99. Buddy's Pony Express (1935)

Release date: March 9th, 1935

Series: Looney Tunes

Director: Ben Hardaway

Starring: Billy Bletcher (Villain, Barfly), Jackie Morrow (Buddy), Berneice Hansell (Cookie)

Though this is the 99th cartoon, this is my 100th review and I just wanted to thank you! This has been very exciting and fun for me, and I hope that I’ve been able to educate, inform, and entertain you. These cartoons aren’t masterpieces, but we’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly—which we will continue to see all of those. Thank you for your support and motivation! In terms of synopsis: Buddy competes against a fierce competitor with tricks up his sleeve.

A quiet, sleepy town in the old west. Or not. Bullets fly and bodies roll, an undertaker even taking in a body that rolls right into his stretcher. How morbid! Two men clinging to telephone poles shoot at each other, hitting the poles which each shrink in size as the shootout ensues. They meet in the streets, a big dog vs a little dog. The big dog plugs the little dog’s gun in his own gun, shooting him upwards with ease. The little dog comes crashing to the ground, taking the big dog with him. Two men bury the men in the hole with the excess dirt they left behind.

Elsewhere, Buddy is tinkering away at a piano inside a saloon. Now he’s REALLY under his final redesign. I like it a lot, I think it’s the most fitting and appealing. His stool takes a life of its own, dancing along to the music. Meanwhile, a dog orders a glass of whiskey, drinking its contents and convulsing. Nothing like a good whiskey to make you writhe on the floor.

Cookie makes her appearance in another one of her waitress roles, singing an original song titled “Oklahoma Cowboy Joe”. Some intermittent shots of Buddy playing the piano while she sings, including him being a ham and playing with his feet. A tiny cowboy enters the saloon and shoots a few warning shots, Cookie singing that his guns are empty and that it’s just for fun—makes me feel very safe. Another man shoots him right in the head, his head exploding... revealed to be Buddy in disguise. The gag is certainly incomprehensible but amusingly so, especially when an oil lamp falls on Buddy’s head.

All of the sudden, a cowboy skates inside on his spurs and posts a flyer, shooting bullets to hold it in place. Immediately the gaggle of cowboys in the saloon gather round to read the news. The flyer advertises a pony express race at 2:30, a mail contract awarded to the winner. Buddy and Cookie read it once the crowd disperses, Buddy eager to enter. He shows off his horse to Cookie, the horse whinnying happily. The villain of the cartoon pokes his head around the corner to eavesdrop, overhearing Buddy boast “He’s the fastest in the county!” 

Buddy pulls out his pocket watch and excuses himself to get ready for the big race, telling Cookie that he’ll see her there. Outside, the villain takes the horse off its post and kidnaps it, giving a Billy Bletcher evil laugh for good measure. He makes off towards an abandoned glue factory, where his OWN horse is waiting. It’s practically a shell, the villain shooting off a vulture perched on top of the poor thing. To restore it back to its former glory, he stuffs a balloon in the horse’s stomach and attaches a pump inside, blowing it up to size. He draws two dots on the eyelids of the comatose horse, who stares at him wearily before becoming a vegetable once more.

Satisfied with his work, the villain takes his own decrepit horse to the post outside the saloon, passing it off as Buddy’s horse. Buddy dresses up in his cowboy garb, bouncing out the window and onto his fake horse, which takes off for the race.

The horse zigzags to the starting line—not bad for such a weak horse. Cookie bids Buddy good luck, to which he confidently replies “It’s a cinch!” the villain doesn’t think so, laughing him off.

Some nice visuals as a man fires his starting pistol to signal the start of the race. He’s perched on a grazing horse, the force of the shot propelling him downwards and back up, the horse’s body reverberating in rubber hose goodness. The runners are off, an array of spot gags including a Native American riding inside a teepee, a man hobbling on crutches, a man riding after a dog...

The man riding after a dog faces some trouble once the dog spots a rabbit. The dog stretches itself through many rabbit holes, the rabbit mocking the twisted up dog. Sounds familiar!

Meanwhile, Buddy and the villain are next and neck. The villain plays his dirty tricks, if stealing Buddy’s horse wasn’t enough. He yanks the tail of Buddy’s horse back, sending him flying. Once more does buddy surge ahead. This time, the villain yanks the horse’s tail and twirls him above his head, laughing as Buddy and his horse sit in a daze. He’s too busy laughing at the two to notice an upcoming cactus, getting knocked into it and twirling around.

Our chase continues to a cliff, some beautiful animation of the horse galloping along as buddy dangled by the reigns over the edge, the cliff rotating as they move along. Buddy twists around a tree, the villain passing. To prevent them from edging further, the villain shakes a bridge beneath Buddy, tossing him up in the air repeatedly. Buddy rides inside the bridge like a protective hamster wheel, chasing down the villain.

His makeshift protective wheel crashes against a rock, catapulting him over a cliff and dangling on a limb by his suspenders. The villain laughs, tossing a boulder down at the branch to finish him off. Harsh! Of course, the boulder bounces off the branch and knocks the villain, amusing animation as he tugs at the grass for support like a carpet. He and the horses topple over the edge and crash into Buddy, all four plummeting to uncertain doom.

The entire landscape is riddled with mud puddles. Cookie cheers Buddy on from the finish line as the rivalry approaches, both sliding into mud puddles. Thankfully, our hero buddy pops out of a puddle across the finish line, the villain left to lie in the rain. Buddy and cookie kiss... a horse, that is. Buddy’s horse pops up between the two and blushes at the unprecedented display of affection, iris out.

Not a very captivating cartoon. There were some lovely visual gags and pieces of animation: the guy shooting his pistol and propelling off his horse, Buddy barely holding onto his horse as it scales the mountain, the villain clutching the grass like a rug and pulling it, but it just felt not memorable at all. I found myself zoning out a lot on this one, so overall I'd skip it. Not the worst, but not much of anything. Just another unmemorable cartoon.

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