143. Toy Town Hall (1936)

Release date: September 19th, 1936

Series: Merrie Melodies

Director: Friz Freleng

Starring: Berneice Hansell (Sonny), Tedd Pierce (Ben Bernie), Lind Hayes (Fred Allen, Rudy Vallee), Billy Paye (Bing Crosby), Cliff Nazarro (Eddie Cantor), Jackie Morrow (Rabbit)

Carl Stalling’s first Merrie Melody, and the last Merrie Melody to use the “I Think You’re Ducky” theme song, which has been in use since 1933. Starting with Boulevardier from the Bronx, the theme song would be changed into the one we all know and love today, “Merrily We Roll Along.” a particularly reuse heavy cartoon, toy town hall details the adventures of a baby’s toys coming to life and putting on their very own radio show for him, seeing as his mother won’t let him listen to the radio.

A baby lies on the carpet in front of the radio, enthralled with the sound of Ben Bernie’s voice filling the room, giving his catchphrase such as “Yowza!” Suddenly, the offscreen mother turns the knob of the radio. “Come on, Sonny, it’s way past your bedtime.” Sonny resists as his mother drags him away, crying “I wanna hear the radio! I don’t wanna go to bed!” A good choice of concealing the mother, only making her arm visible. Subtle yet effective.

Nevertheless, Sonny is placed in his crib, with Sonny glaring daggers at his offscreen mother before turning away to face the window. His mother turns out the light, and there’s quite a moody overlay of the shadow of the snowflakes falling outside reflecting on Sonny. We pan across his floor, toys strewn about at every corner, and rise up to the clock on his wall (complete with an elephant pendulum.) the hands of the clock turn as time marches on.

Recycled from Those Beautiful Dames, two toy soldiers blow a fanfare into their trumpets, the fanfare so strenuous that their faces turn red as their pants deflate around their ankles, their waists turning pencil thin as they blow out as much air as they can. The faces turning red was added in for this short. An army of toys cheer, and the noise wakes up sonny, who grins eagerly.

With that, a jack in the box springs open, revealing a caricature of radio show personality Fred Allen, where he introduces the toy town hall—a play on Allen’s program “Town Hall Tonight.” He introduces the first stars of the night—the marching toy soldiers from Beauty and the Beast. A mini parade takes over the bedroom, with caricatures such as Eddie Cantor and Rudy Vallee riding along on toy horses.

Probably the most amusing part of the cartoon: as Allen introduces the next act, a little girl croons “MR. ALLEN! Ooooh, MR. ALLEN!” She gives him a smitten gaze as he pauses his introduction (with a great frown on his face), haughtily retorting “I’ll be switched. You here again?” instead of providing a proper response, the girl just coos “TALLY-HOOO!” and walks away, still looking at him all the way. Great comedic timing.

Regardless of the interruption, the next act is introduced. An elephant puts a spotlight on a curtain, also reused from Those Beautiful Dames, and we get a toy version of the Bing Crosby chicken from Let It Be Me singing, well, “Let It Be Me”, audio reused from the episode. I’m a lot more lenient on the reuses—of course I’d much prefer a cartoon that has original footage, but in the end it really depends on HOW the reuses are put together that determines the quality of the end product. It’s certainly one reuse after the other, but there (right now, anyway) are little breaks in between, which adds for some breathing room. Plus, an audience member in 1936 is not going to notice, and I try to adopt part of that attitude while watching these.

There is a brief cheering section, and Eddie Cantor repeats his production of “Merrily We Roll Along” from Billboard Frolics. Sonny applauds the number, and three men playing a violin with one continuous bow follow after Eddie, reused from The Merry Old Soul. The synchronization between animation and music is very well done. Elsewhere, a Rudy Vallee toy (recycled from The Lady in Red) performs his number. Speaking of, Fred Allen introduces the lady in red, and the little cockroach and her backup singers repeat the shtick from the same cartoon. 

I know these descriptions are shorter than usual, but I’ve already covered them in depth, and there’s not really much to say. The animation is decent, and the music is certainly good, but it’s far from exciting. I also say that as someone who has seen these shorts before, so I have my biases. What IS new is Sonny in his crib, giddily shaking a pair of maracas for the beat of the music.

A nice little touch is a balloon blowing itself up with the aid of a gas valve (perfectly placed in a toddler’s bedroom, who could turn the knob at any time mistaking it for a toy) and placing a flute up to the opening at the top of its head, piping to the music. The lady in red flirts with the balloon, batting her eyelashes at him, and he instantly deflated with a sheepish grin.

More applause from the toys and Sonny. However, a box on the foot of Sonny’s bed begins to writhe and bounce, and sonny turns his attention towards the box. Inside is a much more colorful, polka-dotted version of Peter Rabbit from My Green Fedora. He gives the iconic Joe Penner laugh, launching into “My Green Fedora” (animation reused, vocals new and sounding even more like Owl Jolson), with Sonny also responding in the Joe Penner laugh. The song number concludes, just in time for a mechanical toy band (a bunch of jazz players in blackface, of course. *eyeroll* The concept isn’t original, but I believe the animation is new.) All of the toys dance along to the jaunty beat of the music, which is pretty catchy.

Sonny’s elephant clock ticks on, the hands on the face of the clock making rapid full rotations. Pan back across the floor, with only ticking breaking the silence as all the previously active toys are now back in their places, unmoving. Sonny’s asleep in his bed, but not for long: the sun rises, and his mother calls “Wake up, Sonny! Wake up, Sonny, it’s time for breakfast!” Sonny frowns and retorts “Alright, alright!”, grabbing a mallet and angrily smacking the bars of his crib as we iris out.

I’m curious as to what constituted all the retakes. Of course, this is still the Depression era, and if you have a way to save money, why wouldn’t you? But we haven’t seen such a heavy concentration of recycled animation in at least a year or two. I’m wondering if Friz went over budget with a previous short, or if Jack King’s leave and Frank Tashlin debut caused brief pandemonium as directors were switching around, units being established. 

Regardless, it’s not a bad short—there have been much sloppier compilations of reuses. The animation was decent, and the music good, and voice acting entertaining, but it certainly isn’t anything to write home about. Unfortunately, this cartoon is more boring than anything, but it’s not bad, either. It wouldn’t kill you to skip.

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