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1944: Goodbye, Mr. Schlesinger


Tacodidra

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We've reached the first year when all the WB cartoons in the main series are in full color. Also a year of changes for the Schlesinger cartoon studio...


Little Red Riding Rabbit
Directed by I. Freleng
A teenage Little Red Riding Hood is bringing her grandma a bunny rabbit (Bugs)... to have! The wolf goes to grandma's house as usual, and takes her place easily, as grandma is working swing shift at Lockheed. Once Red shows up, the wolf shoos her away, as he's only interested in eating Bugs. A chase ensues, with occasional interruptions from Red. Another brilliant fairytale parody, though the original story takes a back seat here! The characters are great – Bugs is the clever trickster he's always been, the wolf is a nice comic foil, and Red is amusingly annoying and acts as a running gag of sorts. One of the most memorable shorts of the time, with an unexpected ending! The first time Mel Blanc gets an on-screen credit – very unusual for a cartoon voice actor back then, emphasizing his significance in the series!
10

What's Cookin' Doc?
Directed by Robert Clampett
Tonight, the Oscar for best performance will be given to a spectacular actor. Bugs is sure he'll win, but James Cagney gets the award instead. Annoyed, Bugs demonstrates to the audience how he deserves the award by showing one of his best scenes (from "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt"). This is a short that has its definite strengths and weaknesses. There are many funny parts, especially Bugs' impersonations of various celebrities and the daring ending. At the same time, it's fairly obvious this short was made as a way of cutting costs. There are almost two minutes of live-action stock footage (admittedly interesting material, showing Hollywood at the time) at the start, and almost two more minutes are taken up by the Hiawatha clip, constituting about half of the short. But despite those flaws, I find the short an appealing one with some nice gags – and the short also seems to criticize the Academy for snubbing the WB cartoons in favor of (sometimes inferior) Disney and MGM material, especially considering that the very short they used clips of had been nominated!
8.5

Meatless Flyday
Directed by I. Freleng
A happy spider wants to catch and eat a fly. But his attempts keep failing, either due to the fly's cleverness or for other reasons. This is an entertaining short, especially thanks to the amusing spider character who keeps laughing (in an Avery-esque way) no matter what and has some funny lines. There are also imaginative gags here, such as one involving a billboard, and even the title has more meaning besides the obvious fly pun!
9

Tom Turk and Daffy
Directed by Charles M. Jones
Porky is trying to shoot Tom Turk, a turkey who asks Daffy to hide him. At first, the duck complies, but the enticement of a turkey dinner makes Daffy betray his friend. But Tom turns the tables by sticking his tailfeathers on Daffy, and now Porky thinks he's a turkey! Great cartoon with an entertaining performance from all three characters, fast-paced chases and some great winter gags. Porky and Daffy always work well together, and this time's definitely not an exception!
10

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Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears
Directed by Charles M. Jones
Three bears decide to emulate the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. But after they decide to use carrot soup instead of porridge, they manage to lure in Bugs Bunny instead of Goldilocks. The bears featured here would be used by Jones in multiple later shorts – no wonder, since they already impress on their very first appearance. They all have distinct personalities: the angry, even violent Papa Bear, the romantic Mama Bear (who ends up falling for Bugs), and the big dumb Junyer Bear who's constantly forgetting his lines. They're all funny, but I think Mama eventually steals the show here. This is a short that I feel could have been a bit longer for more wacky antics with Bugs and the bears, but it's already very enjoyable the way it is!
9.5

I Got Plenty of Mutton
Directed by Frank Tashlin
A hungry wolf finds out the sheepdog has left his flock to join the WAGS, so he decides to go and steal the sheep! But what he failed to notice is that Killer Diller the ram has taken over and does his best to keep wolves away. The wolf dresses up as an attractive ewe to fool the goat, but this proves to be a bad decision. Despite a slow start (the wolf only reads about the sheepdog being gone two minutes in, and it takes another minute for the ram to show up), this was a great and funny cartoon. Both characters manage to amuse in this mostly dialogue-free short (saving the talking for the funny moments), and there is some quite daring humor for the time. The ending is priceless, in particular!
9.5

The Weakly Reporter
Directed by Charles M. Jones
A look at the American daily life and how the war has had an effect on it. A long part of the cartoon is dedicated to how women have taken up jobs that were previously occupied by men. While they're mostly associated with Avery, almost every director seemed to take turns in creating these spot gag cartoons, Jones now joining in. Another very topical short, but I think here it kind of adds to its appeal, and this does the typical corny jokes of these cartoons well. One of the stronger spot gag cartoons.
9

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Tick Tock Tuckered
Directed by Robert Clampett
As another cost-cutting measure, WB decided to make color remakes (with some changes) of Clampett's black and white Porky cartoons. This was the first of the four released in the 40s, based on "Porky's Badtime Story" (1937). As in the original, after Porky and his roommate's boss threatens to fire them for being late, they go to bed early the following night, but various things keep them awake. Gabby Goat has been replaced with Daffy, and the animation has been updated to match Porky's current design. There are some additions like Daffy shooting down the moon, while a scene with a fly bothering the duo has been removed. While this is a rather cheap way to make a cartoon, it gives us a look at how different 1937 Looney Tunes were from the 1944 ones. The designs and animation are much more pleasant here, and the additions are certainly appealing (we even get a Dover Boys shout-out). But with the story remaining unchanged, it also shows that what was a standout release in 1937 no longer feels quite as special among the stronger 1944 cartoons, just being one of many entertaining entries.
8.5

Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips
Directed by I. Freleng
Bugs sails to a Pacific island in a crate. But the island is full of Japanese soldiers who the bunny has to outwit. This is one of the most controversial cartoons in the whole series. Despite somehow not being included in the Censored 11 (and thus surviving past the 60s), a laserdisc and VHS release featuring the cartoon was withdrawn in 1995 after complaints. This is completely understandable – the gibberish-speaking caricatures here are among the worst stereotypes in the entire series, and while they are obviously trying to harm Bugs, his treatment of them comes off as unusually mean (his way of talking to the soldiers in particular is offensive). This portrayal was sadly rather common in some of the wartime cartoons, but if we try to evaluate it as a product of its time, is it a good Bugs cartoon? There are definitely elements of one hidden beneath the surface – the ending is a fun one, the ice cream van gag is quite imaginative (other than containing by far the worst lines of the entire short), and we get some entertaining fourth wall breaks (one of the Japanese soldiers makes a reference to Leon Schlesinger – not the first time in the series, but I always get a kick out of the in-jokes). Definitely a lot better than "Tokio Jokio", but still definitely dragged down by the stereotypes despite some good material.
7.5

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Swooner Crooner
Directed by Frank Tashlin
Porky runs the Flockheed eggcraft factory where chickens lay eggs for the U.S. and its allies. Everything goes well until Frankie the singing rooster shows up and all the hens go watch his performance instead. To save the situation, Porky decides to hire another singing rooster. A brilliant short from start to finish. The various scenes with the hens are funny (both the ones in the factory and when they're watching the crooner), and so are the musical parts – we get parodies of many popular singers of the day, most notably Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby (mirroring their real-life rivalry), and they're all amusing. Another Tashlin gem! This short gave the studio another Oscar nomination, but MGM's Tom and Jerry took the award again with "Mouse Trouble".
10

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Russian Rhapsody
Directed by Robert Clampett
The Nazis' attempts to bomb Moscow have failed, so Hitler decides to send "the best pilot in the Reich" to do it – himself! His attempts get thwarted by the Gremlins from the Kremlin who destroy his plane. A rarely seen cartoon for obvious reasons, but a definite classic! The beginning sets it up brilliantly – unusually, the story is told through (obviously fake) German newspapers. The gags are great and the pacing is wild. The gremlins all have unique designs, many of them based on the Schlesinger crew! The cartoon also has the perfect soundtrack to go with it – Mel Blanc does a perfect delivery of Hitler's deranged speech (containing references to food, popular songs of the day and Bugs Bunny's catchphrase among other things), and the jazzy takes on Russian folk songs are a perfect fit for the cartoon. One of the best war cartoons the studio made.
10

Duck Soup to Nuts
Directed by I. Freleng
Porky is hunting ducks once again, and with the other ducks having flown away, he's after Daffy. But Daffy keeps driving Porky mad with his wackiness – will the hunter manage to shoot him? Yet another cartoon that takes advantage of the great chemistry between Porky and Daffy – and one of their best! I especially like Daffy here, it's one of the shorts where he's at his wildest. The gags here are amazing ones, though my absolute favorite would have to be the duo's argument about whether Porky is a pig or an eagle. The trick Daffy plays on Porky here would later be used on the duck himself by Bugs Bunny – who knew Freleng had used a version of this gag years before Jones?
10

Angel Puss
Directed by Charles M. Jones
Another Censored 11 cartoon. Li'l Sambo is paid four bits to drown a cat, so he does it despite not wanting to. The cat manages to escape at the last moment and decides to play a trick on him. He pretends to have drowned and dresses as an angel to haunt his supposed killer. As expected, the stereotypical content shows up quite a bit in both the designs and the writing – I wouldn't rank it as the single most offensive short in the Censored 11, but it's among the more problematic ones. I think the plot is one that certainly had potential for much better, but despite some lively animation and a surprising ending (which is quite dark and amusing at the same time), it's one of the weaker entries of its time.
6.5

Slightly Daffy
Directed by I. Freleng
The second color remake of an earlier Clampett Porky cartoon, this time of "Scalp Trouble" where general Daffy and his soldiers (including Porky) defended a fort from attacking Indians. The original cartoon was a wacky and fun one despite its questionable theme. The remake, on the other hand, is lazy (to the point that the different directorial credit just feels wrong). Other than a few replaced scenes with the Indians (some of them recycled from other cartoons!), most of the changes are scenes being removed. The cartoon gets rid of some of the imaginative original gags, like one of the Indians drinking firewater and burning a hole in a fence he can walk through. The animation doesn't look better than the original in every shot either – the animation of Daffy swallowing ammunition stands out as much more lively in "Scalp Trouble". Despite the added color, I'd just go for the superior original.
7

Hare Ribbin'
Directed by Robert Clampett
Bugs is chased by a dumb dog with a craving for a rabbit sandwich. Their chase takes them underwater where Bugs fools the dog by playing an attractive mermaid among other things. A fun cartoon with Bugs at his best (though sometimes a bit meaner than usual!), great gags and amazing animation and expressions. The cartoon taking place underwater is a bit weird, as there's practically only one gag where that plays any purpose, but I guess that's just Clampett's randomness! Two different versions of the cartoon exist, as some alterations had to be made before release to please the censors – the dog meets his terrible fate differently, the original having been considered too violent (though the released version would also be censored on later TV airings), and there are a couple of other small differences too. I think the original "director's cut" is the funnier one, though it's definitely worth a watch in either version!
10

Brother Brat
Directed by Frank Tashlin
During the war, American women have taken up jobs previously occupied by men, and this means some of them need a babysitter. A welder for Blockheed asks Porky to babysit her son Percy (or Butch, as he calls himself). The patriotic pig agrees, but the kid proves to be an absolute nightmare, and the child psychology book provided by the mother doesn't help at all. The theme of a character having to babysit a bratty kid used to be very common in cartoon, and the Looney Tunes had had an earlier example with "The Fire Alarm". This new take on the theme makes the kid even more malicious (downright murderous at times!), which makes it funnier. Great gags, fast timing and a clever ending. Another big success for Tashlin!
10

Hare Force
Directed by I. Freleng
An old lady saves Bugs from freezing by taking him inside. This annoys her pet dog Sylvester. He throws Bugs out, leading to the two repeatedly trying their best to throw each other out. Another amazing Bugs cartoon with a fun rivalry – unlike his later namesake, Sylvester the dog may not have become a regular, but he's an entertaining foil for Bugs anyway. The ending is also a great and surprising one!
10

From Hand to Mouse
Directed by Charles M. Jones
A lion is about to eat a mouse (Hubie?), but inspired by the story of "the Lion and the Mouse", the mouse convinces him to let him go and he'll help him in return. But the mouse immediately shows he has no intention to do so ("Sucker!") The dumb lion keeps trying to catch him again, but the mouse repeatedly manages to outwit him in various ways. An imaginative and funny cartoon, slightly resembling 1937's "The Lyin' Mouse" at times, but with better gags and characters. Probably the closest in style we've had to Jones' later cartoons so far.
9.5

Birdy and the Beast
Directed by Robert Clampett
Tweety, named here for the first time, is again chased by a cat. The cat's attempts to catch the little bird end badly for him, as he gets set on fire and blown up among other things. This is pretty much in the vein of "A Tale of Two Kitties" – the pink Tweety foils the cat's attempts in extremely violent ways, sometimes (seemingly) accidentally, sometimes completely on purpose. Especially with the ending, he comes off as even crueler here, and the juxtaposition of the cute design and voice with his sadistic personality is hilarious. This also focuses more on him than the first short (essentially co-starring Babbit and Catstello) did. Maybe a bit less memorable than that one, in part due to the less remarkable support cast, but a very strong entry with great gags, in any case.
10

Buckaroo Bugs
Directed by Robert Clampett
In the San Fernando Valley, the Masked Marauder is going around, stealing carrots. The goofy cowboy Red Hot Ryder (accompanied by his horse, also quite the character!) goes to stop the thief. Since the Masked Marauder is Bugs Bunny, we already know the cowboy is in for a difficult time. Typically for Clampett's Bugs cartoons, he isn't really portrayed as the good guy, and we see him humiliating the "hero" over and over. In the extremely strong Bugs series, this isn't one of my absolute favorites, but a very good one anyway with its fun gags and animation.
9


The end of an era: After 14 years producing the series, Leon Schlesinger sells his cartoon studio. Having previously only been the distributor, WB now owns the studio (renamed Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc.) and all the rights to the characters and series, which will continue without any significant changes. Despite his retirement from producing, Schlesinger would participate in marketing the characters until his death in 1949.


Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears
Directed by I. Freleng
Though there are some controversial entries left among the later shorts, this is the last cartoon to be part of the infamous Censored 11. Another parody of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, this time with jazz music. The three jazz-playing bears (stereotypically depicted black characters, like everyone in this cartoon) go for a walk to let their instruments cool down. The Big Bad Wolf is pretending to be Grandma and waiting for Red Riding Hood, but she's busy working at Lockheed. As Goldilocks goes to the bears' house, the wolf spots her and tries to eat her. The stereotypes are the low point here, as expected. The music, on the other hand, is great, and Freleng uses it well in humorous dance sequences. The idea to combine the stories of Goldilocks and Little Red Riding Hood is pretty much recycled from "The Bear's Tale", which takes away some of the novelty, but there are some good gags. One of the better cartoons in the Censored 11.
8.5

Plane Daffy
Directed by Frank Tashlin
Twenty-eight carrier pigeons have failed to deliver a military secret, getting seduced by Nazi spy Hatta Mari. The "squadron woman hater" Daffy Duck volunteers to do it, but will he succeed? Out of all the wartime cartoons, this is among my favorites. Daffy is in top form with all his wackiness, the rhyming narration at the start is a nice touch, the gags are great throughout, the villain is a memorable one... Definitely among the best cartoons of its time.
10

Lost and Foundling
Directed by Charles M. Jones
A hawk's egg falls out of its nest, ending up in Sniffles' home. It hatches soon, and Sniffles raises what he thinks is a little chicken. But Orville the hawk grows up fast, and the two soon find out hawks eat rodents... While this may not be as fast-paced and humorous as "The Unbearable Bear" was (despite having the new more talkative version of Sniffles), I really enjoyed this cute short. The ending in particular is a nice one – a very sweet cartoon, with some funny moments included too!
9.5

Booby Hatched
Directed by Frank Tashlin
A mother duck takes her new hatchlings for a swim, but the unhatched Robespierre is left behind. This leads to chaos all around – Robespierre (still in his egg) is cold and looking for someone to sit on him, his mother is trying to find him, and a wolf is trying to eat the egg. Fun cartoon with plenty of fourth wall breaking and other good gags. There are several unexpected scenes, including a funny moment with Robespierre at the end!
9

The Old Grey Hare
Directed by Robert Clampett
Elmer has failed to catch Bugs once again. He is taken to the year 2000 when both of them are old. After Elmer manages to shoot Bugs with his futuristic gun, the two reminisce about the good old days when the two were babies and first met each other. This is an especially interesting short in that apart from the first scene with Elmer, the two characters are always shown as either younger or older than usual. Portraying familiar characters as babies has since become a cliché, often done without any of the appeal of the originals (the Looney Tunes would also fall victim to this decades later), but in addition to being one of the first times this was done, this manages to do it appealingly, keeping the usual spirit. And the same applies to the scenes with old Bugs and Elmer, which even have a nostalgic overtone to them. Definitely a memorable entry!
10

The Stupid Cupid
Directed by Frank Tashlin
Cupid Elmer is going around, shooting his arrows and making various animals fall in love (with comedic consequences). But Daffy tries his best to resist due to negative past experiences. But Cupid gets him, and he falls for a chicken. A wacky cartoon with a great role for Daffy and enjoyable gags (including my favorite version of the controversial "Now I've seen everything" gag). Elmer's role is a bit unusual in that he's mute apart from his laugh. The cartoon's last scene was edited out either before its original release or for its reissue, resulting in it ending really abruptly. Truly a shame, as that's quite a big flaw in an otherwise very good cartoon.
9

Stage Door Cartoon
Directed by I. Freleng
Elmer is hunting Bugs once again. The two run through a stage door and end up performing various acts for an audience while the chase goes on. Bugs' performances are very popular, while Elmer keeps getting humiliated. Despite a somewhat slow start, this short grows into a very funny one with the main characters (as well as a supporting character!) shining. This short even has some elements that were used in various later Bugs cartoons: a high-diving act, Bugs' dance to "The Old Soft Shoe"... And over the titles, we hear the first appearance of "What's Up Doc?", which  would become Bugs' theme song. An influential entry.
9.5


The Private Snafu series produced for the U.S. Army continued with 12 more entries made by the Schlesinger/Warner Bros. cartoon studio. Directors were again uncredited.


Booby Traps
Directed by Robert Clampett
The narrator mentions that a soldier will have take care to avoid booby traps, as any object could be one! Snafu tells him to shut up – he's sure he won't fall for any. But things take a turn for the worse when he spots a harem and goes there. This is easily my favorite of the Snafu shorts so far. In spirit, it's very close to the Looney Tunes of the day, but with some content the usual censors wouldn't have allowed, used here to a comedic effect! Snafu's reactions in the harem are entertaining and unexpected. We also get the first use (and one of the best) of the "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms" piano gag.
10

Snafuperman
Directed by I. Freleng
Unlike the other soldiers, Snafu isn't interested in studying. After Snafu says he'd destroy the enemies if he were Superman, Technical Fairy First Class turns him into Snafuperman. But the superhero's attempts at fighting the enemy go wrong, in part due to his refusal to use a map.  Just a year after Bugs parodied Superman, it's Snafu's turn – I think "Super-Rabbit" had better gags, but this is entertaining enough, with Snafu's usual incompetence (even as a superhero).
8

Private Snafu vs. Malaria Mike
Directed by Charles M. Jones
Malaria Mike, also known as Amos Quito, spots Snafu taking a bath in a pond. After failed attempts to sting the naked soldier, the mosquito gets another chance when Snafu doesn't use the recommended G.I. repellent. This is another fun one, focusing more on the little insect (not the first Jones cartoon like this) than the soldier, with some funny gags like Mike accidentally stinging a tree. At the end (predictably another sad one for the titular soldier), the moral is presented clearly, but at the same time, humorously.
9

A Lecture on Camouflage
Directed by Charles M. Jones
Technical Fairy First Class tells the soldier audience how camouflage should be used. Snafu's attempts don't go well, as he keeps leaving tracks and making other mistakes despite the fairy's warnings, again meeting a tragic fate. Not the best of the Snafu shorts, but it does have some entertaining gags and a daring ending!
8

Gas
Directed by Charles M. Jones
Snafu shows up late for the gas drill and has problems finding his gas mask. After this, he's given extra training in gas mask use, but he thinks he won't need the mask and throws it away. He learns a lesson when three gas monsters show up. A good short where we see Snafu (just) avoiding a terrible fate for once. My favorite gag features a surprise cameo!
8.5

The Chow Hound
Directed by I. Freleng
This short, warning about wasting food, is the strangest in the Snafu series yet – the soldier himself doesn't appear as much as usual, instead it focuses on a bull (also acting as the narrator) who joins the army, becoming "food for Snafu". We see the effort taken to deliver food to soldiers, but unfortunately Snafu doesn't seem to appreciate it. Not the funniest entry in the series, but definitely an interesting one in how different it is (with another good moral).
8

Censored
Directed by Frank Tashlin
Snafu wants to send a letter to his girlfriend Sally Lou, telling her about what he and his fellow soldiers are up to. But regardless of what Snafu tries, the censors catch him and cut out most of the letter. Eventually, Technical Fairy First Class agrees to deliver it without censoring, but this proves to be a terrible decision... The letters being censored is presented in various comedic ways, and the moral is again taught humorously but effectively, with some more daring content. One of the most entertaining shorts in the Snafu series.
9.5

Outpost
Directed by Charles M. Jones
Snafu is on a distant island where he's supposed to be monitoring possible enemy activity, but he's bored, spending most of his time daydreaming. His crow companion spots a can of pickled fish eyes with rice – belonging to the Japanese navy! But Snafu doesn't take the danger seriously. Another variation on the series, as Snafu is mostly seen sleeping and having dreams about women, unaware of what's going on, while the crow is responsible for all the important observations. Not the strongest in the series, but interesting for its different take on the series.
8

Payday
Directed by I. Freleng
Snafu is shown in various settings (the Middle East, the Caribbean and the Arctic). Instead of investing in his future, as recommended by Technical Fairy First Class, he's tempted by a devil to spend his money on unnecessary things. An interesting way to present the lesson – every time Snafu wastes his money, things disappear from the picture of his future home. A good entry, though not spectacular.
8

Target Snafu
Directed by Frank Tashlin
We get a look at military training – not that of regular soldiers but malaria mosquito cadets doing target practice and obstacle courses among other things. Once they've completed training, they get ready for an attack against Snafu himself! An interesting short in that the "heroes" of the short are dangerous insects that the soldiers were to avoid, but their mission is still presented in a relatable way to them. And of course, it also serves as a reminder about the danger small insects can present. Another good one, even if the supposed main character doesn't get to appear much.
8.5

Three Brothers
Directed by I. Freleng
Snafu is working in the army's shoe division and isn't satisfied with his tasks. He thinks his brother Tarfu has it better, but Technical Fairy First Class shows him things aren't that simple, and Tarfu in turn thinks his brother Fubar is lucky with his tasks. While the basic plot here is essentially recycled from "The Infantry Blues", I think this is the superior cartoon with some nice gags – and it's interesting to see more of Snafu's family (the civilian family members showed up earlier in "The Home Front")!
9


An additional Snafu short was produced but not released at the time. The reason for this is not known, but it is believed to have been due to a secret weapon depicted in the short having strong similarities to those developed in the U.S. nuclear weapon program.


Going Home
Directed by Charles M. Jones
Snafu returns home and tells everyone about his experiences. Sadly, this includes military secrets, eventually leading to disaster. Another good Snafu short with an entertaining ending, though some of these stories are starting to feel somewhat derivative – "Spies" had the same basic idea, though of course keeping secrets was something soldiers couldn't be reminded of too much!
8.5


While the main Private Snafu series was mostly handled by Warner Bros. Cartoons, the soldier would also appear in a few cartoons made by other studios for the army. The series "A Few Quick Facts" featured cameo appearances by Snafu in five entries this year: "Air Transport / Ships / China / Fire", "US Soldier / Bullet / Diarrhea and Dysentery", "USS Iowa / Brain / Shoes" and "Chaplain Corps / Accident / Gas" all produced by MGM, as well as "Inflation" produced by UPA. These shorts mostly use limited animation and focus more on being informative than funny – the fully animated Snafu segments are clearly the highlight in these films that for the most part don't match the charm of the WB-produced cartoons.


The Schlesinger studio also made uncredited animation for a United Artists live-action film.


Sensations of 1945
A scene with Cab Calloway and his band performing the song "Jive" is accompanied by an animated cat. As Calloway gives the definitions of words used by "hepsters", we see the cat dancing similarly to the singer and helping present the definitions (like turning a doghouse into a fiddle he plays). The animated sequence is fairly short (the cat only being animated in certain parts of the song), but it's lively, and the musical performance is great! Done by the Clampett unit, there's a brief appearance by a female cat previously seen in "Tin Pan Alley Cats".
8.5


Before WB took over the studio, Schlesinger had owned all the rights to the characters. The last production made for a distributor other than WB even featured Bugs Bunny! A short sequence was created for a Paramount-distributed Puppetoon short, with Robert McKimson (presumably under Clampett's direction) animating Bugs, the cel-animated bunny sharing the screen with George Pal's puppet characters.


Jasper Goes Hunting
Jasper and Scarecrow are hunting big game in a jungle and come across a hole in the ground. Who else pops out but Bugs Bunny! He soon realizes he's in the wrong picture and goes back into the hole. Despite lasting less than half a minute, it's definitely the best scene in the short (otherwise fairly average apart from the impressive stop-motion animation) – the combination of different animation styles is interesting, and it must have been quite a surprise to the audience back then (at least if they didn't read the opening credits)!
9


It was another good year for the three cartoon series – the Looney Tunes and the Merrie Melodies being great for the most part (despite a few weaker entries sneaking in), and Private Snafu enjoying a strong second year. Despite Schlesinger selling the studio, the changes won't be huge – apart from the animated sequences in live-action films becoming much rarer, as for some reason WB wouldn't utilize them like the other studios (that obviously wouldn't be entitled to the WB cartoon studio's services anymore) did. But there will be more new projects in 1945, right before the end of the war!

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More and more, the number of tunes I haven't seen grows shorter. Again, the usual suspects, some no-longer PC tunes and some WWII propaganda tunes. Though, the latter I have seen more of.

And I am thinking that's why we never saw certain characters again, like the airplane gremlins. Kind of hard to bring them back if they have that WWII association. :sunny:

And I'll never forget that very spunky teen version of Little Red Riding Hood. Maybe I just have an easier time remembering the loud, annoying characters. :mlp_icwudt:

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@Samurai Equine Same for me, less than a dozen were new to me. I had seen the war-themed ones (again, mostly thanks to the DVDs), but not the Censored 11 shorts.

The gremlins were fun, I'd certainly have liked to see them again! That's probably the case, though some characters from slightly controversial cartoons have shown up sometimes. Inki has pretty much disappeared in the recent decades due to his stereotypical design, but his more memorable co-star the Minah Bird has occasionally returned in the later revivals. :grin:

The most memorable of the various Little Red Riding Hood versions, for sure (and there were many, including two this year)! Making annoying but funny characters was something the crew did really well, with the later version of Sniffles being another brilliant example. :ButtercupLaugh:

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Of all the cartoons produced in 1944, I'd say that "Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears" is easily my favorite. The WB interpretations of the bears are so hilarious, especially with how Papa is the smallest and Junyer is the biggest. :ButtercupLaugh: I also remember "Little Red Riding Rabbit" very well - that version of Red is just such an oblivious loudmouth. :laugh: "The Old Grey Hare" is an example of age regression and progression done completely right, and it's really funny to look back on the studios' wacky predictions for the year 2000. :D I can see there were also quite a few controversial cartoons made in this year - I too am surprised that "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips" didn't turn the Censored 11 into the Censored 12, or alternatively, the Dirty Dozen. :derp:

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@Octavia Heartstrings I agree completely on the Three Bears – they had such great cartoons, my favorite coming in the early 50s. :D The "predictions" feel quite weird now – still no Buck Rogers Lightning Quick Rabbit Killer or Smellevision (maybe Carl Stalling's indeed to blame for the latter). :P

I don't really know what United Artists were thinking when they picked the cartoons for the Censored 11... Only the cartoons with black stereotypes ended up on the list, none of the other offensive ones, and even then, it seemed to be rather selective. For most of the ones that did end up on the list, I completely understand the ban, but "Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land" being on the list and "The Early Worm Gets the Bird" staying in circulation (for a couple more decades, at least) was weird. :derp:

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Decided to finally stop to watch a full year of Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies cartoons, Lots of Awesome cartoons in this year! Some of them are personal favorites and others are completely new to me!

I never knew that Hare Ribbin' had a alternate ending! I thought it was that other Bugs Bunny vs Dog cartoon that had a alternate ending! So both of them have alternate endings? What a coincidence, had to search for the version with Bugs killing the dog, I don't know which one I prefer, I think for those who like to see Bugs as a good guy, the theatrical release is the best version, while the director's cut is the one for those who consider him as evil, I like both, and yeah, since as a kid I thought it was weird how the last 5 minutes are all underwater, either it was a weird artistic choice or they just had to rush the development of this cartoon :mlp_huh:

Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips was interesting to me, I always try to put the controversial stuff aside and just enjoy its artistically, was a really fun and well made one for me, specially liked the Japanese doing a Bugs impression and realizing that he's not the general by breaking the fourth wall (with a Merrily We Roll Along arrangement playing in the background)

Never watched "Bugs Bunny and Three Bears" before, I thought the bear family always had their own cartoons from the start, so it was a surprise to me to see that they originated from Bugs, interesting story, despite Robert Cannon's work not being perfect here to me, the animation is awkward in some scenes and Bugs also looks odd in a lot of frames.

The wolf from "Booby Hatched" is apparently the same from "I Got Plenty of Mutton"? Both cartoons were animated by Izzy Ellis and Art Devis and directed by Frank Tashlin, so I think it's very likely, or they just decided to reuse the same character design (it lacks a few details in "Booby Hactched")

"Swooner Crooner" is a classic, but actually for me the most memorable part of the cartoon that persisted in my memory for years was the Factory scene with the incredible background score, the "Powerhouse" theme by Raymond Scott, I believe this was not the first use of it, but the one in this cartoon is definitely the most memorable to me, one of the best Looney Tunes songs in my opinion, even though it's not really originally made for it, but Carl Stalling adapted it to sound even more awesome! In this one it's mostly the 2nd part of the song, in "Birdy and the Beast" you can hear some of the 1st part! :lookup:

Also speaking of Birdy and the Beast, I thought this was the first Tweety cartoon, featherless Tweety early design is something else ^_^

Never watched "From Hand to Mouse", so I thought the mouse was Hubie :mlp_laugh:

"Lost and Foundling" was a lovely one, Sniffles has one of my favorite obscure/forgotten character designs from the series, even though it's hard for me to understand most of what he says, I really liked this one and the "double plot twist" was amazing, need to look for more of this character.

"The Stupid Cupid" was a fun but also a really weird one, Elmer Fudd is really random as it could've been very well just a random cupid character, they had to add his laughs to justify it?? And the Abrupt ending also confused me a lot, not sure what happened here :mlp_confused:

Red Hot Ryder from "Buckaroo Bugs" is probably one of dumbest opponents Bugs has ever fought, the magnet joke being used twice amuses me, M. Gould was really good with the animation and the zooms, the final scene looks awesome. Other cartoon I never watched before.

The 1st cartoon is probably my all time favorite Little Red Riding Hood parody, watched it countless times as a kid and still remains a classic to me, definitely one of Bugs' best, the jokes are awesome, Bugs whistling, The Wolf pretending to be a door, Bugs making the wolf sing and the girl interrupting just for the wolf resume his singing with Bugs not even being there anymore just kills me :ButtercupLaugh:definitely of the funniest cartoons out there, the "peace with the enemy" ending here is also one of my favorites. Manuel Perez and the other animators who worked in this one all did a awesome work, I like the yellow-ish colors for the white parts of Bugs with the slightly blue grey, these colors + the curved head design (Manuel does the round one in this) would be my favorite Bugs Bunny design (unless it exists and I'm not aware of it)

"Tom Turkey and Daffy" and "Duck Soup to Nuts" are two awesome Daffy vs Porky cartoons, watched them multiple times as a kid, but the former has to be my favorite, not only the jokes are more funny to me, but the overall animation and visuals are more impressive to me (not counting the backgrounds by Bernyce Polifka, they are way too simple in my opinion), I really like how Ken Harris and the other animators who worked in this one gave a more "cute" approach to the characters, but they also made them very expressive, when Porky gets angry and even becomes a tank the animation gets really wacky, truly awesome, cute but also wacky (similar to Rod Scribner, Bob and Robert McKimson's work in "What's Cookin' Doc?" and "The Old Grey Hare", the latter is also amazing, also you can see the difference when you compare them to "Tick Tock Turckered", where the characters are cute but the animation isn't that expressive, maybe because it's a remake?) probably my favorite Looney Tunes cartoon from this year, so bad their work wasn't very good in "Angel Puss", that one for me was really mid and easily the worst of this year, and I'm not even considering the racist part.

Now for the Merrie Melodies, Russian Rhapsody is surely a blast to me, I loved rewatching it multiple times as a kid when these were all availbale in full on Youtube years ago, and I didn't even get most of the jokes at the time, Carl Stalling's work was phenomenal here, the music and overall score is very memorable, the animation is fantastic, the character designs are amazing, the Gremlins' unique designs and the fact that they're based in the staff just makes it better, the design for Hitler looks amazing here too, Rod Scribner made the best cartoon version of the dictator here in my opinion, he looks extremely expressive and menacing, you can notice the huge difference in characterization when you compare to how Cal Dalton does him in "Plane Daffy", you can definitely feel it when Rod is the main animator, so bad this was the only cartoon in this year where he was the lead animator. The only odd thing about this one in my opinion is the cut for the part where Hitler falls from the plane, I believe that right after he's scared by the Stalin mask, a Gremlin was supposed to appear behind him and knock him out with a hammer or other weapon? That'S why out of nowhere he appears knocked out before falling from the plane? It's weird, but aside from that, everything else is perfect, out of all the Merrie Melodies I watched this has to be my favorite and also one of my all time favorite Looney Tunes cartoons, really awesome to revisit it years later, remains a gem to me! The best of one of this year in my opinion :mlp_grin:

These Snafu cartoons were good too, never watched any of them, thanks for the list Taco!

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@Rafa Stary Wow, it's amazing to see all your thoughts about these cartoons! :eager: And I'm glad to hear you had fun! :pinkie:

I think the other cartoon with Bugs and a dog that you're referring to is "The Heckling Hare" where Bugs and Willoughby were supposed to fall three times (the first two seen in full), but only the first fall remains in the released cartoon. Sadly, that ending seems to be completely lost. Yeah, Bugs shooting the dog is a bit much for him – I doubt any other director besides Clampett would have done that!

Yeah, "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips" does have plenty I liked, but the cringy stereotypes hurt it a lot for me, even if they were understandable for the time.

As for the wolf, I've noticed before that the crew would recycle character models from their previous cartoons, like Freleng did in the 30s with a weasel appearing in both "My Green Fedora" and "Plenty of Money and You". And the Hubie-esque mouse (a lot of people seem to think it's a different mouse for some reason, maybe because Bertie's not there?) in Jones' "From Hand to Mouse" is another case of this, too.

"Powerhouse" is an absolute classic – apparently "Porky Pig's Feat" was the first one to use it (at least according to the Looney Tunes Wiki).

Great to see some Sniffles appreciation. ^_^ I think some of his earlier cartoons were a bit weak (mainly "Sniffles and the Bookworm" and "Sniffles Takes a Trip"), but he's just adorable, and "Little Brother Rat", "The Unbearable Bear" and especially "Lost and Foundling" are among Jones' best from his early days. I kind of wish he had kept the little mouse around longer!

According to Greg Ford, "The Stupid Cupid" was supposed to end with Daffy saying "If you haven't tried it, don't knock it!" while kissing the chicken and getting kissed by the rooster. Probably too daring for the censors. :blush: Since the rooster had already noticed Daffy was there by the time the cartoon fades out, I wonder if this was preceded by Cupid shooting another arrow, hitting the rooster.

Freleng's Bugs cartoons are some of my favorites – he might not get as much as praise as Jones or Clampett, but his best work is truly amazing, and I think his timing was the best of all the WB directors (which really shows in his musical cartoons).

Rod Scribner is my favorite Looney Tunes animator, especially for his work with Clampett, though there are of course many great ones, like Ken Harris. As for "Russian Rhapsody" (also one of my favorites!), the Stalin mask part is even mentioned on IMDb as having missing footage – looking at it now, I'm not quite sure if it's a censorship edit or an intentional fast cut in Clampett's style (he does it quite a bit in cartoons like "The Hep Cat").

You're welcome, my friend! :yay: The Snafus were for the most part also new to me, as less than a dozen were included on the Golden Collection DVDs (and obviously they're not shown much on TV).

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That's interesting info to hear! sad that the ending for "The Heckling Hare" is lost, I remember years ago searching about it, the missing footage from "Russian Rhapsody" and the ending for "Stupid Cupid" are curious too. Rod Scribner is indeed magnficent, I need to look for more of his work.

Thanks for that ^^ I pretty much returned to Looney Tunes recently, my story with it is somewhat similar to my story with MLP and even curious, I used to be obsessed with it years ago as a kid, but unlike MLP, I did watch the show, everything about it, at least everything that was still on TV at the time, so a few of the Movies like Back on Action and Space Jam, the old cartoons and The Looney Tunes Show, there were also the full old cartoons on Youtube (no more unfortunately), Looney Tunes was pretty much my favorite comedy series. 

At the time, the 2015 series "New Looney Tunes" (formerly "Wabbit") was running, so that new show was my focus, and I really liked it but suddenly the US stopped releasing new episodes, Brazil as well, then I noticed on Youtube that the official Cartoon Network and Boomerang channels from different countries like France and UK were releasing clips from episodes that couldn't be find or watched anywhere, which made me assume that these other countries were releasing the episodes but not the US for some reason, these clips on Youtube drove me crazy because some of them showed Elmer Fudd, Porky and Daffy, and at the time the only know episodes were the very first ones from Season 1 featuring only Bugs, Talking Coyote, Yosemite Sam and the new characters. So that made me extremely confused, until a few months later, these new episodes started to be released here on Brazil, which was a huge surprise to me because there was still nothing about them in the US, so that was something very rare for me, specially when I finally saw the episodes with Daffy and Porky (the one with Daffy was the Season 1 finale). It drove me crazy again when I saw that the show was going to be renamed to "New Looney Tunes" and that the 2nd Season was going to have episodes about all the Looney Tunes characters just like the old cartoons again! Damn, I remember it so well, good times :lookup:

Unfortunately in 2017, with many other cartoons showing up and specially with the arrival of Dragon Ball Super in the rest of the world, I just ended up forgetting about the show and the overall Looney Tunes franchise, same reasons I forgot about MLP after 2014, new cartoons showing up and catching my attention. So I didn't watch anything Looney Tunes for 6 years, in 2020 I saw they were going to make the New Looney Tunes Cartoons series, but I didn't pay any attention. Until at Christmas 2023 I decided to look for something to watch on TV after a long time not watching it, and New Looney Tunes was there on Cartoon Network, and I really enjoyed it and made me remember how I used to really like Looney Tunes (just like MLP). So after it I decided to look for more Looney Tunes to watch, but I didn't do it because of some IRL stuff and my projects. I started to notice your blog posts but never checked them because at the same time I was starting to get into this site (wasn't very active here before March), so I didn't stop to come here, but then I thought that it could be a good idea to start watching these all in order, something I never made before, that's why I asked about where you was watching these old cartoons a few weeks ago, because I wanted to watch them as well, so I wanted to save the links. Decided to just watch them this week, starting from 1944 (already not in order, but at least all in release order of the year of 1944, I guess it's a good start :mlp_lie:). I really enjoyed rewatching a lot of these and watching new cartoons I've never heard before, I'll try today or tomorrow to start from the beginnig with Bosko, never watched anything from him or the early cartoons, I admit I avoided watching them when I was kid because at the time I thought black and white cartoons looked lame :twismile:

I don't think I'll become a die-hard fan of the franchise again like I am with DB and MLP nowadays, but It's definitely my favorite comedy-thing! Thrilled to see the rest, just need to find the "right time" to watch it, thanks for sharing these again and for "re-introducing" me into the series again :squee:!

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@Rafa Stary There are a few cartoons with missing footage – "You're an Education" and "Hollywood Steps Out" are a couple more that have obvious cuts. In those cases, the scenes were cut for the reissue rather than the original release, so there's a small chance they might be found someday.

The Looney Tunes are definitely the cartoon (or any show, really) I've watched the longest – I especially liked Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner when I was little, and I also enjoyed the other cartoons. I especially remember a TV channel showing one cartoon each morning and I'd watch it before daycare or school – it's been ages, but I remember they showed both the popular characters and occasionally some less known ones like the Goofy Gophers. :D

My experiences are a bit different – I watched the 2000s Duck Dodgers series when it was new, but I've seen very little of the later series. Though I remember reading New Looney Tunes even brought back Gabby Goat who had been gone for eight decades. :wau: The latest series Looney Tunes Cartoons looks pretty faithful in style to the old ones, I think I'll have to check that one out at some point. :grin:

For me, it had also been a while since I had last watched them when I started this project (which I had originally planned in 2020 for the 90th anniversary, but as you can see, it took a while :P). I'm glad to hear my project has inspired you to watch them again too!  :yay: The chronological order is something that has made me appreciate the older cartoons more – I've never really paid attention to when a certain gag was used for the first time, the development of a director's style and stuff like that before. The Bosko cartoons, while I obviously wouldn't say they're a match for Bugs or Daffy, still have their own appeal and it's interesting to see when they start going from music towards comedy. Even Buddy has some good shorts despite his reputation as the most boring Looney Tunes character. :laugh: And of course when Porky is introduced, that's when things really get going! The black and white cartoons include some of Porky and Daffy's best cartoons, so they're definitely worth checking out! Preferably in their original versions, the late 60s redrawn colorized versions are something I recommend avoiding (the computer colorized versions are at least slightly less sloppy, but I'm not really a fan of them either).

You're welcome! :D And thanks again for the comment, I really enjoy sharing my Looney Tunes journey. :squee:

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Unfortunately apparently Looney Tunes Cartoons ended nearly a year ago according to the wiki, so we both arrived too late to it :sunny:

New Looney Tunes brought back a lot of characters throughout its run, I remember very well watching the Gabby Goat episode a little before I moved on, definitely didn't knew about him at the time I thought he was a new character, other characters like Blacque, Cecil Turtle, Hubie and Bertie, Lola also showed up as the series progressed, it was really cool classic to see characters returning, I just found it a bit sad that the new characters presented in Season 1 were kind of forgotten, some of them like the Grim Rabbit I really enjoyed and they just disappeared when the show changed its concept in Season 2, would like to see them again someday in the franchise and that they aren't exclusive to this series, it was a very interesting one, there was even a episode that reused the concept of "Rabbit Rampage" and "Duck Amuck" but with modern technology, there was a scene where Bugs is redraw in the Loonatics Unleashed style :mlp_laugh:

I know a bit about Bosko, never heard about Buddy, by the way. Thanks again :eager:

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Tacodidra

Posted (edited)

@Rafa Stary A shame, really... :sunny: Though to be honest, here I am watching cartoons from almost 80 years ago, so I guess one year late isn't that bad. :P And of course there's the upcoming movie "The Day the Earth Blew Up" – I don't know much about it yet, but the art looks good, and it's especially great to see Petunia Pig (an underused character) in a significant role!

Characters getting swept aside is unfortunately common in cartoons – one of the many things I loved about G4 MLP was how they kept bringing popular (and sometimes less popular) side characters back. :rarity: The recent Looney Tunes productions seem to also be doing this more instead of just having the five or so most popular characters.

Buddy isn't very well known, as he only appeared for two years (in what might be the most forgotten era of the Looney Tunes). It's been decades since his cartoons were last shown on TV (though a few of them were released on DVD).

Edited by Tacodidra
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The name is weird, but I'm interested by that movie, hope it doesn't get the same fate as "Coyote vs Acme" :sunny:

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@Rafa Stary What happened to "Coyote vs. Acme" still doesn't make any sense to me... If they really didn't believe in the movie's success, they could even have released it without any promotion and not ended up any worse financially. Especially sad considering the few people who saw it thought it was great. :(

"The Day the Earth Blew Up" will be the first theatrical Looney Tunes feature with no live-action or reused animation... as long as Zaslav doesn't ruin it. :worry:

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I watched Looney Tunes Cartoons yesterday and damn, maybe what I'm going to say here is a spoiler, but they made a awesome tribute to one of these 1944 cartoons! It really surprised me! ^_^

Spoiler

They brought back The Russian dog from "Hare Ribbin'" for a episode! I really liked it, the dog acts very accurate to the old cartoon in my opinion, the first part of the "Powerhouse" song showing up in the episode also surprised me, and better, the ending of the episode! Just like in the theatrical release, Bugs convinces the dog to commit suicide again :ButtercupLaugh:, of course, it's in a modern family-friendly way, but I think it was still good, the very last seconds are literally identical to the old cartoon, with Bugs going away while doing the exactly same dance, and the dog repeating his "this shouldn't even happen to a dog!" line, damn this episode was sure a surprise, if you want to watch it, it's called "Bonehead" 

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@Rafa Stary Looks like I definitely need to check out that series! :pinkie: Though I think I'll go through all the classic era ones first. I'm on the 536th cartoon right now, so it might take a while longer... :coco:

Any time a forgotten classic character is brought back is a great moment! :rarity:

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1 hour ago, Tacodidra said:

@Rafa Stary Looks like I definitely need to check out that series! :pinkie: Though I think I'll go through all the classic era ones first. I'm on the 536th cartoon right now, so it might take a while longer... :coco:

Any time a forgotten classic character is brought back is a great moment! :rarity:

Here I watch it at 1:00/2:00 AM on Cartoon Network LA, it's at least an hour of episodes I believe. I don't know if it's the same for Finland if you're planning to watch it on TV :mlp_huh:

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4 minutes ago, Rafa Stary said:

Here I watch it at 1:00/2:00 AM on Cartoon Network LA, it's at least an hour of episodes I believe. I don't know if it's the same for Finland if you're planning to watch it on TV :mlp_huh:

I just looked, and CN seems to be showing it each evening. I don't have the channel anymore, but Max has six seasons, so I'm assuming all the episodes are there. :grin: They have a decent selection of the newer Looney Tunes series here, but the originals aren't available for whatever reason. :derp:

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