44. A Great Big Bunch of You (1932)

Release date: November 12th, 1932

Series: Merrie Melodies

Director: Rudolf Ising

Starring: Johnny Murray (Mannequin), The King's Men (Chorus), The Rhythmettes (Chorus), Rudy Ising (Ted Lewis)

More inanimate objects coming to life! This one’s very fun and cute. A mannequin dumped in a junkyard comes to life and makes the best of his situation by playing music for all to hear.

The cartoon begins with a man on a horse drawn cart, lugging a great big pile of junk. Like every responsible driver, he’s asleep at the reins. All of the hats on him slide down as he nods off, but catches himself and the hats stack up on his head perfectly, the gag repeating.

Reaching a cliff, the contents of the cart are dumped below into the city junkyard. A mannequin falls out, and a hit of falling debris to his head wakes him up. A cuckoo clock cuckoos at him effeminately as he stares at it dubiously.

Our mannequin saunters off and spots a broken piano, and figures he’ll pass the time by tickling the ivory. Unfortunately, just the keys and hammers are left, no strings.

Nothing some good old garbage can’t fix! He fashions himself a piano and sings “ A Great Big Bunch of You”, which proves itself to be quite the catchy tune! I love the mannequin, he has a lot of charisma to him. Might be the design, from the bowler hat to the Charlie Chaplin mustache to gaudy gingham pants. Maybe he is supposed to be Charlie Chaplin? Though he has a striking resemblance to bob McKimson, too... 

As he sings, there are, of course, visual gags to accompany the scene. One includes a pair of shoes dancing, sticking out the tongues inside like actual tongues.

The mannequin gets up from his stool and, turning his feet sideways, uses them as wheels to glide over to a hat stand. Great gag of the feet turned wheels! I know it’s just your standard “come to life” cartoon, but that’s certainly creative. Anthropomorphized mannequins aren’t something you see too often. He puts on a hat and sings, doing an impression of Maurice Chevalier, a popular French entertainer. He was a big hit in 1932 with his romance musical “Love Me Tonight”, which came out 2 months before this cartoon was released.

He receives raucous applause from the inanimate objects—including the victor records dog, barking at a cash register.

Show’s not over yet, folks! The mannequin plays some corn through his horn, while inanimate objects dance to the music, including an elderly grandfather clock and a group of toy soldiers (from Red-Headed Baby), shooting bottles in time with the music. They shoot a painting of some men in a boat (a reference to Washington crossing the Delaware? Or Watson and the lack of a shark?) and the boat sinks, the American flag still standing above the waters. Out come a group of soldiers playing a fife and drum march.

Our charismatic dummy uses a bath mat to glide over to an orchestra (which sounds fantastic!) A clock swings its pendulum, beating against two “drums”. Elsewhere, another mannequin strums the water coming out of a shower head like a harp, reused from Sinkin’ in the Bathtub. They wanted to show they could synchronize music and animation, and they were right! 

The Andrews Sisters look a lot different than I remembered. They sing the titular song in beautiful harmony while a pair of hat stands dance in time to the music. This whole sequence is indescribably cheery and upbeat! It’s certainly one of their better efforts at this genre of cartoons.

Finally, the Chaplin-esque mannequin plays a vacuum cleaner like bagpipes, a car in disarray sputtering along. He dives back to his piano to sing some final notes, interrupted by more trash getting dumped on him. In the style of Ted Lewis, he asks “Is everybody happy?” as we iris out.

“Is everybody happy?” Yes! Such a fun, endearing, and upbeat cartoon! You Don’t Know What You’re Doin’! Still stands as my favorite Merrie Melody so far, but this is certainly a strong contender! The song is lovely and the music score is jazzy and fun. The visual gags are very appealing and pleasing to listen to synchronized with the sound effects, and the premise itself is very entertaining and endearing! You should definitely give this one a look, I was grinning like an idiot by the end!

Link!

43. Bosko the Drawback (1932)

Release date: October 22nd, 1932

Series: Looney Tunes

Director: Hugh Harman

Starring: Johnny Murray (Bosko), Rudy Ising (Masseur, Ted Lewis, Mouse)

First Freddy the Freshman, and now Bosko the Drawback! Bosko takes on the football field, pinned against some fierce competition.

All good football bands open with a marching band. The drum leader pumps his baton, sporting a giant hat. The tuba behind the drum leader blows the feathers off the hat, revealing a bird in a bird cage, squawking in time to the music.

The crowd shots in this next sequence are amazing for 1932! A crowd fills into the stadium, a dog punching tickets with his tooth, and a donkey’s ears service as a revolving gate to get inside. There’s an aerial view of the stadium as the seats fill up. Again, it’s fascinating to watch for its time! Crowd shots are always a famous enemy for animators.

After some gags used to boast musical synchronization (such as a caterpillar playing snare drums and two dogs crashing cymbals together with their legs), we see our hero getting limbered up for the big game. A slightly painful massage turns into him protesting “be careful now!” as the brute loosening him up nearly cracks his neck in half.

Another Tony Wons reference (which was also used in another football picture, Freddy the Freshman) where an ostrich asks the audience “Are ya listenin’? Hmmmmmm?” Tony has faded to obscurity for me (and everyone else I imagine), he doesn’t stand out as much as the big movie stars that’d be parodied or the crooners or what have you. Nevertheless, the references are always fascinating to learn about, no matter how obscure they are, so I enjoy them regardless.

The whistle sounds and Bosko leaps from his torturous massage, right into his football gear. He motions for his fellow teammates (who are much bigger than him) to follow suit, and the ever optimistic Bosko hurries onto the field.

Signaling the start of the game, the referee fires his starting pistol. Out pops an egg that cracks, and the bird inside blows a whistle. You’ve seen this gag once, you’ve seen it a million times, but it was still a nice surprise with the egg cracking. I thought it’d just be another bird/mouse straight out of the pistol, so props to them for something new.

Bosko punts the ball towards the camera (borrowed from  Freddy the Freshman), and there are some cool shots of the ball flying through the air and the football players tearing up the field. Unfortunately, the scene drags on longer than it could have (though again, in the heart of the depression, so I give them the benefit of the doubt with all the retakes/extended scenes used) and lessens the impact of it. Intriguing cinematography nonetheless! 

Tiny little Bosko runs and catches the pigskin, but the force of the kick causes the ball to drag him around aimlessly. Thankfully, a wiener dog comes to his aid, forming a protective V shape (once more from  Freddy the Freshman) in front of him, sending any oncoming opponents flying and ricocheting off.

A journalist in the press box is hammering away at the keys of the typewriter, becoming more and more aggressive. In retaliation, the type writer punches HIM back, stamping “NERTS” on his forehead. I didn’t actually know that was a real word, I thought it was just something Samson from Camp Lazlo made up! For that reason alone, I appreciate the gag.

Time for the cheer section portion. A kangaroo exclaims “Rah, rah!” and three of its joeys pop up from its pouch and give the remaining “Rah rah rah!”s. Another gag includes an elderly mouse on crutches hobbling on the field. He gets hit with the football and spins between his crutches like a wheel. Reused from it’s got me again!, but still as amusing as ever, especially with the overall concept of an elderly, frail mouse (who is gigantic) just meandering around on the football field.

An eagle flies on top of an American flag and perches on the flag pole, in the pose of the eagle on top of the flag pole in many upstanding American flags.

Bosko kicks the ball, and a caterpillar catches it and runs for the touchdown. Bosko continues to tackle him, and one by one, with each tackle, the caterpillar loses a segment of its body, eventually decreasing to Bosko’s height. Love that gag! Very creative. There are a lot of reuses in this cartoon, and some scenes run a tad long, but the gags that are original (to this cartoon) really hit well. Another quick shot of the eagle on the flagpole, nestling down on top.

Look at that crowd shot! This is my favorite gag in the whole cartoon. A cheer section forms the face of a dog who shouts a cheer, and once the cheer is over, the dog blows a raspberry. The spit is actually real people diving from the stands and onto the field! I can’t get enough of it. Reminds me of something you’d see on SpongeBob.

More recycled shots of the football players tearing up the field and the eagle on the flagpole. We pan to Bosko, who’s running down the field, when he suddenly halts. He turns towards the audience and says in distress “The hunchback of Notre Dame!” 

Sure enough, a ferocious looking brute (who seems to be frothing at the mouth? Can cartoon characters go rabid?) barrels towards the screen. Bosko, terrified, runs away to save his skin.

Unfortunately for him, there’s a “title” card that declares “The four horsemen!” and sure enough, four horses are on Bosko’s tail. The use of the card really makes this gag for me. I love my puns! The animation is great, too.

Bosko runs back the other way, but the wiener dog from before blocks his path. He bounces off of the dog like a slingshot, and soars over the field, getting closer and closer to touchdown range.

A rock stops him in his path, and he hits his head. In a daze, our hero, clutching onto the ball, staggers over towards the goal line, just making the score. The rather predominant eagle flies up, and the top of the flagpole it had been perched on turns out to be an egg that cracks, revealing three little eaglets waving American flags. Iris out as Bosko bathes in his glory.

Not the most riveting Bosko cartoon, especially compared to the last few, but not the worst. The gags that are original really hit hard (that raspberry gag is sublime), there are some interesting camera angles and shots, and as always the music is a hit. There have been much better Bosko cartoons, but much worse, too. I’d recommend for some of the gags (and to ogle at the crowd shots, whew!), but it’s mainly that: a gag showcase. Nothing wrong with that at all, though!

Link!

42. I Wish I Had Wings (1932)

Release date: October 15th, 1932

Series: Merrie Melodies

Director: Rudolf Ising

Starring: Johnny Murray (Chick), Rudy Ising (Scarecrow, Rooster), The Rhythmettes (Chorus)

The “singing chickens” genre of cartoons. Always interesting to explore. Here, the black sheep chick of the family laments his lack of opportunity and wants to spread his wings.

Another morning on the farm. There’s a nice lighting change as the sun rises up. A rooster wakes up and prepares to signal the start of the day, puffing out its chest, which falls flat to the ground. It tries again, but its trademark shriek doesn’t wake the other chickens in the coop. Another insistent squawk sends the chickens scrambling around in a hurry. Elsewhere, the rooster wakes up a flock of sleeping ducks by removing the perches they’re sitting on, causing them to fall to the ground. The ducks march away in a cadence, while there’s a shot of a rather rotund hen deflating as streams of chicks pour out from beneath her.

Outside, we have a chicken using a stethoscope to listen to the ground. Part of the ground bulges, and eagerly the chicken uses its beak (above) to drill into the dirt, plucking out a fat juicy worm. The chicken’s chicks are delighted, cheeping with joy at the prospect of a feast. However, the chicken struggled to find a way to divide one worm amongst all the chicks.

Meat grinder gags come in handy! The chicken pours the worm into the grinder, and in a reused sequence from Ain't Nature Grand! The chicks chase an individual, small worm. I can’t blame them for all the reuses, harp on them as I might. If it saves money, it saves money. It would have been interesting if they could’ve spiced up the reuse somehow, but I digress.

Now we pan to a hen in her coop. She’s singing a lullaby as she knits a sweater for her baby(ies), checking time see how they’re faring and exposing a heating pack. The father of the bunch walks in on her, and immediately the hen hides her sweater. Curious and perturbed that the hen is hiding something, the father sticks out his hand and demands she hand over what ever it is she’s hiding. She refuses, but after awhile gives up and hands it over. The father studies it and quickly comes to realize that he’s a father, giving a celebratory “WHOOPEE!”. Coincidentally, this exact scene is used in Wise Quacks! I had always assumed it was an original scene, so this totally caught me by surprise. Daffy assumes the role of the father, and a duck (voiced by Bob Clampett himself) assumes the role of the mother. Compare and contrast the scene here! Both scenes are great in their own respective ways, but I like Carl Stalling’s score in Wise Quacks and how it gives the scene slightly more flavor (not that Frank Marsales’ version is bland by any means! I’ve come to really enjoy his music!).

Anxious for the well-being of his wife, the rooster drags a doctor stork to the coop and urges him inside. We get a shot of the father rooster pacing nervously outside (here’s where the difference comes in. Daffy paces around too, but decides alcohol is the best thing to calm his nerves, and everything goes downhill from there).

Nevertheless, the stork arrives with a basket of chicks. Tentatively, the rooster asks “Is it a boy?”, but before he can continue, all of the chicks are let loose from the basket, including a little black chick who greets “Hi, Pop!” 

Unfortunately, the chick is the black chick of the family. All of the chicks run to get their fill of seed, blocking off the odd one out. Dejected but still determined, he finds a corn cob and prepares to feast, until all of the chicks swarm in and eat that, too.

Our title song “I Wish I Had Wings” comes into the play as the chick sings it mournfully, wanting time get some food and leave the farm.

Conveniently, a corset lies on the ground, and the chick wastes no time fitting into it while a lovely (more tolerable) chorus of birds sing the remainder of the song. The chick uses the corset as a pair of wings, flying up to a clothesline pole where he uses a pair of underwear as a parachute to land on the opposite side of the fence. The chorus is lovely! I’m such a sucker for those Andrews Sisters-esque songs in the cartoons from the '30s.

Rejuvenated, the chick eats some peas from a garden (with satisfyingly timed animation). However, a scarecrow who comes to life is just as hungry as the chick is. Chase sequence is a go. The chick seeks safety by aid of a wishing well, pulling a string that causes the handle to repeatedly whack the scarecrow in the face. Using the scarecrow’s daze as an opportunity, the chick uses a candle flame beneath a boiler(?) to light the scarecrow on fire, sending him running towards the hills. Iris out.

Not the most memorable of Merrie Melodies, but not at all the blandest. My favorite part was comparing the scene with the hen in the coop with the scene from wise quacks—no idea that was reused! That fascinates me. The title song was an ear worm like always, more so contributed to the underscore and the harmonizing women than the actual chick’s singing (which sounded like an Al Jolson impression?). Animation was just fine and the gags were amusing, but nothing that really stands out to me. It wouldn’t be a crime if you skipped this one, but it makes for a cute watch regardless.

41. Ride Him, Bosko! (1932)

Release date: September 17th, 1932

Series: Looney Tunes

Director: Hugh Harman

Starring: Johnny Murray (Bosko), Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising, Norm Blackburn (Cartoonists)

Oh man, this cartoon has my favorite ending to any cartoon we’ve seen so far. This short is notable for a variety of reasons. First, it contains the first ever live action sequence in a Looney Tunes short. Second, it’s the first cartoon to be copyrighted and not under public domain, and finally, it’s the last Looney Tunes short to use the current theme song of “A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”, where it would be replaced with “Whistle and Blow Your Blues Away” starting with Bosko’s Dizzy Date.

Buckaroo Bosko is strumming away at his guitar, singing (poorly) “When the Bloom is on the Sage” while on horseback. Since the horse itself can’t be assed to do it, Bosko hops off and pushes him over a large rock, resuming business as usual.

Cut to a card that says “Red Gulch, where men are men, nine times out of ten”. I love my sign gags! This cartoon definitely has the Looney Tunes feel to it. The titular Red Gulch asserts its promise of masculinity as we watch various street-goers get shot to pieces as they walk past a saloon.

Undeterred as ever, Bosko saunters up to the saloon and greets “Howdy, fellers!” He’s greeted by a warm reception of bullets. Regardless, there’s an offscreen chorus of “Howdy, Bosko!” Bosko, justifiably wary, enters the saloon. You can never go wrong with jokes like these, especially the warm greeting he receives after nearly getting shot to pieces.

Initiate your standard yet nevertheless entertaining and charming dancing sequence with Bosko in the saloon. These cartoons in this era were all about boasting about their ability to synchronize sound and animation, and it certainly works.

A dog playing the piano slams his fist down on the keys, propelling the beer in his glass perched on top of the piano right into his gullet. The alcohol burns through him, literally, and he’s “naked” and skips away effeminately.

Bosko takes over piano duties and we get to marvel at the beautiful sounds of a saloon piano. A group of playing cards, a king, two queens, and a joker, all sing along to the beat. The joker (who looks like Goopy in The Queen Was in the Parlor) sings (scats) offbeat, prompting someone to shoot the card with a pistol, the Goopy joker melting away into a puddle.

There’s another transition as we get a different card that reads “The deadwood stage (free wheeling)”. A horse drawn carriage is being pulled rather sloppily, with very smooth animation of the wheels bending and stretching all over the place.

Poor Honey is the passenger, being jostled around endlessly. She protests “Please, be careful!” but no adjustment is made.

Bet you can’t see where this is going. We have a group of outlaws galloping on their horses. The lead bandit and his horse sneak around the mountain, spotting the wagon carrying Honey... and a chest on top, undoubtedly filled with all sorts of vulnerable goods just waiting to be usurped.

Smoke spreads and bullets fly as the bandits follow the wagon, pulled by an unfortunate old man whose hat keeps flying off as bullets pierce it. The chest flies off of the carriage and lands on the ground, but instead of silver and gold, it’s filled with anthropomorphized clothes who make a run for it.

The poor hapless victim pulling the carriage (well, Honey too) hits a rock and is sent flying. He (painfully) slides down a cactus and used the skeleton of a horse to dash away.

Deserting Honey, the man barrels in to the saloon, alerting Bosko of his debacle. Winded, the man deflated into his pants, leaving a dubious Bosko staring at an empty pair of trousers. Bosko makes a run for it, but not before the deflated man grabs a beer and throws it into his bottomless abyss of pants.

In a hurry, Bosko jumps onto his horse... which is actually a fence that bucks him around wildly. Standard yet amusing, our motto of all these cartoons. Bosko actually gets on his real horse and heads to rescue honey, who’s screaming for help.

There’s an extended shot of Bosko chasing after his shanghaied sweetheart, and we slowly zoom out...

To reveal Rudolf Ising, Hugh Harman, and Norm Blackburn, all gathered around Bosko and observing his dilemma. Rudolf is making the sound effects of the horse galloping, when he suddenly asks “Say, how’s Bosko gonna save the girl?” Hugh gives a dumbfounded “I'unno”, which prompts Rudolf to respond “Well, we gotta do something!” Norm, who’s been chuffing away at a cigarette, suggests “Let’s go home.”

Hugh expresses his agreement and the cartoonists exit, leaving Bosko to his own devices as we get the most amusing iris out thus far.

God, I can’t get enough of that ending! This really felt like it belonged under the Looney Tunes name. The animation was smooth and crisp (maybe because the short’s in good quality), the jokes were on point, the music was addicting... another one of my favorites. I’m very glad to see the quality of the Bosko cartoons continuing to rise! I eagerly await the others. I certainly recommend this cartoon, especially for the end scene alone!

Link!

40. You're Too Careless with Your Kisses (1932)

Release date: September 10th, 1932

Series: Merrie Melodies

Director: Rudolf Ising

Starring: Johnny Murray (Wilbur), Rudy Ising (Spider), The Rhythmettes (Chorus)

After two Bosko cartoons in a row, we’re back to Merrie Melodies, this time with You’re Too Careless with Your Kisses!. A drunk bee comes home to his upset wife, who discovers she needs him after all after being kidnapped by a menacing ladybug.

In pure prohibition-era fashion, the cartoon opens with a bee staggering home drunk. He swings across some flower stems and slides down a few lavenders along his way. The visuals are amusing, especially the bee getting close to the camera as he swings around on a flower stem, but the scene drags on longer than it should, loosening the comedic timing. Like in all of these shorts, the music makes the scene bearable.

He comes home to his hive as quietly as he can, sneaking up to bed. To reduce any noise, he takes off his shoes and scales the staircase in his socks, yet the shoes take a life of their own and follow him as he shushes them. Towards the top, the bee tumbles over the staircase (which, inebriated as he may be, I can’t fault him for. Whatever genius architect who built the hive forgot to put a banister in) and lands on a couch cushion, which springs out of place and propels him to the top.

Mission accomplished, the bee sneaks into the bedroom without waking up his wife. That is, until he trips, sounding an alarm clock and the curtains to raise.

His wife immediately identifies the problem, and scolds him for getting into the spiked honey again (also revealing that his name is Wilbur, not to be confused with the bratty kitten that makes Bosko’s life a living nightmare). Visibly upset, Wilbur’s wife begins to sob. Wilbur attempts to rationalize things, protesting “But honey—“ to which she snaps “Don’t you 'honey' me!”

Launch the musical sequence, where the wife sings “You're Too Careless with Your Kisses” as she cries. The vocals are questionable as always, yet the song remains catchy. Wilbur, of course, tries to kiss her and make up, but she isn’t having it, getting undressed and insisting that she’ll have to do his work for him. The drunk Wilbur just laughs and says “Ain’t that just like a woman?” Oh, you '30s cartoons and your dated sexism jokes! 

A beautiful chorus of harmonized voices finish where the wife left off in the song as she passed by various flowers, lowering the bottom half of her body to scoop some honey and lifting it back up again.

Heavy rain interrupts the bee’s duties, and she hurriedly seeks shelter in a sketchy house, inhabited by a sleazy ladybug (identical to the spider in red-headed baby). The ladybug snags the key and swallows it, ensuring the bee can’t escape. It seems every cartoon has a kidnapping of some sort! I need to start a tally of how many kidnappings we’ve seen so far.

The bee senses trouble and seeks a closet for safety. I love this next line. The ladybug follows her, and before he corners her in the closet he turns to the audience and sneers “Ahhhhh! They tell me I’m crazy, but I’m NOT! ...much!” What a good line!

Following her, the ladybug shuts the door behind them, blacking out the scene. He tells her “Aha, and now you’re in the hands of the ol' maestro.”

Back to Wilbur, who hears his honey's pleas for help. He uses a flower as a trumpet to call together all the bees in the area to save his girl. A beehive deflates as a steady stream of bees pour out of it.

The ladybug hears the oncoming herd of insects and goes outside to investigate, becoming furious. Wilbur grabs a thorny vine and drags it through the ladybug’s legs, shredding his crotch to pieces. God, I twinge each time I see this gag, it’s painful (but in a good way).

Diving into a bucket that’s floating in a pond, the ladybug whips out a rifle and shoots aimlessly, hoping to scare off his attackers. One by one the bees take off like fighter jets, shooting alcohol and peas (above) to scare him off. I love the sound effect of the machine gun noises in synchronization with the peas being fired off. Treg Brown would become the best sound editor later on in the 30s, but Bernard Brown and Dale Pickett did a great job here too.

One group of bees is armed with dynamite, which they drop onto the ladybug below. The bucket explodes and falls into formation around the spider, forming a guillotine. The bees celebrate and iris out as a possible execution is left up to our wandering minds.

This wasn’t the most riveting of Merrie Melodies, but it certainly wasn’t the driest either. It had a good plot going on, which seemed to be even more of a focus than the song. I wonder if this is when they were starting to feel obligated to incorporate songs into the cartoons? The music is addictive as always, and there were some fun visuals towards the end as things picked up. “I’m not crazy... much!” is a great line. Ultimately, it isn’t the cartoon to end all cartoons, but there are worse out there. I feel pretty indifferent towards it, I’ve seen it once and probably won’t see it again, but don’t let that deter you if you’re curious!