65. We're in the Money (1933)

Release date: August 26th, 1933

Series: Merrie Melodies

Director: Rudolf Ising

Starring: Johnny Murray (Soldier), Marcellite Garner (Girl), The King's Men (Chorus), Ken Darby (Bass)

The final Merrie Melody and final cartoon by Harman and Ising at Warner Bros! I’ve mentioned it before, but they left because of budget disputes with Leon Schlesinger, who was notoriously cheap and the reason why Looney Tunes shorts didn’t go into color until 1942. They headed to Van Beuren studios and produced a few Cubby Bear cartoons, but contract issues rose and they left for MGM. They kept their cartoons and released them in the 40s. They also brought bosko with them over to mgm and made a few cartoons as a part of the Happy Harmonies series, but were let go in 1937 after running over budget. The two would separate in 1942 when Rudolf Ising went into the military, but reunited in 1951 and kept making cartoons up to the '60s. Anyway, not much to describe plot wise here—a bunch of toys come to life at night and sing “We're in the Money”.

It’s night, and the department store is barren as we watch an old man lock up shop and shuffle around. 

This is a great setup, very moody and immersive as we get an inside view of the toys. It’s like we’re one of them, waiting for the watchman to leave. He eventually does, and a toy soldier shouts “WHOOPEE!” with glee as he darts away, climbing up some toy blocks and sliding down a violin, urging the others to join him.

Overjoyed at their brief session of freedom for the night, the toys waste no time in following. A little bead toy repeatedly jumps on a bulb connected to a toy dog, making the dog bark with each jump.

In an unspoken cue, all of the toys assemble around various musical instruments. Here comes the song portion! Sure enough, they launch into an instrumental version of “We're in the Money” while the toy soldier conducts them. Gags featured are a clown playing the keys of an accordion while two dolls push and pull and a toy soldier using an air pump to blow into a trombone while the other soldier slides it.

A doll sings “We're in the Money” in a gratingly high voice, and then there is a funny gag where she sings into a tuba, a deep, rolling bass substituting her falsetto.

All the clothes begin to dance: mannequins, hats, shoes playing jump rope with shoe strings... The toy soldier conductor jumps on the cash register and opens it up, and a few coins sing “We are the money”. Gloves and clothes alike applaud the performance.

Elsewhere, a little doll gets herself all dolled up with some jewelry. She puffs out her chest and places a hat on her head, sauntering over to a mannequin. She croons “Hello there, dark ‘n handsome. Why don’t you come up sometime?” The mannequins applaud her Mae West impression while another bead man toy plays “We're in the Money” on the xylophone.

The Charlie Chaplin-esque mannequin from A Great Big Bunch of You makes another appearance as he dances to the music and wheels down the stairs. Love the animation! Again, stair scenes always have my respect. He leaps off of an armchair and wheels himself over to a three way mirror, where he and his reflective counterparts give a lovely barbershop rendition of “We're in the Money”. There’s a segment where pajamas dance along to the music and tap their butt flaps against hat boxes to the beat of the movement.

After more wheeling around and dancing, the mannequin makes his way over to a piano, or two, or five, or ten. He slides past an array of pianos, playing them all perfectly (only pausing to use a few hat mannequins as drums, including caricatures of Laurel and Hardy). He snags a trombone and plays a brassy, fun solo while the remaining mannequins around him give one last chorus.

Caught up in the spectacle, the mannequin crashes right into a shelf full of hat boxes. He pops his head up from the sea of cardboard, giving a few last wimpy, tired notes on the trombone as we iris out.

Well, that’s that for Harman and Ising! I think it’s very fitting that their last cartoon at WB is about money, especially since they left over budget disputes. It’s like a last goodbye—see ya! We’re off to bigger and better things! This was a very fun Merrie Melody. Not much plot whatsoever, but it was very upbeat, happy, and energetic. The gags didn’t really stand out to me, they just felt more... present than anything. It’s obvious the focus was on the music. Even after all these years of great cartoons, You Don’t Know What You’re Doin! is still my favorite Merrie Melody, and possibly my favorite cartoon in the Harman and Ising period! I really like Young and Healthy, too. It gets stuck in my head constantly. Overall, this cartoon isn’t the cartoon to end all cartoons, there are certainly funnier and more intriguing cartoons made by Harman and Ising, but it’s far from the worst. I think it serves well as a good farewell. I’d recommend it, just because it’s happy to watch and listen to! 

Link! 

My next review will be a biggie: the day Warner Bros. turned on its axis, and why a little buddy of ours is responsible for Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, you name it.