I am going to do something productive with my time, by talking about cartoons.

I have decided that I wanted to put this blog part of my page to good use and what better way than use it to display my true love: animation. Starting today, I plan to select at random least four cartoons every week on Saturday and talk a bit about them. So below are four cartoons that were selected to be the openers for this idea. Some will be funny, some will be serious, and some will not appeal to a lot of people. Still, if one has about half an hour to spare, you couldn't do much better than watching these animated shorts.

Norman Normal - 1966

Back in the 1960’s the golden age of Hollywood was coming to an end (the decline began more or less in the fifties) and theatrical cartoons certainly suffered (some places such as MGM had actually stopped making cartoons) with lower budgets and time. This cartoon is one of the few bright spots. Created at Warner Bros. (but not released under the Merrie Melody or Looney Tunes [not Toons, people]), the story is simple, Everyman Norman Normal has trouble deciding whether he should go with the flow like everyone else or be an individual. Despite having a very sixties feel to it and being kind of pretentious, it’s still an interesting cartoon.

Balance - 1989

This is one most people have probably not seen before even if it won an Academy Award (not that I care about). Created by Wolfgang and Christopher Lauenstein, Balance is about five identical and nameless figures who stand on a single platform that will tip if any of them moves, forcing the rest to counterbalance it. This is fine until one of them fishes out a strange box. Balance says quite a bit how we need to place the group needs over individual ones and also about the price of human selfish without getting preachy (in fact there isn’t a single bit of dialogue expect for some music that comes from the box). It’s not perfect though; it’s a little slow (made more noticeable by the fact that it is dialogue less) and nothing differentiates the five figures (this is pretty much a requirement for the film’s point). But this stop-motion piece is one that I always come back to and still find enjoyment, particularly when I want something a little more serious.

The Greatest Man in Siam - 1944

Shamus Culhane is not a name well known outside animation circles (and to be honest I think inside of them he’s not well known either), but this man directed some of the most entertaining cartoons ever created (made more noticeable is the fact that he worked at the Lantz studio, which had even lower budgets than a lot of studios at the time and a really mediocre writer in the form of Ben “Bugs” Hardaway [this is the Bugs that gave the rabbit’s name]). This is one of them. Here the king of Siam (which apparently is located in the Middle East) decides to hold a contest to choose the greatest man in Siam (prize is his daughter’s hand in marriage). It’s not a very funny cartoon in terms of gags but it is a lively one filled with energetic music, distinct characters (they’re one dimensional but what would expect for something seven minutes long), and some really great color effects that make up the design (Art Heinemann used color cutouts for some the backgrounds). Admittedly, there’s also not a lot of depth to this picture but better shallow and fun than pretentious and dull.

Der Fuehrer’s Face - 1943

This cartoon holds a special place in my heart for many big reasons and one really huge one. This was the film that rejuvenated my interest in old cartoons, and so without it I would be an entirely different person as of today (for one, I wouldn’t be Bugs if it wasn’t for that and I wouldn't be here as well [that is up to you to decide if that's a good or bad thing]). That alone would give it a noticeable spot but this cartoon has plenty of virtues. For one it’s a well-balanced cartoon between the comical and the serious (it successfully mocks the Nazis while at the same time show them to be monsters). Because of that, one can both laugh at Donald and still feel sorry for him (Donald is more of any Everyman here in terms of personality). Two, it asserts the value of freedom but does so without being preachy (and for a piece of propaganda that’s rather impressive). It also has great animation (watch when Donald gets the jitters) and a really catchy song. Every time I’ve watched this animated short, I always find something new to enjoy that I didn’t the time before and that gives it an added replay value. It’s not perfect, but perfection is an impossibility and this cartoon will always be my numero tres.