119. I Wanna Play House (1936)

Release date: January 11th, 1936

Series: Merrie Melodies

Director: Friz Freleng

Starring: Berneice Hansell (Bear Cubs), Billy Bletcher (Papa Bear)

The first cartoon to use the trademark concentric rings, as well as the first cartoons to use the cursive “That’s all folks!” sign off! I promise I include the title cards for a reason, some of them have some GREAT art—we’re ever so slowly moving away from the black backgrounds. This is a plus! The first cartoon of 1936, hard to believe that we’re in the second half of the '30s already! As I mentioned in the previous review, a great deal of change will come upon us. Frank Tashlin and Carl Stalling make their debuts, Jack King leaves the studio, Porky sees a rise in popularity (whereas Beans has has 15 minutes of fame)... a year where the looniness of Looney Tunes really starts to break through. Next year will be even better! For now, two bear cubs engage in a game of hide and seek, yet things quickly turn sour when one of the curious cubs investigates a bottle of cider.

Two bears frolic with each other while their ever so watchful father sleeps. Their scrappy fighting turns into a literal, playful fistfight—a fun progression and set up. The black bear hits his grizzly bear twin a tad too hard, and runs away giddily as the angry grizzly chases him. Suddenly, the black bear is distracted by a turtle moseying along. Inquisitive, the black bear sniffs at the turtle. Eventually, the turtle is fed up with its interrogation and bites the bear right on the nose, sending the cub running in pain.

The grizzly bear spots the black bear clutching his nose and laughs. Paybacks are hell. Fed up, the black bear hurls a rock at the grizzly, who ducks. Instead, the rock pegs the hibernating father, snapping awake and lumbers over to his children. Both cubs accuse the other, making it impossible to find the perpetrator. Slightly gross yet amusing as the papa bear spits into his hand, smacking his palm. The spit lands next to the grizzly bear, and thus the father hones in on him, a callback to the Harman-Ising days as he pulls down the grizzly’s “butt flap” and gives him a few good spanks.

Feeling slightly guilty, the black bear saunters away so as not to watch the punishment unfold. The grizzly eventually joins his sibling, clutching his butt in pain. A great, quick little indicator of personality as the black bear flashes the guiltiest shit eating grin. All rivalry is dissolved once the black bear offers up a game of hide and seek.

As the grizzly counts off, the black bear gallops away. He stumbles across an overlook, towering right over an unoccupied wagon. The perfect hiding place. The curious cub slides down a birch tree, another Harman-Ising callback as the bear’s body slides in and out, conveniently hitting some branches. The animation comes off as rather mechanical and forced and lacks the momentum that was provided during the Harman-Ising days—it looks even stiffer than something you may have seen as early as 1930 or 1931 in a Bosko cartoon.

The cub tentatively creeps into the wagon. Inside, he’s greeted with a cozy array of furniture: a welcoming, fully stocked picnic table, even a stove and some bunk beds. The curious cub instantly takes kindly to the array of food, preparing to indulge. He fixes himself a sandwich while the other grizzly bear remains counting (“503, 504...”). A lovely gag as the hungry cub literally places his towering sandwich in a compress, so as to fit it just right into his mouth.

After taking a few hungry bites of the sandwich, the cub finds a bottle of cider. Unaware of its alcoholic contents, the bear happily takes a few swigs too many and instantly becomes inebriated.

I know I always rave about how good Berneice Hansell's baby voice is, but it’s phenomenal. This scene it REALLY bursts out into its full hilarious potential. The poor grizzly cub is STILL counting, working up a sweat as he pants “Fifteen thousand nine ten... Fifteen thousand nine eleven...! Fifteen thousand nine eleven! Fifteen thousand nine twelve...!” Hansell is practically shouting, and the repeated 15,911 is fantastic. Her delivery is spot on. It’s hilarious and instantly believable.

Meanwhile, the little black cub is obviously drunk, hiccupping and giggling repeatedly. The grizzly cub reaches the millions in his counting, and finally realizes that any intentions of hide and go seek have been thrown out the window. He marches along furiously, ready to find his brother and give him a good talking to.

Now, the black cub stands in front of a mirror, fancying himself a green fedora (from, of course, My Green Fedora). A hiccup sends the hat flying off his head and right onto his butt, much to his drunken confusion. Another hiccup sends the hat back into place on his head. Thus launches a drunken rendition of “I'm Singing Because I'm Gay”, the bear doing the same moves as peter did in My Green Fedora. Hansell's delivery is once more to be commended. The song is obnoxious, yet still cute and hilarious. I especially love the closeup of the bear hiccupping and looking around, covering his mouth and muttering “Oh my...” Even he knows he’s trashed.

Finally, the grizzly bear approaches the black bear’s hiding spot, bursting into the wagon. He spots his inebriated sibling, and a tomato to the head interrupts the cub’s drunken performance. The black bear confronts the grizzly bear, and Friz Freleng’s comedic timing is absolutely IMPECCABLE as they stand still for just a moment, suspended in tension... and all of the sudden they go at it with absolutely no warning whatsoever, a hilarious barrage of slapping sound effects complimenting their erratic tussle. Probably one of the funniest scenes I’ve seen so far in this entire adventure.

Their scrap moves towards a lever, and the black bear decks the grizzly bear hard enough to send him flying into the lever. The lever turns, and thus the brakes are lifted from the wheels as the wagon slowly crawls forward, gaining speed. The wrestling match is put on hold as the bears peer out the back door of the wagon, realizing they’re stranded on an out of control wagon.

Another scene that feels very close to the Harman-Ising days, animation of the wagon squealing around twists and turns as the cubs hang on for dear life. Another callback as the wagon shreds the leaves off of multiple trees (like in Bosko’s Fox Hunt and many others). The bears run around helplessly, panicking at their undecided fate. They both spot the brakes and team up to pull the lever.

Great gag of the wheels shrinking in size, becoming smaller and smaller as the brakes work their magic. The shanghaied wagon is put to a halt once and for all after it crashes into a tree, ejecting both bears.

The cider bottle is amongst the debris showering down upon the cubs, and it conks the grizzly bear right in the head. Now he, too, becomes trapped in a daze (more so a concussion, though it could be interpreted as the strange physics present in Bosko cartoons where a character would become inebriated on impact if hit with an alcohol bottle). Conveniently, the wagon crashed right near the bears’ home, in reach for the father to come rushing to the scene. He spots his son wobbling around and tripping over himself, and then identifies the bottle of cider. A few sniffs confirm his suspicions, and, once more, he undoes the cub’s “butt flap” and gives him a beating. The black cub strides away, whistling “I'm Singing Because I'm Gay” innocently as ever. The grizzly cub lobs a rock at his sibling, and iris out as the black bear stares back in pained awe.

Berneice Hansell's vocals totally make this cartoon, and I don’t think it would have nearly been as effective if it were someone else. Her baby voice shines and makes this cartoon absolutely hilarious. The animation is better in some parts than others (the black bear sliding down the birch tree comes off as particularly stiff), and in all the designs are nothing to write home about, but it doesn’t necessarily feel sloppy either. A lot of callbacks to the Harman-Ising days, too, which is a nice touch. A relatively decent Freleng cartoon. Definitely worth a watch just to listen to Hansell's voice.

Link!