146. Don’t Look Now (1936)

Release date: November 7th, 1936

Series: Merrie Melodies

Director: Tex Avery

Starring: Tex Avery (Preacher), Berneice Hansell (Cathleen, Bear Cubs), Timmy Bond (Devil, Cupid, Cuckoo Bird), Martha Wentworth (woman woodpecker), Billy Bletcher (Devil Cuckoo Bird), Shirley Reed (Tortoise, Skunk)

The first of quite a few cartoons where Tex Avery has supplied his own voice. The only other directors I can think of who have done voices in cartoons are Bob Clampett, Rudy Ising and Cal Howard, but I’m sure there are others. Regardless—it’s Valentine’s Day, and Cupid is itching to do some matchmaking. But, as Isaac Newton taught us, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In this case, a little devil is the opposite reaction, ready to break some hearts.

It’s Valentine’s Day, as indicated by a valentine card popping up on the screen reading “Will you be my valentine?” Fade to a beautiful layout of Dan Cupid’s humble abode, a fittingly heart shaped home, mailbox... even the butterflies flittering about have noticeably heart shaped wings. The interior is no different than the exterior: Cupid’s asleep in his heart shaped bed, when a heart shaped cuckoo bird pops out of a heart shaped cuckoo clock, calling “Time’s a-wastin’!” 

Cupid wakes up in an instant and bounds over to his exposed shower, quickly dousing himself one water and toweling off. He pulls his arrow holder out from the umbrella stand, tearing off a page of the calendar. “Well! St. Valentine’s day! My big day!” A cute and clever visual as Cupid heads outside, right to his garden, where rows of arrows sprout up from the soil. Cupid grabs his lawn mower and makes his way across the field, the arrows neatly piling into his holster over his head.

A good bit of personality is exuded as Cupid prepares for the big day with some target practice. First, he shoves a pile of playing cards inside a toaster. He pulls the lever down with his foot, and as he engages in his airborne game of 52 pickup, he shoots numerous arrows at the cards, pinning them all against a tree in the shape of a heart, with an ace of hearts right in the middle. To further display some naïve pride (bordering cockiness), Cupid fires an arrow through a hole in the tree, the arrow curving and returning to him through a hollow log. Placing an apple on his head in the meantime, Cupid still manages to hit his target successfully. And for good measure, he engages in a quick round of a duck shooting carnival game. He pings all of his wooden ducks down in an instant, save for one, who panics and attempts to flee the arrow. Nevertheless, he too gets hit. An amusing gag with a good balance of cute and funny. Satisfied, Cupid embarks, leaving a sign on his front gate that reads GONE HUNTING.

Meanwhile, we have a very clever parallel with a strong sense of juxtaposition. Now focus on a little devil cherub, whose house is almost exactly like Cupid’s, though adorned with foreboding, “evil” furniture, including an asbestos pillow. His cuckoo clock, a boiler, opens up to reveal a Billy Bletcher voiced bird who announces “Crime marches on!” 

The devil awakens and hops out of his bed, which is actually one giant frying pan (or burner, or grill, or whatever you want to call it.) He too takes a shower, bathing in the cool, refreshing red hot flames pouring out of the shower head. Already the parallels are humorous and clever, heightened by how obvious they are. The devil repeats the same calendar shtick as cupid, declaring “Well! St. Valentine’s day! My big day!” 

Outside, the devil’s mood isn’t nearly as cheery as Cupid. He scoffs at the audience, kicking a line of cans with malice as he trudges along. “Aw, this valentine day gag is the bomb! Love, kisses, sweethearts, sissy stuff!” 

Regardless of opinion on the holiday, it’s undeniable that love is in the air, as displayed by two flirtatious turtles, the guy begging for the girl’s affection. Thankfully, Cupid is just around the corner. Cupid launches into “Don’t Look Now”, detailing about how happy lovebirds will be once struck with his fated arrows. 

While the doting turtle is in the midst of a Maurice Chevalier impression, his girl gets struck by Cupid’s arrow, and suddenly reciprocates his feelings, literally diving into the frontside of the turtle’s shell. Smooth and highly amusing animation as the two turtles swing around together in one turtle shell envelope, picking up the lyrics. The two lovebirds walk side by side in the shell, both going inside and popping out the other end, now walking on their hands, their heads sticking out where their tail(s) should be and their legs where the head(s) should be. Very smooth and subtle animation. I’m not too great with my animator indemnifications this early, but i’d guess Chuck Jones animated this scene, seeing how fluid it is.

Jolly little Cupid sings a few more bars, when the devil joins in, ready to spread his own love. Two yokel bears bashfully dote on a log, ripe for the devil’s picking. The male bear (named Egbert), voiced by Tex Avery, guffaws “Will ya—gosh, huh huh, will ya—“, interrupted by Berneice Hansell’s squeaky voice urging him to go on. Just in time for the devil to swoop in, whispering in the girl’s ear: “Will ya go sit on a tack, ya old horse face?”

It seems there was either a cut made here, or just a startlingly awkward transition as we jump cut to the devil laughing, the woman and the log out of screen. “I’ve got something here that’ll fix these lovesick mugs! Take a gander at this!” The devil takes off his bowler hat and shows off the inside contents: blonde hairs, lipstick, bobby pins, and even a garter, all tucked away in little pouches pinned inside the hat. Delightfully scandalous and just a great premise in general.

Elsewhere, a woodpecker knocks on the door of a quaint little tree home (with his beak, of course.) Out steps a lady woodpecker (presumably his wife), to which the husband holds up a card, nudging his sweetie. “Hey, how do ya like to be my valentine, kiddo?” “Do ya mean it?” “Yes, I mean it!” the wife looks at the audience. “Should I tell him?” 

Just then, the devil pops up behind the man’s shoulder, gingerly placing a strand of blonde hair on his coat. The giant, oval shaped eyes of the devil give this scene away as Bob Clampett animation. The lovebirds embrace... but not for long. The wife takes note of the hair and grows rightfully furious, throwing a barrage of pots and pans at her double crossing husband. Cupid happens to be strolling by, noticing the clamor. A simple fire of the arrow and the wife is back to her loving self, both woodpeckers happily kissing as they repeatedly peck each others beaks with hilarious speeds (and great jackhammer sound effects), so powerful that both of their beaks become bent and crumpled.

Cupid’s next victim is a forlorn skunk, moping on a tree trunk. Cupid pings her with his arrow, and in no time the little skunk is as giddy as ever. She saunters up to the local stand selling valentines, cooing “Hello boys!” In an instant, the crowd disperses, leaving the poor skunk all to herself. Tex would base a whole cartoon on the unsuccessful love lives of skunks with his short Lil ‘Tinker at MGM in 1948. To gain the affections of the girls, ‘Tinker puts on his best frank sinatra impression, and the bobbysoxers swarm in droves.

Back to Egbert, the hayseed bear who desperately attempts to woo back his snooty girlfriend cathleen, strutting by with her nose in the air while he insist she’s got him in the wrong. Cupid comes to the rescue once more, pinging both bears with his arrows. Timing is hilariously succinct as they both pause a beat, dumbfounded, and then instantly exclaim “LET’S GET MARRIED!” With that, they rush away to prepare for the big celebration.

After a time card that simply states “So—“, Egbert strolls up to the front door of Cathleen’s house, now donning a snazzy suit. He knocks on the door. “Are ya ready, sweetie?” “Just a minute!” 

Cathleen may not be ready, but the devil sure is. He goes full out, tossing hairs, garters, bobby pins, lipstick marks, you name it. Cathleen opens the door, sporting her wedding dress, when she finds her husband to be decked in every scandalous clue imaginable. A closeup reveals even more dirty yet fantastic details: panty hose, burlesque tickets, a phone number, a garter, and a face covered in lipstick. The entire situation is amplified in humor as Egbert is completely unaware of his appearance. Cathleen prepares to wallop Egbert over the head with her bouquet, but another arrow from an offscreen Cupid sends her down on Egbert instead, practically sucking his face off.

The devil is absolutely fed up with Cupid’s meddling. “Aw, hey, what’s the gag of ruining my fun!? Ya sissy!” He Three Stooges (I’m coining that as a verb now) Cupid, poking him in the eyes and slapping him silly, picking him up above his head and twirling him around before slamming him to the ground and sitting on top, pulling Cupid’s leg as he cries out in pain. In retaliation, Cupid fashions the devil’s tail like an arrow, shooting him with his bow and sending the devil flying into a tree, who curses at Cupid incomprehensibly. His work now done, Cupid leaves the devil to his miserable, temperamental self.

Wedding bells are ringing in the chapel as Egbert and Cathleen march into the church, surrounded by a doting crowd. Just as they stroll down the aisle, the devil is finally able to dislodge his tail from the tree, ready to spark mischief. He approaches two kids outside of the church, bribing them each with lollipops. “Okey dokey. Now, here’s your candy. All you gotta do is go in the church and say...” 

We cut to the inside of the church before getting the full gist of the devil’s bribe, which is a lovely choice in set up. The officiator is asking the audience for any objections, while egbert shakes terribly, his legs knocking together in panic. Even the organ is silent. No objections. Content, Egbert and Cathleen exchange warm smiles, going in for the kiss, when...

“Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” The two little bear cubs from before bound into the church, jumping right into a befuddled Egbert’s arms. All bets are off on the wedding as Cathleen storms out, dismissively throwing the bouquet in Egbert’s face. A lovely detail as he still attempts to catch it hopelessly. The devil is absolutely thrilled, laughing in hysterics at his best job yet.

Unfortunately, he’s finally beat by his nemesis: Cupid fires an arrow at the devil, and he too is struck with the love bug, his sour demeanor now replaced as he giddily floats along, grinning in a giant self parody of himself. What I love about Tex’s cartoons is that everything feels like a parody of itself. It’s one extreme or the other.

For the final time, Cathleen is zinged again with Cupid’s arrow, and she rushes back to Egbert, kissing him and dragging him back in the church. Activities are resumed as normal, the officiator going on like before. “I now pronounce you... uh oh.” 

He dives into a nearby pew, everyone turning their heads to see what the matter is. No time is wasted as everyone else takes cover, too. Now donning a top hat and bib, the devil strolls down the aisle with the little lonely skunk from before. Iris out.

A very entertaining cartoon that takes a little while to get momentum, but once it’s there it’s certainly there. It’s not too often you find a Valentine’s Day cartoon at Warner’s. This certainly is a non traditional take, and a very good one at that. The scandalous humor was the best part of the short, whether it be the devil decking out egbert in garters and blonde hairs, or convincing two little kids to shout “Daddy! Daddy!” in the church. While the beginning was a bit slow, the parallels make up for it, and at least contribute some added interest. In all, a cartoon that’s worth watching, especially for the second half.

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