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Tacodidra

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  1. Thanks for the follow! :D *boops*

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    Art by slb94

    1. Obli

      Obli

      you're welcome)

  2. Thanks for the follow! :D *hugs*

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    1. Princess Celestia

      Princess Celestia

      @Tacodidra Of course! Would have done it earlier, but probably missed "click" follow you. *hugs*

  3. @Woohoo I was certainly reminded of that one, both focus on flowers and have a fire being a major plot point. WB's "It's Got Me Again!" was also nominated that year, but as I mentioned earlier, even as a Looney Tunes fan, I feel the right film won. Most studios were still trying to copy Disney at this point – the Looney Tunes were finally starting to get away from that, but the Merrie Melodies were a different story.
  4. @Iforgotmybrain Both Bugs and Daffy will debut in the next few parts, but indeed, Porky was the first of the famous Looney Tunes characters to appear. It will take a couple of years for him to get his final design. The one in "Gold Diggers of '49" is probably the one that least resembles the final one (his voice is also a lot deeper in that one, as they usually sped up the voice of Joe Dougherty and later Mel Blanc). The crew was obviously experimenting a lot with the characters at this point – Porky could be a kid in one short, then an adult in the next one and then go back to being a kid.
  5. And now for the most interesting year so far! You'll see why... Mr. and Mrs. Is the Name Directed by Isadore Freleng Two little merpeople (sometimes thought to be the very similarly designed Buddy and Cookie — if that's the case, this is their only color appearance) find a sunken ship with a treasure chest on it and have fun. But then an octopus starts chasing them. A cute, somewhat Disney-esque cartoon, but there's also some wilder animation, especially for a singing crab. I may prefer my Merrie Melodies a little wackier, but this is definitely one of the better in this style. 8.5 Country Boy Directed by Isadore Freleng A little rabbit called Peter decides to break into a garden instead of going to school. But things don't go as well as he thought. Another cartoon that's not really focused on being funny, and you could even say it's a rare WB cartoon with a moral. But it's enjoyable for what it is (despite the ending being a bit weak), and the title tune, sung here as "Naughty Boy" by three rabbits, is quite a nice one. 8 I Haven't Got a Hat Directed by Isadore Freleng Just short of 100 entries into the series, we get the debut of the first character who would become more than a footnote in cartoon history – Porky Pig! The kids at a school are giving a benefit performance. The great thing about the new group of characters is that they all have distinct personalities or traits – Porky stutters a lot but bravely struggles through his recital, Little Kitty (who I think surprisingly has the funniest part here) is very timid, Ham and Ex are identical twins both in looks and voice (except one of them can switch to a very deep voice at will), Oliver Owl is a musical prodigy but slightly arrogant, and Beans the Cat is a troublemaker (similar both in design, and at this point, personality to the earlier Wilbur, but thankfully less annoying). The use of these very distinct characters makes the gags work better than with the admittedly unremarkable characters a lot of cartoons had in the early days. Considering the effect this cartoon (or at least one of the characters) would have on the whole series, it's impossible to look at it as just one short out of many, but I think even ignoring what would become of Porky, this is one of, if not the most entertaining WB cartoon so far. And so we have another first: 10 Buddy's Pony Express Directed by Ben Hardaway But despite the introduction of new potential stars, we'll still be stuck with Buddy as the Looney Tunes lead for a while. Showing that Schlesinger and WB may still have placed their bets on the wrong horse, Buddy and Cookie get yet another redesign – the former is now wearing a hat, while the latter is dressed in a flapper style, with both having slighty smaller eyes too. As for the cartoon itself, it's at least a fast-paced and fun one. Buddy owns the fastest horse in town, so he naturally wants to participate in a pony express race. A villain replaces his horse with a nag from the glue factory, and when even this doesn't seem to work, keeps sabotaging him in other ways. Hardaway is often great at making the Buddy cartoons fun despite the mediocre lead. 8.5 Buddy's Theatre Directed by Ben Hardaway Buddy runs a movie theater and shows the audience newsreels, trailers and a film starring Cookie (who's probably more popular here than she ever was among real audiences). Unsurprisingly, it's rather similar to "Bosko's Picture Show". Not as good as that one, but still a decent effort with enough new gags for it to be enjoyable. 7.5 Buddy of the Legion Directed by Ben Hardaway Working in a book shop, Buddy dreams he's leading the French foreign legion through a desert. The rest of the legion is lured to be slaves for the Amazons, so Buddy has to save them. Watchable but unremarkable short, not as good as the similarly-themed "Beau Bosko" was. 7 Along Flirtation Walk Directed by Isadore Freleng The chickens from Plymouth Rock College and Rhode Island Reds University have an egg laying contest. Plymouth Rock struggles badly, not helped by the other team's cheating tactics. Will they be able to win against the odds? A fun cartoon with more gags than usual for the Merrie Melodies of the time – I think we're starting to see them moving further to comedy from the earlier musical approach... One of the best sport-themed cartoons so far, even if it's about a chicken sport rather than an actual human one. 8.5 My Green Fedora Directed by Isadore Freleng For the first time since Goopy Geer in the Harman-Ising days, we get a returning character in the Merrie Melodies series! Peter the Rabbit from "Country Boy" is back, which I would never have expected. He has to watch his annoying baby brother Elmer. After Peter's attempts to entertain Elmer fail, he leaves, only to come back and find the baby gone. He has to save him from being eaten by a weasel. At first glance, this is one of those very cutesy cartoons from the era, but it ends up being quite fun, with some chase scenes and impressive animation. And one of the catchiest title tunes, too! 9 Buddy's Lost World Directed by Jack King Considering how popular themes prehistoric times and dinosaurs have always been in cartoons, I'm surprised it took this long for the Looney Tunes to get into them. Captain Buddy and his dog Bozo find the lost world, with dinosaurs, a man who acts like a dog, cannibals... The lead duo keeps getting into trouble, but thankfully there's someone to save them. The weakest part of this cartoon is unsurprisingly Buddy himself, otherwise it's a mildly entertaining entry. 7.5 Into Your Dance Directed by Isadore Freleng On Captain Benny's show boat, various acts perform. A quartet sings and tap dances to the title tune, followed by a wacky orchestral performance. But amateur hour after that proves to be a disaster with incompetent performers. This concept has been used many times before, but I think this is one of the best versions so far – the performances are funny, as are the reactions by the annoyed captain. 9 Buddy's Bug Hunt Directed by Jack King Buddy has a bug-house where he keeps insects (and for some reason frogs) he has collected. But he is knocked out by ether and the bugs turn the tables on him. Now he's tried in court for cruelty to the bugs he captured! The bugs are the stars here, especially the witnesses who speak in rhyme. The plot has been recycled many times in various series, but this is the first at least in this one. This is definitely one of Buddy's best, even if the ending is a little predictable. And notably, this is the first Warner Bros. cartoon to have an ACME product in it! 9 Buddy in Africa Directed by Ben Hardaway Variety store owner Buddy arrives to an African village called Snake-Eyes and sells various products to the natives, who then come up with interesting uses for them. But while trying to stop a monkey from stealing his health drinks ("Buddy's Bitters"), Buddy manages to anger its father. Far from one of the best in the series, but still watchable. The ending is a bit weird. 7 Country Mouse Directed by Isadore Freleng Country mouse Elmer (a common name in the series!) goes to the city to become boxing champion. But it won't be as easy as he thinks... Definitely an improvement over the previous boxing cartoon ("Battling Bosko") – there's a great scene where the fight is set to the tune of "La Cucaracha", combining the series' traditional musical approach with the later comedy. The start of the cartoon is a bit slow-paced and more typical of the time. 8 Trivia: In 1943, Schlesinger and WB realized they could reissue older cartoons in addition to releasing new ones. This resulted in the launch of the long-running Blue Ribbon program, which enabled people to see some of the older color cartoons in theaters again, but as a downside, the cartoons had their original title sequences and in some cases even scenes removed. "Country Mouse" was the earliest short to be included in this program. Buddy Steps Out Directed by Jack King Buddy and Cookie go out, and Cookie's canary ends up getting in trouble. A photo of Buddy comes to life and tries to save it, with the help of an Atlas statue. I think combining the idea of things coming to life with an established character is interesting on paper, but sadly the cartoon wastes a lot of time on the typical dancing scenes, while the conflict is solved in a little over two minutes. Some cute moments, but at times, it feels even too saccharine. Not the character's finest hour. 6.5 The Merry Old Soul Directed by I. Freleng Old King Cole marries the Old Woman in the Shoe. But he ends up having to take care of a lot of babies – will he remain such a merry old soul? Another cartoon that I'd count in the "more cute than funny" category. The king having to take care of the babies is the main source of comedy here, but this is one of the shorts where it's hard to ignore the fact that the same thing has been done much more funnily later on. 7.5 Buddy the Gee Man Directed by Jack King With this cartoon, we say goodbye to Buddy who lasted surprisingly long for a character that never seems to have been that popular. Here he's a federal agent who has to investigate how prisoners are treated in Sing Song Prison. Not very well, he finds out, and suggests some changes! Buddy leaves us with one of his strongest shorts – plenty of punny names, good pacing, and the kind of plot that suits his character well. 8.5 The Lady in Red Directed by I. Freleng Cockroaches have fun in a Mexican store while the owner is away. They enjoy the food, sing and dance. However, a parrot then starts chasing them, and it's up to a male bug to save the beautiful "lady in red". While the style of the cartoon is pretty typical for the time, I think this is better than the average Merrie Melody – I've never seen cockroaches this cute, the Latin-style music is great and the ending gag could very well have been used even decades later! A charming one. 8.5 A Cartoonist's Nightmare Directed by Jack King And a character from "I Haven't Got a Hat" becomes the new Looney Tunes star... Beans the Cat, of course! An animator drawing a Beans cartoon falls asleep and has a nightmare where the various villains from his cartoons take revenge on him for his treatment of them. Beans has to save him. The series has had fourth wall breaking references to animation in previous cartoons (including in the pilot "Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid"), but I think this one does it best – we not only see the animator interacting with his character, but the other way around too. I bet the audience back then really got a kick out of this! 9 Little Dutch Plate Directed by I. Freleng A girl on the titular plate and a salt shaker boy are in love. But a vinegar bottle man threatens to ruin it all – if the girl can't pay the mortgage for the mill she lives in, she will either have to marry him or lose the mill. The boy tries to come up with a solution. Despite the beautiful animation, this felt like a very syrupy short at first, but thankfully it gets better. The ending is something I never expected on multiple levels! 8 Hollywood Capers Directed by Jack King Beans ("one of the Boston Beans") sneaks onto a movie set, to the annoyance of director Oliver Owl. He unintentionally causes a lot of chaos, including making Frankenstein's monster come to life! Most of the gang from "I Haven't Got a Hat" have roles here, including a small cameo from Porky working on the film. Another fun cartoon with the new star. 8.5 Gold Diggers of '49 Directed by Fred Avery Beans finds gold in Red Gulch, and soon everyone goes there to dig for gold. But there's a villain planning to snatch all of it! Porky has his most significant appearance since his debut, now as an adult... and is portrayed as the father of Beans' girlfriend Little Kitty! Tex Avery's first short for WB is a fun one, very fast-paced with many gags. Signs of the things to come! 9 Billboard Frolics Directed by I. Freleng Characters on billboards, clothes and other random things come to life, sing and dance. Pretty much something we've seen many times already. The second half of the cartoon is better, as a chick from one of the billboards starts chasing a worm before getting chased by a cat. The catchy song "Merrily We Roll Along" is heard here both sung by Eddie Camphor and Rub-Em-Off and as background music – the first time we hear it, but definitely not the last! A fun entry despite some weaker parts. 8.5 We are such happy flowers... Flowers for Madame Directed by I. Freleng The Merrie Melodies switch from two-color Technicolor to full color – and what better way to showcase this than with some beautiful, colorful flowers? All the flowers in the forest are having a flower pageant. But then a fire starts, and a cactus has to fight it! Even more than the other one-shots from this era, this feels more like a Disney short to me than what you'd expect from a WB cartoon, apart from some scenes, I guess (there's the often repeated gag of characters getting their butts burned). But I think the cute animation and characters make this a very charming short! 9 Over at MGM, Harman and Ising made two more cartoons with the former Looney Tunes star Bosko: "Hey-Hey Fever" and "Run Sheep, Run!" The former is more story-based than most of his WB cartoons, but not without the musical parts we've come to expect. The latter takes a more comedic and fast-paced approach (though the ten-minute duration includes a lot of repetition that could have been avoided), and redesigns Bosko to appear more realistic and childlike. By now, I think the new WB output is clearly superior to Harman-Ising's contemporary efforts, despite Bosko being a more interesting character than Buddy. So now we've finally been introduced to the first truly legendary character in the series. The crew still seems to be convinced Beans is the character with the most star potential, but that will change soon.
  6. I agree and think it would also be nice to see an update on the Poniverse Facebook (that exists too, though it's inactive). Just because Twitter/X is pretty much useless without an account.
  7. @Octavia Heartstrings The one thing I appreciate is that they made a full song segment with Henery Hawk. I didn't like the song at all, but at least they gave best bird a rare appearance. And I've heard their version of Lola Bunny was funnier than the one in Space Jam, though that's not very difficult to achieve. That was a fun one, as were the other three shorts they did. And despite being a compilation, I think "Daffy Duck's Quackbusters" is the best movie that was ever made with the LT characters.
  8. @Octavia Heartstrings I still haven't seen it (just a couple of short clips), but it seems to me they were trying to make the Looney Tunes something they're not (a sitcom instead of a slapstick comedy). And apparently Gossamer was made into a kid for some reason – I'd understand doing crazy stuff like that for one episode, but as a recurring thing, it would be just weird. I still think Greg Ford and Terry Lennon made the best post-classic Looney Tunes, they got the characters' personalities right (and were still able to have Mel Blanc as the voice for their first ones) and came up with fun new ideas for them without straying too far. If they brought back Bosko and Buddy in a new Looney Tunes project, I'd absolutely have to check it out. They may not be as funny as the later characters, but they're still a crucial part of the cartoons' history.
  9. @Octavia Heartstrings Definitely! I remember as a kid when a Finnish channel always showed a Looney Tunes cartoon in the morning and I never knew what it would be in advance. Usually it was one of the popular characters, of course, but there were even some one-shots in the bunch. I know a lot of people clearly prefer one or two characters, but they're missing out on so much! That's something the revivals miss out on – I understand why they're focusing on Bugs and Daffy, for example, but there are so many greats. Not asking for a Buddy revival, but I guess even that could work if it was more Freleng or Hardaway Buddy than the Palmer one.
  10. @Octavia Heartstrings That cartoon and "Honeymoon Hotel" are why I'd have liked to see Earl Duvall stick around a little longer. Obviously they're not the best in the series, but compared to some others at the time, they're masterpieces. Apparently Palmer was a nice guy, but just not cut out to be a director. I always loved the variety when the Looney Tunes were shown on TV, though we rarely got shows mixing the pre-1948 and later cartoons here. And there's another reason why I love the Golden Collections – you could have a 30s cartoon and one from the 60s on the same disc. Now I'm obviously going through them chronologically, but it's still true in one way: after the very early days with Bosko, there are rarely more than two with the same character in a row.
  11. @Octavia Heartstrings It definitely has – the 30s art style is still obvious in a lot of the cartoons, but there's more detail than in most of the Harman-Ising cartoons. If I had to pick the cartoon with the most impressive animation so far, I'd choose "Sittin' on a Backyard Fence" from late 1933. There's a chase sequence in that one with amazing camera angles – and that was just a few cartoons after the extremely messy "Buddy's Day Out". It's one of the oldest cartoons I've seen on TV too (on a Latvian channel we got for some reason). "Crosby, Columbo, and Vallee" and "Shuffle Off to Buffalo" are the only older ones I remember seeing there.
  12. The Schlesinger crew is now trying to make Buddy the new Looney Tunes star. After a couple of bad entries, new director Earl Duvall managed to make several enjoyable cartoons, even if the main character wasn't the most interesting personality in animation. The first full year of the new gang beckons! Buddy the Gob Directed by Isadore Freleng Friz Freleng's first official credit as a director! Sailor Buddy goes to China where he finds out a girl will be sacrificed to the Sacred Dragon. He has to outwit a guard and save her. I like how Buddy actually has to try more than one thing to succeed and doesn't even escape completely unscathed himself! 7.5 Pettin' in the Park Directed by Bernard Brown This is how messy things were at Schlesinger at that point – even the studio composer gets to try his hand at directing cartoons! Romantic scenes involving both people and birds. Then the latter participate in a diving and swimming contest where they use everything from bikes to bathtubs. Things get quite chaotic. For the most part, this is a fun and wacky cartoon. A slight minus for the somewhat ugly scenes with the humans – thankfully there aren't many of them. 8 Honeymoon Hotel Directed by Earl Duvall This Merrie Melodies short was the first color cartoon ever released by Warner Bros., though most of their shorts will remain in black and white for now! This one is about a couple from Bugtown who go to the titular hotel. But their honeymoon keeps getting interrupted by other characters peeping on them. At the same time cute and daring for its time, with entirely sung dialogue. One of the very best in the series so far. 9.5 Buddy and Towser Directed by Isadore Freleng Buddy tells his dog Towser to guard some chickens for him, and a fox immediately shows up. The fox and the dog end up in a wild chase that Buddy joins soon after. For a character often thought to be the most boring in the entire series, this cartoon truly surprised me. Freleng seems to handle Buddy the best out of all the directors – he's not infallible, and while that was often the case with Bosko too, when Friz's Buddy gets humiliated, that isn't carried out by an extremely unlikable character like Wilbur. He also lets the visuals, sound effects and music do their job – no unnecessary dialogue. Proof that virtually any character can shine in the right hands! 9.5 Beauty and the Beast Directed by Isadore Freleng The second color cartoon by the studio. The color scheme is a bit limited (both this and "Honeymoon Hotel" use two-color Cinecolor), but I've definitely seen much worse uses of it. A little girl dreams about going to Toyland where she's welcomed by all the toys, but the "mean and vicious" Beast is lurking. It's a charming little cartoon, more of the cute type than a particularly funny cartoon (though there are still some decent jokes)... and just try to get the title song out of your head! 8 Buddy's Garage Directed by Earl Duvall Buddy fixes cars in his garage. One of his customers kidnaps Cookie, and a car chase ensues. This is quite similar to most of the Buddy cartoons (and the Boskos for that matter), including the ending being essentially recycled from that of "Buddy's Show Boat". Sadly, Duvall's last cartoon for the studio wasn't as good as his best ones (which admittedly didn't feature Buddy), but still a solid entry. 7.5 Those Were Wonderful Days Directed by Bernard Brown A look at the old days, complete with a song performed by a barbershop quartet. The first half focuses mostly on music and old-fashioned sequences, but the short gets more interesting when a mustache-twirling villain shows up, and surprise, the hero has to save a girl from him. The main difference from the average cartoon of the day is the memorable ending. The second and last cartoon directed by Brown who would continue composing for the cartoons for a couple more years. Interestingly, both of his cartoons feature a diving contest – I can't help but wonder if they were something he particularly enjoyed watching or participating in. 8 Buddy's Trolley Troubles Directed by Isadore Freleng Buddy is a trolley driver. He ends up getting in trouble with a rude police officer and a train among other things. Buddy has to save Cookie once again when an escaped criminal takes over the trolley with her on it. Railroad-themed cartoons seem to have been very popular back then – this may not be the best of them, but neither is it the worst. 7.5 Goin' to Heaven on a Mule Directed by Isadore Freleng A man on a cotton farm prefers boozing to working. Will a dream where he's thrown out of heaven (or "Pair-o-Dice") change his mind? There are some entertaining moments like the angel vs. devil conscience fight often seen in later cartoons, and the music is very nice. On the other hand, the stereotypical portrayals of the characters make this a very dated one (and have pretty much ensured its obscurity). 7.5 Buddy of the Apes Directed by Ben Hardaway Buddy, here in the role of Tarzan, helps the animals in the jungle. First he has to save a little monkey from danger, then the two outwit a group of cannibals. Again, Buddy appears to be at his best when the focus is more on the action (and a little music) instead of having too much dialogue. A good and cartoony first effort from Hardaway who will be another important figure in Looney Tunes history. 8.5 How Do I Know It's Sunday Directed by Isadore Freleng Food package mascots come to life in a closed store on Sunday. Then flies try to eat the foods. After they attack a cookie girl, the mascots and flies fight each other. This reminds me of some of the Harman-Ising cartoons, especially "I Like Mountain Music", also with the imaginative use of products as weapons. But it's still a fun short to watch, despite a gross gag involving a popcorn ball near the end! 8 Buddy's Bearcats Directed by Jack King Another debuting director – a lot is changing at this point. Including Cookie's design – she's now blonde (and no longer resembles Betty Boop). Buddy's Bearcats are a baseball team, facing the Battling Bruisers. A lot of people are trying to see the game without paying. The game itself is quite a crazy one – I can't say I'm a baseball expert, but surely bug spray and wheels aren't usually used in the game! Wacky but a bit hard to follow at times – a later attempt at the same theme is more to my liking... 7 Why Do I Dream Those Dreams Directed by Isadore Freleng Rip Van Winkle and his dog are thrown out by his wife. In the forest, Rip sees some gnomes, drinks their beer and turns as small as they are, which causes him some trouble. I think this is a pretty weak entry especially by Freleng's standards – the animation is fine, but most of the short feels uneventful even for the time (it's pretty much just the first and last minute of it where anything happens). 6 The Girl at the Ironing Board Directed by Isadore Freleng This short takes place in a laundry where clothes fall in love, make music and dance just like people. Yes, this is another cartoon where the hero has to save a damsel in distress, but I find this one an interesting take – the clichéd mustache-twirling villain leaves his clothes in the laundry and they proceed to act like he would. Nothing groundbreaking, but a delightfully weird take on the "things come to life" theme that appeals to me! The cartoon starts with a huge MPPDA seal, signifying that they now had to get approved by censors (though not many of the earlier ones would probably have struggled with that anyway). 8.5 The Miller's Daughter Directed by Isadore Freleng A china sculpture of the title character is broken and discarded, to the dismay of another sculpture of a shepherd. Thankfully he glues her back together and they dance, until the shepherd's lamb gets chased by a lion. A cartoon that doesn't have many gags – but I think this one is very cute with some interesting animation. 8 Buddy the Detective Directed by Jack King A mad musician, who hypnotizes others to play the piano for him (but not jazz!), abducts Cookie. It's up to Buddy (and Cookie's dog) to save her. An entertaining short, the musician steals the show here compared to the still somewhat bland Buddy. Definitely a lot better than King's first effort! 8.5 Shake Your Powder Puff Directed by Isadore Freleng The "Powder Puff Revue" in a barn, consisting of several animals performing music. A heckling dog keeps getting thrown out. The highlight is the title song, another memorable one, performed first by a female rabbit trio (and three Donald Duck lookalikes) and later by three male pigs. Another nice one, mixing music with some comedy. 8 Rhythm in the Bow Directed by Ben Hardaway A hobo gets kicked off a train but ends up finding the perfect place for him – a retreat where fellow hobos are having a good time. But an angry dog gives him some trouble. This is not a particularly special short for the most part, but I think the ending is a lovely one. 7.5 Buddy the Woodsman Directed by Jack King If Buddy has felt like a less interesting version of Bosko, this short does nothing to change that. He's a lumberjack (a role played by Bosko not once but twice), there are scenes of him playing music and Cookie dancing... A bear starts eating the lumberjacks' food and then starts chasing Buddy and Cookie. The problem for me is that Buddy obviously provokes the bear by punching him (he had shown no intent to harm Cookie before that, just licking her like a dog), making the lead unlikable in addition to being bland. Some of the scenes where the leads fight the bear are decent, but otherwise I'm expecting better by now. 6.5 Buddy's Circus Directed by Jack King A series of circus acts, rather similar to 1932's "I Love a Parade" (even the rubber man act returns). Many of these acts are performed by African natives whose portrayal hasn't aged very well... A baby from the audience gets caught up in the performance, with Buddy of course having to save Junior. Decent but by no means spectacular. 7 Those Beautiful Dames Directed by Isadore Freleng The Merrie Melodies now permanently switch to color, though the Looney Tunes (the Buddy cartoons at this point) will stay in black and white for almost a decade. An orphan girl finds shelter in a cold house. While she's asleep, a bunch of toys arrive to decorate the place and throw a party for her. A cute short that's enjoyable despite a lack of real standout moments – there's a fun gag with a skipping record, though. 7.5 Buddy's Adventures Directed by Ben Hardaway Buddy and Cookie get another redesign – the former is now cuter, slightly more childish, while the latter is back to being dark-haired. The duo is traveling on a hot air balloon and lands in Sourtown where laughing, singing and dancing are banned by decree of King Sourpan. Of course, the jolly Buddy breaks these rules and they get arrested. How can they get out of trouble? This is actually a strong contender for the best Buddy cartoon so far – the plot is an interesting one, the "sour" people are depicted entertainingly, and the usually boring lead character ends up being perfect for his role. Possibly the biggest positive surprise for me so far! 9.5 Pop Goes Your Heart Directed by Isadore Freleng Various animal gags, many of them musical. Three frogs perform the title song. A bear tries to chase the smaller animals but gets beaten embarrassingly. Rather a cute cartoon than a particularly funny one, but it does have that 30s charm to it. 7.5 Viva Buddy Directed by Jack King After "Buddy's Adventures", we get a more average Buddy cartoon, though this is still more eventful than the worst ones. Buddy is in Mexico and goes to the "Cantina El Moocher". Everyone has fun until the evil Pancho shows up. It's pretty much the ordinary plot – Pancho tries to take Cookie with him, then Buddy comes to the rescue. Pancho is a surprisingly funny character with his manic laugh and some fun lines ("I kill you to little pieces"). The ending in this one is a bit strange, I guess the crew was getting tired of doing essentially the same thing over and over. 8 Buddy the Dentist Directed by Ben Hardaway Buddy makes some fudge for Cookie, but his dog Bozo ends up eating it all. Bozo gets a toothache, and Buddy has to pull out his tooth, which proves very difficult. Good cartoony antics, with a twist ending that would be reused for another much more popular cartoon later on. 8 And what about our old friend Bosko? He lived on at MGM, appearing in the Happy Harmonies cartoon "Bosko's Parlor Pranks". His first color appearance was a pretty lazy one, as almost a third of it was recycled footage from the earlier WB cartoons. But there was a standout moment – the bratty Wilbur not getting what he wanted for once! 1934 was for the most part a good one for WB cartoons. There were still some weak entries, and obviously the best days were yet to come, but there were more good and even great cartoons than in the earlier years. After a difficult start, the new crew is starting to truly impress, the all-new directors included. On to 1935, which will be the most interesting year for WB cartoons yet!
  13. Happy birthday, my friend! :pinkie: I hope your day is a wonderful one! :squee:

  14. We enter the last year of the Harman-Ising cartoons, followed by the start of a new era for Warner Bros. cartoons. Again, the Bosko cartoons are usually by Hugh Harman, the others mostly by Rudolf Ising, but one of the studio's top animators starts to play a more significant role... The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives An orphan kid is wandering in the snow at Christmas until he meets Santa who takes him to his shanty. There we see musical scenes involving toys. This short reminds me of "Red-Headed Baby" (some scenes are even reused from that one). A cute one, most enjoyable if watched at Christmas, I'm sure. 7.5 Bosko in Dutch Bosko and others skate to music, then he sings "It's Tulip Time in Holland" with Honey. He also has to save two kittens (who both look like Wilbur) from drowning. Friz Freleng claimed this was the first short he co-directed – but to me, it's closer to Harman's earlier Boskos in style than Freleng's later masterpieces. However, there's a clever visual gag when the kittens scream for help – maybe this was one of his contributions to the short? 7.5 One Step Ahead of My Shadow Various gags in a Chinese setting, including some with distinctly American themes (contemporary radio shows, jazz music). Again, the music makes way for the villain of the short, this time fittingly a dragon chasing a boy and a girl. I think this is one of the weakest Harman-Ising shorts – not very funny for the most part, and the stereotypes date it badly... But then there's the scene with the dragon where we see possibly the wildest and cartooniest animation so far. If only the rest of the cartoon had been something like that... 6.5 Bosko in Person This short is all about Bosko and Honey performing in front of an audience. They sing, dance, do impressions... For once, the musical aspect makes complete sense. The quick switches between the acts make it a very fast-paced cartoon, and you're constantly looking forward to seeing what our heroes do next. The most fun I've had with Bosko! Another short claimed to be at least partially Freleng's, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if that was the case. 9 Young and Healthy King Louis isn't interested in the upcoming ball, he'd rather be free. Thankfully playing with the kids in the yard cheers him up. A pretty typical cartoon of the day, but a nice enough watch in any case. 7.5 Bosko the Speed King A racing cartoon – something that immediately piqued my interest! This reminds me at times of "Ups 'n Downs", but now with cars instead of horses. Many fun and clever gags like Honey tuning up Bosko's motor and a joke featuring a stuttering starter that would be used a lot of times with a certain character we won't be meeting for a couple more years. Speaking of Honey, I think she's adorable in this one – certainly one of her best roles. All in all, one of the strongest Boskos and I don't think this would even have felt out of place later in the decade! 9 The Organ Grinder An organ grinder plays music in the street for money. The main character here, though, is his monkey who puts on a show for a group of kids. Entertaining short with a wild ending. 8 Wake Up the Gypsy in Me A short that takes place in Russia, so a lot of cossack dancing here! The star here is the Rice-Puddin' the Mad Monk – not just brilliantly named, but also easily the standout villain out of all the shorts we've seen. He manages to be both hilarious (a villain so diabolical he even cheats at puzzles) and very creepy (abducting and trying to kiss an obviously much younger Roma girl). I think the very beginnings of the later Looney Tunes spirit can be seen waking up in some scenes. 8.5 Bosko's Knight-Mare Having read a book about King Arthur's knights, Bosko falls asleep and dreams he's a knight who has to save Honey from the villain. Pretty average for the time. 7.5 I Like Mountain Music In a drug store, characters in magazines come to life and sing the title song. They have to stop three robbers from stealing the cash. Fun cartoon – this theme was developed further in later cartoons, but most of it is already here. Better than the earlier "Three's a Crowd". 8.5 Bosko the Sheep-Herder The title pretty much says it, other than that there's a wolf trying to eat one of the sheep. There are a lot of scenes with the characters playing music, even Bosko using an unusual instrument (a beehive), and all of them dancing to it, as well as cutesy scenes with animals. Are we back in 1931 all of a sudden? Some fun moments, but the recent Bosko cartoons have usually been better than this. 7 Beau Bosko Bosko is in the French foreign legion and has to catch Ali Oop, "the Desert Scourge". Good gags, especially Bosko's way of defeating the band of thieves is true Looney Tunes. Freleng is again believed to have co-directed. 8.5 Shuffle Off to Buffalo This cartoon shows a factory where elves prepare babies for delivery. The babies seem to be very smart ones, as they can already speak and sing, performing the catchy title song. Another Freleng co-direction, this one is quite cute! 7.5 Bosko's Mechanical Man Bosko builds a robot to help him and Honey with chores. Sadly, the robot seems to cause chaos more than anything else. A very strong entry in the series with fun gags. I like the animation here (a couple of wild scenes). Honey is in a more significant role this time (being responsible for some of the best moments of the short), which is certainly a good thing! Definitely a standout in its era, and the best Bosko so far. 9.5 The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon Anthropomorphic utensils are washing and drying themselves and having fun until a dough monster attacks and tries to take away the beautiful dish. Not very different in execution from the typical Merrie Melody of the day, but the atypical character choice and cute designs help make this an enjoyable short. 8 Bosko the Musketeer Bosko has another daydream – this time he's a musketeer, friends with the famous three. To no one's surprise, he has to save Honey from a villain. After "Bosko's Mechanical Man", which was a masterpiece by the standards of the time, this is a bit underwhelming, but it's more or less an average Bosko cartoon. The events being a character's imagination or dream is something I find quite boring, to be honest (though thankfully we know it from the start here). 7.5 We're in the Money Another "things come to life" cartoon, this time about toys (and some other goods) in a department store. They perform the title song that would later be heard in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies a lot of times, so here's another first. Otherwise, there's not much that's new here – we've had many cartoons with living toys, and even some of the characters are recycled (the mannequin from "A Great Big Bunch of You" seems to have been rehired from the dump). Still a decent short, this time without a villain appearance. 7.5 If you've ever seen "Bosko's Picture Show", you can probably hear it. Bosko's Picture Show With this short (another Freleng co-directed one), we have to say goodbye to the first Looney Tunes star ever. We get to experience a visit to the movies back in the day – organ music ("We're in the Money" – I said we'd hear it a lot of times!), newsreels, short films... All of it hosted by Bosko, of course! This short is essentially one unrelated gag after another, with a lot of celebrity appearances (some comedic, some more disturbing). Oh, and Bosko appears to utter a very rude word supposedly never before heard in a movie! Our hero sure went out with a bang! 8.5 At this point, disaster strikes for Leon Schlesinger. Following payment disputes, Harman and Ising leave his studio. They take the characters of Bosko and Honey with them, also snatching many of the animators, and sign a contract with MGM to produce the new Happy Harmonies series. Schlesinger is left with essentially nothing but the titles Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. But he's not one to give up, so he hires a new crew to come up with replacement characters for the series. Disney animator Tom Palmer becomes the new director (or "supervisor", as the credits say) and creates a character called Buddy to be the new Looney Tunes star. The Merrie Melodies will continue as one-shots. Will the new cartoons be a success? Probably the least "looney" title card in the history of the series. Buddy's Day Out Directed by Tom Palmer Buddy, his dog Happy, his girlfriend Cookie, and her brother Elmer go on a picnic. But Elmer and Happy start driving around in a car, and Buddy and Cookie have to save them. The characters are all boring and shallow compared to Bosko and friends (I won't even try to compare them to the later ones). This short shows how good Harman-Ising's worst efforts were – for all their flaws, they were still competently made cartoons. The timing here is all over the place – the changes between shots are abrupt and awkward, I felt like I was watching a film with scenes missing. And the only somewhat funny joke this short has is also ruined by bad execution (Buddy asks Cookie for a kiss and gets rejected, followed by various animals doing the same – but a completely unnecessary shot of baby Elmer is inserted in between, ruining the flow). Things surely can't get much worse from here... 3 I've Got to Sing a Torch Song Directed by Tom Palmer People around the world (ranging from celebrities to cannibals) are shown listening to the radio, and at the end, there's a performance of the title song by many of them. A weird cartoon – obviously some of the jokes about celebrities are bound to be extremely dated, but many of the ones here feel like they would have been unfunny even back in the day, some hardly counting as jokes (at times kind of giving the film an unintentional dadaist quality). The drawings range from typical of the era to downright ugly. Slightly better than Palmer's first effort. It's not as jumpy as the first one, but maybe that's in part because there isn't even supposed to be a proper plot. 5 So the answer is a resounding no! Hiring Tom Palmer proves to be a huge mistake – his two cartoons get rejected by Warner Bros. for being unfunny and generally terrible and have to be reworked quickly to make them releasable. Looking at the finished cartoons (especially the first one), this doesn't appear to have helped much. Palmer gets fired from the studio, with other directors quickly taking his place. The character of Buddy will outlast his creator, but not without a redesign – the people at the studio appear to have wanted to forget essentially everything about Palmer's short tenure! Buddy's Beer Garden Directed by Earl Duval Buddy and Cookie serve beer and food to people at Buddy's bar. There's also a lot of music to entertain the audience. This is quite similar in style to many of the Harman-Ising era cartoons. Despite Buddy still having little personality besides being cheerful, there are enough funny gags for this cartoon to be an entertaining seven minutes. The animation is also nice to look at – essentially a different world from the last two cartoons. 7.5 Buddy's Show Boat Directed by Earl Duval Various acts perform on Buddy's boat, including Buddy and Cookie themselves doing a duet of "Under My Umbrella" (no, not that one). A villain tries to kidnap Cookie, and it's Buddy to the rescue! Nothing world-changing here (it resembles many of the Bosko cartoons), but it's a good take on that basic formula. The phone scene with Buddy and Cookie (and the villain) is my favorite part of this cartoon. 7.5 Sittin' on a Backyard Fence Directed by Earl Duval Cats have fun at night, dancing to music. Chaos ensues, as two tomcats start fighting over a female cat. This was fun, with some very impressive animation during the chase sequences (especially the camera angles). And cartoon cats are cute! 9 An additional cartoon called "Buddy's High Jinks" is listed in some publications from the time as having been completed, but it doesn't appear to have been released. Could it have been a Palmer effort that was even worse than the other two, to the extent it couldn't be saved by any additional work? To put it briefly, 1933 was a messy year. The last entries of the Harman-Ising era showed strong improvement in their cartoons, particularly the Looney Tunes, with Bosko getting some of his best shorts. But sadly that ended all of a sudden. The replacement character, Buddy, is essentially a more boring copy of Bosko. Thankfully the quality of the cartoons seems to be improving again with Earl Duvall becoming the director – hopefully the trend will continue in 1934. There will be more firsts for the series, at any rate!
  15. Happy birthday, my friend! :pinkie: I hope your day is a wonderful one! :yay:

  16. Happy birthday, my friend! :pinkie: May your day be a wonderful one! :yay:

    1. Fluttershyfan94

      Fluttershyfan94

      Thank you my friend. 🦊

    2. Tacodidra

      Tacodidra

      You're welcome! :eager:

      Cute fox! ^_^

  17. Happy birthday, my friend! :pinkie: I hope your day is an amazing one! :darling:

  18. The Schlesinger/WB cartoons enter their third year. Hooray for Bosko and random one-shots! Once again, Hugh Harman directed the former, with Rudolf Ising responsible for the latter. Bosko at the Zoo The title says it all, and Honey is there too. At first, there's some annoying "la la la" singing from the duo and cutesy scenes with the animals, but thankfully we get some excitement later on with Bosko and some of the animals in a chase. 7.5 Pagan Moon A Hawaiian boy and girl perform a song and dance. However, the boy keeps losing his guitar, eventually ending up underwater. The pace picks up nicely – after a slow start, we get some chase action. 8 Battling Bosko Boxer Bosko fights the much bigger champion Gas House Harry while Honey and other fans root for him. This was a short I was looking forward to, but I think the theme could have made for a much more interesting cartoon. Especially the ending is disappointing and a bit abrupt. 7 Freddy the Freshman Freddy arrives at a college party where everyone sings a song praising him. Then they all participate in a chaotic football game. The latter part is better, very fast-paced and cartoonish, I can definitely see some of the same spirit as in the later sports-themed shorts. 8 Big-Hearted Bosko Bosko and his dog Bruno are skating and playing in the snow when they find an abandoned baby. They take him home and try to entertain him, but he just keeps crying. This was essentially the opposite of "Battling Bosko" – I expected this to be an annoying cartoon, but there are some fun moments. The unusually anthropomorphic Bruno is the star here. 8 Crosby, Columbo, and Vallee The generation gap in an Indian tribe – the adults sing about how much they hate the popular crooners of the time, while the kids sing the same song with lyrics praising them. The kids also have to save three little birds from a fire. A fairly typical cartoon of the time with the first half dedicated to singing and the second to the conflict. 7.5 Bosko's Party It's Honey's birthday, and Bosko and friends are having a party. Wilbur (thankfully much less annoying than in his first cartoon) gets stuck under a flower pot and tries to get out. The basic cartoon antics of the day with some singing, of course! 7.5 Goopy Geer Goopy Geer, a dog who's the new recurring character in the Merrie Melodies, plays the piano in a restaurant. There are also some food-related gags and things coming to life. The jaunty music is the best thing here, otherwise I'm expecting a little more from these cartoons by now. The reused scenes from the much better "Lady, Play Your Mandolin!" feel a bit lazy, too. 7 Bosko and Bruno The titular characters run away from trains and chase a chicken. The train scenes are again very derivative of some earlier cartoons, to the point of reusing animation. On a positive note, it's not as repetitive in itself as "Box Car Blues" (one of the sources for its scenes). 7 It's Got Me Again! A bunch of mice dance to a record, play instruments and have fun until the cat arrives. The first of many times the studio got an Oscar nomination for best short cartoon, but this lost to Disney's "Flowers and Trees". The short really picks up after the cat appears, but I must say it lost to a more memorable cartoon. 8 Moonlight for Two Goopy Geer and his girlfriend go to a barn dance. A fight ensues when a villain shows up and tries to kiss her. Like the previous Goopy short, the focus is on music, but the fight at the end is a highlight. 8 Bosko's Dog Race Bosko enters Bruno in a dog race, but he seems to be more interested in chasing squirrels. Definitely one of the most entertaining Bosko shorts so far – the faster pace and comedy helps! 8.5 The Queen Was in the Parlor The third and last Goopy Geer cartoon before we go back to one-shots. He is a court jester, trying to entertain the king. He also has to fight a bad guy who's trying to take the princess (the girl dog from the previous Goopy cartoons) away. 8 Bosko at the Beach Bosko is selling hot dogs at the beach and meets Honey. They have fun... playing music, of course! Bruno and Wilbur keep either getting in trouble themselves or causing trouble for our heroes. Slow at the start, but I think the end part makes it one of Bosko's best, and this is also the first time we hear the very catchy "Ain't We Got Fun"! 8.5 I Love a Parade A circus barker introduces various acts, essentially connecting otherwise separate gags. There are some imaginative jokes like a cleaner's reaction to the title song, but at times, this reminds me of the very first entries in the series, like the physics in the scene of the "rubber man". 7 Bosko's Store Bosko is working in his store, but a dog, a mouse and Wilbur (back to being a nuisance) keep giving him trouble. An entertaining short despite a certain annoying character and an unsatisfying ending. 8 Bosko the Lumberjack Bosko has to save Honey from a fellow lumberjack who kidnaps her. This is quite similar to many earlier entries in the series (even Bosko chopping down trees was done before in "The Tree's Knees"), but still fun and better than most of the early ones. 7.5 You're Too Careless with Your Kisses! Annoyed at her husband's (the second character in the series named Wilbur!) drunkenness, a female bee flies out to do his work. But a storm strikes, leaving her to seek shelter in a creepy spider's house. The other bugs have to save her. Another good one, I especially like the imaginative use of the bug theme – alcohol being spiked honey, the imaginative use of objects as weapons... 8 Ride Him, Bosko! Cowboy Bosko goes to the Western town of Red Gulch. He has to save Honey and stop a gang of robbers. This is my favorite Bosko so far – while the plot isn't the strongest, there are gags all the way through, and the ending is certainly the most memorable and surprising in the series so far! 9 Trivia: "Ride Him, Bosko!" is the earliest Warner Bros. cartoon not to be in the public domain, as either WB or United Artists (who used to own the early Merrie Melodies) failed to renew the copyrights of all the earlier ones at some point. This also happened with many of the later shorts, including some from the 40s. I Wish I Had Wings Scenes at a henhouse, such as chicks chasing worms and a rooster waiting for eggs to hatch. The main focus is on a hungry chick who wants to get to the garden behind a fence and wishes he had wings (one of the best ways so far to link the mandatory song to the plot). Cute animation with some entertaining scenes, and the hungry chick is surprisingly fun for a kid character. 8 Bosko the Drawback Another football-themed cartoon, this time with Bosko. There's an overly long massage scene that's not particularly funny, and gags and animation are lazily recycled from the previous football cartoon "Freddy the Freshman" and also some others. From the strongest to the weakest Bosko cartoon with just one cartoon in between – talk about variety! 6 He gets a bunch of trash dumped on him, but he's still happy... truly an inspiration. A Great Big Bunch of You The most purely musical Merrie Melodies in a while... A mannequin ends up in the dump. He performs the title song with various objects joining him. As you can expect, not much happens in the sense of a plot, but sometimes a feel-good atmosphere and a fun and jazzy song are enough to make a short very enjoyable! The ceaselessly happy main character must have done quite a bit to cheer up the Depression-era audience. 9 Bosko and Honey An originally unreleased cartoon. Honey is trying to teach Wilbur to play the violin, disastrously. She and Bosko go on a date, but things don't go the way they expected. Harman and Ising have often reused animation and gags in these cartoons, as I've already mentioned a lot of times, but with this cartoon, it's taken to a new extent – many scenes are either partially or entirely recycled, even from the very first Looney Tune! Ignoring this, it's a rather basic Bosko cartoon. 7 Bosko's Dizzy Date Apparently the reused footage in "Bosko and Honey" was so blatant that it was rejected by either Schlesinger or WB and ended up being reworked into this cartoon, having the same basic plot but replacing many of the recycled scenes with new ones. In some cases, the difference is small (Bosko and Honey's phone call), in others more significant (Wilbur pouring water on Bosko is done differently, for example). There are added gags that make the cartoon flow much better – really shows how much of a difference small changes can make! 8 Three's a Crowd Characters from books (both fictional and historical) come to life at night – this will be a common theme in the 30s cartoons. They sing and dance until everyone has to save Alice from Mr. Hyde. This is again a theme that's been seen many times, but it's still an adequately entertaining cartoon. The most surprising thing about this short is that some of the human characters are drawn unusually realistically, possibly rotoscoped. 7.5 Bosko's Woodland Daze Bosko is playing hide and seek with Bruno in the forest. He falls asleep and has a dream featuring gnomes, and an evil giant chasing him. Quite a cutesy cartoon, reminds me of some of the earlier Boskos. 7 Besides his cartoons, producer Leon Schlesinger released Western movies, some of them featuring John Wayne before he became famous (again showing how great Schlesinger was at finding talent). As they're live-action films, I won't be covering them here, but one of them did have an animated title sequence. Haunted Gold Ghostly bats fly towards the screen while the credits appear. Not much animation here (and it lasts less than a minute anyway), but it must have set the tone for the film nicely! The same animation was also used for the film's trailer, along with additional animations of eyes and moving text. Bosko had some of his best cartoons so far this year, as the focus switched more from music to comedy (though short singing and dancing sequences were still in many of the cartoons). His cartoons sometimes even eclipsed the Merrie Melodies in quality. As for the latter, thanks to them, I'm starting to have an all-new appreciation for the music of this era. The following year will be an eventful one...
  19. Happy birthday, my friend! :pinkie: May your day be a fabulous one! :D

    1. Yoshi89

      Yoshi89

      It was, thank you!

    2. Tacodidra

      Tacodidra

      You're welcome! :yay: That's great to hear! :eager:

  20. @Octavia Heartstrings The Golden Collections were the first place where I really got to see the pre-48 shorts (instead of just a few here and there). The fact that there was a disc dedicated to the early 30s cartoons may not have appealed to everyone, but I was glad to see them (and looking at it now, I think the cartoons they picked from that era were good choices for the most part). The Frank Tashlin (another underrated director) disc was one of my favorites too.
  21. @Octavia Heartstrings Besides dogs, cats and mice (the usual cartoon animals), pigs are probably the most represented animals in the series. He directed the first Bugs cartoon (not counting the prototypes), the first with Daffy, and also the first solo Porky – quite the résumé. I think Avery has suffered a little from the same thing as Clampett: their cartoons weren't in the post-1948 package that has been shown the most on TV, so their best aren't as familiar to people as those by Jones, for example. And as much as I love Jones' cartoons, I find it a bit unfair that he has the 13 best rated WB cartoons (and 19 out of the top 20) on IMDb. He was great, but so were the others.
  22. @Octavia Heartstrings Most likely. Piggy is also a pretty obvious alteration of Foxy, supposedly "You Don't Know What You're Doin'!" was originally going to be another Foxy cartoon before they changed their minds. I'll have to check that one out – I've finally reached Avery's first WB cartoons, and I don't think I've ever truly realized his impact on the studio's output before.
  23. @Octavia Heartstrings Thanks, my friend! For some reason, foxes never really got the chance to shine in the Looney Tunes – I can think of a few, but they were one-shot characters. Here's the mischievous one from "Bosko's Fox Hunt": He looks like a less anthropomorphic version of Foxy to me. I've heard claims that Disney asked Harman and Ising to stop using Foxy, but I'm not sure if that's true, as some of their later cartoons have mice that are possibly even more Mickey-like.
  24. Happy birthday, my friend! :pinkie: I hope your day is an amazing one! :LunaMCM:

  25. @Iforgotmybrain Wait until you see his successor Buddy! A true animation legend. Thanks, my friend! I already have the next couple of parts written, though I'll edit them a little more. I'll probably publish two each week until I catch up.
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