This cartoon aired in 1950 by director Carlo Jonzi... er, Chuck Jones (that was the joke we can read in credits) makes intensive use of the Carl Stalling arrangement and version of Rossini's Overture to The Barber of Seville.
But perhaps the most important joke and innovation is this meta-stage situation. From the beginning, Elmer chases Bugs Bunny, but it is a fortuitous situation that leaves the main characters on stage of the Hollywood Bowl while an Opera is being represented.
Both characters know that they are in from of an audience and that they must behave. Bugs as the main role and boldly facing the hunter while Elmer accepts his destiny as second in command and let Bugs shave him in many occasions.
Music takes the locomotive power to make everything run smoothly. A pleasure in less than eight minutes. Enjoy!
More "new" ideas for catooning. This Tex Avery proposes meta-cartooning, as one of the character, the Mouse, says to the cat that he must not eat him (the mouse), as long as he is going to save him (the cat).
Not only that, at the end of the show (no spoiler here) both cat and mouse would talk directly to the audience.
As many Tex Avery catoons at MGM, silly sureal situations would rule the general scheme. This time is a bottle that almost everybody will drink to turn themselves bigger and bigger.
A cat that couldn't eat, a canary that is the aviarian version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a dog that thinks so much of himself and a Mouse that is smarter than any of them is the cast of this crazy but genial cartoon.
King Size Canary
A mangy cat on the verge of starvation finds a tiny canary and a bottle of 'Jumbo-Gro' fertiliser, which gives him an idea that leads to giant cats, dogs, mice and canaries.
This UPA cartoon that won the Oscar in 1950 (before his theatrical release) tells the story of a boy that never uttered a word. Instead he produces the most amazing sound effects one could have heard. He turns form a misfit, non accepted by the children at school, to a very successful performer that lives in richness because of his rare abilities.
In my opinion, it is the same story of Dumbo, being that the story of the Elephant Man the man that surpasses his phisical problems and is accepted because of them. Not a surprise it appeared in Hellboy, another misunderstood and unaccepted character, that spends his spare time watching Gerald McBoing-Boing cartoons.
This story spawned two more animated short cartoons and then a TV Series, very early in the sixties. It survived in popularity and now you can find some Video-games and a new TV Series.
It seems that this list of 50 Greatest Cartoons if full of surreal animation. And Porky in Wackyland is really some of it.
This short directed by Bob Clampett (there was history before Chuck Jones in WB, you know?) and tells the story of Porky going to Africa to hunt the Do-Do, a mythical creature that could be the last of his species.
But Porky discovers that this hidden portion of Africa is in fact a magical place where logic has nothing to do with its reality. So Porky suffers the imagination of the Do-Do. A real nightmare that is hilarious.
Porky in Wackyland
There is a continuation Dough for the Do-Do, directed by Freleng and Clampett, Enjoy.
The first Tex Avery in this list of 50 Greatest Cartoons is this craziness about retelling Little Red Riding Hood into a modern (well, back in the Forties it was modern) setting. It obtained an early censorship when the original ending implies that the wolf had to marry the grandmother and had offspring.
The ending we can see in the video is the ending that survived. A silly one, when the wolf kills himself and his ghost howls at Red.
It is fun, and refreshing but not very "childish". It is not Adults Only, but it is not the most recommended cartoon for an evening with Kids. It doesn't matter, is cool after all.
Could a singing frog become the star of a nightmare, a horror story. Well Michigan J. Frog is the stuff of bad dreams and the star of one of the best cartoons ever produced.
Once again, Chuck Jones is behind it (and the prequel too). The story of a caged frog that sings and dances, and a worker that wanted to earn money using the frog is a perfect example of how 2D animation will always excel 3D stuff.
The frog reacts to the presence of other people and stops singing making the construction worker feels desperation to a degree that takes him to asylum. A damnation, indeed.
But this terror story (a Twilight Zone story into cartoon) is dinamic, it has so many ingredients that we almost forget the tragic destiny of the human main role. This frog is a tiny demon in disguise.
Well, enough reading. Sit comfortably an enjoy the show!
Another Chuck Jones cartoon and another starring Daffy Duck. This guys has temper! Here, Duffy is the rival of another rising star, Marvin the Martian (he first appeared on Haredevil Hare). Porky helps the action to move smoothly.
Shaving creme is scarce and they need to find it on Planet X. Duffy or Duck Dodgers, his name in this cartoon is the one selected to find this remote planet and claim it for ... well, ... humanity (no humans involved or harmed during the production of this short!)
Science Fiction, three of the best cartoon characters ever and Chuck Jones. Could you ask for more? Well, in fact, YES! How about a TV Series. That they produced and lasted three seasons. Plus, comics and videogames. This cartoon is everybody's favourite.
Duck Dodgers in the 24th 1/2 Century, Daffy and Marvin Martian
How about Mickey and the gang playing Rossini's William Tell Overture? And how about in Color (Technicolor more accurately) for the first time? That's a great premise to start with, but that's not enough.
It is considered the best Disney cartoon of the list because it is so perfect, so tight to time and full of nice gags that it won an Venice Festival Award and in my opinion, there is a word that defines it: Perfection.
Mickey Mouse & Friends - The Band Concert (1935)
The orchestra is performing the William Tell overture, but then Donald Duck (in his third appearance in a Mickey cartoon) appears selling ice-cream. Uninvited, Donald takes out his flute and distracts the band into playing Turkey in the Straw.
The cartoon is notable for being the first Mickey Mouse film in Technicolor, although two more Mickey cartoons were made in black and white before they were produced in colors on a permanent basis; Mickey's Service Station and Mickey's Kangaroo. It is said that when conductor Arturo Toscanini first saw the cartoon in a movie theater, he was so delighted with it that he ran up to the projection booth and asked the projectionist to run it again.
In 1994 it was voted #3 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field. Also, according to Leonard Maltin in a commentary for this film when it was included in one of the Walt Disney Treasures, The Band Concert was remade (somewhat) years later as Symphony Hour.
That was the intention and the idea when Michael Maltesse and Chuck Jones decided to make an impossible day for Duffy. There is also a Nintendo DS game where you can disturb Duffy as much as you want, because that's the objetive.
Well, this cartoon, as Jones stated, is about character personality and direct contact with the public. Daffy, poor fellow, suffers like hell. And well, Bugs is behind this joke. What a bad guy!
Duck Amuck
A classic Warner cartoon about "Daffy Duck" having his problems...
With this entry, I will start a series of animation features showcasing the best cartoon shorts ever produced selected by 1000 members of the animation field. Every month and following the list I will post them.
What’s Opera Doc? is number one in that list and I think they are right. Chuck Jones is simply a genius and this could be his master piece. Mocking their own Merrie Melodies formula of Elmer hunting Bugs and adding funny versions of Wagner Operas, they also made fun of Disney’s Fantasia. And they succeeded.
So, enjoy this first instalment of this Tonnerre de Brest new animation feature. It will take long (once a month) but I hope it would be worth it.
Gertie was the third cartoon produced by Windsor McCay but it is considered the first key frame cartoon. The original version (thanks to Scarpuss, we can see it) has a part of Vaudeville, with McCay and friends trying to pose a bet and McCay won by making this classic piece.
McCay drawed thousand of pages that he himself produced. He was so innovative that many classic animation techniques appeared here for the first time. Not bad for a cartoonist.
It is great to see the featured film and the Making Of at the sametime. Enjoy this great show. And the great information Scarpuss gives us.
Winsor McCay - Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) Complete Part I
Winsor McCay - Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) Complete Part II
One of the world's first animated films. It was the first to be created using keyframe animation.
Gertie the Dinosaur was originally created to be used in McCay's vaudeville performances, as a sideline to his regular newspaper cartooning. In 1911, McCay began presenting animated films on stage. Plans for Gertie were announced in 1912. The first presentation of the film was at the Palace Theater in Chicago on February 8, 1914; later performances were at the Hammerstein Theater in New York City.
McCay's employer, William Randolph Hearst, was displeased with McCay's success outside of the newspapers, and used his contractual power to reduce McCay's stage activities. In late 1914, William Fox offered to market Gertie the Dinosaur to moving-picture theaters. McCay accepted, and extended the film to include a live-action prologue and intertitles to replace his stage patter. This is the version of the film generally seen today; the original animation comprises roughly 5 minutes of the entire 12-minute film.
Gertie the Dinosaur was produced before the introduction of later time-saving techniques such as cel animation. To create the film, McCay himself drew thousands of frames of Gertie on individual 6.5 x 8.5 inch sheets of rice paper. He hired neighbor and art student John A. Fitzsimmons to draw the backgrounds. Fitzsimmons carefully re-traced the rocks, lake and tree from a master drawing onto each sheet of rice paper. In creating the film, McCay came up with a number of techniques that would later become standard in the animation industry.
The film features McCay with several of his cartoonist friends, such as George McManus, Roy McCardell, and Thomas A. Dorgan. As the film opens, they are 'on a joy ride', when their automobile suffers a flat tire in front of a museum. The cartoonists enter the museum, and see a 'Dinosaurus' skeleton. McCay bets McManus a dinner that he can 'make the Dinosaurus live again by a series of hand-drawn cartoons'. He then spends six months making 'ten thousand cartoons'; when McManus visits, McCay shows him the drawings, although an assistant trips and scatters a large pile of them over the floor. The scene then shifts to a dinner party with the group of cartoonists. McCay begins by sketching a single drawing of Gertie. Someone complains that 'your bet was that you could make it move', following which the film shifts to the original animated Gertie. McCay, through intertitles, tells Gertie to come out and bow, and continues through the same interaction as in the vaudeville show (although the 'apple' that McCay throws to her is now referred to as a pumpkin, which was more appropriate for the size of Gertie's mouth). The film concludes with the group telling George (McManus) to pay for the dinner.
[via Scarpuss]
The tale of the Three Little Pigs is one of the most popular theme in the Disney’s Cartoons of the 30’s. Four of their most rewarded shorts featured their version of the fable of three brothers that were used to explain to the younger readers the importance of hard work, effort and well scheduled labour.
Here you can see the four shorts in this wonderful embed.
But in Warner Bros, they had a diferent point of view. As Tex Avery explained in several interviews, they tried to offer their public a different an crazier point of view that Disney would never dare to create. Therefore, the Three Little Pigs were transformed into pure entertainment without the morals of the Disney’s version. Their work were also rewarded.
The first version is a nice musical with a lot of humour but not so different from the Disney’s version.
The Star of the Warner Bros cartoons is the guess in this cartoon. The Three Little Pigs take advantage over Mister Bugs Bunny, while the wolf tries to eat the pigs. I think Bugs suffers more in this cartoon than in any other. He is the victim and the pigs are very mean. In the end, Bugs helps the wolf. I don’t think this Bugs Bunny is the standard of the house, being a little weak and bland.
And here is my favourite version of all the shorts I collected here. Imagine that the Three Little Pigs are a famous Jazz combo and then imagine a Wolf that wants to join them. He is a poor trumpet performer, but he improves every time he applies for the band. The pigs are the cause of his fatal death (well it is an accident and the wolf is the perpetrator, but this I how I see it). He goes to Hell, where he plays the trumpet so graciously that them he is admitted in the Pig’s band. Amazing!
The Shifting Labyrinth 14
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