Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #290

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with Donald Duck in Donald's Garden (1942). In this short film, Donald tries to plant a garden but unfortunately for him a pesky gopher arrives to eat all his produce. This is one of four Donald Duck cartoons spun off from an unfinished storyline called Donald's Roadside Market. In 1939, this cartoon's production was cancelled because Walt felt that the farmyard setting of that cartoon was not being utilized to its best. However, a farm setting was still a great idea for a Donald cartoon. Walt himself stated in a story meeting for Donald's Roadside Market that took place on August 8, 1939, "I think there are a hell of a lot of gags around a farm that could be very funny with the Duck." Other cartoons spun off from this proposed story were Golden Eggs (1941), Old MacDonald Duck (1941) and Honey Harvester (1949). 

Next is the Fleischer Screen Song cartoon, I Feel Like a Feather in the Breeze (1936). This cartoon stars the character of Wiffle Piffle, a character who would appear in both solo and Betty Boop cartoons. Though the animators here aren't as well known to animation buffs as the Disney and Warner Brothers animators, they do a great job and deserve to be given attention. Harold Walker animates the scene of the people walking into the restaurant including the revolving door gag. Tom Johnson animates Wiffle Piffle after he enters the restaurant to where he grabs a plate. Dave Hoffman animates the introduction of the opera singer and Wiffle Piffle getting beer for the customers. Tom Johnson animates Wiffle's little dance as he brings the beer out. Dave Hoffman animates Wiffle going through the door and coming out with sandwich. Harold Walker animates Wiffle giving the customer his sandwich as well as the chicken gag. Harold Walker animates Wiffle making the spaghetti. The title song was written by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel. Lyricist Mack Gordon also wrote lyrics for such songs as Chattanooga Choo-Choo, Did You Ever See a Dream Walking and You Make Me Feel So Young. Composer Harry Revel had worked as a composer for feature films for Paramount studio. 

Next comes another real classic, Falling Hare (1943). This cartoon features one of the few characters to get the upper hand of Bugs, the gremlin. Despite only appearing in this one short, the character has proven quite popular and has appeared in quite a few Looney Tunes spin offs. The original title for this movie was going to be Bugs Bunny and the Gremlin. However, since Disney was working on an animated feature film about Gremlins (a movie that would never be finished), the studio took the word Gremlin out of the title of this cartoon to appease the Disney studio. The following is a review from The Film Daily, "Literally and figuratively, Bugs Bunny, already a prime favorite among current cartoon characters, gets off to a flying start in the distribution season just started. The buck-toothed, long-eared clown meets up with a gremlin, and both find themselves aloft in an airplane, with Bugs or what's left of him being darn glad to get back to earth. There are plenty of laughs throughout. The tough Bunny, if this initial '43-'44 offering of his producer Leon Schlesinger, is any criterion, is in for a further rise in popularity among fans who like humor. Of course, the reel is in Technicolor. It was supervised by Robert Clampett and animated by Roderick Scribner. Warner Foster wrote the story and Carl W. Stalling handled the musical direction." This movie amounts to one of my favorite Bugs Bunny cartoons, and it is appropriately in Jerry Beck's book, The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes. 

Now for the Terry Toon short, Canadian Capers (1931). This cartoon features our good friend Farmer Al Falfa. Animators on this film include Frank Moser, Jerry Shields, Bill Tytla and Art Babbitt.  Unfortunately, this is an edited for TV version. 

Now for a commercial break.

Now for the Walter Lantz cartoon, Salt Water Daffy (1941). When this cartoon was released in 1941, the United States had not yet entered World War 2. However, most Americans could see that war was likely on their horizons. America's first peace time draft had recently been instated, making this cartoon especially timely. 

Next is first pairing of Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales, It's Nice to Have a Mouse Around the House (1965). The two would be paired together in 25 more cartoons.

Enjoy the Krazy Kat cartoon, Love Krazy (1932). This film is full of the type of early 1930's cartoon charm that so many of us love. 

Now to close with a song. 

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

Resources Used

The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes edited by Jerry Beck

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

Donald Duck: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

 

Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #289

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with the classic Disney short, Donald's Camera (1941). Bob Carlson animated much of the footage of the woodpecker. Studio publicity stated that Bob Carlson was an avid birder, making this a perfect casting choice. A review from an issue of The Film Daily (Dated October 24, 1941) called this "One of the best." The same review went on to say, "Packed with laughs this Disney Donald Duck short hits the mark for hilarious entertainment." This short film made its TV debut on an episode of The Mickey Mouse Club that aired on November 22, 1956.

Next comes the Fleischer Screen Song cartoon, Show Me the Way to Go Home (1932). The title song was written in 1925 by the songwriting duo, Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly. Other songs by the duo include If I Had You, Goodnight Sweetheart and Try a Little Tenderness (which they co-wrote with Harry M. Woods).

Now we join our friend Scrappy in The Pooch Parade (1940).

Next is the Columbia cartoon, The Merry Mouse Cafe (1941).

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

I love of the cartoons of Chuck Jones from any period but there is something special about his films from 1942 and 1943. At this time, he was fully getting away from his slower paced cuter output of the late 1930's but had not yet gotten to the style of films he would make in the 1950's that everybody is familiar with today. So, what we get from output during these two years are cartoons that experiment with what you can do in an animated short. It doesn't hurt that he worked with such experimental artists as layout man John McGrew. Chuck gave McGrew plenty of freedom and what John accomplished in these movies is nothing short of amazing. This is especially shown in The Case of the Missing Hare (1942), where experimentation is seen in every moment. Just watch the abstract backgrounds that show a mixture of two colors at a time, but the colors change when there is a strong action in the foreground. This is something someone may not notice on their first watch, but it is something they can feel. A review in The Film Daily stated, "Here is another hilarious, the Leon Schlesinger creation that keeps growing in comic strength with every new release." I think anyone watching this cartoon today will recognize that the antagonist is not Elmer Fudd, but one reviewer from The Exhibitor didn't as in his review he stated "...this has Elmer, as a magician..."  A review from the same magazine less than a month later stated, "Elmer isn't in this." The latter is right. A review in Variety called this "One of the better Bugs Bunny subjects."

Now for the Color Rhapsody cartoon, Ye Olde Swap Shoppe (1940). The following is a 1940 review from The Exhibitor. "A pretty good little entry in the color cartoon handicap. 'Ye Olde Swap Shoppe' lacks that certain something that would give it ranking with the top subjects. Three little mice frolic in and on various doo-dads in the barter shop. Good. (1511). L.S. M." 

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

Now to close with a song. 

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

Resources Used

The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes edited by Jerry Beck

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

Donald Duck: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #288

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with Krazy Kat in Ritzy Hotel (1932). These Columbia Krazy Kat cartoons bare scant resemblance to George Herriman's Krazy Kat comic strip on which they were supposedly based. If it wasn't for the main character having the same name, you could never tell that there was supposed to be any connection between them. As a fan of the comic strip, I was originally put off by these cartoons. However, over time, I learned to enjoy them for what they are. 

Next is the early Porky Pig cartoon, Plane Dippy (1936). This is the movie in which we learn Porky's full name,  Porky Cornelius Washington Otis Lincoln Abner Aloysius Casper Jefferson Philbert Horatius Narcissus Pig. I'm sure you all will memorize that name. As well as Porky this film also has some other characters that also premiered in the Merrie Melodies cartoon, I Haven't Got A Hat (1935) such as Little Kitty (who plays an important role here). Comic fans may also notice that the character of Professor Blotz looks extremely similar to a character from the Mickey Mouse comic strip, Professor Ecks. Though this movie is directed by Tex Avery, don't except the pure insanity of his later cartoons, as this was still early in his directorial career and he hadn't fully developed his style yet. Still this cartoon has many very funny gags in it, I especially love Porky writing his name. The following is an exhibitor's review from the Motion Picture Herald, "PLANE DIPPY: Looney Tune—This is a very comical cartoon. Above the average.—Paul J. Pope, Avon Theatre, Geneva, Ala., Small Town and Rural Patronage." 

Now for the Terry Toons cartoon, Bird Symphony (1955).

Next comes an early Silly Symphony cartoon, Frolicking Fish (1930).  Like all Disney cartoons of this period this movie benefits from a great cast of animators. Ben Sharpsteen, who would later be supervising director for such Disney feature films as Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940) and Dumbo (1941) animates the opening scene, the octopus dancing with the fish and the fish dropping an anchor on an octopus. Les Clark, who would become one of Walt's famed Nine Old Men and be one of the greatest Mickey Mouse animators of all time, animates the fish riding the seahorse and the octopus punching the bubbles. Dave Hand, who would later be Supervising director on such Disney feature films as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Bambi (1942) animated the fish dancing on the anchor chain. Wilfred Jackson, who would later become a fine director of both Disney shorts and features animates the octopus chasing the fish to the sunken ship. Norm Ferguson, a wonderful animator whose gift at character animation would later help define the character of Pluto, animates the trio of fish tap dancing. Jack King, who would later director some wonderful Donald Duck cartoons as well as a few cartoons for Warner Brothers, would animate the lobster dancing and playing the harp. Johnny Cannon animates the fish dancing on the springboard. Tom Palmer, who would later direct cartoons for both Warner Brothers and Van Bueren, animates the majority of the bubble dance and the big fish blowing bubbles. Merle Gilson animates the anchor falling on the octopus. The animation for this film was completed between April 22 and May 10, 1930. It would make its TV debut on an episode of The Mickey Mouse Club that aired on February 24, 1956. 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Next up comes the Betty Boop cartoon, Pudgy Picks a Fight (1937). Much like how Mickey's Mouse's cartoons would be overtaken by Mickey's co-stars, the same thing would happen with Betty Boop. Though Betty was unquestionably the star of the earlier Betty Boop shorts, as the series reached its later years, the attention would later shift to her supporting characters. This led to many cartoons, where her dog Pudgy was the main character. Here is an example of that. 

Now for the Terry Toons cartoon, Mrs. Jones' Rest Farm (1949). 

We continue with Popeye in I'm in the Army Now (1936). This short film is a bit of a cheater and features clips from previous Popeye cartoons. The cartoons that clips are used from include Blow Me Down (1934), Shoein' Hosses (1934), Choose Your 'Weppins' (1935) and King of the Mardi Gras (1935). This is one of my favorite cheater cartoons, because the new scenes are just as entertaining as the clips. I especially love Bluto talking about what a big star he was in the movies. This serves as a good reminder for those of us who grew up watching these films on TV that they were originally made for movie theaters. 

Now let us close with a song. 

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

Resources Used

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

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

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

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #287

Good morning my friends and welcome for a special Fourth of July edition of Saturday Morning Cartoons. 

 In 1997 animation legend Chuck Jones wrote a children's book starring Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny titled Daffy Duck for President. When Warner Brothers decided to follow the feature film, Looney Tunes Back in Action (2003) with a series of new animated Looney Tunes shorts for movie theaters, one of these shorts was a cartoon based off this book. Daffy Duck for President (2004) never got the theatrical release it should have as Looney Tunes Back in Action proved a disappointment at the box office. However, this is a truly delightful cartoon. It was dedicated to Chuck who had passed away in 2002. 

Now we join our sailor friend Popeye in Patriotic Popeye (1957). This Fourth of July cartoon features Popeye and two nephews. When Popeye's nephews were introduced, he had four of them. This then went down to three and then to two. 

Next comes the silent cartoon short, Bobby Bumps Fourth (1917). The Bobby Bumps films were made by Earl Hurd. Earl Hurd has a very important place in the history of animation. He was in fact the inventor of animation cells. Him and John R. Bray owned a patent on animation cells and any studio that used them had to pay license fees. About the Bobby Bumps cartoons film historian and critic Leonard Maltin would state, "They are among the most mature, most well-conceived cartoons of the silent era - certainly the best work done in the mid- to late teens."

Now for a short film from Stephen Bosustow Productions, Freedom River (1971). This is an intelligent and lovely film that is helped by narration from no less than Orson Welles. The film was directed by Sam Weiss, who would go on to work as a layout artist on such animated TV shows as The Bullwinkle Show, The Dick Tracy Show, Underdog and Rugrats.

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Now for our favorite pink friend in Yankee Doodle Pink (1978). This is essentially a reissue of the earlier Pinky Doodle (1976) with a few extra scenes. 

In December of 1941 the Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morganthau contacted Walt Disney about making a short film encouraging Americans to pay their taxes. The story goes that Walt was surprised by this request believing that all American citizens paid their taxes on time. Disney writers Joe Grant and Dick Huemer wrote a story involving Donald Duck as an average tax payer. When an aide was surprised that Disney didn't create a new character to represent the average tax payer, but Walt felt that Donald was a natural choice. He argued that this was the same as when a Hollywood studio would use one of their biggest live action stars to promote the war effort. Donald was the Disney studio's biggest star at the time (as well as a character everyone loved and saw themselves in) and to have him push the war effort was vital to the project. The cartoon was titled The New Spirit (1942) and was a major success. The Treasury Department stated that about sixty million Americans saw this cartoon and a poll showed that 37% of these Americans stated that this positively influenced them when it came to paying taxes. In 1943 the Treasury Department approached Walt about making another one of these shorts. This resulted in The Spirit of '43 (1943).

Let us end with another patriotic Disney short, Ben and Me (1953). 

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

Resources Used

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

Donald Duck: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/ducks-and-taxes-the-story-of-the-new-spirit/

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #286

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

Today's cartoon selection starts with the Noveltoons short, The Old Shell Game (1948). This is the first solo cartoon for the character Wolfie, who had previously only worked with Blackie Sheep. He proves to be just as inept at catching turtles as he is at catching sheep. 

Next comes Donald Duck in Officer Duck (1939). This is the first time that Donald went up against Mickey Mouse's nemesis Pete in one of the duck's solo cartoons. It was far from the last as during World War 2, the two would be paired together in a series of shorts with Pete as Donald's long-suffering sergeant in the army. A good portion of animation for the character Pete was done by Norm Ferguson and John Lounsberry. Released to theaters on October 11, 1939, this was the last Donald Duck cartoon of the 1930's.  

Now for Bugs Bunny in Bushy Hare (1950). 

Anyone familiar with the Columbia Krazy Kat cartoons knows they bear 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.

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Next is the Fleischer Stone Age cartoon, The Fulla Bluff Man (1940). 

Now for one of my favorite early Mickey Mouse cartoons, The Karnival Kid (1929). This movie is famous for featuring Mickey Mouse's first spoken words. Though Mickey's earlier shorts had been sound pictures, they mostly revolved around music instead of dialogue. Though Walt Disney was excited about moving in this direction, his distributor, Pat Powers was not. Powers felt that an English-speaking mouse would have less appeal in countries where English is not the common language. To be fair the mouse does not receive a great deal of dialogue in this movie. His first words are the immortal, "Hot Dogs! Hot Dogs!" (in a scene animated by future Donald Duck director, Jack King). The voice is not the familiar high pitch falsetto, but a plainer undistinguished voice. I do not know who provided this voice. Carl Stalling speak about the early voices of the mouse in a 1969 interview, “all the animators were taking a shot at it, those who wanted to.” Of course, later on Walt himself would become the voice of Mickey. The cartoon features some men who would soon have a great input on Disney's animated films. Ben Sharpsteen (supervising director on the Disney features Pinocchio (1940) and Dumbo (1941)) animates the opening shots of the fairgrounds, the monkey playing all the instruments and the barker (a fore-runner of Kat-Nip from the Mickey Mouse comic strip) pulling Mickey's nose. Burt Gillet (who would direct the most popular Silly Symphony, Three Little Pigs (1933)) animates the scene with the merry-go-round, Mickey playing the hot dogs like musical instruments, the emergence of Minnie and Mickey tipping his ears to her ("The Big Mooseketeer" Roy Williams stated that this scene inspired the Mickey Mouse ears that all of TV's The Mickey Mouse Club wore). Les Clark (one of Walt's nine old men and one of the greatest Mickey Mouse animators) receives very little footage in the cartoon. He animates Mickey catching a runaway hot dog and giving it a spanking, Mickey briefly strumming the guitar and the final shot of the movie. Les Clark's ending was originally going to be longer with Mickey riding the bed like a horse. The legendary Ub Iwerks (who co-created Mickey with Walt) animates the two cats' duet. Despite the forward-looking ideas in this cartoon borrowed a major gag from a previous Disney short. Mickey chasing and spanking the hot dog was originally done by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in All Wet (1927). 

Up next is the Noveltoons cartoon, Space Kid (1966). 

Now let us close with a song. 

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

Resources Used

Donald Duck: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein

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

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/mickey-mouse-in-the-karnival-kid-1928/

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

 

Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #285

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with Tree For Two (1952) starring Sylvester the cat. This short film introduced the two dogs, Spike and Chester. They would only appear in two classic theatrical shorts (the other being Dr. Jekyll's Hyde (1954)), but the popularity of these cartoons has made them make cameos in many post-golden age Looney Tunes projects. This short would later be edited into the feature film, Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island (1983) and be remade as The Dogfather (1974), the first short in The Dogfather series. 

Up next is the Terry Toons cartoon, Hounding the Hares (1948). This short film features our good friend Farmer Al Falfa. 

Now we join Donald Duck in Sky Trooper (1942). Like many cartoon characters, Donald Duck spent much of World War 2 making service comedies that featured him in some branch of the military. Despite the most famous image of Donald being him in his sailor suit, most of these service comedies featured the duck in the army. Many of these cartoons also feature Mickey Mouse's nemesis Pete as Donald's long-suffering sergeant. The highlight of these films is often the interactions between these two characters. Sky Trooper was written by Carl Barks, who is best known for his wonderful comic book stories starring the beloved cartoon duck as well as for the creation of his uncle Scrooge McDuck (for whom Carl also wrote the comic book stories). The cartoon was directed by Jack King, who directed most of the Donald Duck shorts around this time. The film was released to theaters on November 6, 1942. It made its TV debut on an episode of The Mickey Mouse Club that aired on December 10, 1957. The cartoon would also be used in the Walt Disney Presents episode, This is Your Life, Donald Duck (1960). 

Next is the silent Out of the Inkwell film, Hot After It (1926). This film would later be retitled Koko's Treasure Hunt for television and that is the title you see here. 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Next comes Bugs Bunny in Bugsy and Mugsy (1957). This film was a semi-remake of the Slyvester cartoon, Stooge for a Mouse (1950). Bugsy and Mugsy would later be remade as the Dogfather cartoon, Heist and Seek (1974).

Now for the Fleischer stone age cartoon, Way Back When a Razzberry was a Fruit (1940). 

Winsor McCay is easily one of the most important, and most talented pioneers of animation. Contrary to some stories you might hear though he is not the first filmmaker to use animation (Emil Cohl, J. Stuart Blackton, Charles-Émile Reynaud, and Segundo de Chomón beat him to it).  However, his importance to the history of animation cannot be underestimated. Winsor McCay had already enjoyed much success before entering the field of animation, as creator and writer of the newspaper comic strips, Little Nemo in Slumberland, and Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend. These comic strips were the highlight of the comics page back then. They transcended what comic strips had been known for through their abundance of imagination, and expert drawing style. It is only natural for a man who created this to be attracted to the art form of animation. His first film was Little Nemo (1911) based off his own comic strip. This film starts out in live action with McCay betting he can make drawings move (although he incorrectly credits himself as the first to do this), and his friends respond with laughter and disbelief. The live action segment of this film is very clever, and humorous. The highlight of the live action portion though is seeing McCay draw his characters before the animation starts. This is when you know you are watching a great talent at work. The animation segment itself is very well done and entertaining, but it is a little dated. It is obvious he had not yet figured out what to do with animation, and that leads to a lack of understanding our characters, and therefore a lack of personal involvement. However this animation is expertly done. It is very appealing and still looks very good by today's standards. This entire segment was hand-drawn by one man, Winsor McCay himself. He drew four-thousand drawings all by himself for this one short segment of the film. The early color was achieved by hand painting the 35mm film itself after it was complete. this was also done only by McCay.

Now let us close with a song. 

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

Resources Used

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

I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat: Fifty Years of Sylvester and Tweety by Jerry Beck

Donald Duck: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

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

Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #284

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with the Terry Toons short, Paint Pot Symphony (1949). The three main characters here previously appeared in the Terry Toons cartoon, A Truckload of Trouble (1949)

Now for the Scrappy cartoon, Scrappy's Toy Shop (1934). About working at the Mintz Studio (which made this film) animator Dick Huemer stated, "There was no such thing as a director per se at the Mintz studio ... not like at the Disney studio, that is. When I came to the Disney foundry, I found a whole new setup prevailing. There, a director was a director - and nothing else. He (and I, when I later became one) had an assistant director even. And two layout men. And a private secretary. What luxury! And, oh yes, a director never touched pencil to animation paper. The stories were concocted by the story department, which never did anything else but that. How different at Mintz's. Me and [Sid] Marcus and [Art] Davis were all of the above - plus being the head animators. Each of us was our own director, once the storyline had been roughly agreed upon. Gags were added as we animated. Only thing we didn't do was paint the backgrounds. It never occurred to any of us to claim the title of Herr Director - at least not in my time there. The same went for Manny Gould and Ben Harrison on Krazy Kat." These short films are much less polished than what was being made at the Disney studio but the feeling of making it up as the filmmakers went along only added to the charm.  

Next is Herman and Katnip in Mice Capades (1952). This was the first cartoon of Herman and Katnip's own cartoon series. However, the two had appeared in the Noveltoons series before this. 

Next comes  one of the most atmospheric Mickey Mouse cartoons, The Mad Doctor (1933). Differing from earlier Mickey cartoons, this film is not a pure comedy. Rather this cartoon mixes in elements of horror and suspense. The horror elements were too present for some. Because it was deemed too scary, it was actually banned from some theatres and completely banned in the UK. Much of this sense of atmosphere comes from the wonderful background art by Mique Nelson. Nelson was a brilliant background artist, who worked on many of the best Silly Symphonies as well as such Disney features as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Pinocchio (1940). The director of this cartoon was Dave Hand. Dave Hand directed such classic Disney cartoons as Building a Building (1933), The Flying Mouse (1934), Who Killed Cock Robin (1935), Pluto's Judgement Day (1935), Mickey's Polo Team (1936), Thru the Mirror (1936), The Country Cousin (1936) and Magician Mickey (1937). He also served as the supervising director on two of the Disney studios most popular animated features, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Bambi (1942). A working title for this film was The Mysterious Castle. This cartoon reached movie theaters on January 20, 1933. At the same time this film was in theaters, Mickey Mouse was having another adventure in a spooky castle. The Mickey Mouse daily newspaper comic strip was currently running a storyline entitled Blaggard Castle. Blaggard Castle is often considered by Disney fans to be one of the best storylines of the comic strip. This cartoon's spooky themed storyline revolves around a recent popularity of horror films. A couple years earlier Universal released Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931). This caused a while slew of horror movies to hit theaters including Paramount's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), Warner Brothers' Doctor X (1932), MGM's Freaks (1932) and many more as well as all the Universal monster films to follow. As such this Mickey Mouse cartoon was simply inspired by a trend of the time.  Shockingly this cartoon's copyright was never renewed and actually fell into the public domain. This film along with The Sprit of '43 (1943) and Minnie's Yoo Hoo (1930) is one of the very few Disney shorts (not including the Alice Comedies) to fall into public domain. Video game fans will be familiar with elements of this cartoon. The second level of the game Mickey Mania: The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse was based off this cartoon, and the Mad Doctor himself became a major character in both Epic Mickey games. The following is a review from Motion Picture Review (which was published by The Women's University Club of Los Angles), "Mickey is not to be outdone by the present rage for horror films - and goes to the rescue of his dog in the clutches of a 'mad doctor' in heroic and sensational fashion. It is perhaps too nightmarish for children; the fad for thrills goes to great lengths even in cartoons." 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

 Next we join Sylvester and Tweety in Tweet Zoo (1957). Director Friz Freleng once said about Tweety, "I made him look more like a charming baby, with a bigger head and big blue eyes. He's a canary because we say he's a canary … He doesn't look like a canary. We didn't have time to develop characters. When you see Yosemite Sam, you know he's a villain, when you see Tweety, the audience is sympathetic." 

Now for the Walter Lantz produced cartoon, Nellie, The Indian Chief's Daughter (1938). This is part of a brief running series of Nellie cartoons made by the Lantz studio. 

Now for the Terry Toons short, The Kitten Sitter (1947).

Let us close with a song. 

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

Resources Used

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

I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat: Fifty Years of Sylvester and Tweety by Jerry Beck.

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

https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/terrytoons-paint-pot-symphony-1949-and-the-new-decade/