Release date: June 30th, 1934
Series: Merrie Melodies
Director: Friz Freleng
Starring: The Varsity Three (Chorus), Purv Pullen (Dopey Singer)
A string of Merrie Melodies, specifically Friz directed Merrie Melodies, will dominate the next few posts until #87’s Buddy the Detective, so get ready! Here, we have a take on the classic story of rip van winkle.
A lovely opening of a serene, tranquil town. The trees are hearty with their leaves, flowers amuck, butterflies flitting about, all is well. A promising sight. But you should know by now that this is no Disney cartoon—a closeup on a little cottage, the serenity of the atmosphere disturbed by fighting and a clamor. A man darts out of his house as pots and pans ricochet off him, his loyal dog right behind him.
An angry wife armed with a broom marches to the doorway, yelling in a high, sped up voice. It’s clear that she doesn’t want anything to do with her husband OR his dog. She slams the door, the shutters of the windows and the knocker on the door falling to the ground.
No wonder: we see a sign labeled MRS. & MR. RIP VAN WINKLE. RVW shrugs at his dog, an extra pot thrown offscreen at his head for good luck. Figuring he won’t be back anytime soon, RVW crosses off the MR with some paint. Relatively unscathed, he and his dog trek to the unknown, away from the toxic environment—the dog running back to the house to give the wife one last raspberry. Considering all of the onscreen credits (save for Norman Spencer doing the music) are alumni from Harman and Ising’s unit, it’s only proper to have the trademark raspberry!
On his merry way, RVW sings a happy tune (not the title song), his dog happily bouncing behind him. A line of children also join in the makeshift parade, as does a hen. The hen lays an egg and hatches a chick, who merrily hops along, animation reused from Buddy and Towser. RVW bids farewell to his mini fanbase as he journeys to unknown territory.
“Unknown territory” is a relaxing creek. RVW adapts quite easily, attaching a mouse trap to a fishing line and leisurely fishing away. A fish approaches the trap, poking a stick to set it off. He eats the cheese and tugs on the line (bastard!) to trick RVW into thinking he got a bite. Man, the guy just got chewed out by his wife and he can’t fish in peace! Nevertheless, he begrudgingly hooks another piece of cheese and tries again.
I bet you the original Rip Van Winkle story didn’t have any wood gnomes, huh? The gnomes sing “Why Do I Dream Those Dreams”, dancing around in circles and pouring kegs of beer into each others mouths. Vocals beautiful as usual!
More Harman-Ising influence as one of the gnomes turns into a caricature of Rudy Vallee. I can’t find any information that says he sang the song, so an awfully random gag that loses its significance to the sands of time, but still amuses me nonetheless. The routine continues on, the gnomes dancing with their beards. This cartoon is decent so far, the scenes that are amusing are amusing, yet the scenes that drag on certainly drag on. As is the standard at this period, I suppose. Better things are coming, though!
The gnomes investigate RVW, who’s asleep as he waits for another fish to take his bait. As gnomes will do, they rifle through his belongings, laughing at a newspaper and playing with a pocket watch. RVW eventually wakes up when one of the gnomes fires his rifle, but not soon enough to catch his company. The gnomes all hide in their respective places.
He notices his surroundings—or, rather, the gnomes’ surroundings. Amused by the tiny kegs, RVW takes a hearty swig of alcohol. Everyone knows of the dangers of alcohol, including shrinking you down to the size of a gnome! RVW shrinks, his normally proportioned dog investigates, sniffing, licking an barking at him. Frightened, RVW seeks refuge on a grasshopper that he rides like a horse. The grasshopper bucks RVW off, right over a cliff. He just can’t catch a break!
Thankfully (or not), a spiderweb breaks his fall. Seeing as they’re made by SPIDERS, a menacing spider investigates his newfound prey, more homage to Harman and Ising as the spider uses one of his legs as a crank to lower himself down.
We fade out before the spider can cause any real harm to RVW, who wakes up as an old man! I don’t know about alcoholic gnomes, but THAT’S true to the story. He looks around for his dog, fearing the worst... but no! His dog happily reunites, joined by some friends: puppies! The puppies happily leap onto their new friend, running away to give RVW and his dog some alone time. Love me some innuendo—RVW knowingly and playfully scolds his dog, who blushes as we iris out.
Not the most enthralling cartoon, but not the worst, either. The cartoon’s major flaw felt that it dragged on for quite awhile, a rather slow pace with little plot or climax. However, as always, there are some pluses. The opening setup is fantastic, a peaceful scene interrupted by crashing and banging. The ending innuendo is also highly amusing, and music serves as a booster when scenes are dry. I probably won’t be rewatching this one, just because there isn’t anything too significant about it, so it won’t be a crime to skip. However, it wouldn’t be a dreadful watch, just average. Better stuff is ahead, though, and it’s always neat to reflect on how far these directors have come and how far animation has evolved as a whole.
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