72. Pettin' in the Park (1934)

Release date: January 27th, 1934

Series: Merrie Melodies

Director: Bernard Brown

Starring: The Rythmettes (Chorus), The Varsity Three (Chorus), Bernard Brown (Bird)

Sound designer Bernard Brown’s first directorial credit, and Bob Clampett’s first formal animation credit! Ironically, Clampett's Porky's Naughty Nephew would recycle a bulk of animation from this short a mere 4 years later. Here, we observe romance in a park, as well as a swimming race between a plethora of birds.

Two lovebirds (literally) are perched in a tree, flirting with each other. One bird attempts to snuggle up to his sweetheart, who pushes him away. To truly judge her love, the bird plucks a flower from the tree and plucks the petals, a silent rendition of “She Loves Me” occurring as he grins, grimaces, grins, grimaces, grins, grimaces... grins! Confident that she loves him, the bird embraces her once more to no protest. I love the acting without any dialogue, the unspoken message of “She loves me, she loves me not” clear as day. Elsewhere, a woodpecker drills a heart into a tree for its significant other and they kiss.

A police officer and a maid (what an odd couple!) are perched on a bench. The officer caves in and pecks her on the cheek, and there’s some great animation of the officer holding onto the bench, pushing himself up and down in unadulterated glee as the maid flushes. I’m probably saying this just because his name’s in the credits, but that definitely feels like some Bob Clampett animation to me, validated with of an upcoming scene with the two.

Birds perched on a branch launch into “Pettin' in the Park”, sung also by a baby in a stroller in a fitting bass voice. A fountain also gargles along to the song.

I’m enthralled with how out of place this is. Maybe on purpose? I hope? A penguin is chasing a butterfly through the park, snapping its beak and diving after it. The butterfly lands on the maid’s butt, which the penguin bites.

Here is where my Clampett hypothesis is justified. The maid thinks the cop was coming onto her and she smacks him—Clampett loved his innuendos! I don’t even know if this was him for certain, but it’s certainly on par with his sense of humor. The maid stalks off with her baby, leaving the cop in the dust. Even the baby blows a raspberry at the officer, albeit into its milk bottle.

A man in a car spots the maid and tips his hat to her. She eagerly crawls into his car (not a good idea!) and they hold hands while swaying along to the music. There’s a silhouette shot of them pecking a kiss.

We’ve some more animal lovebirds that make noise along to the song. Some owls, some kissing birds, even an ostrich and a bird.

The police officer is still pissed about being left in the dust, and marches over to the car where the maid is located, his penguin buddy waddling behind for support. The cop’s walk cycle is full of pep and character: a stereotypical flouncy, motivated march—very fun to watch. The cop pokes his head in the window of the car, and we see a silhouette of the other man in the car walloping him in the face before driving off.

Thus begins the second segment of the cartoon: the race segment. Various species of birds are crowded around a sign that advertises “ANNUAL WATER CARNIVAL, DIVING AND SWIMMING CONTEST, OPEN TO ALL CONTESTANTS”. I suppose “all contestants” means “all types of birds”—not a human in sight! A parrot is perched in a tree as the host as we view our lineup.

Various birds cheer on a swan, a family of ducks, what seems to be a crane, and an ostrich as they jump off the high dive, the crane landing in a trashcan and the ostrich landing in mud. Boy, we switched atmospheres and settings awfully fast, didn’t we? It’s kinda jarring. I wish we could have seen more of the cop, the charmer, and the maid. Sounds like a murder mystery, doesn’t it? I would’ve liked to see the cop chase after the car, maybe some more park related gags... I encourage unconventionality, and this second half is unconventional, but it feels rather random and out of place.

This is a great perspective. The parrot prepares to launch the starting cannon, while the penguin from the beginning dives off the top of the flagpole. He lands on top of the parrot, causing him to pull the string of the cannon and opening the ceremonies.

Some of these old cartoons come off as a string of gags instead of a spot gag cartoon—not one is truly spotlighted on for too long. This is one of those stringed together sequences. A pelican blows water from its beak, an ostrich running underwater, a rooster and its rowing team of chickens, a duck riding a bicycle underwater, the pelican from before using its beak as a motorboat, and so on. The animation isn’t bad at all, and the gags are mildly amusing within themselves, but nothing more. It feels very on par with the Bosko cartoons of 1931 and early 1932.

It seems the parrot and penguin are working together as a team, using a bathtub as a boat and an air pump as a motor. The penguin pumps while the parrot keeps watch.

They pass the chicken rowing team, who ride straight into a log, chances of winning squandered. Elsewhere, the duck on the bicycle is having trouble pedaling up and down those underwater hills and valleys. It sinks into an unknown abyss, rising to the surface in a bubble.

The penguin pumping the pump, causing fish to spew everywhere is a nice touch, especially with the pelican eating up all of the fish. A clock is also expelled into the air and into the pelican’s mouth, the clock bouncing around in the pouch. The animation isn’t as stretchy or exaggerated as it could be, but again, this is the depression and budgets are strict. An ostrich trips, getting stuck in a pair of drawers underwater. It comes out of nowhere, but not necessarily in a funny way. It feels too deliberate and not deliberate at all. The animation IS nice though as the drawers rise to the surface, ostrich struggling to kick its feet.

Our parrot penguin duo reach a mud spot, where the bathtub gets stuck. There are three goose behind them who get sprayed with mud as they pump: along with other everyday objects, such as a grid house, a girdle, and a boot.

Enraged, the ducks chase after the penguin. They run through a revolving gate and get their feathers cut—as well as their necks tied. Iris out as the penguin smiles with triumph.

I fell this cartoon had a lot of potential it didn’t live up to. I don’t think Bernard Brown directed many cartoons at all, if only a handful. I wonder why he directed this in the first place, seeing as he was a sound director? Not that he couldn’t do both jobs, but that’s something you don’t see everyday. The first half was much more entertaining than the second half, which felt like a transparent string of tired gags. They were amusing, sure, but nothing laugh out loud worthy. Instead of one cartoon, this feels like two jammed together in one to make up for lost time or ideas. It’s probably safe to skip it this time. I’ll still place the link though! 

Link! (Note: This review was originally written in January 2020. As of May 2021, a number of the cartoons I've covered have since been restored. As a result, the images in the review may be lower quality, whereas the link will cover the recently restored print. Not an issue, of course, but a little clarification never did any harm. Enjoy!)