings that give us the illusion of motion when projected. 

"Our cartoon camera cranes are constructed so that the camera is suspended above the photographic field, which is like a table surface, equipped with a glass plate operated by air pressure to hold the celluloid drawings flat over the background. Bell & Howell cameras are used, equipped with a stop motion drive and are set on a worm gear which allows the cameras to be raised or lowered, permitting the cartoon equivalent of 'truck shots.' In certain shots to give the illusion of following the action, or 'panning,' long backgrounds are made and between each exposure the camera man moves the background a certain predetermined distance. 

"In cartoon photography, the cameraman must be gifted with a good deal of patience as well as a very methodical mind as each exposure requires an accurate set up. For example in many scenes in addition to seeing the camera, color-filters, take-up, etc., are operating correctly, he must remember to change the drawings correctly according to their sequence, move the background the required distance for pan shots, truck the camera up and down, follow focus, as well as possibly changing the shutter each frame should he be fading or dissolving. Each cartoon has about 12,000 such exposures. This may explain why most of us boys seem a bit 'tecthed in the head.' 

"For various camera and optical effects used in the production, the camera department has accumulated an amusing variety of home made trick lenses. For such effects as used in water scenes, heat effects and in shots requiring special distortions, a collection of glass dishes, bottles, bowls and pieces of window glass, some treated with solutions and some warped after heating, have been acquired, making a rather unusual assortment of optical equipment. 

"Some animation that should be quite lifelike or human in its action presents a rather difficult problem of analysis which we often overcome by actually photographing human actors and actresses going through the action to be done later in animation. This gives us our only excuse for occasional location trips as well as providing the opportunity to 'keep our hand in' with regular production equipment. The motion picture film of this human action is used by the animators to analyze and otherwise assist them in the animation of cartoon characters. Some of these shots have been quite interesting. For instance, the strip-tease sequence in the cartoon 'Cross Country Detours' and the bubble dancer in the picture 'Hollywood Steps Out.'

"Several color cartoons have been produced by Mr. Schlesinger that have incorporated actual motion picture sequences in conjunction with animation. They offered an interesting problem, as Technicolor cartoons are photographed on a single strip of negative with the three color separations for each frame in successive order, while regular Technicolor pictures use three separate negative strips. This make impossible the intercutting of cartoon Technicolor and regular Technicolor. To use regular Technicolor in our cartoons we made from the Technicolor positive a three successive frame negative strip by rephotographing each frame through the three color separation filter changed by hand from frame to frame. A rather laborious and tedious procedure, but never the less successful.

"Black and white positives have likewise been copied in Technicolor by the same process, color being added to the black and white picture by tinting the light with color filters. 

"Many cartoon scenes require special effects in the way of double and multiple exposures, which presents a fascinating problem to the camera man. Insomuch as each frame is accounted for in the timing of a cartoon and the camera is equipped with a feeder counter and kept in gear at all times and can be operated foreword or in reverse, the cameraman can go back to any particular frame and make what double exposure the scene requires. In many cases for special effects such as double exposures, light effects, multiple exposures or montages the film has been through the camera as many as ten or twelve times, each time receiving whatever exposure is required before the film is finally taken out of the camera for development.    

"In this respect animated cartoon photography is unique in that all of these effects, as well as dissolves, wipe offs, fades, split screen, etc., are made in the camera at the time if photography and not added later by printing or in the laboratory." 

   
 

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #81

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

Today’s selection begins with another classic pairing of Mickey, Donald and Goofy with Tugboat Mickey (1940). This cartoon very closely follows the structure built from previous films from the series. The trio are placed in a setting and have a similar goal, but have their own separate adventures on the way to “achieving” that goal. This movie has a great twist ending that always provides a good laugh. This was not the first time the trio had teamed up aboard a ship as they had previously done so in Boat Builders (1938) and The Whalers (1938). There is not a weak link in this “trilogy.” The following is an exhibitors' review from the Motion Picture Herald, "TUGBOAT MICKEY: Walt Disney Cartoons—We stayed away from the Disneys for over a year but think we made a mistake. People bring their kids to see "Mickey."—Harland Rankin, Plaza Theatre, Til- bury, and Alexander Theatre, Wallaceburg, Ontario, Canada. General Patronage." The following is another, "TUGBOAT MICKEY: Walt Disney Cartoons—Al- though not quite up to other Disneys in cleverness, this one certainly has fast action. It is certainly a good cartoon, but other Disneys are better. Running time eight minutes. - W. Varick Nevins, III, Alfred Co-op Theatre, Alfred, N.Y. Small college town and rural patronage."

The Talking Magpies (1946) is often cited as one the first Heckle and Jeckle cartoon. However the characters in this film are similar to Heckle and Jeckle but are not them. Instead of a pair of identical male friends, we have a bickering husband and wife. Still this are magpies pulling the same kind of tricks Heckle and Jeckle would later pull on their adversaries on the already long time Terry Toons character, Farmer Alfalfa. What I love about this cartoon and the Heckle and Jeckle films to follow is that the main goal of the characters is simply to create slapstick anarchy. This in many ways makes these movies the Terry Toons equivalent to the early Daffy Duck or Woody Woodpecker cartoons.

In the 1960's The Three Stooges received their own TV cartoon series called The New Three Stooges (1965). These were not just cartoons featuring the characters of the Stooges. Moe, Larry and Curley Joe voiced themselves and introduced the cartoons in live action segments. Curley Joe felt that the show was hurt by the fact that the live action segments would be repeated, even when the cartoon was knew. He felt this would lead people to see an opening they recognized and change the channel thinking it was a repeat.


 

There were many themes that were repeated through the run of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons (probably the most famous being one character chasing another). One of these themes that was used quite a bit in the 1930's and 40's was the idea of books coming to life. A top notch example of this theme is in the Frank Tashlin directed short, Have You Got Any Castles? (1938). This film featured one book related pun after another, creating the sense of pure energy that was so prevalent in all the best Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. This short features quite a few delights for movie fans as most of these books had been turned into films by this time and so the literary characters are often caricatures of the stars in those movie versions. The title song in this cartoon was a hit just a year earlier when performed by Tom Dorsey. The song was written by Johnny Mercer and Richard Whiting (the team that wrote Too Marvelous For Words). The following is an exhibitors review from The Motion Picture Herald, " HAVE YOU GOT ANY CASTLES: Merrie Melodies —A swell little cartoon in color. Another smash hit, very clever and it impressed me as it did the older people. Kiddish enough for the kiddies. Yet to under- stand it. it would get a real laugh from the older folks. Running time, seven minutes.—Pearce Park- hurst, State Theatre, Torrington, Conn. General pat- ronage." The following is another, "HAVE YOU GOT ANY CASTLES: Merrie Melodies - To sit down and watch these cartoons is like watching something in line of a miracle. You can't beat them. This is a knockout. Running Time: eight minutes. - George Khattar, Casino Theatre, Whitney Pier, Sydney, Nova Scottia, Canada, General Patronage." This cartoon was reissued to theatres in 1947.

 





Today's selection ends as the Terry Bears catch Duck Fever (1955)






Join me next week for another selection of animated treasures. Until then may all your Tunes be Looney and your Melodies Merrie.

Motion Picture Herald, 1941

-Michael J. Ruhland

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #77

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

Though not the most popular cartoons from the studio, I personally really enjoy the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies that Cal Dalton and Ben Hardaway directed. While they are clearly inspired by the work that Tex Avery and Friz Freleng, they aren't quite either and have a style all their own. Their films are often wacky, and smart alecky, but don't defy film conventions like Tex Avery cartoons and don't have the focus on timing and music that is present in the work of Friz Freleng. One of my favorite of their cartoons is Bars and Stripes Forever (1939) 

Film Daily, 1936

Film Daily 1936

Next comes a highly enjoyable Columbia cartoon, Booby Socks (1945). This movie manages to be a cartoon of this era parodying Frank Sinatra yet not featuring a single skinny joke. This is the Columbia cartoon department at its best with lots of fast paced gags and character animation. The ending is a very funny joke, I will not ruin here.




While in the early 1930's every American cartoon studio made some films with characters that looked and acted more than a little like Mickey and Minnie Mouse (that is how popular those cartoons were at this time), no more obviously did this than the Van Beuren Studio which made some cartoons with a boy and girl mouse team that were often indistinguishable from their Disney counter parts (except for the the fact that the Disney films had more refined animation and more consistently on model (the mouse here gains a lot of weight by the end of the cartoon). In fact Walt himself set out legal action against the Van Bueren studio for these films. Up next is one of the movies featuring these mice characters in all their ripped off glory, Circus Capers (1930). By the way this has one of the most pre-code gags to ever be in a pre-code cartoon.


  

Next is the excellent Donald Duck cartoon, Donald Applecore (1952).

The last cartoon for today is a delightful Yugoslavian animated short film, Uzbudljiva ljubavna priča (1989) (The English title being Exciting Love Story).




Come back next week for more animated treasures, until then peace love and cartoons.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #65

Hello my friends and Happy Saturday Morning. Once again that means it is time for classic cartoons.

Today's first cartoon is one of those Speedy Gonzales and Daffy Duck films of the 1960's. While many cartoon fans write these off as the weakest Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, I personally consider them guilty pleasures. There is no way I would put them on the same level as the Warners cartoons of the 1930's, 40's and 50's, but for what it is worth I enjoy the films on their own level. So enjoy, Assault and Peppered (1965).

The reason the Van Beuren cartoons are not as well remembered as many other studios is because they lack the big star characters seen in other studio's cartoons. Being aware of this the studio tried to bolster their popularity by using characters that had already been popularized elsewhere. One of these attempts was to make a series of cartoons starring the characters of the popular radio show, Amos 'n' Andy. To make sure these films would be a success, the studio hired Freedom Gosden and Charles Correll (who created the show and voiced the characters on radio) to voice the famous radio characters in these cartoons. However the movies were not the success the studio planned on and instead of making the 13 originally planned only two cartoons were made. This lead to legal trouble, between the studio and the actors. The Heinl Radio Business Letter discussed this in 1935.

"A suit for $181,995 for breach of contract against Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, known as 'Amos 'n' Andy' , and the National Broadcasting Company was disclosed in Supreme Court in New York yesterday when the plaintiff, Van Buern Corporation, filed a note of issue for a jury trial. The defendants have put in counter claims for a total of $254,000, it was revealed by the plaintiff's attorneys.

"The complaint, according to the attorneys, alleges breach  of a contract to make thirteen animated cartoons which were to be synchronized with the voices of 'Amos 'n' Andy'. The contract was made in 1933 and only two cartoons were completed, it is alleged.

"The counterclaims of $190,000 by Gosden and Correll and $64,000 by the broadcasting company, were based on charges of failure by the plaintiff corporation to fulfill requirements, the attorney's said."

Next up is one of these two cartoons, Rassling Match (1934). The following is an exhibitor's review of the movie from The Motion Picture Herald.

"Rasslin' Match, The: Amos and Andy - This is one of the best cartoons I have ever seen. There is only one mistake, the cartoon is entirely too crude but will probably improve. Amos and Andy do the talking and just like the radio. This caused much entertainment here and was well liked. Running time: 11 minutes. - J.J. Medford, Orpheum Theatre, Oxford, N.C. General Patronage."


    

Next is a classic Donald Duck cartoon, Cured Duck (1945). What makes Donald such an appealing character is that he is instantly relatable. It is hard for anyone not to see at least a little of themselves in this short tempered duck and this film shows Donald at his easiest to relate to.





Paul Terry referred to the Heckle and Jeckle cartoons as the best he ever made. I certainly agree. What makes these films so extremely entertaining is that Heckle and Jeckle are such appealing characters that simply make the cartoons a joy to watch. The movies are also full of fast paced slapstick that is full of the energy that makes cartoons of the era so much fun. Next is one of my favorite Heckle and Jeckle cartoons, so enjoy, Free Enterprise (1948).

Next comes one of my favorite silent-era Mutt and Jeff cartoons, On Strike (1920).

Film Fun, 1918

The last cartoon for this morning is the second Blue Racer film, Support Your Local Serpent (1972).

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

-Michael J. Ruhland

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #61

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

Today’s selection starts off with a short film from Russian director Fyodor Khitruck called Story of One Crime (1961). This movie was the first directed by Khitruck (who had spent 25 years as an animator) and differed from earlier society animation by having a more stylized look. This film gained some controversy on its release by being critical of Soviet society. However the movie proved very popular and finally helped animators in Soviet Russia to gain more artistic freedom.

The Max Fleischer Color Classic cartoons are mostly a response to Disney’s Silly Symphonies. As such many of these films feel more like a Silly Symphony than a Fleischer cartoon. There were however exceptions that had a personality all their own. One of the best of these was A Car-Tune Portrait (1937). A review in the Motion Picture Herald called this, "A swiftly-paced animated cartoon effectively photographed in Technicolor." An exhibitor's review (also in the Motion Picture Herald stated, "One I kept away from. Why I don't know but its good and if you haven't played it pick it up." Another stated "This is as a good a short as has been made by any producer. Play it in a top spot."  

Motion Picture Herald, 1935

Next comes a delightful Pooch the Pup cartoon from the Walter Lantz studio, The Crowd Snores (1932). I love early 1930's rubber hose animation and this film is full of it. In fact there as many rubber hose gags as can possibly fit into a 7 minute cartoon. Every object is alive and made of extra stretchy rubber. An exhibitor's review in The Motion Picture Herald stated "These are always good." This shows that though forgotten today, Pooch had some popularity back in his day. Watching this film it is not hard to figure out why.

Following is a Looney Tunes cartoon starring the series' first starring character Bosko. The film is Bosko's Dog Race (1932). Though these early Bosko cartoon may not greatly resemble later Looney Tunes, they are very entertaining in their own right. A review in the Motion Picture Herald stated "Not unusual, this animated cartoon is nevertheless entertaining." An exhibitor's review (also in The Motion Picture Herald) stated, "Extra good cartoon for kids as well as adults enjoyed it."






Next is a fun Terrytoons cartoon, Just a Little Bull (1940). An exhibitor's review in The Motion Picture Herald stated, "A dandy short. None better."

 

In the later years of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales were often pitted against one another. While these were hardly the best films of either series, they are entertaining in their own weird way. Here is one of those cartoons, Feather Finger (1966).




Ending today’s cartoon selection is a classic Donald Duck cartoon Trombone Trouble (1944).

Thank you for joining me and 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

How Many Looney Tunes Can You Watch?

When looking at what classic cartoons are on YouTube for my Saturday morning cartoon posts, I notice lots of these videos that contain hours of classic cartoons. I feel like why not create a real marathon on my blog by combining multiples if these videos to see how many you can watch. So today let us see how many Looney Tunes you can watch. 










-Michael J. Ruhland

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #47 - Christmas Edition

Hello my friends and welcome back for another Saturday Morning of classic cartoons. For me the Christmas season begins as soon as Thanksgiving is over. Since this is the first Saturday morning after Thanksgiving, this is the first Saturday morning to be exclusively about Christmas cartoons, which will continue until the Saturday before Christmas day. So sit back and enjoy these classic Christmas cartoons. 

With the studio's latter day reputation, a Disney Christmas cartoon sounds like it would be very cute and sentimental. However in the early 1930's Disney films, especially the Mickey Mouse cartoons, were often just one gag after another and that is exactly what Mickey's Orphans (1931) is. Despite having a story that could easily be extremely sentimental, the story is just an excuse to fit in as many slapstick gags as possible. A review in the Motion Picture Herald stated "The youngsters will get a real kick out of this short, and the oldsters will extract a bit of enjoyment." A review in The Film Daily gave the same sentiment stating "It will delight all children and get many a laugh from their elders." An issue of The Film Daily (Dated February 7, 1932)  stated "In addition to El Brendel in person this week's show at the Roxy is a special treat for the kids. The presentation includes four scenes based on 'Mickey's Orphans,' the Mickey Mouse cartoon that was held over for three weeks at this house. The characters of Mickey and Minnie are portrayed by the Arnaut Brothers, popular pantomimists. Patricia Bowman, Fred Waring's orchestra in a novelty entitled 'Dancing Melodies,' and the Roxyettes also are part of the proceedings. In the Mickey scenes, the Roxyettes and ballet group are made up to represent kittens, musical notes and animated furnishings in Minnie's boudoir." This cartoon was reissued to theatres in 1934.  

 

Santa's Surprise (1947) is an especially delightful Christmas cartoon from Famous Studios. This cartoon is best remembered as the first cartoon to feature the character of Little Audrey. Little Audrey was an original character for the studio and also a replacement for Little Lulu, who the studio had made a series of cartoons with in the past. Little Lulu was not created by the studio but was the star of a comic strip by Marjorie Henderson Buell. When Paramount decided not to renew the license for Famous Studios to use that character, Little Audrey was created. The character was designed by veteran Disney animator Bill Tytla (possibly my favorite Disney animator), who was know a director at Famous. This short's lead animator was Myron Waldman, who specialized in cute animation (often shining his best in the studio's Casper series). Myron would later remember this cartoon as one he was especially happy with.

My favorite Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoon is True Boo (1952). This film puts a lot of delightful Christmas spirit in with its traditional Casper story. The gags where Casper uses everyday objects to make toys, heavily borrows from the Max Fleischer Color Classic, Christmas Comes But Once a Year (1936).




Next is one of my favorite of Rudolf Ising's Merrie Melodies from the early 1930's, The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives (1933) the beginning of this cartoon is as atmospheric as these early Merrie Melodies got, and the song is extremely catchy.

  

The last cartoon for this post is from a very underrated cartoon series. This is Van Beuren's Little King cartoons. These films were often extremely creative and quite funny. This cartoon offers one very creative moment after another, showing what the series could be at its best. This short movie is Christmas Night (1933).




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

-Michael J. Ruhland

Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (1988)

The Bugs Bunny/ Roadrunner Movie (1979) started a series of Looney Tunes feature films. These films are often today called the compilation films. The reason for this is very simply. They use new footage to tie together old Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon, creating a new feature length narrative. None of these films do this better than Daffy Duck’s Quack Busters. As a huge Looney Tunes fan, of course I love watching the classic short films used here. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies will always remain some of the greatest cartoons ever made, and they are such a joy to watch in this movie. However while not as brilliant as the short cartoons, the new footage here is quite good. I found myself laughing a few times at this story, and not just light chuckles either. The story here also brilliantly ties the cartoons into this story. The cartoons fit perfectly into the story and none of them feel like they are just there to fit another great cartoon in.

One of the things I love about this movie is that the shorts are not your typical best of Looney Tunes shorts. These is no Duck Amuck or What’s Opera Doc here. However this shorts are still complete classic shorts that hold up extremely well. The shorts include Daffy Dilly (1948), The Prize Pest (1951), Water Water Everyhare (1952), Punch Trunk (1953), Claws for Alarm (1954), Jumpin’ Jupiter (1955), Hyde and Go Tweet (1960), The Abominable Snow Rabbit (1961) and Transylvania 6-5000 (1963). A delightful line up if I do say so myself.

This film was the first of these compilation features to have the new footage not directed by one of the directors from the golden age of Looney Tunes. The directors were animation historian Greg Ford and cartoon director Terry Lennnon. These two had previously made a very funny theatrical Daffy Duck short called The Duxorcist (1987) (which was also used in this feature). While exploring the Warner Brothers vaults, Ford found several recordings Carl Stalling and Milt Franklin made for 1950’s Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. These scores where used as backing music for the new scenes making them feel more like the classic cartoons. These recordings were later used for the CD set, The Carl Stalling project. The animators of the new scenes for this movie where some of the best of the then current generation. These include Mark Kausler (Heavy Traffic (1973), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Looney Tunes Back in Action (2003)) Brenda Banks (Lord of the Rings (1978), American Pop (1981), The Smurfs (1981-1990)) Daniel Haskett (The Brave Little Toaster (1987), The Little Mermaid (1989), Toy Story (1995) and Darryl Van Citters (The Fox and the Hound (1981), Box Office Bunny (1990), The Tom and Jerry Show (2014-2019). Also animating on the new scenes was an old veteran Norm McCabe who was an animator and director during the golden age of Looney Tunes.

The only complaint I have about this film is that Mel Blanc’s voice has obviously aged (This and Who Framed Rodger Rabbit (1989) marked his last times voicing the Looney Tunes characters). With this it is all too easy to tell what new footage is and what is old due to the sound of his voice alone.

This is simply a wonderful movie.   

-Michael J. Ruhland

Resourses UsedThe Animated Movie Guide Edited by Jerry Beck