Wild Wild World

Director: Robert McKimson
Release date: February 27, 1960
Rating: ★★★½
Review:

‘Wild Wild World’ is an obvious parody on the documentary series ‘Wide Wide World’, which run on NBC from 1955 to 1958. Of all cavemen cartoons ‘Wild Wild World’ is the one most directly anticipating The Flintstones, who would make their debut only seven months after the release of this cartoon.

The film is introduced and narrated by one Cave Darroway (a caricature of the original televison series’ host Dave Garroway), but the main cartoon is supposedly found footage (in “cromagnonscope”) from 75,000,000 B.C., which would explain the dinosaurs but not the cavemen. The trope of cavemen and dinosaurs existing together is almost as old as cinema itself, but ‘Wild Wild World’ goes at lengths to show the society of 75 million years ago as being just like ours, with sky scrapers, barbers, elevators and such.

The film exploits a pleasant cartoon modern design and knows a running gag of three hunters trying to catch a dinosaur, to no avail. These cavemen are drawn all too tiny compared to the dinosaurs, exaggerating the prehistoric animals’ sizes way too much.

‘Wild Wild World’ is more of a curiosity than a classic Warner Bros. cartoon, but shows that the studio could be inspired even in its nadir.

Watch excerpts from ‘Wild Wild World’ yourself and tell me what you think:

‘Wild Wild World’ is available on the DVD-set ‘Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Six’