Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some more classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection begins with the world's most powerful superhero, Mighty Mouse, in Gypsy Life (1945). This is one of the mini-operetta cartoons that were quite popular with the Terry-Toons studio during this period. The idea of mixing operettas and superhero parodies sounds crazy but gosh darn it, it works.
Next comes an especially good Donald Duck cartoon, Modern Inventions (1937). This cartoon is pretty much a one man show for Donald as he only shares the screen with mechanical inventions. Like most of the best Donald Duck shorts this film is a comedy of frustration and the more frustrated Donald gets the funnier the cartoon. World Film News had a different take on this style of comedy when stating in 1938, "Several Disney Cartoons - Donald and Pluto and Modern Inventions, have Machiavellian incidents which to many children are frightening. The fear subsequently gives way to sympathy for the victim, so that Donald Duck is liked on a basis of tragedy rather than comedy." The Film Daily called this cartoon "a clever satire" and stated in its review "One of the funniest episodes in which Donald Duck has been featured."
We turn from one cartoon Duck to another with the classic, Scrap Happy Daffy (1943). This marked Daffy's last appearance in a black and white cartoon and he definitely left the format on a high note. This cartoon is a perfect example of why Frank Tashlin ranks among the finest Looney Tunes directors. As a film director himself, he was the most cinematic of the classic cartoon directors employing many of the same filmmaking techniques that the best live action directors where also putting in their films (he would later go on to direct live action features). This is an especially cinematic film. However like many of the best Tashlin efforts it is just as funny as it is cinematic. This cartoon makes me laugh out loud every time I watch it and I hope it will have the same effect on you. Not everybody was impressed as is evidenced by the following exhibitor's review from the Motion Picture Herald, "SCRAP HAPPY DAFFY: Looney Tunes Cartoon —This is a usual black and white cartoon. The color cartoons seem to go over better.—S. Stone, Star Theatre, Unity, Sask. Canada."
Last week I posted Columbia's The Little Matchgirl (1937). This week comes an earlier and much different take on the same story by the same studio. So here is our pals Scrappy and Oopie in The Little Match Kid (1933).
Today's cartoon selection ends with another one of The Simpsons Tracy Ullman shorts,
Thanks for joining me come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.
Michael J. Ruhland
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