In honor of animation · 2:05pm Aug 13th, 2012
Daredevil Droopy - 1951
The date and the title alone should tell what kind of cartoon this: it’s a Droopy cartoon featuring the Droopy and Spike the bulldog competing with each other. Because of that it’s really nothing more than a series of blackout gags (entertaining ones, though). In this case, the gags revolve around the two of them competing for an opening spot in a daredevil circus (as such the gags revolve around death-defying stunts and the like). It’s an enjoyable, if basic and typical, cartoon.
Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs - 1943 WARNING: see below
I’m going to start out by talking about some important stuff that should be taken into account before viewing this cartoon. The important thing is to remember the date of its release; this was before the Civil Rights Movement and it was during World War II. Thus the general public’s attitude about race was different. In the case of a WWII, there is a brief “gag” that makes reference to the Japanese as enemies including the use of the “J-word” (besides another but inoffensive gag about wartime rationing) but it’s because of the former that this cartoon is talked about. All the characters in the cartoon are African-Americans, and so their designs include the goggle eyes and the big pronounced lips (the exception is So White) that were common at the time in drawings of black characters. In addition, there are a number of gags and the like are based around black stereotypes (to state just two: Prince Chawmin’ has golden teeth, expect for his front incisors that are displayed as a pair of dice, and one of the dwarfs is a caricature of Stepin Fetchit, a well known black actor at the time who specialized in the “coon” stereotype). In fact this cartoon is one of the “Censored Eleven”, a group of Warner Bros. cartoons that were pulled from television in the sixties due to their heavy use of black characters that had become offensive (there are number of cartoons from other studios that also got pulled for racial stereotypes when the owners believed that no amount of cutting could make the cartoons presentable). And while this cartoon was made with advice from a number of black entertainers at the time (some of them also voiced a few of the characters), the NAACP did protest against this cartoon at its release for its depictions of African-American soldiers. So consider this, if one thinks he or she will be easily offended by depictions of African-Americans based on the general attitude of the forties, this is probably not for you. For those who are willing to go forward, this cartoon will be a real treat.
Director Bob Clampett and animator (and here layout man) Rod Scribner created an upbeat, jazzy re-telling of Snow White (there are even a few parts that make fun of the Disney version) that features some of the best animation one will ever see in a Looney Tune. Just watch the scenes where Chawmin’ goes to revive So White or when the queen orders a hit on So White. These instances show that the characters go beyond their stereotype origins (again though, they still are stereotypes). It’s very easy to get lost in the enjoyment of this cartoon. However, I will say that the general attiude to Coal Black is this, “Yes this is offensive, but look how wonderful it is” or “Yes it’s wonderful, but look how offensive it is” (I do know that there are will be those who will not find it offensive and find it brilliant and those that will find it distasteful and not fantastic, but I think there are a minority).
Brave Little Tailor - 1938
Mickey Mouse is, truth be told, far more important as a character than he really is good as a character. While there are a number of Mickey Mouse cartoons worth watching again and again, some of them really don’t use Mickey that much (most of the trio cartoons, those involving Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, fall into this) and others that do feature him more prominently do not offer a developed character. At heart, Mickey wasn’t all that different in design and personality from other characters before him like Felix the cat or Oswald the lucky rabbit. This animated short is one of those that star Mickey that give a good personality (it’s also one of the few Disney shorts I saw quite a bit as a kid rather than as an adolescent). The plot is simple; giant threatens kingdom, Mickey (due to a misunderstanding) is assigned to deal with it, he does, happy ending. Where is cartoon succeeds is again at Mickey’s character and the various scenes that allow the animators to act with him in ways they usually can’t (the scene Frank Thomas animated where Mickey talks about his heroic defense against the flies is often pointed as the highlight). In addition there’s a visual richness to this cartoon than there are a lot of other Disney shorts but they don’t distract from the characters (unlike the vast majority of Hugh Harman’s work). It has problems (what doesn’t); I agree with Mark Mayerson that the giant isn’t a good character (and as is typical in fiction, the bigger you get, the dumber you become) so scenes with him will probably feel slow and drawn-out, and there aren’t a lot of funny gags (of course this being Disney, one should rarely go in expecting Looney Tune like gags). Still, this is one of the best Mickey Mouse shorts and certainly a treat to watch.
Baby Bottleneck - 1946
I love cartoons with extraordinary animation that is often worth looking at by itself even if other elements such as story aren’t that great. This cartoon falls into that category. Its story (Porky and Daffy are run a traffic control station that delivers babies to the rest of the world) isn’t really that interesting (to be honest some gags like the Jimmy Durtane stork, a phone call from Eddie Cantor and other actors at the time means there are going to be rather dated), but the animation of the characters is wonderful. It’s clear that Bob Clampett’s focus was on the characters as he shows many times by simplifying some elements (for example, some of the backgrounds are sparse), and while Porky and Daffy are seemingly simple (Daffy is an exceptionally passionate), the animation shows them to be far more alive than many other cartoons (one thing that too many filmmakers of animated films, even some well known ones, miss, and audience’s are not helping because they lack the education, is that you can’t just have the writing be the source of the character’s personality and emotions and then use the animation to show the motions with only generic stock poses that look like they came straight off the model sheet ever time you want a character to emote; acting through character animation does exist and that should be the main source of the character’s life, the writing should be prelim). And that’s why I can always come back Baby Bottleneck with a smile on my face because of the animation.
Well, this is certainly a very entertaining selection of cartoons you've chosen here. 'Daredevil Droopy' is basically a series of gags with the most paper thin of plots, but it's a great example of cartoon physics or rule of funny. I can very clearly tell why 'Coal black and de Sebben Dwarfs' isn't shown on TV, there's no way in hell it could get past TV censors today (I'm not saying they're overly PC, but because it genuinely could offend many people) but it is still very amusing all the same. 'Brave Little Taylor' probably has the strongest plot of the bunch here but it's also the least funny in my opinion, it at least shows how inventive Disney could be with their animation and ideas. Lastly, the link you posted to 'Baby Bottleneck' has been taken down, I had to go search Youtube to find another upload of it. But you're right to say that it's a great example of how cartoons use the animated format to their strength.
All in all, please post more classic cartoons. These were awesome!
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Glad you enjoyed them, and thanks for informing me about the link.
You should probably check my past blog posts as well because I've done this a couple of times before.