Release date: November 17th, 1934
Series: Looney Tunes
Director: Ben Hardaway
Starring: Jack Carr (Buddy), Jane Withers (Cookie), Billy Bletcher (King, Cop), Jackie Morrow (Joe Penner), The Singing Guardsmen (Chorus)
Ahhh, a promising start, right? Anything telling you that Buddy is on an adventure means it is just going to be CHOCK FULL of action packed fun! Actually, the buddy cartoons WOULD take more of an adventurer turn, a trend adopted by some of the Porky cartoons. In an ill-fated hot air balloon ride, Buddy and Cookie end up in “Sourtown”, where the residents aren’t nearly as open to accepting Buddy’s optimism.
A good start to the cartoon: Buddy dumping sand bags off an ascending hot air balloon, accompanied by an anxious Cookie. Buddy has gotten his final redesign—I like it a lot! I think it looks much better than his Earl Duvall version. He appears much more likable and cute. Cookie’s also gotten another redesign, both reverting to their Tom Palmer roots in a way.
Buddy exercises his genius by remarking “Look, Cookie! In a few minutes we’ll be on Mars!” Cookie laments “You and your dirty inventions, I wish I hadn’t come along! I’m afraid!” Initially, I didn’t think much of the opening. I laughed at the ridiculousness of Buddy suggesting they’ll go to Mars—but now that I think about it, it’s a good opening. Opening right in the middle of some “action”, establishing some personality. Buddy makes inventions and has dreams of exploring, unflappable optimism benefitting him and him only. I think that’s cute! Maybe I’m just desperate for any shred of personality in these darn characters.
Buddy laughs in dismissal, saying “What’s there to be afraid of?” A lightning crack and boom of thunder put him in his place as he sinks in the basket, laughing sheepishly “Must’ve been something I ate.” I think this is the most we’ve ever heard Buddy talk in a cartoon. Well, maybe not, but some cartoons he only says one word! It’s refreshing.
Anthropomorphic storm clouds further put an end to Buddy’s optimism, a cloud blowing the balloon around and another boxing it like a punching bag. There’s a strange scene as the surroundings around Buddy and Cookie melt, like a dream sequence.
Some snake storm clouds spit lightning at the balloon, snapping the lines to the balloon. Buddy and Cookie tumble in the air, the falling basket thankfully scooping them to relative safety. The basket slides across a few cliffs like a sled, and the couple skids past a sign that reads “TO LEMONIA — THE SOUR DOMAIN”. They narrowly skid under a bird who laughs as they whiz by... quickly eating his guffaws as an anchor hooks on the bird’s foot and drags it along.
An anthropomorphic castle swallows up Buddy and Cookie as they slide into their new domain, the sled breaking against a sign. Buddy’s optimism is endearingly amusing as he announces “...Well, here we are!”, refuted with a “Alright, buddy, where are we??” from Cookie. A sign welcoming them to SOURTOWN answers Cookie’s inquiry. Rules include: NO LAUGHING, NO SINGING, NO DANCING, and NO JAZZ MUSIC. The past 91 cartoons broke down to their bare essentials!
Of course, Buddy laughs off the arbitrary rules, already setting himself up for danger. Cookie scowls at him and points offscreen—a great gag of Laurel and Hardy in stocks, imprisoned for smiling and laughing respectively, laurel sniveling incomprehensibly.
Nevertheless, Buddy is undeterred as he leads Cookie through the town, the two of them pausing to watch a trio of men saunter through the streets, accompanied by furtive music. The men gather in front of “YE PESSIMISTS CLUB” and drink some vinegar, just to show us how really sour they are. It’s certainly coy but amusing. They sing about how they never laugh or smile, life just a bowl of lemons. I thought one of the laws was no singing, and yet they’re singing about how they hate singing?
Good hearted Buddy interrupts their groveling, correcting in a sing song voice “Pardon me, but you’re all wrong. Life is much more cheerful! That’s no way to sing a song, listen and get an earful!” He grabs the spare mandolin one of the curmudgeons had been using and sings a song of his own. Buddy is still pretty bland, but this is the most personality we’ve seen yet, and I enjoy it! I love my optimistic characters, so maybe that’s it. Various animals and plants scat along with Buddy, an angry woman closing her shutters and silencing any form of singing from the wildlife.
An amusing gag as a police officer takes off his hat and peers inside, a note reminding him that the laws include no dancing and no singing. Hard to remember, ain’t it? He approaches Buddy and Cookie, the pessimists scramming at the sight of the cop. He tells him that they’re headed for the “sour pen”... That’s a new one! He rides away on his scooter, Buddy and Cookie shanghaied in a little box behind him.
We finally meet the king of Sourtown, a man who sequences lemons on his head and drinks the juice. A beverage fit for a crabby king! I love how asinine this entire cartoon is. It reminds me not even of Disney, but like a pseudo Willy Wonka setting. It’s nice that we actually have some story structure and plot, and that Buddy and Cookie converse with each other as have a sliver of personality to them.
The king spots Buddy and Cookie, insisting they’ll “be sentenced to the spanking hand.” sure enough, YE OLDE SPANKING MACHINE awaits. Absurdly strange, but good! I suppose. This isn’t phenomenal, or great, even, but it’s a refreshing change from the monotony we’ve been seeing as of late. Cookie asks “What do we do?”, to which Buddy whispers back “Leave it to me!” and whips out a harmonica from his pocket.
Highly amusing to watch Buddy blare the harmonica in the king’s face, running around to all sides of him and making sure to get up in his business. Buddy is delightfully annoying, on purpose this time. Cookie dances to the harmonica music as a line of knights observe, the king exerting every effort not to succumb.
Gradually, various knights themselves become inflicted with the jitterbug, one of the knights using a leg from a suit of armor as a saxophone. The king’s beard dances, as do his legs snapping together... Finally, he admits defeat, declaring “It’s got me, pal! It’s got me!”
Cookie conducts the knights, who join in on a chorus, and the whole town becomes enthralled with the power of music! The king shows off his slick moves, animation jaunty and appealing. He even slips off the rug and lands straight into YE OLDE SPANKING MACHINE, breaking into a fit of hysterics. Back to Buddy and Cookie, who are sitting on the king’s throne, cookie sporting buddy’s hat. Iris out as the two of them embrace.
With every review, I watch the cartoons twice. Once for the initial reaction, and once when I’m going back and typing the whole shebang. First watch, I didn’t like it very much at all. I thought it was boring and coy, the ending where they all dance being the true highlight. But thank god for the second watch—this is now one of my favorite Buddy cartoons, if not favorite. It’s not a fantastic cartoon by any means, it still leaves a lot to be desired, but it also fills SOME holes. Buddy’s design is much more tolerable, boyish and cute. His optimism, albeit pretty one-dimensional, is very uplifting and endearing. The absurdity of the whole cartoon was very refreshing, and I’m glad we actually had some plot this time. It felt like a very subtle, subdued, distant relative to Porky in Wackyland. It was an enjoyable cartoon, and I recommend it! It still isn’t perfect, the first half dragged on for quite awhile, but it actually stands out as a cartoon I can recognize and look back on in future reviews. The 1934 season has seldom been memorable.
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