Hello my friends and welcome back for another round of classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection begins with a cartoon I always have a special fondness for this time of year and in a year when many people need Christmas cheer more than ever, I feel this short is more charming than ever. This is one of Van Bueren's Little King cartoons, a series which I admit a strong fondness for. The film is Christmas Night (1933). This movie excellently mixes the bizarre gags that figure throughout the series with a simple but effective Christmas charm, creating a mixture which, to me at least, was made in cartoon heaven.
The Goofy shorts from director Jack Kinney, are considered by many to be the laugh out loud funniest cartoons the Disney studio ever made. This is something I can not argue with. These cartoons are one of the main reasons I became a Disney fan, because it was with these shorts that I learned that Disney films didn't have to be cute and cuddly but could be downright funny as well. Hockey Homicide (1945) is not only funny, but it goes darn near insane towards the end and as someone who grew up on Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry and Tex Avery, what more could a guy ask for than pure cartoon insanity. There is even a clip of Monstro from Pinocchio (1940) in this film's climax. This is considered by many to be one of the funniest and again I can't argue. If you want to know who animated what here, I direct you to this article on Cartoon Research: Disney's "Hockey Homicide" (1945) - (cartoonresearch.com). By the way, animation buffs will note that many of the names of the players are the names of those who worked on these cartoons.
Next comes a high energy and very fun Christmas-themed Merrie Melodies cartoon, The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives (1933). This is one of my favorite of the Harmon-Ising Merrie Melody cartoons and personally on that matter I feel the film speaks for itself.
It is often that we think of Popeye cartoons always adhering to the formula of Popeye and Bluto fighting over Olive Oyl but the truth is there are plenty of cartoons that don't follow it at all. On top of this there are films that take the formula and play with them and It's the Natural Thing to Do (1939) is one of those. Like many cartoons of the time, this short's title song had previously appeared in a live action movie. As the Fleischer output was distributed by Paramount at this time, it was only natural for the filmmakers to use a song from a Paramount movie, in this case Double or Nothing (1937) starring Bing Crosby. The Popeye cartoon naturally changed the lyrics to fit the short.
To end things off for today here is the next installment in Ruff and Reddy.
Thanks for joining me come back next week for another selection of animated treats. Until then may all your Tunes be Looney and your Melodies be Merry. -Michael J. Ruhland
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