Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #56

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

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


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

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Film Daily, 1931

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

 

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

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



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

-Michael J. Ruhland

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #48 - Christmas Edition

Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Since Christmas is still approaching, let us have another look at some classic Christmas themed cartoons. 

The Max Fleischer Color Classics served as the Fleischer Studio's version of Disney's Silly Symphonies. Like that series these cartoons rarely featured reoccurring characters. It was definitely uncommon to see a character from one of the Fleischers' other cartoon series. An exception was Christmas Comes But Once a Year (1936). This short movie featured Grampy from the Betty Boop cartoons. This is one of the most charming Color Classics and one of the best uses of sentimentality (something that was not the studio's forte) at the studio. Grampy was one of the best things about the later Betty Boop films and he definitely gets to shine here. The title song in this short movie would later be reused in the Popeye cartoon, Let's Celebrake (1938) with the lyrics changed to be about New Years instead. Some of Grampy's household toy ideas would later be used in the Casper cartoon, True Boo (1952). So enjoy this delightful cartoon.
 

Jack Hannah's Donald Duck cartoons were always fantastic examples of slapstick cartoon comedy at its finest. These were fast paced and very funny cartoons that could hold their own with any comedy shorts from any other cartoon studio. Some highlights were definitely the ones with Chip and Dale. These two Chipmunks always perfectly fit Hannah's slapstick sense of humor and they were never funnier than when directed by him. One of my favorite of these films is Toy Tinkers (1949). 

The next cartoon might be a bit of a cheat, because it is about many holidays instead of just one, but so is Holiday Inn (1942) and that movie is always associated with Christmas. Plus this cartoons stars that near and dear friend to you and me Scrappy. This is the delightful, Holiday Land (1934). Unusual for a Scrappy cartoon this film is in color. In fact this short movie marked the first color cartoon from Columbia. This cartoon played for two weeks at the Radio City Music Hall to a very good response and was even nominated for the Best Animated Short Film Oscar (Disney's Tortoise and the Hare (1934) won). A review in The Film Daily called this cartoon "a generally enjoyable cartoon fantasy." In the 1940's this cartoon would receive a 16mm home viewing release. Speaking about Scrappy and Christmas together in 1936 Columbia had a Scrappy Christmas party where various cartoons (most of which featured Scrappy) were shown to Children in the Hospital For Joint Diseases in New York City. Anyway enjoy the cartoon.




Ending this post is a classic silent short movie from stop motion master, Ladislas Starevich. So enjoy The Insect's Christmas (1913). The animation here is not only impressive for being a film over one hundred years old, but it still looks masterfully done today.




Come back next week for more classic Christmas cartoons.

-Michael J. Ruhland

 

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #42 - Spooky Edition

Hello again my friends and happy Saturday morning. With Halloween just around the corner, today's Saturday morning cartoons post is dedicated to some downright spooky cartoons. 

We start with the coolest cat to ever grace the silver screen, The Pink Panther in a spooky treat, Pink Panic (1967). This a delightful and very creative cartoons. It may not be one of the funniest Pink Panthers, but it has its own atmospheric charm.

 

Next we'll rejoin our good friend Scrappy in a delightfully spooky Columbia short, Scrappy' s Ghost Story (1935). I really love the little song in this cartoon, and much of the dancing animation is very enjoyable. Like many Scrappy cartoons, what makes this film so delightful is the sheer amount of imagination and creativity. A review in The Film Daily stated "A good number of laughs evolve from this fast moving cartoon."






Next comes another Columbia Halloween treat from the 1930's. This cartoon, Skeleton Frolic (1937) was directed by the one and only Ub Iwerks. Many of you are probably aware that Ub Iwerks was the main animator of the classic Disney cartoon, The Skeleton Dance (1929). This film is in many ways an unofficial remake of the earlier cartoon. While it may not be the masterpiece that The Skeleton Dance was this is a delightful film in its own right. One exhibitors review from the Motion Picture Herald stated "Amusing antics. This sort of thing doesn't seem to bother our young folks any." A review in The Film Daily stated, "Rather a gruesome subject in a way but done with great technical cleverness and filled with a grim sense of humor." This cartoon would be reissued to theaters in 1953-1954 and 1961.

Of course you can't have Halloween cartoon watching without the next Disney classic. This is one of Jack Hannah's finest Donald Duck cartoons, Trick or Treat (1952). If you are interested in the history of this cartoon you can't do better than a great article Disney Historian Jim Fanning wrote for the D23 website. To see that click here.


















Happy Halloween and come back next week for more cartoon fun.

-Michael J. Ruhland

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

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

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

 

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




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




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

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




-Michael J. Ruhland

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #40

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

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


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




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

 



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



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

  

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

-Michael J. Ruhland

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #3

Happy Saturday morning again my friends. It is time to look at some more classic cartoons. 

Let's start with a fantastic black and white Daffy Duck cartoon. This cartoon was directed by the one and only Bob Clampett. Clampett directed many of the funniest and wildest Looney Tunes shorts and this film shows him at his best. Fitting with the director's wild and crazy sense of humor, this cartoon features that great early wild and crazy Daffy Duck, who enjoys jumping up and down and shouting "Wooo-Wooo." This cartoon also features a much more sympathetic depiction of Daffy than later cartoons would, and it is extremely effective. Porky Pig has a part as the judge and there was a reason for this. At this time nearly all the Looney Tunes cartoons featured Porky Pig, while the Merrie Melodies did not have to. With this in mind it was common in Looney Tunes of this period for Porky to simply have a small part to meet this quota. So without further ado here is The Henpecked Duck (1941).





Up next comes a very unusual Popeye cartoon. This cartoon is unusual because Popeye does not play the hero but instead is the fall guy. He plays somewhat of an Elmer Fudd to a wisecracking goat's Bugs Bunny. In fact one could easily argue that the goat is the main character of this cartoon. This film certainly at times feels more like a Looney Tunes cartoon than a Popeye. There is even a lot of fourth wall breaking here in the way you would except more from a Tex Avery film than a Popeye. The unusualness should not be held against this cartoon as it is very funny. This is a Famous Studios Popeye. The early Popeye cartoons had been done by Fleischer Studios. However due to disputes (this is a topic, not to go into full now as it would need a whole post of its own), Paramount (the distributors) would fire Max and Dave Fleischer and replace them with there own Famous Studios. The later Famous Studios Popeyes could be rather weak and because of this the Famous Studios Popeyes have a bad reputation among cartoon fans. This is not fair as the early Famous Studios Popeyes are actually excellent cartoons that deserve greater attention. Case in point, The Hungry Goat.



Next up is a cartoon starring the one and only Scrappy. No I am not talking about Scrappy Doo. Rather I am talking about a cartoon series from Columbia staring a little boy who had many strange adventures. These cartoons have what make 1930's cartoons so popular among vintage cartoon fans. They are so full of imaginative and plain old strange gags that you would not find in any other era of cartoons. Having such talented artists as Dick Huemer, Art Davis and Sid Marcus working on this series certainly helped make these highly enjoyable cartoons. Here is one of my favorites from the series, The Flop House (1933).



Speaking of strange 1930's cartoons, here is the best. Before Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), the Fleischer Studio made one of their animated masterpieces a Betty Boop cartoon entitled Snow-White (1933). Completely animated by Roland Crandall and featuring jazz legend Cab Calloway as the voice of Ko-Ko the clown. This is one of the most imaginative, fun and simply strange cartoon shorts of Hollywood's golden age.

   


In the 1980's DePatie-Freleng and Hanna-Barbera teamed up to create a new TV series based off DePatie-Freleng's most popular character The Pink Panther. This was Pink Panther and Sons (1984-1985). Pink Panther's sons were actually the main characters of this series with the famous panther taking the backseat. Here is an episode entitled The Pink Link.




What do you say we end with some Disney. Here is one of my favorite Disney short cartoons, Hockey Homicide (1945). This is one of those fantastic cartoons with a bunch of Goofys playing a sport. This is one of the zaniest and funniest Disney cartoons, directed by one of Disney's funniest directors Jack Kinney. This is cartoon humor at its best. Notice the brilliantly funny reuse of animation from Pinocchio (1940) featuring Monstro the whale.



Stay tooned for more cartoon treasures next Saturday. Until then peace, love and cartoons.

-Michael J. Ruhland