Note: The reason this review is going up on Thanksgiving Day, is because it features Santa Claus taking part in a parade to tell everyone that Christmas is on its way. It is obvious to me that this is a Thanksgiving parade.
With Disney gaining the rights to the character luckily many people today now know about Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a character that was not that well know not that long ago. Many also know the basic history of his early years. He was created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks and starred in various silent cartoon shorts. These shorts were very popular on their release. At this time producer Charles Mintz was hiring away Walt's crew behind his back. Mintz then told Walt that he would either make these shorts on a much smaller budget or he would not be able to work with the character anymore. This was because despite creating him, Walt never owned the rights to Oswald. Walt refused and he would co-create a brand-new character again with Ub Iwerks called Mickey Mouse. This is where however the history most Disney fans hear seems to end, but Oswald's cartoon career continued for a while afterwards. At first Charles Mintz made a few cartoons with Oswald using the crew that Walt had been using. However soon Mintz would lose the rights to make Oswald when Universal (the studio distributing these shorts) would start its on cartoon studio and put Walter Lantz in charge of the character.
By 1934 when this Christmas cartoon was released, Lantz was making two different series of animated shorts. These were the Oswald shorts and the "Car-Tune" shorts. The difference between these two series was pretty much the same as the difference between Disney's Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies series. The Oswald shorts would star Oswald and the Car-Tune shorts would feature miscellaneous characters. Toyland Premiere was a tiny bit of an exception. This Car-Tune short would feature Oswald in it; however, Oswald does play a smaller role here and the real star of the film is Santa Claus.
Santa is the star attraction of the Toyland parade. After the parade is over Oswald invites Santa to a party at his department store. Also attending the party are various Hollywood stars including Al Jolson, Shirley Temple, Bing Crosby, Boris Karloff, Johnny Weissmuller and Laurel and Hardy. Oddly enough Laurel and Hardy are made the cartoon's villains, as they try to steal a chocolate cake made for the party. This ends up causing a food fight that Santa enjoys very much.
This is a very charming cartoon and a delight to watch. The animation while not up to Disney standards is quite good. This is animation above the usual standard of Lantz cartoons at this time. The early scenes at the North Pole may remind Disney fans of the 1932 Disney Silly Symphony, Santa's Workshop. I have no proof as to if they were inspired by that film, this is just an observation. The whole cartoon also moves a brisk pace and has a nice Christmas-y feeling to it.
Cartoon buffs may be interested to know Santa Claus in this film is voiced by Tex Avery. Before he became a director and revolutionized the Warner Brothers cartoons, Tex was an animator at Lantz studio, and with his boisterous laugh it was only naturally for him to voice Santa. This by the way was not the last time he would voice Santa. He would return to voicing the character for a brief gag in a 1943 cartoon he himself directed called Who Killed Who.
Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons.
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, today's cartoon selection begins with a true Thanksgiving classic, Tom Turk and Daffy (1944). Unlike Christmas or Halloween, there really aren't a wide variety of Thanksgiving cartoons, which is odd once you think about how hunting a turkey is a perfect subject for a cartoon. However, the idea of hunting a turkey in a cartoon was done to perfection in this film. The cartoon was directed by Chuck Jones, who is often credited with playing a major role in turning Daffy from his early crazy self into a self-centered character bent on self-preservation-ism. While Daffy had not fully turned into that character by this point this cartoon shows that sneaking into the character. In this film Daffy is willing to sell-out his friend he vowed to protect when temptation gets the better of him (Those darn canned yams!). The idea of Daffy simply being too weak to resist temptation is fully in line with the Daffy we would see in later Jones cartoons. Yet he still has the wild energetic streak that characterized the older Daffy Duck cartoons. In an interview with film historian Joe Adamson, Chuck would state, "What you do is multiply your own weakness, I guess, in a character like Daffy. There was no problem after I began to understand what he was all about. My Daffy and Friz's [Looney Tunes director, Friz Freleng] are also a little bit different, Friz was the one you might say, who got him into that cowardly self-preservation. The minute he did it, I understood what that was; I knew how I'd feel. It's that awfulness, when you're on the battlefield, of realizing when your buddy is shot that your basic feeling is one of relief: that it wasn't you. Well Daffy says that. He says, 'I may be a mean little duck but I'm an alive little duck.' or when he gave Bugs up to the Abominable Snowman, he said, 'I'm not like other people: I can't stand pain - it hurts me.' When I'd go home, I'd tell Dorothy [Chuck's wife] a line like that, which just occurred as I was working. I'd say, 'You know what that guy Daffy did today?' and I'd repeat the line and then she'd look at me. She never got used to this, she'd say, 'Well, you were drawing it you did it.' I'd say 'That's not true! It just developed! That's what he said. It was natural for him to say it.'" Despite this cartoon being Thanksgiving themed, Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald's book, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to Warner Brothers Cartoons, lists the film release date as February 12th, 1944. The story credit for this film goes to "The Staff" and as far as I know this is the only Warner cartoon with that credit. I do not know the reason for this if any of you do please let me know.
Today's cartoon selection continues with Therapeutic Pink (1977). This short film marks the last Pink Panther cartoon to be made for movie theaters.
Now for a silent movie starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, The Ole Swimmin’ 'Ole (1928).
Our next film has become a holiday classic for many cartoon fans, who watch it every Thanksgiving. The cartoon is Jerky Turkey (1945). Directed by the one and only Tex Avery, this movie is everything anyone could want from a Tex Avery film. This movie revolves around the premise of a pilgrim chasing a Turkey and being a Tex Avery film, every crazy gag around this premise that could be used in 7 minutes appears. Out of all the “Eat at Joe’s” gags in the history of cartoons, this film has my favorite. The following is an exhibitor's review from the Motion Picture Herald, "JERKY TURKEY: Technicolor Cartoons - This is the kind of cartoon that keep audiences laughing. They forget their troubles and feel glad they came to the theatre. We highly recommend this one. - Thomas di Lorenzo, New Platz Theatre, New Platz, N. Y. Small town patronage."
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Now for a fun black and white Terry Toons cartoon, The Mayflower (1935). This film may be crude compared to what Disney was doing at this time but watched in the right mindset, it is a lot of fun.
Now for our frustrated hero, Donald Duck in Lucky Number (1951). This movie is an oddity among Donald cartoons as it depicts Huey, Dewey and Louie as older than usual (seemingly teenagers). They are at least old enough to drive a car without anybody thinking a thing of it.
Now to end today's cartoon selection is a special Thanksgiving surprise. It is the TV special, Garfield's Thanksgiving (1989).
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
Chuck Jones: Conversations Edited by Maureen Furniss
Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to Warner Brothers Cartoons by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald
Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons.
Starting off is a delightful black and white Porky Pig cartoon, Get Rich Quick Porky (1937). This was an early cartoon for director Bob Clampett (1937 was his first year as a director) and while it may not be as wild as some of the director's later work, there is plenty to enjoy here. This cartoon also marked the last appearance of Porky's sidekick, Gabby Goat. There is not much to Gabby besides him being grumpy and easily irritated, but the contrast between him and the more optimistic Porky makes for delightful watching. Two of the animators on this movie would later become great Looney Tune directors in their own right. Chuck Jones animates the wonderful scene with the dog, the gopher and a bone as well as the film's ending. Norm McCabe animates Gabby underground with his jackhammer as well as Porky handing the deed to Honest John.
Next comes a wonderful Donald Duck cartoon, Modern Inventions (1937). A review in The Film Daily called this picture, "One of the funniest episodes in which Donald Duck has been featured." In a 1938 article from World Film News Richard Ford writes, "Several Disney Cartoons - Donald and Pluto and Modern Inventions have Machiavellian incidents to which many children are frightening. This fear subsequently gives way to sympathy for the victim, so that Donald Duck is liked on a basis of tragedy rather than comedy." In the June 26, 1937 issue of Boxoffice magazine this movie was named "Short of the Week." The following is the review from that issue. "Donald Duck stamps himself as pre-eminent among cartoon comedians by his hilarious antics in his creator's final Technicolor subject for United Artists release. Unquestionably one of the most laugh-provoking subjects to issue from Disney studios since Donald first made his timid entrance as a minor cartoon character over a year ago. In this clever satire on the machine age Donald enters an exhibit where a robot butler immediately moves his hat much to the duck's fury. His irritability increases as he is cradled in an automatic baby carriage and is forcibly fed with a bottle and clothed with a diaper. However the piece de resistance is Donald's struggles while placed upside down in a barber chair with the mechanical attendant clipping off his tail feathers and blackening his face. The laughs follow in such quick succession that they are practically continuous." Though no director is credited on this short, it was directed by Jack King, who directed many of Donald's finest cartoons.
Next we join The Terry Bears in The Reluctant Pup (1953). This cartoon was directed by Mannie Davis.
Movie fans tend to agree that some of the funniest cartoons ever made are the shorts that Tex Avery directed for MGM. A great example of why can be seen in today's next cartoon, Doggone Tired (1949). Tex once described to historian Joe Adamson, "I found out the eye can register an action in five frames of film. Five frames of film at twenty-four a second, so it's roughly a fifth of a second to register something, from the screen to your eye to your brain. I found out that if you want something to barely be seen five frames was all it needed ... Say we had an anvil falling, we would bring it in perhaps four or five frames before the hit, that's all you need - djuuuuuu ... Bam! it's there, and you don't need to know where in the hell it came from. It makes the gag that much funnier. If you saw this thing coming down, and you panned down with it, and it hits - uh uh."
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Now for some Saturday Morning Minions.
Up next comes a silent movie starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Tall Timber (1928).
Today's cartoon selection ends with the TV special It's the Pied Piper Charlie Brown (2000). Though this is not one of the most remembered specials, it is one of the most important ones. It is the first special of the 21st century, it is the last one that Charles Schultz had any involvement in, and it is the first special to be released after Charles Schultz's death. This is also an unusual special by Peanuts standards. Most of you sure familiar with the fact that most Peanuts animation never showed the adults and had a trombone replace the sound of their voices. In this special you get to see and hear the adults. This actually wasn't the first time it was done in Peanuts animation though. A couple of other examples of animated Peanuts adventures that included speaking and visible adults are the mini-series This is America Charlie Brown (1988-1989) and the theatrically released feature length movie, Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (And Don't Come Back!!) (1980) (and these are only two examples). This is also a rare special to adapt a classic children's story with Peanuts characters in it. While this is a common practice with many cartoon characters it is rare for the Peanuts gang.
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
Today's cartoon selection begins with an early Woody Woodpecker short, The Dizzy Acrobat (1943). In these earlier Woody films the character is a bit cruder than fans of his later work are used to. But there is something about this sheer unabashed craziness that many cartoon fans (including myself) can't get enough of. This movie was nominated for an Academy Award, however it lost to Disney's Der Fuehrer's Face (1943). The following is from an issue of Showman's Trade Review (dated June 5, 1943), "Walter Lantz Cartune Studios which releases through Universal, has just released 'The Dizzy Acrobat,' A Woody Woodpecker special. The cartune revolves around the circus, and Lantz had experts advising the animators so that the action and facts would be accurate.
Next up is Tex Avery's next to last black and white cartoon, The Haunted Mouse (1941). By this time Tex had moved from working on the black and white Looney Tunes to the color Merrie Melodies. He had not made a black and white cartoon since 4 years earlier with Porky's Garden (1937). After this film, he would make one more black and white short, Porky's Preview (1941). This movie was the first Looney Tune to not feature any reoccurring characters. Before this Looney Tunes always featured a star character, at first Bosko, then Buddy, then Beans and then Porky. This star character would appear in every cartoon for the series, while the Merrie Melodies would include cartoons without any of the main characters. This movie also features the first writing credit for Michael Maltese who would go on to write Chuck Jones' best cartoons.
Showman's Trade Review, 1942
As the Van Bueren cartoon studio was not achieving the level of success that Disney or the Fleischers were having, it seemed like the right idea for the studio to hire talent from one of these other studios. Because of this Adamee Van Bueren made Burt Gillett the head of his cartoon studio. Gillett had one of the greatest credentials that anyone in animation could have in the 1930's. He had directed Disney's The Three Little Pigs (1933), which was by far one of the most popular cartoons to hit movie theaters. As head of the studio he dumped all the characters and series that the studio was currently making in favor of new series. One of these series began in 1934 and was titled Rainbow Parade. These shorts were clear imitations of Disney's Silly Symphonies and as the title implies they were in color. Most of these cartoons featured one shot characters but there were a few reoccurring characters, one of which was Molly Moo Cow. Here she is in Molly Moo Cow and the Indians (1935). The following is an exhibitor's review from the Motion Picture Herald, "Molly Moo Cow and the Indians: Rainbow Parade Cartoons - In Molly Moo Cow, RKO has a great character. These colored cartoons are good enough for anyone's program and should have preferred time. -C.L. Niles, Niles Theatre, Anamosa, Iowa, General Patronage."
The Plastics Inventor (1944) is a very interesting Donald Duck short in many ways. The movie marks the first time, a Donald cartoon credited the animators on screen. The film was made during World War 2 and was very topical of that time period, when people (and ducks) were conserving for the war effort and tried to find ways around various restrictions. The Disney studio had interestingly done a illustrated article for Look magazine about plastics that used Donald only three months before the film's release. That article had a serious message while this cartoon was made just for laughs Not everyone who saw this movie laughed though. Charles A. Breskin editor of Modern Plastics Magazine wrote, "Although we realize this cartoon is intended to be humorous, the result unfortunately is to belittle plastics.… I think this picture will do incalculable harm to our industry. Even if it is a comic exaggeration, the film leaves the uninformed movie-goer with the impression that (1) plastics are easily made from junk and (2) that they melt in water. It is this kind of muddled thinking about plastics that the industry is trying to correct.” He did not stop at this telling readers to write to the Disney studio to complain. Not everyone was angry. An editor of a rival plastics magazine wrote Walt, “All of us who laughed with your jolly aviator want to join in thanking you for giving plastics a break. We don’t mind a bit that Donald Duck’s materials were junk and turned into a plane and a melting parachute, because we know that plastics are not so shaky that a little ribbing will do them any harm. Thanks from all of us for a nice boost.” A review from The Film Daily called this "...one of the best of the series."
While nothing can reach the heights of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons of the 1930's, 40's, 50's and 60's, some very entertaining stuff has been done with the classic characters since then. Here is a later short I really like, Little Go Beep (2000).
Betty Boop cartoons defined the pre-code era (if don't know what that means click here.) better than any other cartoon series. This can fully be seen in our next movie, Boop-Oop-a-Doop (1932). The sexual references in this cartoon are in no way subtle and may surprise those who think old cartoons were completely innocent. The following is a review from The Film Daily, "A Max Fleischer Talkatoon cleverly executed with some novelty animated tricks that are new and amusing. The Boop-Oop-a-Doop heroine leads the hero into some dizzy adventures, but he comes through in great style qualifies easily as her hero. It will please the youngster and likewise their elders.
While most of the Fleischer Studio's Color Classics cartoons imitated Disney's Silly Symphonies, there were a few that had their own identities and fit in well with the studio's earlier wilder output. One of the best of these was A Car-Tune Portrait (1937). Like many classic cartoons this one used classical music. The piece used here is Franz Liszt’s second Hungarian Rhapsody which was also used in The Cat Concerto (1947), Rhapsody Rabbit (1946), Convict Concerto (1954), The Opry House (1929), Rhapsody in Rivets (1941) and The Magic Fluke (1949). Dave Tendlar is the head animator on this film and as the first animator credited he did much of the directing. He animates some long shots of the lion conducting in this film. Joe Oriolo animates the conductor roaring to awaken a sleeping audience member. Oriolo would later along with children’s author Seymour Reit create Casper the friendly ghost. Jack Rabin only animates a brief scene in this movie, where a bird uses his violin and violin bow as a combination bow and arrow. He would later provide special effects and matte paintings on such live action movies as The Night of the Hunter (1955), The Noose Hangs High (1948) and Around the World in Eighty Days (1956).
Thanks for joining me come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.
Resourses Used
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin.
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.
Happy Saturday morning my friends. You guessed it, it is time to look at some more classic cartoons.
It has been said often that if Disney cartoons were classical music than Warner Brothers cartoons were jazz. However if I were to pick a classic cartoon studio that really exudes jazz, I would pick the Fleischer studio. In fact some Fleischer cartoons even got famous jazz musicians to lend their singing voices to the cartoons. This cartoon features one of my favorites of that era, Cab Calloway, singing his most popular song, Minnie the Moocher. This cartoon stars Betty Boop and is the first of three Betty cartoons to feature Cab Calloway (The others being Snow White (1933) and The Old Man and the Mountain (1933)). For the dancing of the walrus, Cab's actual dancing was rotoscoped (a Max Fleischer invention where a live action film is traced over). This cartoon received the 20th spot in Jerry Beck's excellent book The 50 Greatest Cartoons. This film is filled with that great bizarre and imaginative imagery that help make so many of the Betty Boop cartoons of the early 1930's so great. So enjoy Minnie the Moocher (1932).
When people talk about Tex Avery, for they most part they are thinking of his MGM cartoons. The reason being that those are some of the funniest cartoons ever made. However his Warner Brothers cartoons certainly deserve another look, as they are great films in their own right. One of his best Warner Brothers cartoons is Hamateur Night (1939). This like many of Tex's color Merrie Melodies is a spot gag cartoon with loose story that simply connects various gags. The film also features a character TEx used often at this time Egghead. Egghead was based on popular radio comedian Joe Penner, and would later morph into Elmer Fudd.
One of the oddest pairings of Looney Tunes characters was Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales. During the mid to late 1960's Warner Brothers made a whole series of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies pitting these two against each other. Unlike the coyote and roadrunner or Sylvester and Tweety cartoons there was no built in reason for these two to be adversaries. As such each cartoon would have a completely different reason to have Daffy chase Speedy. This cartoon has the two as enemy spies. This film was directed by Rudy Larriva, who at this time was mostly directing coyote and roadrunner cartoons. This is one of his better directorial outings for Warner Brothers. So enjoy, The Spy Swatter (1967).
Next up comes the last theatrical cartoon to star Gandy Goose, a character who been a major Terrytoons character since 1938. This is a very good last cartoon for the character. There is some great animation (including some very over the top Jim Tyler animation for you cartoon buffs out there) and I love Gandy's impersonations of celebrities towards the beginning. So enjoy Barnyard Actor (1955).
Last up here is one of the Fleischer Brothers classic silent Out of the Inkwell shorts. This is a very delightful full of the great imagination and clever gags that made this one of the most memorable of the silent era. So enjoy Big Chief KoKo (1925). And yes the man drawing KoKo at the beginning is the one and only Max Flesicher. He has much less to do here than he did in most of these Out of the Inkwell cartoons, where he would often get involved in a battle of wits with KoKo. Still this is an excellent film in its own right.
Stay tooned next week for more classic cartoons. Until then peace love and cartoons.
