Release date: January 23rd, 1932
Series: Merrie Melodies
Director: Rudolf Ising
Starring: Johnny Murray (Boy), The King's Men (Chorus), Marcellite Garner (Girl), Rudy Ising (Alligator, Octopus), Ken Darby (Singing Octopus)
Open to a moonlit night on the beaches of Hawaii. A boy and a group of singers are strumming their guitars, singing “Pagan Moon” while the hula girl dances. I really love the mood! The moon reflecting on the water is beautiful and atmospheric, and I also have this strange affinity for steel guitars, so that’s always a plus. The music is very catchy.
The song sequence drags on for awhile and loses its impact because of that. As is my problem with the other shorts, this one feels hollow, with a lot of reused footage and stretched out scenes. But again, it was the Depression. The people going to the theaters we’re looking for a quick laugh and something to cheer them up, not an animation masterpiece.
We have some reused footage from Congo Jazz of a palm tree gyrating to the music. Highlights also include a monkey hitting the gorilla on the head with a bone and a family of birds doing the “Bosko Dance”, swaying side to side.
Like every cartoon character, the boy skips on a rock in his frolic, which turns out to be a hungry alligator. The boy startles and his ukulele goes flying straight into the belly of the beast. Shoving a large stick between the gator’s jaws, the boy sticks his hand down its gullet and retrieves his ukulele. Trite, but I do like the snappiness (no pun intended) of the animation as the boy tries to dodge the gator’s teeth. In smug victory, he strums out “You’re a Horse’s Ass” on his recovered ukulele.
Recycled footage from Bosko’s Fox Hunt gives us the boy frolicking over some more stepping stones, until he lands on a turtle who hurriedly dumps him into the water, using its shell as a boat to get back to the other side. The underscore is lovely! All the Merrie Melodies are really catchy, and this one is no exception.
Reuniting with his sweetie (who just happens to be all alone in a rowboat in the middle of the water), the two dance some more and the boy used his ukulele as a paddle. He gets caught up in the musical antics, bouncing the ukulele off his body, and it lands in the water.
The boy goes to retrieve it, initiating this great camera angle. I love the detail of him spinning around, and the way the rowboat is positioned at the top is great. This is staged really well! Good use of figure ground composition, making it easier to read. The ukulele continues to descend, all the way to the ocean (more like a lake) floor.
Things finally start to pick up once the boy lands at the bottom of the ocean. He falls on a rock, which turns out to be an octopus who isn’t too pleased about being used as a seat. To calm him, the boy tickles the ivory on a broken piano, and we launch into a wonderful jazz rendition of “Pagan Moon”, with fish playing trombones and clarinets, sardines dancing in some shoes, you name it. It’s a high energy, fun sequence and nicely picks up the pace.
The octopus isn’t to be upstaged, however! He himself bangs out a tune, singing in a rather amusing lyricless bass voice. Accomplished, he seeks the audience for validation, who erupt in cheers and applause.
No one can enjoy anything for too long. An angry piranha roars in the face of the boy and chases him.
How the boy has managed to hold his breath so long is a mystery to me, but it seems he has some oxygen spare in his reservoir as he blows a bubble through a tube. He hops in the bubble for safety and rises to the surface unharmed.
Unharmed from the ocean’s ecosystem, that is. A bird with a pointy beak investigates the boy in the plastic bubble and pops it, sending the boy tumbling down.
His sweetheart, who’s still on the rowboat after an entire night (it’s daytime now!), notices and calls for the aid of a pelican to catch him.
All’s well that ends well! The pelican catches him safely and he brings his sweetie close to him. Instead of an iris out, the pelican and its inhabitants fly towards us, and the black body of the pelican covers the screen. So long, folks! (this IS Merrie Melodies, they haven’t adopted “That’s all, folks!” quite yet.)
This was a cute cartoon, but it was largely forgettable. With that said, the visuals are appealing and imaginative, and the music is as lush and skillful as ever. The second half moves things along and the pace is much quicker. Unfortunately, the second half is so interesting because it focuses primarily on supporting undersea characters as opposed to the boy and his girl, who have little personality.
I’d watch it if you’re curious (and need a good earworm), but that’s about it. The Bosko cartoons (and Buddy, I assume) at least have some historical significance to them, this one not so much. Watch it if you’d like, but you won’t be missing out if you don’t.
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