Release date: December 12th, 1932
Series: Merrie Melodies
Director: Rudolf Ising
Starring: The King's Men (Three Musketeers, Southern Singers), Ken Darby (Uncle Tom), Rudy Ising (Hyde), Johnny Murray (Title Singer)
Well, this officially starts the beginning of the “books come to life” series. Frank Tashlin and Bob Clampett would take their own spin on the genre, with Tashlin’s Speaking of the Weather, Have You Got Any Castles?, and You’re an Education, and Clampett’s A Coy Decoy and Book Revue. Here, Alice from Alice in Wonderland comes to life and celebrates with various book characters, but a kidnapping may put her life in jeopardy.
The set-up is very similar to the opening of Red-Headed Baby (even reusing some of the animation). A man is curled up by the fire, engrossed in a good book, when the clock chimes. He goes to bed and puts his book down on the chair, saving his spot for tomorrow.
Out pops inquisitive little Alice from Alice in Wonderland. I love her design! Obviously, this was before Disney’s adaptation ofAlice in Wonderland, so it’s exciting to see something different for a change. She’s cute and also ugly at the same time. I love the mischievous energy she carries! She climbs her way onto the table and fiddles with a radio dial until finally settling in for some music, the title song “Three's a Crowd”.
The music entices Alice’s fellow book dwelling friends. Cast from Robinson Crusoe (including a stereotypical blackface caricature of Friday) pop their heads out to scat a few bars, and even Rip van Winkle takes notice.
The three musketeers get their own solo as they sing in dance. I love the juxtaposition between the calm, serene opening and the upbeat singing and dancing of the book characters. Their skit receives warm applause—even Henry VIII gives his approval.
Antony from Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra steps out from his respective book and declares “Ladies and gentlemen, lend your ears to The Old Maestro” as he gives the floor to Emperor Nero. I had wondered previously if The Old Maestro was a '30s pop culture reference of some sort, and it turns out it is! Jazz violinist Ben Bernie was often referred to as such on his radio shows.
Next is a dancing sequence with Cleopatra. The animation is pretty good, but also a bit jarring with how realistic it seems. I’m guessing this scene was rotoscoped? That or the animator was really focused on capturing it just right. Nevertheless, it’s intriguing to watch.
After meandering past “the specialist”, Alice summons Uncle Tom from “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” to come out and dance. Yes, you guessed it, more blackface stereotyping. It makes for an awkward watch as he sings “Got the South in my Soul”. The music is good as always, but hard to appreciate fully.
While a beautiful chorus of voices sing the song, pan to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Mr. Hyde pokes his head up from behind a skull—would you look at that design! I love every last grotesque inch of his body! The disturbing hairy hands and the big teeth, the nose, the eyebrows... It’s great, especially for a Harman-Ising cartoon, where the humans are relatively cookie cutter in their designs! Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde would serve as a popular reference point for many a Looney Tunes short in later years.
We haven’t had a kidnapping in a few cartoons, we’re long overdue! Hyde snatches Alice away and runs off, ignoring her pleas for help. Tarzan swings down a few ropes and corners Hyde, who runs the other way. He’s greeted by a spray of ink to the face courtesy of Robinson Crusoe and Friday. Alice is freed and she darts away, but why stop the fun now?
Cast from Cleopatra blow a pipe beneath Hyde, setting him on fire—another trope I’m recognizing as a favorite of Harman and Ising. Elsewhere, Robin Hood fires matchsticks at Hyde with his handy bow.
This is so creative, I can’t get enough of it! The three musketeers load fountain pen points into a pencil sharpener, which in turn fires at Hyde like a machine gun. Mr. Hyde attempts to dart the bullets, landing in a box for safety. The box is closed as various book characters carry it like a coffin, and dump it into a trashcan. Iris out on the celebration.
An exciting first entry to the books genre of cartoons! There are parts of A Coy Decoy that I really enjoy, and Book Revue is one of my favorite cartoons ever. So it’s safe to say I enjoy this genre! This cartoon was nice and upbeat, a great contrast with the mellow beginning. I loved that caricature of Mr. Hyde! Good casting on that one, too. Though speaking of caricatures, as always, the blackface caricatures of Friday and Uncle Tom really put me off. They aren’t there for too long—well, Friday, anyway. Uncle Tom gets his own song that’s very catchy, but his appearance just depresses me, and I know the stereotypes will continue to grow more and more ugly and grotesque as time goes on. It isn’t a predominant factor in the cartoon, and thus you can still get some enjoyment out of it (especially with that entire Mr. Hyde sequence at the end, I loved it!), but, as always, it constitutes addressing. Nevertheless, it’s a cute cartoon that I’d recommend, but there will be better entries to this genre as time goes on. And obviously, heed caution at the stereotypes if you do decide to watch it.
No comments:
Post a Comment