Jump to content
Banner by ~ Ice Princess Silky

Tacodidra

User
 View Profile  See their content

  • Posts

    1,529

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Tacodidra

  1. Tacodidra

    1939: Of Mice and Dogs

    By Tacodidra,


    Looney Tunes
    After this year, we'll have had a full decade of the Looney Tunes! And what a year it is – as the success of the Looney Tunes and the Merrie Melodies grows, the two series release a combined total of 44 cartoons this year! For various reasons, this number would never be matched in the later years.

    The Lone Stranger and Porky
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Porky is delivering gold when he gets robbed. Thankfully, the mysterious hero the Lone Stranger and his horse Silver are there to save the day (and pretty much relegate the pig to a side role). Given the director, you can expect the whole idea not to be played straight – there are many comedic scenes, parodying everything from Snow White to serials, and the characters interact with both the narrator and the audience. Clampett just doesn't disappoint or fail to surprise me!
    9

    Dog Gone Modern
    Directed by Charles Jones
    Two dogs enter an all-electric model home. They have a lot of trouble with the machines in the house, and a chase ensues, of course. An interesting cartoon – unusually for the series, the dog characters don't have any dialogue, instead just barking and growling like an ordinary dog. They're quite expressive, though, meaning that the comedy here is largely visual. It's much more fast-paced and comedic than Jones' first effort, already showing some signs of things to come. Enjoyable, but he'll naturally do a lot better later on. This short also features his first recurring characters – the dogs that are often referred to as the Curious Puppies.
    8.5
    It's an Ill Wind
    Directed by Ben Hardaway & Cal Dalton
    Porky and the annoyingly talkative Dizzy Duck go fishing, but their plans are interrupted by a storm. They find shelter in an abandoned house, but there's a lot of chaos, as they think it's haunted due to a dog and turtle wreaking havoc there. An amusing and chaotic cartoon, not quite reaching the randomness and wackiness of a Clampett cartoon, but the characters' antics are still nice to watch. The crew seems to have kept trying out new co-stars for Porky, as Dizzy appears here just as much as he does. While he works well in his role, I still prefer last year's three (Daffy, Petunia and Gabby).
    9
    Hamateur Night
    Directed by Fred Avery
    It's amateur night at the Warmer Bros. Theater, with the best act being chosen after all the performances. The acts aren't well received by most of the audience, and there are also interruptions from Elmer singing "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain" and a laughing hippo (the latter voiced by Avery himself). The idea is similar to the earlier "Into Your Dance" (and to a lesser extent, "I Love to Singa" and "A-Lad-in Bagdad"), but in this one, there are more gags and they're even funnier. The hippo is my favorite character here with his contagious laughter, though the disastrous performances are also very amusing!
    10
    Robinhood Makes Good
    Directed by Charles Jones
    Three squirrels read a book about Robin Hood and decide to play the characters. "Who's gonna be Robin Hood?" The big one, while the middle one is Little John, and the small one has to take the role of the villain they'll rob. But a fox notices the squirrels' game and pretends to be Maid Marian. "Robin Hood" and "Little John" go to save her, and soon the little squirrel has to save them! Jones' early efforts are often known as having been very cute, not having the comedy of his later shorts. This is one of those, being quite slow-moving at times. But at the same time, it's definitely not without its positives. I love the voice work here – Mel Blanc does a great job as always, and Berneice Hansell gives the squirrels an adorable voice. The animation and backgrounds are also really well done.
    8
    Porky's Tire Trouble
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Porky is working at the Snappy Rubber Company, making car tires. No dogs are allowed in the factory, but Porky's pet Flat Foot Flookey sneaks in, causing a lot of chaos, especially after swallowing some rubberizing solution. I've heard Clampett was getting sick of doing nothing but Porky cartoons, and I think it's starting to show a little – Porky is officially the star here, but most of the cartoon seems to focus on the dog instead. An enjoyable cartoon with some good chase scenes, but not one of my absolute favorites.
    8.5
    Gold Rush Daze
    Directed by Ben Hardaway & Cal Dalton
    A young dog is planning to go digging for gold. But the owner of the gas station he visits thinks it's not a good idea – he tells about his experiences and failures digging for gold essentially everywhere. After all the great shorts lately, I found this to be among the more underwhelming ones – the animation is good, as is the music, but the gags here are mostly rehashed. The gold digging theme was also something covered before (in "Gold Diggers of '49" back in 1935) and in a funnier way.
    7
    A Day at the Zoo
    Directed by Fred Avery
    It's feeding time at the Kalama Zoo, and we see the various animals there. Another spot gag cartoon with a lot of corny but amusing puns. There's also a running gag with Elmer teasing a lion despite both a sign and the narrator telling him not to do so. These kinds of cartoons pretty much disappeared from the series as time passed, but they're definitely fun in small doses!
    9
    Porky's Movie Mystery
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    A mysterious phantom is haunting the Warmer Bros. studio lot, and the police are desperate to find out who's responsible. Porky is called to the rescue... but this time he's not appearing as himself but as Japanese secret agent Mr. Motto. A strange cartoon – Porky portraying another character for the entirety of the cartoon is something new and an interesting concept, even if I'm not quite sure what to think about the Motto character (his ju jitsu skills are interesting, the stereotypical portrayal less so). The ending here might be the most random one I've seen in any of these cartoons. An interesting experiment that reminds me a little of a few Tashlin Porkys, but as a slightly less serious take.
    8.5
    Prest-O Change-O
    Directed by Charles Jones
    The Curious Puppies are back. This is very similar to "Dog Gone Modern", the difference being that after being chased by a dog catcher, the two dogs end up in magician Sham-Fu's house. Instead of machines, the magician's props are giving the dogs trouble this time, the small one struggling with a rope and the big one being pestered by a rabbit (the Bugs prototype from "Porky's Hare Hunt"). It's an entertaining short – not as good as the rabbit's debut, but the magic theme just manages to make it not feel too derivative of the previous Curious Puppies cartoon. A scene where the big dog puts the rabbit in a trunk, repeating the sequence with bigger trunks, is an early version of a gag Jones would use in some of his later cartoons to more impact.
    8.5
    Chicken Jitters
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Porky has a poultry farm – there are many gags involving the chickens, as well as a newly hatched duck that ends up on the farm. A fox attacks and the duck is in danger! Besides the obvious "Porky's Poultry Plant", many of the chicken scenes remind me of... pretty much every cartoon so far that has had chickens in it! But with Clampett's involvement, there are some unexpected things here (the fox has a gun!) and the end gag is a good one.
    8.5
    Bars and Stripes Forever
    Directed by Ben Hardaway & Cal Dalton
    A group of canine prisoners is trying to escape from Alcarazz prison (not the first time they've used this pun), and the warden seems to be quite naive at times. When one of them manages to do it, the police start chasing him. There are some nice comedic scenes here, like the escaping prisoner's musical number and a clever joke involving an electric chair. It's not an all-time classic, but it has its moments. I definitely prefer it to Hardaway and Dalton's previous one-shot with dog characters.
    8.5
    Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur
    Directed by Charles Jones
    And another color Merrie Melody with the lovable crazy duck! This short takes place in the prehistoric days, with Casper Caveman and his dinosaur Fido looking for food. They come across a duck – Daffy, of course! This is the first truly great short by Jones – Daffy comes up with more wacky ideas to outwit the hunter, the supporting characters are also amusing ones (especially the dinosaur), and there are many funny gags including a long sequence with signs and a fairly surprising ending!
    9.5
    Porky and Teabiscuit
    Directed by Ben Hardaway & Cal Dalton
    Porky is told by his father (now named Phineas Pig) to take some feed to the race track for 11 dollars. He accidentally buys a nag called Teabiscuit with the money and then enters a race with it. The horse race theme is something we've seen multiple times in the series, even with Porky in "Milk and Money". While this doesn't quite match that one, it's still an entertaining entry. The best part here is Teabiscuit himself, a lot of character for a mostly non-anthropomorphic horse.
    8.5
    Thugs with Dirty Mugs
    Directed by Fred Avery
    The Killer and his gang rob all the banks, and police chief Flat-Foot Flanigan vows to catch him! Will he manage to do so before they rob Mrs. Lotta Jewels? This gangster movie parody (with the characters introduced as actors playing roles) features a lot of puns, fourth wall breaking and random jokes. As always, Avery manages to surprise the audience with these. Another one worth a watch!
    9
    Kristopher Kolumbus Jr.
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Porky portrays the titular character who discovers America despite various setbacks, such as his crew abandoning him and an encounter with a sea serpent. Making Porky play various roles instead of just being himself is something Clampett appears to have tried multiple times to add variety to the series. This wacky take on Columbus includes some funny gags, but I feel it could have been even wilder. It's still an enjoyable one, and even playing a role, Porky feels more like himself here than he did in "Porky's Movie Mystery".
    8.5

    Naughty but Mice
    Directed by Charles Jones
    Sniffles the mouse has a cold (not really a surprise with that name). He sneaks into a drug store and things get weird. He gets drunk, makes friends with an electric shaver (makes more sense with the former in mind) and gets chased by a cat. This is quite slow-paced for the most part, which wasn't unusual for early Jones, and the design and animation style of the mouse wouldn't look out of place in a Disney cartoon (Sniffles' conversation with the shaver also feels like it might have been inspired by Donald Duck and the spring in "Clock Cleaners", though much friendlier). But there are a few animations of wild takes and other moments that are very much WB. A cute cartoon, probably the best one ever with an electric shaver character, but still not at the level of the Jones' later masterpieces. Still an important step for him – out of his early characters, Sniffles was the most successful, appearing in several cartoons and also becoming one of the stars in the Looney Tunes comics alongside an original character called Mary Jane.
    8
    Believe It or Else
    Directed by Fred Avery
    In a parody of "Believe It or Not", we get to see unusual people, events, new developments in science, optical illusions... Elmer doesn't believe any of it, though. Another spot gag cartoon with puns and other jokes, though Avery has done even better ones before. Still some fun moments here, especially the end scene.
    8
    Polar Pals
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    On the North Pole, Porky and his animal friends are having fun, dancing and playing along to the catchy tune "Let's Rub Noses (Like the Eskimoses)". But then the fun is ruined by fur trapper I. Killem who tries to shoot the animals, and it's up to Porky to save the day. With all the animals, this is surprisingly cute for a Clampett cartoon, but of course we get the more typical gags (many of them ice-related) and fast-paced chase sequences too. I can't help but love the corny pun of an "ice-bestos" curtain! One of the best recent Porkys.
    9.5
    Hobo Gadget Band
    Directed by Ben Hardaway & Cal Dalton
    Hobos board a train and play music, only to get kicked out. As the Junktown Gadget Band, they then participate in an audition for a radio station. This reminds me of the Merrie Melodies from a couple of years ago with its emphasis on music over comedy (though there are a couple of amusing jokes) or significant plot developments. The music is indeed good and the ending is a nice one, otherwise it's a bit mediocre for the time.
    7.5
    Scalp Trouble
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    General Daffy is commanding his troops. After struggling to wake up Porky, they defend the army post from an Indian attack. The subject matter is again quite dated. That aside, the cartoon is another good Clampett entry with fast-paced and wacky fighting scenes. Things get especially wild after Daffy accidentally swallows some ammunition!
    9
    Old Glory
    Directed by Charles Jones
    One of the most unusual cartoons in the series in that it's a completely serious short without a single joke in it. It's also the first time since his debut that Porky has appeared in a Merrie Melody and therefore a color cartoon. Portrayed here as a kid, Porky is struggling to learn the Pledge of Allegiance and wonders why he needs to do that. He falls asleep and meets Uncle Sam who tells him about American history. As the threat of a war was looming (and these fears would soon come true), this patriotic cartoon must have had a big impact on the audience. More than eight decades later and not being American, I don't really get the whole experience here, but I still think it's an effective cartoon with its visuals (realistic, at times rotoscoped animation for Uncle Sam and the Founding Fathers) and message. This isn't really what I expect from the series, but as a one-off, I think it succeeds in what it's trying to do.
    8
    Dangerous Dan McFoo
    Directed by Fred Avery
    The story of the shooting of Dan McFoo. A stranger comes to the saloon and sets his eyes on Dan's beautiful girlfriend Sue. The two dogs proceed to fight, complete with a boxing announcer. Some of the gags in this would have stood out more at the time and have since become more common, such as when the fight gets slowed down and paused. The characters are entertaining, Sue does the Katharine Hepburn impersonation Avery seems to have liked a lot (having used it before in "Little Red Walking Hood"). But what's more notable is Dan's voice – Arthur Q. Bryan gives him the exact same voice, speech impediment included, that would soon be given to Elmer Fudd. These are the interesting things that you'll notice when going through these chronologically!
    9

    Porky's Picnic
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Petunia Pig returns! Porky goes on a picnic with her, an annoying kid (Pinky from "Porky's Naughty Nephew") comes along, and Petunia and Pinky almost get hit by a train. Sounds just like the 1933 disaster "Buddy's Day Out"! Thankfully, this cartoon is a lot better. There are actual gags in this one, the characters are better (Petunia is actually sweet in this one, unlike in the Tashlin cartoons), and there's a satisfying ending after all the trouble the brat puts our heroes in. Petunia gets a new design (though it was already seen very quickly in a picture on Porky's wall in "Scalp Trouble") which would be used in all of her subsequent appearances, including the Looney Tunes comics.
    8.5
    Snowman's Land
    Directed by Charles Jones
    The "Northeast Dismounted Police" (all of them dogs) want to catch the dangerous outlaw Dirty Pierre, the "Scourge of the North". As everyone else quickly runs away, a goofy Mountie has to "volunteer" to catch the criminal. His incompetence makes the task quite difficult. Fairly ordinary comedy cartoon, but still enjoyable to watch even if it isn't the most memorable one.
    8
    Wise Quacks
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Mr. and Mrs. Daffy Duck get new hatchlings, and Daffy's longtime friend Porky comes to visit him. One of the hatchlings gets captured by an eagle, and it's up to a drunken Daffy to save it. I loved this one – Daffy is especially fun here, with Mel Blanc's great performance (he could do a hilarious drunken voice). The ending is a particularly hilarious one! Daffy gets a new design here, adding a gray highlight to his face, but this design change would be reverted soon.
    10

    Hare-um Scare-um
    Directed by Ben Hardaway & Cal Dalton
    Frustrated with rising meat prices, John Sourpuss goes hunting with his dog and comes across a rabbit. The rabbit proves to be too crazy and cunning for the two. Now even called 'Bugs' Bunny (from Hardaway's nickname – note the apostrophes) in promotional material, he is redesigned as a gray rabbit closer to what we'd see later on. The personality is still very close to that of Daffy Duck (and some parts of this short resemble the Hardaway-written "Daffy Duck & Egghead", including another crazy song and the ending), but we get more aspects of the familiar Bugs – the "Guess who" scene would be reused later, and this is the first time he wears a costume (of a girl dog) to fool another character. This is a short of such historical importance in the series that it's hard to look at it outside that context, but I'd definitely count it as one of the best of its era. For unknown reasons, this cartoon had the last 30 seconds cut out before its original release, but thankfully it's since been restored to its original intended length.
    10
    Detouring America
    Directed by Fred Avery
    Another Avery spot gag cartoon, this time showing us many of the U.S. states and their people, animals and nature. The highlight is the "human fly", climbing the Empire State Building. Not the best cartoon of its kind, but still an entertaining watch with its typical puns and comedic reactions. Also very impressive visually, especially the background pans. It truly made an impact at the time – it gave the studio an Oscar nomination (their first since 1932), but lost to Disney's "The Ugly Duckling". The Academy sure had a diverse taste then, as those two films couldn't have been much more different from each other!
    8.5
    Little Brother Rat
    Directed by Charles Jones
    The mice are having a scavenger hunt, and after getting a cat's whisker, Sniffles only needs an owl's egg to win. He goes to get one, but the father owl stops him. He goes there again, only for the owlet to hatch, and while attempting to bring the egg to the party, Sniffles and the owl get chased by a cat! This is an improvement over the first Sniffles cartoon – like its predecessor, it's very cute, but with the addition of better characters (as much as I liked the shaver, the owls are more defined and believable as characters), and Sniffles himself having more personality, including a new catchphrase of "Gee willikers". It might slightly resemble the output of that studio with the other mouse, but I don't think it suffers at all in comparison.
    9
    Porky's Hotel
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Porky owns a hotel and gets a customer – an angry goat called Mr. Gouty. This character reminds me slightly of Gabby Goat (possibly a relative?), but there's also a Gabby in this cartoon – a duck that's very similar to Dizzy from "It's an Ill Wind". Chaotic antics ensue, as Gabby gets annoyed by a fly, and the goat gets caught up in the whole thing. An entertaining short with some good gags, though Porky himself doesn't appear much. Some nice WB cartoon nostalgia too, as "Honeymoon Hotel" from the 1934 cartoon is heard with new lyrics.
    8.5
    Sioux Me
    Directed by Ben Hardaway & Cal Dalton
    There's been a long drought in the Indian reservation in Hangnail, Oklahoma. Rainmaker J.Q. Drizzlepuss has to make things better with his rain dance, or else... Thankfully, a doctor arrives to save the day with his weather pills, including the much needed rain pill! A little boy gets the pills. But the rainmaker throws them away, angry that he didn't bring the water he was supposed to get, and they get eaten by animals, as well as some people. A shamefully obvious rip-off of the earlier "Porky the Rain-Maker", to the point I was able to copy and paste the plot outline for that one here without changing much more than the character names. That cartoon was such an enjoyable one that even an inferior remake has some appeal left to it. The ending is a new one and quite funny, but otherwise I'd just go for the original.
    7
    Land of the Midnight Fun
    Directed by Fred Avery
    In this travelogue, people go to Alaska on the S.S. Wrecks. After some ship-related gags, we see some about the Alaskan people and nature. This is another fun watch – these kinds of cartoons with the charmingly corny puns appear to have been very popular at the time. Despite some jokes having been recycled from earlier cartoons, I like how all of these take place in very different settings.
    8.5
    Jeepers Creepers
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Policeman Porky has to investigate a deserted house that's suspected to have a ghost in it. Once he enters, the ghost starts playing pranks on him. Entertaining short – the highlight for me was the mischievous ghost character with his supernatural abilities and funny voice. The audio is great in general – Mel Blanc is brilliant as Porky, there are many fittingly creepy sounds, and the catchy title song is heard sung by the ghost. The rest of the short is very enjoyable too – we get the usual Clampett wildness with some horror influences mixed in.
    9.5
    Naughty Neighbors
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    After a long feud between the Martins and the McCoys, leaders Petunia and Porky sign a non-aggression pact. But despite the two pigs being in love, the families' animals seem to want to continue fighting. Fittingly for the plot, there are two very different kinds of scenes. The animals keep fighting in comedic ways, while the scenes with Porky and Petunia are very cute. Their duet of "Would You Like Take a Walk" (with changed lyrics, much better than the original!) is definitely the most memorable part of this cartoon – the same song is also used to comic effect in the fight scenes. The ending is quite a daring one for the time! Sadly, Petunia (definitely one of my favorite female characters in the series) would never appear in another classic era short after this one. But like some other dropped characters, she would live on in the Looney Tunes comics for many more years.
    8.5

    The Little Lion Hunter
    Directed by Charles Jones
    Yet again, Jones introduces potential new stars! Young African native Inki is hunting various animals (including the mysterious Minah Bird) but doesn't succeed at catching them. He then comes across a lion and tries his best to get away from the beast. For an African character in the 30s, I think a much worse job could have been done – Inki is quite likable, even if he doesn't completely avoid the stereotypes of the time. The Minah Bird steals the show here, though – the nonchalant bird walking and hopping to the tune of Mendelssohn's "The Hebrides" was used as a running gag of sorts. A chase cartoon with no dialogue and the timing of animation to classical music are both something Jones would do much better later on, but despite being nowhere near that quality, this one still has some appeal of its own, especially with some expressive animation.
    8
    The Good Egg
    Directed by Charles Jones
    All the chickens in the henhouse have new hatchlings, except for one. Depressed, she plans to drown herself but finds an egg on the beach. The egg hatches, and it's a turtle, but the mother hen raises him as a chick. The other chicks bully the turtle and don't let him join them on their sailing trip – one that ends up going very wrong! A cute short, though also a very sad one at times. The little turtle is easily my favorite character here, and I found the ending quite an emotional one. Maybe not your typical WB cartoon, but I certainly enjoyed this one.
    9
    Pied Piper Porky
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Porky is the Pied Piper of Hamelin and rids the town of rats. This theme is soon swept aside, though – after failing to lure out one mouse with his horn, Porky decides to use a more traditional mouse trap (a cat) instead, and the rest of the cartoon focuses on that. There are some entertaining jokes here, like the cat being afraid of the mouse, and the highlight being the ending. But despite this being a fun enough watch, I think both the director and the character have had much better entries before.
    8
    Fresh Fish
    Directed by Fred Avery
    Professor Mackerel Fishface is trying to catch the rare Whim Wham whistling shark. Meanwhile, we see gags involving various different fish. A running gag features a two-headed fish who's looking for Mr. Ripley, to the annoyance of the narrator. Out of these spot gag cartoons, I'd say this is an average one – entertaining but not quite matching "A Day at the Zoo", for example (maybe the wider variety of animals there also played a part). But in any case, I enjoyed watching these punny fish.
    8.5
    Fagin's Freshman
    Directed by Ben Hardaway & Cal Dalton
    Blackie the kitten doesn't want to sing childish songs with his mother and siblings, preferring listening to crime shows. After he's sent to his room without supper, he has a nightmare where he's at school being taught how to commit crimes by Fagin, and they soon end up in a shootout with the police. Hardaway and Dalton's output has been a bit of a mixed bag – some very good cartoons, while others are less remarkable. This is in the latter group: while the characters are reasonably entertaining (the criminal Fagin being my favorite one), the predictable ending and moral feel too saccharine. Maybe it would have worked better if Blackie had committed actual petty crimes instead of just preferring exciting radio shows to sickeningly sweet kids' songs (the extremely annoying "Three Little Kittens" which isn't even played for laughs here). Enjoyable cartoon in parts, but others made me feel just like Blackie did in the cartoon itself.
    7
    Porky the Giant Killer
    Directed by Ben Hardaway & Cal Dalton
    Everyone in town is going to slay the giant living in a castle. Porky joins them, armed with a table leg. When the giant wakes up, everyone quickly runs away, except for the pig who ends up getting locked inside the castle. To make matters worse, he accidentally wakes up the giant's baby. Now he has to make sure he doesn't make too much noise to wake up the father. This is another enjoyable Porky short – the characters all have quite a bit of personality, though I'm not sure why everyone is insistent on killing the giant (he seems like a pretty decent guy, at least when people don't trespass on his property). This one differs from most of the previous shorts by not having a happy ending, but I think the crew manages to make it funny this time, unlike the injustice Porky faced in "Porky's Super Service".
    8.5

    Sniffles and the Bookworm
    Directed by Charles Jones
    A variation on the familiar "books come to life" theme. Sniffles is safe from cold weather in a bookstore. The bookworm (who would become a recurring character in the series) is scared of the visitor and asks a couple of book characters for help in dealing with him. Once they realize the mouse isn't dangerous, they all perform a musical number ("Mutiny in the Nursery") until a real danger pops up. The song performance is good, but ignoring the fact Sniffles didn't exist before 1939, this feels like a cartoon from a few years earlier and not necessarily in a good way. Despite the usual beautiful animation, this is definitely the weakest of the three Sniffles shorts so far.
    7
    Screwball Football
    Directed by Fred Avery
    It's the biggest football game of the year! As you can guess from the title, the game is a very crazy one, with a lot of visual gags and wordplay. There's also a running gag with a baby licking an ice cream cone while the man sitting next to him is also trying to lick it. The best football cartoon yet, as well as one of the best sports-related ones in general, though obviously the humor eclipses the sport itself here. Special mentions to the music (one of the best of the many uses of John F. Barth's "Frat" in these cartoons) and the great ending.
    9
    The Film Fan
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Porky is supposed to get some groceries for his mother, but when he notices a movie screening with kids admitted free (his age seems to be changing a lot!), he goes to see it. In the style of "Bosko's Picture Show", "She Was an Acrobat's Daughter" and such, we see comedic newsreels and trailers for movies. Another Porky short where the focus isn't really on him, and fairly derivative of several earlier shorts, but we still get some fun gags like a dog wanting to see a movie about trees. Amusing for sure but not one of Clampett's masterpieces.
    8
    The Curious Puppy
    Directed by Charles Jones
    Or two curious puppies, as they return for their third appearance in the same year. A dog sneaks into a closed amusement park and accidentally turns on the master switch. After that, he gets chased by a watch dog through some of the rides. This is another mildly comedic entry with the two dogs' various antics, though I think more could have been done with the amusement park idea – we don't get a roller coaster scene, for example, and the house of mirrors could have provided even more gags than what was done. Some fun here, but I feel these puppies have pretty much given all they can already.
    8

    A short animated clip featuring Porky was also made for a Warner Bros. blooper reel (of course the company's biggest cartoon star had to appear in addition to all the live-action stars), with variations appearing throughout it. It is believed to have been made by the Hardaway and Dalton unit.

    Breakdowns of 1939
    Yes, this is the famous clip of Porky trying to hammer a nail and accidentally hitting his thumb, then swearing. I bet it got an amazing reception from the people watching the reel back then, and now that it's available to the general public, everyone seems to get a kick out of it. It's also definitely one of the first times (if not the very first) an "outtake" of a cartoon character was created, something that's quite common in today's animated movies. The rating might feel a bit high for less than 20 seconds of animation, but what can I do – it's simply an iconic sequence!
    10

    The Schlesinger studio also created animated sequences for two live-action films this year. I haven't been able to find the one made by Hardaway and Dalton for the MGM short "How to Eat", but apparently the whole sequence was just 15 seconds long, so I doubt I'm missing out on much. The other one was for Republic Pictures' "She Married a Cop", once again handled (without credit) by Ben and Cal who seem to have been the go-to guys for the assorted projects.

    She Married a Cop
    As the plot of the movie involved an animation studio (Mammoth Studios), of course some cartoon sequences had to be included. This short sequence features Paddy the Pig who is a police officer. He sings the song "I Can't Imagine" and tries to impress his girlfriend. Three cats (who resemble the students of Katnip Kollege a little) sing along. There's less than a minute of animation – it's well drawn, but these kinds of musical cartoons had started to lose their popularity in real life by this point. It served its purpose in the context of the movie, but I still prefer Porky and Petunia to these two pigs.
    7.5

    And that's it for the busiest year of the WB cartoons. Most of the cartoons were very enjoyable, with no particularly bad entries included. But I still think the couple of years before this were slightly stronger in general – was the schedule perhaps even too tight? Anyway, I appreciate the way the crew experimented with various ideas. While the Merrie Melodies have mostly been one-shots with the exception of a few recurring characters like Elmer and Daffy, Chuck Jones introduced several new characters this year with the clear intention to make series of them from the start (a couple of them having already got multiple follow-ups in the same year). It's quite obvious that the studio doesn't want to rely on Porky alone, and their attempts will soon start to bear fruit...

    The 30s were an interesting decade for the two cartoon series. Especially in the second half of the decade, we've already seen a lot of development in animation quality and comedy, as well as the introduction of a couple of characters that would be huge (Porky Pig and Daffy Duck). With Freleng, Avery, Clampett and Jones, most of the directors that would really shape the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies have already shown up, though for many of them, their best times still lie ahead. What will the 40s bring?
  2. Tacodidra

    1938: Going up!

    By Tacodidra,


    Looney Tunes
    The Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies move on to another year. With the introduction of Daffy Duck last year, we can look forward to more of him... and maybe some surprises!
     

    Daffy Duck & Egghead
    Directed by Fred Avery
    Egghead goes duck hunting, but the duck he meets is a really crazy one, making him difficult to outwit. More Avery wackiness, continuing from "Porky's Duck Hunt". Despite that short being one of the most important in the whole series, I think this one is even better as a stand-alone cartoon – Daffy's personality is further refined, we get a fittingly wacky song (to the tune of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down") from him, and the ending is a much funnier and more memorable one. Besides only being Daffy's second appearance in the cartoons, this is his first one in color and the one where he gets his name. His design wasn't quite finalized yet, as the ring around his neck is blue instead of white. A brilliant entry!
    10
    Porky's Poppa
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Bessie the cow is no longer producing milk the way she used to, and Porky's father is struggling with the mortgage of the farm. He gets a robot cow that even produces cheese and ice cream without hassle! But Porky wants to prove Bessie can still beat the newcomer. Wild and fast-paced with many good gags. For a character with no lines that's as close to a regular animal as you get in the Looney Tunes, the cartoon still makes you root for good old Bessie, which speaks for how well the crew handles their characters. But my absolute favorite part is the chaotic rewrite of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" at the start – easily the funniest musical sequence so far in these cartoons!
    10
    My Little Buckeroo
    Directed by I. Freleng
    In 1872, the town of Boiled Beef, Texas, is terrorized by a criminal fittingly just known as "The Terror". All the sheriffs try to catch him to no avail. We focus on a pig (with a horrible singing voice – I doubt this would have helped sell many copies of the title song!) who tries to do the job. I feel some of the gags show a slight Tex Avery influence, though the cartoon on the whole isn't quite as wacky as his. Still a nice one with impressive animation in the chase sequences.
    8.5
    Porky at the Crocadero
    Directed by Frank Tashlin
    Porky dreams of seeing popular musicians perform at the Crocadero and maybe performing there one day. An attempt to get to see the bands by washing the dishes fails and gets Porky kicked out, but after the bandleaders fail to show up, he gets an unforgettable opportunity... Probably the jazziest Looney Tune yet, the impersonations of various performers by Porky are the most memorable part of this. Not a highlight of the series but another enjoyable one in any case.
    8.5
    Jungle Jitters
    Directed by I. Freleng
    Part of the Censored 11 – so expect some badly dated stereotypes here. A goofy salesman goes to an African village, trying to sell stuff to the natives. But unfortunately for him, the natives turn out to be cannibals! The salesman character is an entertaining one, and I think the brilliant ending makes up a little for the predictability and slight repetitiveness of some of the other gags.
    7.5
    What Price Porky
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Farmer Porky is feeding corn to his chickens, but a group of ducks manages to snatch all of it. Things soon turn into a full-on war between the birds, with even newly hatched chicks joining the battle. Another fun Porky cartoon, despite the intended star being largely overshadowed by the dueling birds here. There have been previous entries with somewhat similar gags and theme (including "Bosko the Doughboy" years ago), but Clampett's humor and relentless pace is clearly better than those. And he even manages to sneak in another surprise at the end!
    9
    The Sneezing Weasel
    Directed by Fred Avery
    Wilbur the chick has a cold, and her mother goes to get him a doctor. But Willie the Weasel notices an opportunity – he dresses as one while the mother hen's away in order to eat the little chick. His disguise doesn't fool the chicks for long, and they fight the predator. Another humorous short with good characters, especially the weasel as a bumbling villain. Cute and funny – better than I expected.
    9
    Porky's Phoney Express
    Directed by Cal Howard & Cal Dalton
    The pony express tries to deliver mail to Red Gulch, but they fail due to being attacked by Indians. Porky wants to ride the mail too, but he's relegated to sweeping and licking envelopes, until he gets the chance as a decoy for the more experienced riders. The first cartoon directed by the two Cals, replacing Freleng who went to MGM (he'll be back). There are some good gags, but at the same time, I feel the directors' lack of experience shows in the animation quality varying between scenes (there's some fun animation especially of wild takes, but some scenes look a bit mediocre). Porky himself looks a bit different too.
    7
    A Star Is Hatched
    Directed by I. Freleng
    Emily the chicken is back! Now she's dreaming about becoming a Hollywood actress, and when she meets the famous director J. Meggaphone, she thinks her dream is about to come true. But things aren't that easy. There are obviously many celebrity caricatures here, and the temptation of fame and empty promises made to those looking to make it big are an interesting theme – exploring that theme even further would have made for a really fascinating cartoon. The short we got is an enjoyable one too, even if some parts are a bit derivative (the ending is pretty much a 1:1 remake of that in the slightly better Emily cartoon "Let It Be Me").
    8.5
    Porky's Five & Ten
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Porky plans to open a five and ten cent store on Boola-Boola Isle. But while he's on his way there, fish steal the products he plans to sell with wacky consequences. Porky's stuff forms a Hollywood Hotel underwater and we see fish, including celebrity parodies, having a good time there. Out of these Hollywood-themed cartoons, this is definitely among the better ones – even if it's strange to see Porky get upstaged by random fish in his own cartoon!
    9
    The Penguin Parade
    Directed by Fred Avery
    At the grand opening of Club Iceburg, a bunch of penguins (and some walruses) enjoy musical performances, including a wild jazzy number by a penguin band. The last performance is clearly my favorite part here – I think the short is enjoyable for what it is, but more a really well animated musical cartoon than a particularly funny one (despite some gags). A couple of years earlier, this would have stood out a lot more!
    7.5

    Porky's Hare Hunt
    Directed by Ben Hardaway
    Another hunting cartoon with Porky – this time he and his dog are hunting a rabbit. The rabbit is a very crazy one who keeps coming up with various ways to outwit and annoy the hunter. Of course this is quite similar in both concept and execution to the previous year's "Porky's Duck Hunt", but the gags are new ones... and very entertaining at that (my favorite being the punny "hare remover"). And of course there's one thing that must be mentioned – the white rabbit in this short would eventually evolve into Bugs Bunny. The personality of the rabbit is more similar to the early Daffy Duck (with a laugh that Mel Blanc would later reuse for Woody Woodpecker), but some aspects of the later Bugs are already there – the rabbit is heard saying "Of course you know that this means war" and fakes a fatal injury the way Bugs would often do. Great short whose historical significance is often forgotten.
    10
    Now That Summer Is Gone
    Directed by Frank Tashlin
    Squirrels are collecting acorns for the winter, but one of them has another way to get them – gambling. The little squirrel (named Spunky in promotional material) keeps doing so despite the opposition of his parents, but he's bound to lose at some point... This brings to mind "Pigs Is Pigs" from the year before – more a cartoon with a moral than a particularly funny one, though it's not completely without jokes and I find it slightly less preachy than that one. I still enjoyed it – there's some great animation with cute characters, and a gambling addiction is an interesting subject for a cartoon.
    8.5
    Injun Trouble
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Porky is on lookout for the dangerous Injun Joe, so that a wagon train can travel safely to California through his territory. On the way, he meets a strange bearded hillbilly who "knows something he won't tell". I find the villain here slightly less stereotypical than some of the previous Native American characters, and he's an interesting one – he's extremely strong and fearless, which is used for a couple of gags too (such as a fun one with a bear). The way the conflict gets resolved is also very surprising!
    8.5
    The Isle of Pingo Pongo
    Directed by Fred Avery
    Yet another Censored 11 cartoon. This is one of Avery's travelogues, as people go on a cruise to the titular island. We see nearby islands with punny names and the wildlife on Pingo Pongo, which is quite fun. Then comes the part with the island natives, and even if we were to ignore the stereotypical depictions, I think this is where the quality of the short declines significantly – most of the gags in this part just aren't very funny, though the featured music is good. There's also a running gag where Elmer (the version we saw in "Little Red Walking Hood") is asking if it's his time to show up, and a comedic use of a live-action sequence (something that's quite common in cartoons even today). A good cartoon at times, but it could have been so much better.
    7.5
    Porky the Fireman
    Directed by Frank Tashlin
    Porky and his colleagues are trying to put out the fire and save people from a burning building. They have a lot of trouble along the way. For Porky cartoons, this is quite average – there are some entertaining parts, but at times, the running gags start to border on repetition.
    There's still quite a bit to enjoy, though – I especially like the unpredictable end gag.
    8
    Katnip Kollege
    Directed by Cal Howard & Cal Dalton
    In swingology class at Katnip Kollege, everything is sung, including homework! But Johnny can't swing, so he's forced to stay after class. However, later that night he finally gets it and impresses the other cats, including his crush Kitty Bright. The animation is beautiful with all the cute cats, and the soundtrack is wonderful. The most musical short in a while, but also one of the very best of its kind!
    9.5
    Have You Got Any Castles
    Directed by Frank Tashlin
    Another cartoon with books coming to life. There are many funny puns on book titles, and of course we also see the characters singing, dancing and playing instruments. A running gag involves Rip Van Winkle trying to sleep but being bothered by the noise made by all the other characters. The theme is something we've seen many times, but I feel the last couple have improved a lot on the previous ones – this one differs in that while there is still a villain that the others are chasing, this doesn't take up as much of the short, and the ending is a funnier one. Possibly the second best cartoon in this genre?
    9
    Porky's Party
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    It's Porky's birthday and his uncle gives him an Oriental silk worm as a present ("When you want him to do his stuff, just say 'Sew'!"). A penguin and a goose come to visit him. But Black Fury the dog gets drunk and causes a lot of chaos along with the worm! Hilarious Clampett wackiness where the action just doesn't stop! I also love the music here, especially the fast-paced version of "Joseph Joseph" in the chase sequences.
    10
    Love and Curses
    Directed by Ben Hardaway & Cal Dalton
    An old couple, Harold and Emily, reminisce about their youth in the 1890s. When they were on a picnic, Emily was kidnapped by the evil Roger St. Clair and Harold had to save her. This reminds me a little of "Those Were Wonderful Days" from four years ago – the 1890s theme, barbershop quartets and a mustache-twirling villain appear in both. I think this is a very good cartoon – besides the nostalgic approach (which I'm a sucker for!), there's an entertaining theatrical approach with the characters' exaggerated delivery, probably inspired by the actors of the day. The ending is an amusing one too. One of the most underrated shorts of the time.
    9
    Cinderella Meets Fella
    Directed by Fred Avery
    Another crazy parody of a famous fairytale, similar to "Little Red Walking Hood". The Fairy Godmother is an alcoholic, Prince Charming is portrayed by Elmer... Definitely not your typical version of Cinderella. While I thought the previous fairytale parody was a little better, this one is also fun with a lot of randomness and the concept still feels novel.
    9
    Porky's Spring Planting
    Directed by Frank Tashlin
    Porky plants a garden with the help of his dog Streamline, but a group of chickens comes to eat all the vegetables, and Porky has to chase them away. An enjoyable cartoon with good side characters (the dog and the chickens both have some funny scenes), but not one of my favorite Porkys.
    8
    Porky & Daffy
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Daffy is a boxer, with Porky as his manager. They decide to challenge the championship fighter, a rooster everyone else is afraid to fight. What Daffy lacks in strength, he makes up for in insanity! Another really fast-paced short with imaginative fighting tactics from Daffy (who's obviously the star here despite the title), much more fun than the earlier boxing cartoons!
    9.5
    The Major Lied 'til Dawn
    Directed by Frank Tashlin
    Major Twombley tells little Freddie about how he hunted big game in Africa, catching a lion. The story is quite an incredible one. After a slow start, there are some funny scenes like the major's fight against the lion. Cultural references that surprisingly still work today, action well timed with the music, and a great running gag with a forgetful elephant. Another enjoyable short.
    8.5
    Wholly Smoke
    Directed by Frank Tashlin
    Porky (a kid here) is on the way to Sunday school but meets a tough boy. Urged by him, Porky bets a nickel that he isn't afraid to smoke. The cigar smoke makes him dizzy and he dreams about going to a smoke shop where he's forced to chew tobacco while the products in the store perform the song "Little Kids Shouldn't Smoke" (to the tune of "Mysterious Mose"). Unusually moralist for a Looney Tunes cartoon, I find the anti-smoking theme here a bit ahead of its time – the dangers of smoking weren't quite as well known back then as they are today. This cartoon treads the line of preachiness at times, but it's a very good message in any case... and the dream sequence is a great one with its visuals and music.
    8.5
    A-Lad-in Bagdad
    Directed by Cal Howard & Cal Dalton
    Aladdin, portrayed here by Egghead, gets a magic lamp from a claw machine. He finds out that there's a competition – whoever manages to entertain the Sultan will get to marry his daughter. But his lamp gets stolen before the big performance. This is a short I've always enjoyed – I thought the auditioning acts were funny (even if the Sultan didn't agree), Egghead's performance of "Bei mir bist du schön" (already heard as background music in a few other shorts) is memorable and the whole cartoon is a funny one. I can see quite a lot of Avery influence here – the audition sequences are a bit similar to "I Love to Singa", and then there's the fairytale spoof and of course Egghead himself. But the short still doesn't feel too derivative. This was the last short co-directed by Cal Howard (as Ben Hardaway takes over as Dalton's co-director), though he'll make occasional appearances as a writer until the very end!
    9
    Cracked Ice
    Directed by Frank Tashlin
    W.C. Squeals returns – after he sees a St. Bernard rescuing a drowning bird and giving him alcohol, he wants some himself. He comes up with various ideas to get the drink, but they all go awry in comedic ways. This is another funny one-shot, especially thanks to the lead character with his funny mannerisms and dialogue. There's an in-joke about the Termite Terrace, for example (this having been the animators' nickname for the studio building).
    9

    A Feud There Was
    Directed by Fred Avery
    Yodeling peacemaker Elmer Fudd (yes, named for the first time!) tries to end the feud between two families, the Weavers and the McCoys, to no avail. While a bit slow-paced at first (the background pan in the beginning is very impressive for the time, though), it gets more entertaining as it goes on, with funny gags involving the feuding families, great one-liners and some fourth wall breaking once again. While proto-Elmer is the star here, the other characters also have some amusing moments. The ending is also a great one, and one I didn't expect!
    8.5

    Porky in Wackyland
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Porky flies to the darkest Africa to hunt for the last Do-Do bird. He lands in Wackyland which is definitely true to its name. A lot of random gags involving the crazy inhabitants, not least the Do-Do. Clampett has included many wacky and random scenes in his cartoons, but this time he takes it to an extreme, while still managing to incorporate it into the plot. The weirdness is punctuated by Mel Blanc's amazing voice acting and a wild jazzy soundtrack by Carl Stalling. At the time, this cartoon must have been unlike anything ever seen before, and it's still a very appealing and memorable one today. Its uniqueness hasn't been ignored – it's the earliest released of the four WB animated shorts that have been chosen for preservation in the National Film Registry.
    10

    Little Pancho Vanilla
    Directed by Frank Tashlin
    Pancho, a little Mexican boy, wants to become a bullfighter despite his mother's opposition and three girls' mockery. He tries to go a to bullfight and isn't admitted, but things take a surprising turn. An unusual cartoon in that the bull is the only non-human character here. Cute 30s character designs (with huge eyes!) and a lead character with some attitude, but despite being adequately entertaining, I think both the series and the director have had more interesting cartoons by now. This was Pancho's only appearance in the cartoons, but with a slight redesign, he ended up becoming a recurring character in the Looney Tunes comics in the 50s!
    8
    Porky's Naughty Nephew
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Porky is on the beach with his nephew Pinky. He's trying to have a relaxing day, but Pinky keeps causing trouble for him, both on purpose and by accident. Then there's a swim race for cartoon animals, and Porky of course takes part. The annoying nephew is something we've already seen before in the series with Ham and Ex having been a nuisance for their uncle Beans in a couple of cartoons. And the swim race part reminds me a lot of "Pettin' in the Park" from 1934 – coincidentally (or not?) the first cartoon to credit Clampett as an animator! But despite this derivativeness at times, there is enough comedy to make this worth a watch... and the annoying nephew actually comes up with something useful near the end!
    8.5
    Johnny Smith and Poker-Huntas
    Directed by Fred Avery
    And guess what – WB made a Pocahontas cartoon more than five decades before Disney! Captain Johnny Smith (portrayed by Elmer) arrives to America on the Mayflower and gets in trouble with the Natives. Who will save him? Another fun cartoon from Avery with anachronisms, corny puns, fast-paced chase scenes and self-referential humor. There are definitely aspects to this that are dated with the stereotypes, but I feel this fares better than the earlier "Sweet Sioux", for example – the gags are much more imaginative and random, and it relies slightly less on stereotypical humor (though it goes without saying that it wasn't entirely avoided). The character of Poker-Huntas was also a likable one, and despite not getting as much screentime as I expected, still plays a big part in the plot. A fun short, if you can look past its questionability.
    9.5
    You're an Education
    Directed by Frank Tashlin
    Brochures in a travel agency come to life. The characters on them perform music (linking together various songs from the time), and we see many puns on the place names. These are pretty imaginative – a thief from Baghdad uses the Florida Keys to rob the Kimberly diamond mines. All the countries collaborate in an attempt to catch him. This is another good one – the "books come to life" theme was used a lot, but Tashlin's takes on it are among the most entertaining. There's an unfortunate problem with this short, though – the existing reissue had 45 seconds of the original cartoon removed, and this results in a few jarring cuts and ruins the flow of the song sequence a little.
    9
    Porky in Egypt
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Porky is riding a camel called Humpty Bumpty in the desert and suddenly it gets really hot! The rest of the cartoon is mostly the camel (and sometimes Porky) having a heat stroke and hearing and seeing things that aren't there. Not much in the sense of a plot, but we do get some crazy animation and acting and funny scenes. The scene where the camel starts hallucinating has impressive effects. Works well as a one-off.
    9
    The Night Watchman
    Directed by Charles Jones
    Thomas Cat, the night watchman, is sick, so his son has to fill in for him. But the mice aren't afraid of the little kitten, bossing him around, eating all the food and playing loud music. This short has great animation – it's another one of those "more cute than funny" shorts, though there are some humorous moments like the effects the various foods (like bananas and pretzels) have on the mice's body shapes. The lead character is also a likable one. This short is most notable for being the first one directed by Chuck Jones. He'll definitely have many better shorts later on, but I think this is a charming debut.
    8.5
    The Daffy Doc
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Daffy returns – and this time he pretty much relegates Porky to a bit part. The duck is an assistant to Dr. Quack who kicks him out for being noisy and a general nuisance. But Daffy decides to prove his worth and find his own patient! Clampett's wacky style suits Daffy perfectly – his antics are hilarious in this cartoon. The only minus is a surprisingly sudden (and somewhat weak) ending, I'd gladly have seen more of this chaos!
    9.5
    Daffy Duck in Hollywood
    Directed by Fred Avery
    And we get another Daffy cartoon, this time in color (he becomes the first character to have starred in multiple entries in both the Looney Tunes and the Merrie Melodies)! He asks movie producer I.M. Stupendous for a role but gets turned down. He then proceeds to ruin things when director Von Hamburger is making a film and even tries his hands at film making himself! Another nice cartoon with Daffy being annoying in his lovable way, though it's not one of his absolute best shorts – the previous Avery and Clampett shorts with him made even better use of his crazy antics. I can't deny its creativity, though – we even get live-action sequences in Daffy's "movie".
    8.5
    Porky the Gob
    Directed by Ben Hardaway & Cal Dalton
    Porky is in the navy. When the rest of the crew go to find a pirate submarine (for which there's a 50,000 dollar reward), Porky has to stay on the ship to his frustration. But when the pirates attack, he's the one who has to deal with them! Quite an action-packed cartoon, a fun watch even if there isn't much that hasn't been seen before. A slightly better gob than Buddy was!
    8
    Count Me Out
    Directed by Ben Hardaway & Cal Dalton
    Egghead starts to learn boxing in an attempt to become champion. After completing his lessons, he goes to fight champion Biff Stew. Boxing cartoons were relatively common back then – this is better than the early attempts, but not quite at the level of "Porky & Daffy". Still an entertaining one, again with some Avery influences at times. Egghead's last appearance in the series, though his brother Elmer will keep making appearances.
    8.5
    The Mice Will Play
    Directed by Fred Avery
    A bunch of mice enter the laboratory of Dr. I.M. Nutts and have fun with the equipment there. Test subject Susie Mouse is locked in a cage in the next room, and Johnny has to save her. A cat is lurking in the background too... With the cute mouse characters and a musical number, this feels like the Merrie Melodies from a couple of years ago – but since it's an Avery cartoon, there are more jokes. It's not as fast-paced and wild as his typical cartoon, but there are some cute gags here. I like the ending too. Definitely better than Avery's previous mouse cartoon, the more saccharine "A Sunbonnet Blue".
    8.5

    The studio also made another animated sequence for a live-action film, this time for Paramount. Only producer Schlesinger received credit, but the scene appears to be by the Clampett unit.

    The Big Broadcast of 1938
    A three-minute musical sequence featuring Shep Fields and His Rippling Rhythm Orchestra performing the foxtrot "This Little Ripple Had Rhythm". An anthropomorphic ripple emerges from water and joins the band on stage. He plays various instruments, and dancing trees and fellow ripples join the performance. Plotwise, this isn't very remarkable, but the combination of live-action and animation (especially the ripple interacting with the instruments) is really well done – a huge step up from "Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid" nine years earlier! And the ripple is very cute, too.
    8.5

    The ninth and last MGM short featuring former WB character Bosko was released this year: "Little Ol' Bosko in Bagdad". Again, Bosko is taking cookies to his grandma and dreams about a bunch of jazz frogs trying to take them from him. The animation here might be the cartooniest and wildest that we've seen in these shorts, but it's hard to look past the fact that it's the third Bosko cartoon in a row that's essentially the same (the only difference being an Arabian setting with one of the frogs being the sultan). Soon after this cartoon, Harman and Ising's MGM contract was terminated after the hiring of Freleng. They would come back soon, but Bosko never made another appearance, bringing the story of the first Looney Tunes character to an end.

    1938 was another good year for the series, with the introductions of a couple of significant characters, or at least their prototype versions! Bob Clampett really shone this year as a director, creating some of Porky's best cartoons. Tex Avery kept making fun shorts. Cal Dalton and his co-directors were less consistent, but at their best, they could deliver masterpieces too. Oh, and this Charles Jones guy seems like a decent director based on his debut. Maybe we'll see more from him next year.
  3. Tacodidra
    After what was clearly my favorite year so far, we enter the eighth year of the WB cartoons. After Porky became the Looney Tunes' lead character, we'll see many more cartoons with him, including introductions of potential co-stars! So it's another important year...
     
    He Was Her Man
    Directed by I. Freleng
    A female mouse is selling apples on the street to earn some money for herself and her gambling husband Johnny. But he leaves her for another woman, and once she sees them together, things take a tragic turn... This was an interesting cartoon – I didn't quite expect the developments here. Johnny is an extremely unlikable character with his violence and lack of appreciation towards his well-meaning wife... though her character has more sides to it than expected, too!
    8.5
    Porky the Wrestler
    Directed by Fred Avery
    Porky is going to watch a wrestling match but ends up being mistaken for one of the wrestlers. Does he have any chance against the champion? The wrestling match ends up being a very crazy one, including a really random train sequence. A chaotic and funny short, even if it's not quite the director's best. However, perhaps the most significant thing about this short is the first appearance of Mel Blanc as a voice actor! He does Porky's "Woohoo" screams in one scene – a very minor role, but he'll have more significant ones soon...
    8.5
    Pigs Is Pigs
    Directed by I. Freleng
    Piggie from "At Your Service Madame" returns! He's eternally hungry and keeps eating all the food, to his mother's annoyance. He then has a nightmare where he is forcefed in a laboratory. The laboratory scene makes this a rather memorable one, even if it's not really a funny cartoon – it's a cartoon with an obvious moral, thankfully without being too preachy!
    8
    Porky's Road Race
    Directed by Frank Tash
    Porky participates in a car race, racing against the celebrities of the day (including Boris Karloff Borax Karoff as the villain). This is an enjoyable cartoon in all its wackiness – and the celebrity gags are fun, even if some of the people included are no longer well known. I might be biased, but racing cartoons are almost always fun, this one being no exception!
    9
    I Only Have Eyes for You
    Directed by Fred Avery
    An ice truck driving bird delivers ice to old maid Tizzy Tash who's interested in him – but definitely not the other way around! He loves Katie Canary, but she wants to date a crooner. But then the ice man finds Professor Mockingbird, an impersonator, to sing for him and impress Katie. This cartoon has many funny jokes, including the lead character's tendency to use spoonerisms. The art is pretty typical of the era (though nice-looking), but it's definitely better than the average cartoon from back then. The ending is also a funny one.
    9
    Picador Porky
    Directed by Fred Avery
    Porky and his two friends decide to win 1000 pesos in bullfighting, with Porky as the bullfighter and the other two (one of them voiced by Mel Blanc in his most significant role yet) dressing in a bull costume. But things go wrong when the two guys get drunk and Porky ends up fighting a real bull, without even realizing it! This one has many nice gags, some of them and the music even remind me of a later much more famous bullfighting cartoon in the same series. All the characters here are fun, including the mostly silent bull. Brilliant for its time.
    9.5
    The Fella with a Fiddle
    Directed by I. Freleng
    A grandpa mouse tells his grandchildren the story of a greedy mouse who tried to hide his riches from a tax assessor. Not really extraordinary but an entertaining cartoon in any case. More so than Freleng's last cartoon with a moral, I'd say (and I think the ending here is funnier despite being a bit similar).
    8.5

    Porky's Romance
    Directed by Frank Tash
    Porky proposes to his crush Petunia Pig, but she rejects him. Porky is so distraught that he attempts suicide, failing but getting knocked out, and has a dream about getting married to Petunia. In this dream, their relationship isn't quite the ideal one... This is a great short with some funny moments, especially the beginning and the ending, but also gets very dark at times. The characters are the main strength here, though. Petunia (making her first appearance – she's even introduced as "Leon Schlesinger's new Looney Tunes star", which would mostly be the case in comics) isn't very likable here, but she provides some humor with her erratic personality and way of messing up her words a bit similarly to Porky's stutter – I'm surprised they didn't use this gag more. Her dog Fluffnums is a fittingly annoying pet for her. And poor Porky – I don't quite know why he liked Petunia so much. The last time he was voiced by Joe Dougherty – his real stutter made the recording sessions too difficult, which makes me feel sorry for him, especially as his last few performances in the cartoons showed a lot of improvement.
    10
    She Was an Acrobat's Daughter
    Directed by I. Freleng
    At a movie theater, we see some wacky newsreels and shorts. There's also chaos in the audience, especially when a little duck starts annoying the rest of the moviegoers. Probably another short that would have been funnier back in the day, but there's still enough humor in it today. The scenes with the audience are much more entertaining than the films. The highlight for me is the performance of the title tune (a version of which was already featured in "Alpine Antics" last year) with funny lyrics.
    8.5

    Porky's Duck Hunt
    Directed by Fred Avery
    Porky and his dog go duck hunting. But shooting one proves to be more difficult than expected, especially after they meet a particularly crazy specimen. Yes, this is the first appearance of Daffy Duck! Many funny gags including more fourth wall breaking, most of them courtesy of the new character who steals the show here. But Porky and his dog also have some great moments. This is also where Mel Blanc takes over as the voice of Porky. He would go on to voice almost all of the popular characters in the WB cartoons, and does a brilliant job here as both main characters.
    10
    Ain't We Got Fun
    Directed by Fred Avery
    The cat's asleep, so the mice eat all the food they can! The cat gets the blame for this and is thrown out by its owner. A nice cartoon with good music and a great ending, even if it's surprisingly slow-paced for an Avery short.
    8.5

    Porky and Gabby
    Directed by Ub Iwerks
    The first appearance of Gabby Goat, another attempt at a co-star for Porky. He goes camping with Porky, but everything they try goes wrong. Gabby, who is pretty much the star in this cartoon, might be slightly one-note as a character but is still funny with his eternal angriness and ranting. I've enjoyed most of the Porky cartoons so far, and this one is definitely no exception. The first cartoon directed for WB by Ub Iwerks, best known as co-creator of Mickey Mouse! Though I've heard claims that Chuck Jones and Bob Clampett (credited here as animators) did most of the work for him.
    9.5
    Clean Pastures
    Directed by I. Freleng
    The third cartoon in the Censored 11. A cartoon that seems to have been controversial since its creation – at first for its depictions of religious themes, later for the stereotypical depiction of black characters. Saint Peter is worried that the population of Heaven isn't growing – more people keep choosing the sinful life of gambling, dancing and alcohol. A more modern way is needed to recruit people! One of the most dated cartoons in the bunch, as much of the humor here seems to stem from either (largely forgotten) celebrities or (even worse dated) stereotypes. There are some good aspects – a good idea for a plot (even if it could have been done in a more interesting way), the end gag is surprising, and the jazzy music is great. But all in all, this is by no means a highlight of the series.
    7
    Uncle Tom's Bungalow
    Directed by Fred Avery
    Another Censored 11 cartoon – controversial times! A comedic take on the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin", or at least the basic setting of it. Little Eva and Topsy save the titular slave by buying him from the evil Simon Simon Legree, but when the monthly payments are due, a chase ensues! Again, a very dated short based on its subject matter. If you can get past that, there are some typical Avery gags, and the characters are at least more defined and interesting than in the previous shorts with similar stereotypical portrayals. Well animated with some fun lines and other randomness, though it's definitely not in the best taste...
    8
    Streamlined Greta Green
    Directed by I. Freleng
    In a town full of anthropomorphic cars, a little car wants to become a taxi, but his mother doesn't approve of it. After struggling in traffic, he fills up with some high power gas and has fun in the railroad crossings. But his fuel will run out eventually... This reminded me a little of Disney's variation on the same theme decades later (though this one also features a few human characters)! Unique designs, fun puns (like edible "traffic jam") and naturally some high-speed scenes!
    8.5
    Porky's Building
    Directed by Frank Tash
    Porky and his rival have a competition to build the new city hall. Whoever finishes first wins. Dirty Diggs has machinery at his disposal, while Porky is helped by animals (except he doesn't let a rabbit help him for some reason – "How 'bout me, Porky?"). Does Porky have any chance of winning? Another good Porky cartoon with some nice jokes. The animals are fun and cute too, even if they don't appear a lot.
    8.5
    Sweet Sioux
    Directed by I. Freleng
    Various gags featuring a Native American tribe. Then a trader comes to their land and battle ensues! I felt many of the jokes in the early parts fell flat, and the dated stereotypes don't help (not to mention that the title says "Sioux", but a gag has the tribe as being Mohicans). The part where the trader and the tribe fight is funnier, as large parts of it are treated like a sports match in typical WB cartoon randomness. All in all, decent but far from spectacular. The most important thing about this cartoon is probably that there's a scene where we hear the tune "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" for the first but far from the only time.
    7
    Porky's Super Service
    Directed by Ub Iwerks
    Porky is fixing cars at his service station. Sadly for him, one of the cars he has to work on has an extremely annoying brat in it who makes things difficult. Some of the cartoony gags here are fun, but I don't really like how Porky ends up with all the trouble while the extremely annoying supporting cast (Junior's mother is barely more likable than he is) gets away pretty much scot-free. The ending is especially unsatisfying. Iwerks' second and last cartoon for the studio, despite having been contracted to do more.
    7.5

    Egghead Rides Again
    Directed by Fred Avery
    After so many Merrie Melodies one-shots or characters that only appeared a couple of times, we get the debut of a recurring character – Egghead (who would play a significant part in the development of a more famous character)! In this short, he wants to become a cowboy, so he goes to the Bar-None Ranch. But his attempts at doing cowboy things don't go to plan. One of the best Merrie Melodies of the time, especially thanks to the entertaining lead character. Another fun cartoon with some fast-paced chase scenes.
    9
    Porky's Badtime Story
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Porky and Gabby fail to wake up and show up late for work. The boss tells him they'll be fired if it ever happens again, so they go to bed early the following night. However, the two have troubles sleeping due to all kinds of distractions ranging from cats to thunderstorms. The first Looney Tunes short directed by Bob Clampett, allegedly with the assistance of Chuck Jones. An excellent debut for the new director, this is such a funny and relatable short. The grumpy Gabby is perfect in his role (who wouldn't be annoyed in that situation?), I find him a very underrated character.
    9.5
    Plenty of Money and You
    Directed by I. Freleng
    A mother hen welcomes new hatchlings to the world – surprisingly there's an ostrich among them! The (not so) little bird keeps getting in trouble, eventually getting caught by a weasel (who appears to be the same one from "My Green Fedora" two years earlier). At first, the short doesn't seem to be very different from the average Merrie Melody of the time, but it gets a lot more interesting near the end: a parodic version of the title song, wild animation and the first use of the "Eat at Joe's" gag that would be seen many times later on!
    8.5
    Porky's Railroad
    Directed by Frank Tashlin
    Porky is driving a steam train but it's not easy, especially since his train Toots has seen its best days, even being slower than a snail on occasion. But when the driver of a modern streamline train ("the Silver Fish") insults Porky's train, they proceed to have a race. There are some of the old gags from previous train cartoons (there were many in the Harman-Ising era, especially!) like the cow on the track. But the short is clearly better than any of those, thanks to there being a plot that for once doesn't revolve around the train being out of control – though we briefly see that here too. It may not be the very best Porky cartoon, but a fine one anyway. This short is a slightly nostalgic one for me, too – for quite a while, it was the oldest Porky cartoon I had seen thanks to its airing on Finnish TV.
    9
    A Sunbonnet Blue
    Directed by Fred Avery
    Mice in a hat shop, singing songs and having fun. This feels a lot like the slightly earlier Merrie Melodies, with the musical approach (we even hear a couple of songs from earlier cartoons) and the typical story of a villain trying to steal the girl (in this case, the female lead being taken away by an evil mouse). A cute cartoon, for sure, with some cultural references mixed in, but it doesn't hold a candle to the funnier cartoons of the day.
    7.5
    Get Rich Quick Porky
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Porky buys the deed to a lot supposedly containing oil from a scammer. He and Gabby try drilling for oil, while a dog tries to find a place to hide its bone and gets bothered by a gopher. Maybe not one of the best in the series, but still enjoyable with some great animation and fun characters. The last appearance of Gabby (based on the storyboard, he was going to appear in the following year's "Porky's Party" but was removed from the final version). He was slightly less grumpy here than on his previous appearances, but I think I'll miss him and his attitude a little.
    8.5
    Speaking of the Weather
    Directed by Frank Tashlin
    Characters on magazine covers in a drug store come to life. "Public enemy number one" escapes from prison (on the cover of Life magazine) and the other magazine characters have to stop him. Sounds familiar? This "plot" has been used a few times already with slight differences. But the improved animation and jokes here make this the best of its kind so far.
    8.5
    Porky's Garden
    Directed by Fred Avery
    At the Podunk County Fair, the largest home grown product is given a cash prize. Porky competes with his garden, while his Italian neighbor is trying to win with his chickens. The neighbor tries to destroy Porky's garden by letting the chickens eat in it. This is another good one, many funny gags with my favorite being a scene where a chick eats spinach.
    9
    Dog Daze
    Directed by I. Freleng
    Various dogs appear in the pedigree dog show. A lot of puns related to dogs' names, as well as dogs from specific countries (such as Russia and Scotland) performing stereotypical dances. A nice short, with surprisingly detailed animation for some of the dogs, but still very cartoony at times. For a spot gag cartoon, I think it's one of the best I've seen.
    9
    I Wanna Be a Sailor
    Directed by Fred Avery
    Peter the Parrot wants to become a sailor like his father, but his mother is against it. He builds a pirate ship out of a barrel, with a talkative duck as his mate. The story itself is fairly standard for the era, but since it's an Avery cartoon, there are many funny jokes which also serve to give the characters more personality, including the fourth wall being broken many times. Both funny and cute at once, definitely one of the best Merrie Melodies so far.
    10

    Rover's Rival
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Porky tries to teach his dog Rover new tricks, but Rover is very old, and the famous saying seems to apply to him. A mean puppy shows up to insult Rover and proves a real nuisance to Porky, too! Clampett already directed a few before this, but I think this is where we really start to see the wild and wacky style of his later cartoons. Very expressive animation with fun chase sequences – and the dog characters are entertaining, with the pesky puppy stealing the show here. This is the first Looney Tunes cartoon to use "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" as the series theme. It would remain the theme until the series ended more than three decades later. It's also the first to have the iconic ending of Porky coming out of a drum to say "That's all, folks" – this phrase had been used by other characters before (starting with Bosko), but Porky is definitely the character most associated with it.
    10
    The Lyin' Mouse
    Directed by I. Freleng
    A mouse is about to be eaten by a cat and he pleads to be let go. To convince him, he tells a story of how a mouse was spared by a lion and then helped him in return. An entertaining take on the old fable, with the ending being a highlight.
    8.5
    The Case of the Stuttering Pig
    Directed by Frank Tashlin
    The Pig family (including Porky and a returning Petunia) inherits the property of their late Uncle Solomon... but if anything happens to them, Lawyer Goodwill will get it all! He goes through a Jekyll and Hyde style transformation and tries to get rid of the entire family, and Porky has to save them. This must be one of the creepiest cartoons in the whole series, especially with the villain, but there are still a few humorous moments too (including more fourth wall breaking). This is a cartoon that I feel could have benefited from being a bit longer, but it's definitely a very enjoyable one as is.
    9.5

    Little Red Walking Hood
    Directed by Fred Avery
    A wacky parody of the fairytale with classic Avery gags. Again, the characters are very much aware they're in a cartoon – they interact with silhouettes of audience members, for example (a gag that would be used many times in the series). Little Red Riding Hood herself is my favorite character here with her Katharine Hepburn impersonation and various quips, but the wolf and the grandma also get some funny lines and scenes. The art style is a unique one, as the backgrounds were made in colored pencil. We also get another character debut – there's a running gag involving the character Elmer (who would later develop into the one we all know). He's very similar in design to the earlier introduced Egghead (their eyes being the main difference) – the two were mentioned as being brothers in some publicity material. WB would do countless fairytale parodies over the years, and this is definitely one of the standouts.
    10
    Porky's Double Trouble
    Directed by Frank Tashlin
    Porky has become a bank teller. The "Killer" escapes from Alcarazz prison and notices that he looks very similar to Porky. He proceeds to kidnap him and take his place so he can rob the bank! Based on this and his previous cartoon, Tashlin seems to be bringing new elements to the Porky series, as they've had a lot more suspense and action than the average one. But there's still room for some comedy too, especially in the ending (where Petunia, the secretary, gets involved too).
    9
    The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos
    Directed by Frank Tashlin
    The Woodland Community Swing radio show broadcasts musical and comedic acts, all of them performed by animal parodies of the celebrities of the day. This is another short where some of the references are hardly understandable today, as many of the people parodied have been forgotten decades ago. But there's still some enjoyable randomness in parts here – and that title tune is another one you won't forget any time soon!
    8
    Porky's Hero Agency
    Directed by Robert Clampett
    Having read a book on Greek myths, Porky dreams he's the hero Porkykarkus. The Gorgon has turned people into statues, and Porkykarkus has to steal her life-restoring needle to turn them back. Another good cartoon – not quite one of the best Porkys, but there are some good gags and the plot is an interesting one. The ending is a bit underwhelming – I'd have expected Clampett of all people to come up with something more imaginative.
    8.5
    September in the Rain
    Directed by I. Freleng
    Product mascots (including celebrity parodies) in a grocery store come to life and perform music... yes, once again! There's some nice jazzy music here, but otherwise, it's pretty much more of the same. This is less than six minutes long and reuses many of the mascots from similar older shorts – I can't help but guess this was made as filler to reach the annual quota of shorts.
    7

    In addition to the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, Leon Schlesinger Productions made a short uncredited animated sequence for the opening of the RKO film "When's Your Birthday?" This was made in color, but sadly only black and white copies can be found.

    When's Your Birthday?
    A scientist explains astrology to the audience. The characters from the horoscope are shown in "astrology heaven". Taurus is treated as king by everyone when the moon is shining, but when it's not, he's everyone's punching bag. There's some nice and wacky animation of Taurus, and the scene in general is very much in the WB cartoon spirit. This was actually Bob Clampett's first directorial work, released five months before "Porky's Badtime Story".
    8.5

    Harman and Ising made four Bosko cartoons for MGM this year: "Circus Daze", "Bosko's Easter Eggs", "Little Ol' Bosko and the Pirates" and "Little Ol' Bosko and the Cannibals". The first one is fast-paced and chaotic but at the same time quite unremarkable. The second one is slightly more enjoyable with a better plot, but Bosko himself has become less likable (especially his treatment of Bruno and other animals). With the latter two, Harman and Ising attempt a return to the more musical approach of the earlier shorts, though with the addition of a fairly funny group of jazz-singing frogs as the villains and a basic plot of Bosko trying to take cookies to his grandma – sadly, those started to feel very repetitive by their second appearance. While Harman-Ising's efforts have improved in some regards (having more detailed animation than their early Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies), they're nowhere near the level of WB's best contemporary shorts.

    1937 was another very strong year, with the classic Looney Tunes humor further developing, and the introductions of several popular characters, or at least their early versions. While the Porky cartoons are still usually the highlights, the Merrie Melodies cartoons also finally appear to be moving away from the musical approach to a more comedic one, though some cartoons still follow the old style. What will 1938 bring?
  4. Tacodidra

    1936: Porky settles in

    By Tacodidra,


    Looney Tunes
    This year, the first bona fide Looney Tunes star will claim his rightful place. Other familiar aspects of the series will also be introduced!

    I Wanna Play House
    Directed by I. Freleng
    Two bear cubs play hide and seek. The black bear finds a cottage with food and gets drunk on cider. The brown bear goes looking for him and the two get in a lot of trouble! A nice short that may not be a standout but has some cute moments. This is also the first Merrie Melodies cartoon (at least from what we know – "Flowers for Madame" is only available as a reissue) to feature the famous rings most later WB cartoons would have in their opening and closing titles.
    8
    The Phantom Ship
    Directed by Jack King
    Beans flies to Iceland (with stowaways Ham and Ex) in search of a haunted treasure ship. He finds it, but the three end up in trouble with the ghosts aboard! Another fast-paced cartoon with a lot of fun and action.
    9
    The Cat Came Back
    Directed by I. Freleng
    A mother mouse is teaching the little mice how to avoid cats, while a mother cat is teaching her kittens how to chase mice. But one of the little mice makes friends with one of the cats and soon has to save the kitten! Another cartoon that's cute, but there are also some fun and cartoony scenes, especially the ending.
    8.5
    Boom Boom
    Directed by Jack King
    A war-themed cartoon with many military-themed gags. Beans and Porky are soldiers (the latter quite a cowardly one) who have to free General Hardtack who's being held prisoner. Another good cartoon with the new Looney Tunes stars – and Beans and Porky now get equal screentime, with the latter (unsurprisingly) providing more entertainment!
    8.5

    Page Miss Glory
    Directed by Fred Avery (uncredited)
    Abner, a bellboy in a hotel in Hicksville, is waiting for the famous Miss Glory to arrive. But he falls asleep and dreams about working at a much fancier hotel where everyone is also looking forward to Miss Glory's arrival. An interesting cartoon – there are some Avery-style gags in the second part of the short after a relatively slow start. However, the visuals are a clear highlight here – the dream sequences feature the "moderne art" of Leadora Congdon (not just the only artist credited on the film, but also the first female artist ever to get an on-screen credit on these cartoons). No other WB cartoon has looked quite like this!
    8.5
    The Fire Alarm
    Directed by Jack King
    Finally a non-Beans character from "I Haven't Got a Hat" gets the star billing... Ham and Ex! Beans is a fireman and has to watch over the two puppies. And it proves to be a disaster – while slightly mischievous on their previous appearance, here they make Wilbur from the Bosko cartoons look like an angel, as they enjoy causing fake fire alarms and just wreaking havoc all over. An enjoyable cartoon in all its chaos, and a big reason for that is a more satisfying ending than in anything involving the other brat I referred to!
    9
    Alpine Antics
    Directed by Jack King
    Beans participates in a ski race. However, a cheating villain keeps making things difficult for him and the other competitors. Can our hero win? A nice cartoon to watch even if the theme and gags may not be the most original (we already saw a race with a sabotaging villain in 1931's "Ups 'n Downs"). The music here is great, it's the first short to use the often heard "She Was an Acrobat's Daughter" (here fittingly with lyrics about an ice skater's daughter).
    8.5

    The Blow Out
    Directed by Fred Avery
    And here it is, the first solo Porky Pig cartoon! Porky doesn't have enough money for an ice cream soda, so he helps the people on the street pick up things they dropped in order to get the missing five cents. A mad bomber is going around blowing up buildings, but after he leaves a time bomb in front of a building, Porky doesn't realize what it is and tries to give it back to him. This results in a wild chase between the helpful pig and the desperate criminal. This is a truly great short – the villain is a very funny one, Porky (portrayed here as a kid) is charming in his helpfulness and unawareness of the danger, and unlike many other cartoons of the era, it never feels too slow-paced. An early masterpiece.
    10
    I'm a Big Shot Now
    Directed by I. Freleng
    A bunch of criminal birds rob a bank in Birdville, and the police try to catch the "big shot". This is more action-packed than the average Merrie Melody, thanks to its plot. But there are aspects of it I find a bit underwhelming too – the characters here aren't particularly interesting, and the chase sequences don't really bring anything new, if we compare it to the previous cartoon, for example. It's still a fun watch, but definitely one that could have been improved upon.
    7.5
    Westward Whoa
    Directed by Jack King
    The Beans gang travels on a wagon. After they arrive to their destination, Ham and Ex start playing Indians and fool the others to believe they're under attack. When this eventually happens, no one believes them, and we see a huge cartoony fight. The subject matter may not have aged in the best way, but other than that, it's an entertaining cartoon with a lot of slapstick. The two puppies are again portrayed as mischievous, but are slightly more likable than on their previous appearance.
    9
    Plane Dippy
    Directed by Fred Avery
    Now deservedly the Looney Tunes main character (Beans having been demoted to a non-speaking cameo), Porky joins the air corps and is made to test a speech-controlled robot plane. Unfortunately, Little Kitty and another kid are nearby telling a dog to do various tricks and the plane ends up doing all of them, putting Porky and others in a lot of danger! Very wacky cartoon, with a lot of visual gags and classic Porky stutter jokes.
    9.5
    Let It Be Me
    Directed by I. Freleng
    Mr. Bingo, the crooning rooster, is loved by all the chickens, and consequently disliked by the other roosters. He goes on a date with Emily the chicken, to the dismay of her boyfriend Clem. But is Bingo as charming as he appears to be? One of the stronger Merrie Melodies from this era – the characters are more enjoyable than in many of the other one-shots, and the Bing Crosby parody is an amusing one in its unlikability.
    9
    I'd Love to Take Orders from You
    Directed by Fred Avery
    A father scarecrow tries to teach his son the right moves to scare all the crows away. In the morning, the kid decides to go out and prove his skills but ends up getting chased by a crow. A cute short – the scarecrow family is sweet.
    8.5
    Fish Tales
    Directed by Jack King
    Porky goes fishing, only to fall asleep and dream about being caught by a fish himself. He almost gets eaten by the fish and gets chased by the other sea creatures. Does this sound familiar? It's essentially a remake of King's earlier "Buddy's Bug Hunt" with different characters. Surprisingly, despite having a better main character, I didn't find it as entertaining as its predecessor (no rhyming witnesses or ACME references here), but decently enjoyable anyway (it's missing the slow pace of many cartoons from the day, for example).
    8
    Bingo Crosbyana
    Directed by I. Freleng
    The crooning bug Bingo Crosbyana is the idol of all the female bugs, but the male bugs hate him. Besides his singing, he is a skillful flier. But when a spider appears, his cowardliness shows and it's up to the other bugs to save the day. The second cartoon making fun of Bing Crosby in the last four shorts – Freleng must really not have liked him! And the real Crosby reportedly hated this short to the extent of trying to sue Warner Bros. for his portrayal! It's a nice short with adorable 30s style designs, but I think the previous Crosby parody was a little more enjoyable.
    8.5
    Shanghaied Shipmates
    Directed by Jack King
    A captain who has lost all his crew forces all the people in a bar to work for him, including Porky cleaning the deck. But after they don't get any food, there's mutiny! Some funny gags here, especially in the last minute – despite some slow pacing at times, it's another enjoyable early Porky effort.
    8.5
    When I Yoo Hoo
    Directed by I. Freleng
    The Weavers and the Mathews are feuding families in the Hickory Holler. The sheriff has had enough – they'll be forced to settle the feud with a rooster fight, with the loser leaving the county. Who will win? This is one of the best Merrie Melodies of its time. The title song fits the rural theme well. The rooster fight is an entertaining one, but the ending is my favorite part.
    9
    Porky's Pet
    Directed by Jack King
    Porky and his pet ostrich Lulu are invited to perform in New York, but there's one problem – they have to get on a train, and the conductor doesn't want to let animals on board. Chaos ensues, as Porky comes up with ways to hide the ostrich, to disastrous consequences. A bit surprisingly, I found this one of the funniest cartoons so far – the ostrich's antics are unpredictable and really entertaining. Porky works well as the straight man to a more comedic character (in this case, the ostrich), which I've always thought was the role that suited him best. This might not appear in most listings of best WB cartoons, but I loved it in any case!
    10

    I Love to Singa
    Directed by Fred Avery
    An owl family gets four hatchlings! Three of them impress their father Professor Fritz Owl with their skills in performing classical music, but the fourth one likes to sing jazz music to Fritz's horror! After failed attempts to get him to sing more traditional tunes, Owl Jolson gets kicked out, but he soon finds out a radio station is having a contest for performing talent. Most likely the best remembered cartoon from this era... and for a good reason! The main character is the best one-shot so far – while he's far from the first happy-go-lucky singing character in the series, there's immediately more to his character than to someone like Buddy. He "loves to singa", but the difference in musical preferences between him and his father creates the conflict in this one. This also makes the conclusion of the story a very satisfying one. While the rest of the owl family get less screen time, we get a good insight into them too. There are plenty of small visual and verbal gags. And the music – while the animators definitely weren't fans of having to include a song in each of the Merrie Melodies, this one incorporates both the title song (which you'll never forget once you've heard it!) and other music perfectly. Another brilliant cartoon from the new director.
    10

    Porky the Rain-Maker
    Directed by Fred Avery
    There's been a long dry spell, and Porky's father's farm is one of the many suffering from it. Thankfully, Dr. Quack arrives to save the day with his famous rain pill (with other weather pills included for free)! But Father Pig throws the pills away, angry that Porky didn't buy the feed he was supposed to get, and they get eaten by the farm animals. Another brilliant cartoon, many fun gags with very wacky animation for the animals reacting to the pills – I thought the first WB cartoon to feature earthquake pills was in 1960! And when you think it's all over, there's another gag, and then yet another one!
    10
    Sunday Go to Meetin' Time
    Directed by I. Freleng
    The second cartoon from the controversial Censored 11. It's Sunday and everyone is going to church – except for the lazy Nicodemus who has to be dragged there by his wife. He sneaks out anyway but gets knocked out while chasing a chicken and has a dream where he ends up in Hell. Plotwise, it's pretty much a remake of the earlier "Goin' to Heaven on a Mule". And this is one short that definitely hasn't aged well (maybe even worse than the aforementioned one) – the way the black characters were drawn, as well as the main character's portrayal in general. The cartoon isn't without its positives (the scenes in Hell have good visuals and the songs are nice with their jazz and gospel influences), but the stereotypical aspects of it make parts of it a bit hard to watch now.
    6.5
    Porky's Poultry Plant
    Directed by Frank Tash
    Porky tries to protect his chickens from an aggressive hawk. When it manages to take one of the chicks, he proceeds to fight the hawk with a plane! Looney Tunes history is made here in two ways. Frank Tashlin (or "Tash", as he's credited in his first cartoons) makes his debut as a director, and replacing Norman Spencer, Carl W. Stalling is now responsible for the musical score. Stalling would compose most shorts until 1958 – essentially all of what are usually considered the series' best years. For Tashlin's first effort, this is a good one – it's not quite at the level of some of the recent best (the start of the cartoon is a bit slow), but there are some fun scenes, especially those involving the chickens.
    8
    At Your Service Madame
    Directed by I. Freleng
    A charming male pig (later known as W.C. Squeals, but not named here) visits the widow Mrs. Hamhock, but he's only planning to take her money. Her kids, led by Piggie (not to be confused with Piggy who appeared in two cartoons in 1931), decide to get rid of him. Somewhat slow-paced at times, but it's fun to watch the kids deal with the dishonest guy. Squeals is the star here, he's an entertaining character with his W.C. Fields spoofing mannerisms.
    8.5
    Porky's Moving Day
    Directed by Jack King
    Porky, his aggressive assistant Dopey and Lulu the ostrich (returning from "Porky's Pet") have to move Miss Cud's furniture and save it from being washed away. A lot of chaos ensues. This cartoon is definitely not an uneventful one, but I felt it got to the point of it being a bit hard to follow at times. The running gag with Dopey saing "Okay, boss" got too repetitive, hearing it a couple of times would have been enough. King's last cartoon for WB (sadly not one of his masterpieces) – he went to Disney where he would be responsible for many of the best Donald Duck cartoons.
    6.5
    Toy Town Hall
    Directed by I. Freleng
    A little kid has to go to sleep, but he'd rather listen to the radio. In his dream, toys perform some popular songs for him. Many of these songs are recycled from earlier shorts (the animation included) – we get a rooster singing "Let It Be Me", a caricature of Eddie Cantor performing "Merrily We Roll Along", "The Lady in Red" with the cockroaches redrawn as people, a rabbit singing "My Green Fedora"... I can't deny it feels a bit lazy, but I guess this was done to save some money. And it does have some charm to it – like a compilation album in cartoon form. And they did do pretty well in choosing some of the best songs we had heard in the last couple of years!
    7.5
    Milk and Money
    Directed by Fred Avery
    The final seal for Porky as the star – the Looney Tunes get a new opening title where he's the only character shown. Porky's father (I never knew how many appearances he made in the early cartoons!) will lose his farm if he can't pay the mortgage by tomorrow at 3 o'clock. Porky and their horse go to the city to earn the money delivering milk and later by winning a horse race. Another fun and fast-paced cartoon with good gags. The supporting characters are also entertaining – there's a horsefly who plays quite a significant part, and Mr. Viper who even moves like a snake despite being a human! In addition to the wackiness, there's a clear plot here with something at stake – something that was missing from the weaker entries of the series.
    9.5
    Boulevardier from the Bronx
    Directed by I. Freleng
    A baseball exhibition game between Hickville and the Chicago Giants. The latter keep dominating the game, especially thanks to the talented but arrogant rooster Dizzy Dan. Can Claude and Hickville turn the tide? Emily the Chicken returns (as Claude's girlfriend). This is much better than the previous baseball cartoon "Buddy's Bearcats", but Freleng and crew were yet to make their best one. The iconic "Merrily We Roll Along" becomes the Merrie Melodies theme starting with this cartoon. It would be used in the shorts until 1964 and is probably the tune most associated with the whole Looney Tunes franchise today.
    8.5
    Don't Look Now
    Directed by Fred Avery
    It's Valentine's Day! Cupid is going around making couples fall in love, but there's also a little devil trying to ruin their relationships with various plans. Who will win? Fun cartoon with adorable character designs!
    9
    Little Beau Porky
    Directed by Frank Tash
    Porky is in the French foreign legion (reusing a theme from earlier Bosko and Buddy shorts). When everyone else goes to search for the notorious Ali Mode, Porky has to stay behind and scrub the camels. But in the end, he's the one who has to deal with the criminal (who speaks Pig Latin for some reason). Fun and fast-paced, better than Tashlin's first (though his best cartoons are yet to come). Joe Dougherty does a great job voicing Porky here, a lot of personality and funny dialogue.
    8.5
    The Coo Coo Nut Grove
    Directed by I. Freleng
    The second Merrie Melodies cartoon that's entirely dedicated to celebrity parodies – and it's a lot better than the first one (the low-quality "I've Got to Sing a Torch Song"). A night in the titular restaurant, hosted by bandleader Ben Birdie. The parodies (for some reason, some of them are animals while others remain humans) are amusing, though I imagine this would have been a lot funnier back in the day – many of the celebrities incuded have faded into obscurity, though some are still recognizable. W.C. Squeals from seven cartoons ago makes a short appearance, this time trying to charm the equine Katharine Heartburn. Dated for sure, but at the same time a fascinating look into the pop culture of the day.
    8
    The Village Smithy
    Directed by Fred Avery
    Porky is working at a blacksmith shop, trying to shoe a horse with disastrous consequences. The jokes in this cartoon, while not rare in later cartoons (especially those from Avery himself), were very unusual at the time. The settings keep interacting with the narrator, and the whole cartoon is self-aware to a point we haven't seen in these shorts before. Naturally there's a lot of breaking the fourth wall, too. Most importantly, Avery shows his sense of comic timing – some of the gags involve repetition of earlier scenes, but there's enough changed or just enough of the scene is shown for it to be funny instead of boring. An exemplary comedic cartoon!
    10
    Porky in the North Woods
    Directed by Frank Tash
    Porky starts a game refuge where all the animals are free from danger and taken care of. But a hunter called Jean Baptiste threatens to ruin it all. Now the animals have to save Porky from him! A nice cartoon with plenty of cute animals, some parts with them remind me of the Bosko and Buddy cartoons but done better. A truly unlikable villain, watching him get defeated was satisfying.
    8.5

    Former Looney Tune Bosko appeared in one MGM cartoon this year, "The Old House". In addition to having the redesigned Bosko from the previous short, Honey also returned with a similar new design. While it's a little on the long side again, it's the fastest-paced short with the characters, and the most entertaining one of their MGM run so far.

    1936 was clearly the strongest year for WB cartoons to date. The new hiring Tex Avery is often mentioned as having played a huge role in them becoming such funny cartoons, and I think his significance can't be overstated. I had never realized the extent of his influence before watching these chronologically – there's a wackiness to his shorts that was rarely there before. You'd never realize he was pretty much new to directing when he joined Schlesinger. That's not to say the other directors didn't deliver, as well. Freleng's Merrie Melodies, while slightly less wild, were also enjoyable, Jack King made some of his best cartoons right before leaving, and his replacement Frank Tashlin is also already showing a lot of promise. And of course Porky becoming the star of the Looney Tunes series helped a lot – even in his early incarnation, still voiced by Joe Dougherty and not completely refined as a character, he's much more likable and interesting than the studio's previous characters. I'm going to the next year with even higher expectations!
  5. Tacodidra
    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. Tacodidra

    1934: Buddy the Cartoon Star

    By Tacodidra,


    Looney Tunes
    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!
  7. Tacodidra
    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!
  8. Tacodidra

    1932: Bring Goopy Geer?

    By Tacodidra,


    Looney Tunes
    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...
  9. Tacodidra

    1931: Enter Merrie Melodies

    By Tacodidra,


    Looney Tunes
    And now we're in 1931, with more Bosko and the introduction of a new series! All of these cartoons were directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising.
     
    Big Man from the North
    Mountie Bosko is given the task of arresting a dangerous criminal. While this short still has a lot of focus on music, the series seems to be evolving, with this short clearly having more of a plot and conflict than the previous ones.
    8
    Ain't Nature Grand!
    And this is more like the earlier Bosko shorts, with a lot of small gags involving insects and other animals Bosko meets in the forest. Cute but not the most spectacular, apart from a pretty imaginative last couple of minutes.
    7.5
    Ups 'n Downs
    The focus is clearly starting to move away from musical sequences into funny gags, which is a good thing. Hot dog vendor Bosko participates in a horse race with quite an unreliable mechanical horse.
    8.5
    Dumb Patrol
    This war-themed cartoon is a combination of earlier and later Bosko – in his plane, he fights the unnamed villain who already appeared in a couple of cartoons, but there's also a musical sequence where he tries to impress Honey. The former sequences are far more interesting.
    7.5
    Yodeling Yokels
    Bosko and Honey in the Alps, including a lot of yodeling, of course – maybe too much yodeling. But still some entertaining gags, especially one involving an owl.
    7
    Bosko's Holiday
    Bosko and Honey (both more talkative than before) go on a picnic. The sequence with Bosko's phone and alarm clock is easily my favorite gag in this one.
    7.5
    The Tree's Knees
    Bosko is in a forest, but the focus is as much on the anthromorphic trees and animals as on him. Cute and fun in its simplicity!
    8
     
    And here's the start of the even more music-focused sister series, Merrie Melodies. Joining the Looney Tunes and the less successful Song'Nata series, it would continue for almost four decades. From now on, Ising will direct the Merrie Melodies and Harman the Looney Tunes (i.e. the Bosko cartoons).

    Lady, Play Your Mandolin!
    At first, the two series had genuine differences – instead of Bosko, the first Merrie Melodies star is Foxy (a pretty obvious Mickey Mouse rip-off). He may not have much of a personality, but the short itself is a standout. Foxy goes to a café where various (drunken) antics ensue while everyone sings the title song – a really catchy one! The best effort so far, and promising for the future of the series.
    9
    Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!
    Train driver Foxy has various problems along the way. Some scenes in this are very similar to some of the earlier Bosko shorts, but it's still an entertaining short. The most memorable thing in this short is the song, though!
    8
    Bosko Shipwrecked!
    After a storm, Bosko ends up on an island and meets not only another lion but also a tribe of cannibals. A fairly ordinary entry in the series.
    7
    One More Time
    Foxy is having some nice cartoons, and the third and last one (making him the first character to stop appearing in the series) is the best one yet! This time he's a police officer fining and arresting criminals. The music works well (almost all the dialogue here is sung) and the characters' antics are fun and at times surprisingly violent!
    9.5
    Bosko the Doughboy
    Another war-themed Bosko – this time he's in the infantry, mostly trying to avoid enemy fire with his friends. The most action-packed and violent Bosko cartoon (even including apparent deaths!), also less singing than usual.
    8

    You Don't Know What You're Doin'!
    Replacing Foxy, Piggy is the new Merrie Melodies star. He goes to a jazz concert with his girlfriend Fluffy, heckles the performers, starts performing himself, gets heckled by a group of drunks... This one features some surreal sequences and visuals involving drunken characters. For some reason, the Merrie Melodies are almost consistently more interesting and experimental than the Bosko cartoons – and jazzier, too!
    9

    Bosko's Soda Fountain
    Bosko works at a soda fountain, making ice cream dishes for his customers. Sadly, one of them is Honey's piano student, Wilbur the kitten. Not my favorite in the series, especially the scenes with the aforementioned annoying brat.
    6.5
    Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land
    The first of the infamous Censored 11, removed from circulation by then-owner United Artists in the 60s due to perceived racist content (although this one seems quite tame to me). Piggy, making his second and last appearance, is on a ship with his girlfriend Fluffy who gets abducted by a typical movie villain, while her uncle Tom ends up in the graveyard where he is threatened by a group of skeletons. Piggy has to save both. Not quite as good as the earlier Merrie Melodies, but another nice jazzy soundtrack, and again more eventful than most of the Boskos.
    8
    Bosko's Fox Hunt
    The first Looney Tunes cartoon about hunting! With the help of a horse and a dog, Bosko is chasing a little fox, but they all keep getting outfoxed by him. A lot of chasing, probably the closest in spirit to the later cartoons, though they would obviously improve on this one.
    8.5
    Red-Headed Baby
    With Piggy not being used anymore (apart from the end titles), the Merrie Melodies will be one-shots from now on. At Santa's workshop, a doll (the red-headed baby of the title) is kidnapped by a spider, and a Napoleon doll has to save her. Quite fun – and why are all the songs in these so catchy?
    7.5
     
    For shorts not released in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series, 1931 is a pretty bad year – they're all extremely rare if not completely lost. The Song'Nata (formerly Spooney Melodies) series of animated/live-action organ performances had four more entries before being discontinued, "Just a Gigolo", "Say a Little Prayer for Me", "When Your Lover Has Gone" and "For You", but none of those are available for viewing anywhere (though they may still exist in archives).
    At the time, Warner Bros. also distributed a few cartoons not made by the Schlesinger studio.
    Buster Bear may have been rejected by Schlesinger earlier, but creator/director John R. McCrory managed to get WB to distribute one of his shorts anyway, to little success.
    Buster Bear
    Buster is hosting a revue at a town hall, featuring entertaining acts like a pair of dancing ducks and a comedically bumbling jolly blacksmith. This cartoon has survived in its entirety, but the only version currently available for viewing is a two-minute cutdown with no sound. Based on the parts available, it's another charming early 30s cartoon. It doesn't quite match the animation quality of the Harman-Ising cartoons, but is otherwise fairly similar in style.
     
    WB also released "Graduation Day in Bugland", a Listerine ad possibly made by Fleischer, and "'Neath the Bababa Tree" and "Put on the Spout", supposedly Terrytoons productions based on Dr. Seuss' Flit ads, but these commercial cartoons all appear to be lost.
     
    The second year already shows strong improvement, though there are some weaker entries in the bunch. The Merrie Melodies are much more fun and surprising in general, while the Looney Tunes seem to rely largely on Bosko as a somewhat established character. Will this remain the case in the future?
  10. Tacodidra

    1930: The beginning

    By Tacodidra,


    Looney Tunes
    Here's something of a long-planned project for me. After going through many cartoon series last year, I've finally decided to tackle an all-time favorite. The Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon series (I'm treating them as one, as they were essentially the same for most of their existence) have been important to me since my early childhood when I was especially a huge Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner fan. But despite seeing many of these shorts, I've never seen the full series. So here it goes, starting from 1930 and going all the way to 1969. Along the way, I will also watch other related shorts made by WB and their cartoon studios. I'll try to review each cartoon with some occasional background details, though they'll be fairly short given the huge amount of content. I'll also try my best to take the era into account, so a cartoon that receives a certain rating in the early 30s might have got a slightly harsher review if it had come out in the later years. Especially innovative cartoons are bound to get some bonus points!
    It all started with a man named Leon Schlesinger. He had been producing intertitles for silent films, but with the advent of sound films, that business was no longer quite what it used to be. Inspired by the success of cartoon shorts, especially those by Disney, he decided to start producing his own ones. Supposedly John R. McCrory pitched his creation "Buster Bear" to him, but Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising's short film "Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid" made a much bigger impression and they were hired to produce and direct the new cartoons.
     
    Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid
    A live-action animator (played by Rudolf Ising himself) draws Bosko who then does his best to entertain the audience. The interaction between the animator and his creation and the cartoonish behavior of Bosko make this quite impressive for the time, I'm not surprised this convinced Schlesinger to hire the two.
    8
    The first short wasn't seen by the public until decades later. But on April 19, 1930, the first Looney Tunes cartoon was released – an event whose real significance would only be realized decades later.
     

    Sinkin' in the Bathtub
    And this is where it all officially began! Essentially a musical cartoon with Bosko making an instrument out of pretty much everything. He also takes his girlfriend Honey for a ride in his car but not everything goes well. Old-fashioned but in a charming way – no one would probably count this as one of the best in the series, but I think the series could have had a much worse start.
    8
    Congo Jazz
    Bosko is in the jungle and has some run-ins with various animals. Thankfully music is the solution to the problem! Not quite as good as the first one (I felt some scenes went on a bit too long), but I liked the jazzy soundtrack!
    7.5

    Hold Anything
    Bosko works at a construction site, and surprisingly, makes music with various objects and animals. Not much in the sense of a plot, but the funniest gags in the series so far (especially a surprising one involving a slightly Mickey-like mouse).
    8
    The Booze Hangs High
    Bosko on a farm, otherwise not much has changed, apart from the addition of alcohol and some toilet humor. The drunken piglets are quite memorable. The cartoons already seem to be getting a little edgier!
    7.5
    Box Car Blues
    Bosko is on a train with a hobo pig. Suddenly his car comes off, leading to a chase involving a cow. This felt quite repetitive (especially the admittedly impressive animation of the cow running from the train being shown many times) and maybe also too derivative of the car scenes in "Sinkin' in the Bathtub".
    6.5
     
    In addition to the Looney Tunes, Leon Schlesinger started another series of shorts this year, the Spooney Melodies (later renamed Song'Nata). This series, credited to Neil McGuire, featured popular songs, combining simple animation with live-action performances by a singer and an organist. It didn't prove as successful as its sister series and would soon be replaced by another one...
    Crying for the Carolines
    The first Spooney Melody features Milton Charles, "the Singing Organist" performing the titular song (which had also been performed by Bosko and the pig in "Box Car Blues"). The animation is very limited, but the drawings are very abstract and surreal for the time with interesting visual effects, and the song itself is quite haunting. Somehow this makes for a fascinating and a little creepy combination that works well, though I'm not surprised this series didn't last longer.
    8
     
    I think the first year, while not having many cartoons, is a promising one. The cartoons are still far away from the style and quality of the later ones, but they're definitely enjoyable for what they are. It must also be noted that in the Depression era, the cheerful characters singing and dancing must have made a much bigger impression than they would today, and most studios' cartoons followed this style back then. On to another year!
×
×
  • Create New...