Norman Normal

Director: Alex Lovy
Release date: February 3, 1968
Rating: ★★★½
Review:

The Warner Bros. Studio was in its fifth incarnation and almost at the end of its life (the studio closed down in 1969) when ‘Norman Normal’ was released. The film is one of the most original of the entire Warner Bros. output, and remarkable for being a collaboration with musician Paul Stookey, the Paul of famed folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary.

‘Norman Normal’ knows a pleasant cartoon modern design and there’s no funny animal in sight. Instead, the short is rather puzzling and hardly knows a narrative, but seems to say something about emotional blackmail in society, and how trying to fit in in society can conflict with one’s own moral standards.

Introduced by a colorful beat band, we follow Norman who struggles with an abject order by his boss, while he seems at loss at a party. Especially the party sequence is strikingly modern, addressing the pushy coercion into drinking alcohol, while Norman himself questions a joke on being funny at the expense of a minority group. I didn’t expect such modern stances in a 1960s cartoon, at all.

Unfortunately, the short is too directionless and ends too abruptly to become a classic, but it’s certainly an interesting product of the 1960s, an era of more experimental approach to storytelling, both in live action and animation.

The film’s title song also appeared on Peter, Paul and Mary’s 1966 release ‘The Peter, Paul and Mary Album’. According to Wikipedia more ‘Norman Normal’ cartoons were envisaged, but this would remain the only one.

Watch a video clip based on ‘Norman Normal’ yourself and tell me what you think:

‘Norman Normal’ is available on the DVD-set ‘Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Six’