Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #202

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

Today's cartoon selection begins with a wonderful Christmas themed Donald Duck cartoon, Toy Tinkers (1949). This movie is a personal favorite of mine and in my opinion is the best of the cartoons were Donald faces off against Chip and Dale. The film has some wonderful cartoony gags that could have come from a Looney Tunes cartoon of the same time, and I love that. The telephone gag is especially wonderful. I have always loved the really cartoony side of Disney and movies like this that show off that side have a special place in my heart. This cartoon would make its TV debut on a 1958 Christmas episode of Walt Disney Presents. That version starts with some new animation featuring Chip and Dale telling Jiminy Cricket how they celebrate Christmas. 

Variety, 1943



Next comes one of the Sylvester and Hippety Hopper cartoons, Hoppy Days (1961). All of these films were directed by Robert McKimson and followed the same basic formula of Sylvester mistaking the baby kangaroo for a giant mouse. There were 13 of these films and this was the next to last one. 

Now for a delightful Betty Boop cartoon, PArade of the Wooden Soldiers (1934). The following are some exhibitor's reviews from the Motion Picture Herald, "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers: Betty Boop: A clever short subject and fine for children. - C.A. Pratt, Texas Theatre, Smithville, Texas. Small Town Patronage." " PARADE OF WOODEN SOLDIERS: Betty Boop Cartoons — One of the best Betty Boop cartoons. The musical score by Rubinoff is splendid. Running time, nine minutes. -A.B. Jeffries, New Piedmont Theatre, Piedmont, Mo. Rural and small town patronage." 

Up next is Christmas Night (1933). This cartoon comes from the delightfully underrated cartoon series, Van Bueren's Little King cartoons. These films are full of the type of surreal cartoony gags that 
I simply love and this movie is one of my favorites in the series. 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

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

Next comes a delightful Christmas treat from Famous Studios with Hector's Hectic Life (1948). This movie was directed by former Disney animator, Bill Tytla (probably my favorite Disney animator). Tytla had worked on some of Disney's finest feature films including Snow White (1937), Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940) and Dumbo (1941) and his animation was often a highlight even in these masterpieces. Though the Famous Studios cartoons he directed might not be as highly praised as his animation for Disney, these films often showed him as a very capable director. This movie is a good example of this. 

Next comes The Pink Panther in Sherlock Pink (1976).

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

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

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

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

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

Some Cartoons For Saturday Morning #32

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

We start our cartoons off with a Hokey Wolf cartoon from The Huckleberry Hound Show (1958-1961). This one is called Lamb-Basted Wolf .



Next comes one of the all time classic Merrie Melodies cartoons, A Corny Concerto (1943). This cartoon is very much a parody of Disney's recent animated feature, Fantasia (1940) with the unrefined Elmer Fudd taking over the Deems Taylor role. Earlier the same year this cartoon was released another Merrie Melody parodied Fantasia with an unrefined wolf doing the Deem Taylor role. That cartoon was called Pigs in a Polka (1943). A Corny Concerto was directed by Bob Clampett and written by Frank Tashlin. It is odd to have Tashlin write a Warners cartoon he didn't direct. Tashlin had in fact just returned to Warners after a stint at Disney, making him a perfect candidate to write this Disney parody. This film features another rarity for a Warners cartoon. That is the fact the Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig share the screen. It has been debated weather or not the Duck that appears in the second part of this cartoon is or isn't Daffy. I like to think of him as Daffy, myself. Also notice that Bugs makes Porky and his dog into a couple of boobs.




Up next comes another Warners cartoon from 1943. This one stars Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd and is entitled To Duck or Not To Duck. This cartoon is directed by Chuck Jones. Up until this time Chuck's cartoons had been slower paced and less comedy oriented, than the other Looney Tunes directors' films. While this cartoon is no where near as fast paced as Chuck's later films, it definitely moves faster and has more comedy compared to what he did in the past. Elmer's dog Larimore gets some of the best laughs in the film. It is also worth noting that Daffy had not become a born loser at this time yet. We will not see Elmer shooting Daffy's bill off in this cartoon. Instead Daffy can and does outsmart Elmer.




I am personally a big fan of the underrated Little King cartoons the Van Beuren studio did. I love their gentle pantomime and slapstick, as well as the great imagination in these films. So enjoy A Royal Good Time (1934).

For the most part in the 1930's Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoons starred reoccurring characters, while the Silly Symphonies starred one-shot characters. It was rare for a character from the Mickey series to star in a Symphony. However Pluto did this twice. These cartoons were Just Dogs (1932) and Mother Pluto (1936). Our last cartoon is the first one, Just Dogs. In this film Pluto is teamed with a little pup. While this pup would not appear in any more animated Disney cartoons, he would become a reoccurring character in Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse newspaper comic strip. One of Pluto's animators in this film was Norm Ferguson, who would help define the character's personality with his animation for Playful Pluto (1934). Burt Gillett the director of this film would soon direct the most famous Silly Symphony, The Three Little Pigs (1933). One of the working titles for Just Dogs was the rather on the nose The Dog Symphony.



For an extra treat to read a 1963 article from Boxoffice magazine about Walter Lantz cartoons plus an advertisement for Terrytoons from the same year click here.

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

-Michael J. Ruhland