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Director: Chuck Jones
Release date: April 27, 1963
Rating: ★★★★
Review:
‘Now Hear This’ is a cartoon on sound. The film is one of the most original cartoons by a major studio of the 1960s, for its ultra-modern designs and idiosyncratic narrative. The film knows a stream-of-consciousness-like way of storytelling, exploiting an inner logic, but with only a dreamlike coherence.
In the film Chuck Jones and his crew only use monochrome backgrounds, with shapes, lines and typography emphasizing both the action and the emotional response. Only the three main characters (a devil, a deaf Briton and a small character dressed in pink) are drawn and animated traditionally, with the Briton being the audience’s connection to what happens on the screen.
Being a film on sound, sound effect man Tregg Brown goes berzerk in creating and combining the craziest sounds, from the decades-old ‘rubber band’ sound snippet to bizarre new sound effects accompanying lines, shapes and words. The result is as mesmerizing as it is rewarding in its originality. It’s striking that the studio could produce such an avant-garde film in its final days, which were mostly populated with much less inspired products.
Watch excerpts from ‘Now Hear This’ yourself and tell me what you think:
‘Now Hear This’ is available on the DVD-set ‘Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Six’
Directors: Chuck Jones & Abe Levitow
Release date: December 29, 1962
Rating: ★★★
Review:
‘Martian Through Georgia’ is narrated by Ed Prentiss and tells about a Martian (typically designed as a little green man, if a rather frog-like one).
This Martian is so bored by his own society, his psychiatrist advices him to travel. So the Martian sets out for Earth, where things are very different, indeed. Nevertheless, the Martian finds little happiness on our planet, and in the end goes back home, with renewed love for his home planet (or at least one of its female inhabitants).
‘Martian Through Georgia’ knows a very lame and disappointing ending and is far from funny, but the film’s character designs and animation are of a high quality. Yet, the film’s main attraction are its avant-garde layouts by Maurice Noble and background art by Philip DeGuard. Noble goes completely wild, so the artwork becomes a marvel from start to end. So even if the story fails to inspire, the film’s looks remain entertaining throughout.
Watch excerpts from ‘Martian Through Georgia’ yourself and tell me what you think:
‘Martian Through Georgia’ is available on the DVD-set ‘Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Six’
Director: Robert McKimson
Release date: July 16, 1964
Stars: Bugs Bunny
Rating: ★★★½
Review:
‘False Hare’ starts with two wolves, ‘Big Bad’ and his nephew, who unconvincingly pose as rabbits to make Bugs Bunny join their ‘club del conejo’ (or Rabbit Club). Bugs is way ahead of the duo, and only plays along because he is bored.
The gags, which involve a falling safe, an iron maiden, a cannon and a lot of dynamite are surprisingly fine, and this makes ‘False Hare’ anything but a sad farewell to our hero. Sure, the short is no standout, but at least we can laugh with Bugs to the very end.
The wolf and his nephew [ who had been introduced in ‘Now Hare This’ from 1958 as Isla points out in the comments below] seem destined for a long series of cartoons, but in fact ‘False Hare’ was the very last Bugs Bunny cartoon of the classic era, and the second to last cartoon made at the original Warner Bros. studio (‘Señorella and the Glass Huarache‘ being the final one). Thus we would never see this comic duo again. Note the cameo of Foghorn Leghorn.
Watch ‘False Hare’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is the 168th and last Bugs Bunny cartoon
To the previous Bugs Bunny cartoon: The Iceman Ducketh
‘False Hare’ is available on the Blu-Ray-set ‘Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Edition’
Director: Friz Freleng
Release date: September 7, 1963
Stars: Bugs Bunny
Rating: ★★★★★
Review:
In the 1960s the quality of the Warner Bros. Cartoons rarely reached the heights of the best of the 1940s and 1950s, but there were a few which did so.
‘The Unmentionables’ surely is one of them. The cartoon obviously parodies the television series ‘The Untouchables’, with Bugs Bunny as Elliott Ness (or Elegant Mess, as he’s called in the cartoon). Luckily, ‘The Unmentionables’ doesn’t rely much on the parody element, but has many gags of its own, like silly gangsters (a series of gags harking all the way back to ‘The Great Piggy Bank Robbery’ of 1946) and a great example of Friz Freleng’s timeless lightswitch routines.
The cartoon also sees the welcome return of that infamous gangster duo Rocksy and Mugsy, who make their final appearance here. And then there’s Bugs as a flapper girl! Even the opening shots are wonderful, with some nice 1920s scenes drawn in a retro-1920s art deco style. The whole cartoon is a delight and one of the studio’s final best moments.
Watch ‘The Unmentionables’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Bugs Bunny cartoon No. 162
To the previous Bugs Bunny cartoon: Hare-Breath Hurry
To the next Bugs Bunny cartoon: Mad as a Mars Hare
‘The Unmentionables’ is available on the Blu-Ray-set ‘Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Edition’
Director: Robert McKimson
Release date: April 1, 1963
Stars: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck
Rating: ★★★
Review:
In ‘The Million-Hare’ Daffy Ducks spends his holiday at Bugs’s place, watching tv. The action only starts when their two names are mentioned on tv as contestants in a ‘buddy race’: whoever gets first to the studio, wins.
What follows is a series of rather Roadrunner-like gags, in which gravity often is as much Daffy’s enemy as it were the coyote’s in the Roadrunner films. The cartoon is very talkative, but some of the gags are good. I liked Bugs’s wonderings about Daffy’s abilities.
The staging on the other hand, is often rather odd. I especially thought that the characters were a little too big on the screen several times.
Watch two excerpts from ‘The Million-Hare’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Bugs Bunny cartoon No. 160
To the previous Bugs Bunny cartoon: Devil’s Feud Cake
To the next Bugs Bunny cartoon: Hare-Breath Hurry
This is Daffy Duck cartoon no. 92
To the previous Daffy Duck cartoon: Fast Buck Duck
To the next Daffy Duck cartoon: Aqua Duck
‘The Million-Hare’ is available on the Blu-Ray-set ‘Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Edition’
Director: Friz Freleng
Release date: December 8, 1962
Stars: Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam
Rating: ★
Review:
In one of his last appearances (only two would follow in the classic era) Yosemite Sam is a cook for a king (who’s, I guess, a caricature of Charles Laughton, an actor already dead at the time).
Despite Yosemite Sam’s efforts the king is bored with what he’s offered and demands Hasenpfeffer, a dish unknown to Sam. He soon finds out, and happily Bugs Bunny comes along to borrow some carrots. What follows are some terribly unfunny routines, with too much dialogue and rather poor animation for a Warner Bros. cartoon.
Worst is the scene in which Bugs talks while laying in a large oven tray: in an obvious and unconvincing cheat only his head is animated, while his body remains perfectly still. I would expect that in a Hanna-Barbera television cartoon, not in a theatrical Warner Bros. cartoon.
Better than anything moving in this cartoon is the background art by Hawley Pratt (layouts) and Tom O’Loughlin (paintings)
Watch ‘Shishkabugs’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Bugs Bunny cartoon No. 158
To the previous Bugs Bunny cartoon: Bill of Hare
To the next Bugs Bunny cartoon: Devil’s Feud Cake
‘Shishkabugs’ is available on the Blu-Ray-set ‘Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Edition’
Director: Chuck Jones
Release date: June 6, 1964
Stars: Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote
Rating: ★★★
Review:
‘War and Pieces’ was the last Road Runner cartoon directed by Chuck Jones himself, although there would follow fourteen more by other directors.
It’s a nice, if not too outstanding entry, with seven attempts, including a bizarre ‘secrets of the harem’ kinetoscope gag as well as invisible paint. The most outlandish is the one in which the coyote shoots himself right through the earth only to meet a Chinese roadrunner at the other side.
The background art is gorgeous throughout this cartoon, but particularly noteworthy during these Chinese scenes, which apparently inspired Maurice Noble to some of the craziest designs. These make ‘War and Pieces’ more than just a nice watch.
Watch an excerpt from ‘War and Pieces’ yourself and tell me what you think:
‘War and Pieces’ is available on the Blu-Ray ‘Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice Vol. 3’
Director: Gerry Chiniquy
Release date: January 18, 1964
Stars: Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam, Porky Pig
Rating: ★★★
Review:
‘Dumb Patrol’ is the last of the Bugs Bunny vs. Yosemite Sam cartoons, being the last screen appearance by the hot-tempered little villain, after a career of nineteen years. Set in World War I the film is dedicated to an air battle between Bugs and Sam, here billed as Sam von Shpamm.
Gerry Chiniquy’s timing is all too relaxed, and unfortunately there’s way too much talking, but there are some fine gags, like Sam shooting his own plane to pieces. The short is no standout, but certainly no bad farewell to the little mustached character. Note Porky Pig’s short cameo as a French soldier.
Watch ‘Dumb Patrol’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Bugs Bunny cartoon No. 165
To the previous Bugs Bunny cartoon: Transylvania 6-5000
To the next Bugs Bunny cartoon: Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare
‘Dum Patrol’ is available on the Blu-Ray ‘Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice Vol. 3’
Director: Robert McKimson
Release date: January 20, 1962
Stars: Bugs Bunny
Rating: ★★★
Review:
In ‘Wet Hare’ Bugs Bunny battles one ‘Black Jack Shellac’ over a waterfall which the apparently French Canadian wants to dam (we’ll never know why).
The gags are not as they could have been due to McKimson’s all to relaxed timing and the talkative characters. Nevertheless, Bugs’ final scheme is a fine one, as are his Al Jolson-impersonations when singing under the waterfall, which mean that Mel Blanc manages to make Bugs Bunny sound like himself and like Al Jolson at the same time!
Watch ‘Wet Hare’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Bugs Bunny cartoon No. 156
To the previous Bugs Bunny cartoon: Prince Violent
To the next Bugs Bunny cartoon: Bill of Hare
‘Wet Hare’ is available on the Blu-Ray ‘Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice Vol. 3’
Director: Chuck Jones
Release date: June 3, 1961
Stars: Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote
Rating: ★★★
Review:
The twentieth Road Runner cartoon is a surprisingly inspired one. The short starts with the Coyote introducing himself and the Roadrunner with signs. What follows are seven attempts, with the third influencing all subsequent ones.
Both the animation and the background art are beautiful, Jones’ timing is excellent and the gags are fine. Milt Jackson’s score, on the other hand, makes one long for Carl Stalling, and there’s a level of mannerism that is a little irritating. Especially the extreme lagging of the coyote’s upper body, when zooming off, feels more tiresome than funny. Nevertheless, it’s a surprise that such a late Road Runner cartoon can still be of such a fine quality.
Watch an excerpt from ‘Lickety-Splat’ yourself and tell me what you think:
‘Lickety-Splat’ is available on the Blu-Ray ‘Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice Vol. 2’
Director: Chuck Jones
Release date: May 20, 1961
Stars: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck
Rating: ★★
Review:
By the early 1960s the classic age of animated cartoons was clearly over. ‘The Abominable Snow Rabbit’ clearly shows the insipid state of affairs. Although both animation and background art are still top notch, and a delight to watch, the gags are uninspired and stale, and never reach the heights from similar films of the early 1950s.
In this cartoon Bugs and Daffy both travel underground, apparently on their way to Palm Springs, only to end up in the Himalayas, where they encounter a very cartoony and blue-nosed abominable Snowman. The Snowman is a late addition to a plethora of characters based on Lon Cheney’s depiction of Lenny in ‘Of Mice and Men’ from 1939, without adding anything. Apart from the jaded gags, the cartoon suffers from a large amount of dialogue, rendering the cartoon almost like the “illustrated radio” Chuck Jones detested in contemporary television animation.
Watch ‘The Abominable Snow Rabbit’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Bugs Bunny cartoon No. 153
To the previous Bugs Bunny cartoon: Lighter than Hare
To the next Bugs Bunny cartoon: Compressed Hare
This is Daffy Duck cartoon No. 87
To the previous Daffy Duck cartoon: Person to Bunny
To the next Daffy Duck cartoon: Daffy’s Inn Trouble
‘The Abominable Snow Rabbit’ is available on the DVD-box ‘Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Five’
Director: Douglas McCarthy
Release Date: August 25, 1995
Stars: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, Tweety, Laszlo, Penelope Pussycat, Pepe le Pew a.o.
Rating: ★★★
Review:
‘Carrotblanca’, as the title implies, is a parody on the classic feature ‘Casablanca’ (1942) and appears on several DVD releases of that film.
The short, however, originally was shown theatrically, accompanying the live action feature ‘The Amazing Panda Adventure’ in North America and the animated feature ‘The Pebble and the Penguin’ internationally. Thus, the film is a clear product of the cartoon renaissance, reviving many characters from the classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.
The most familiar faces have the starring roles, so we watch Bugs Bunny as Rick Blaine, Daffy Duck as Sam, Yosemite Sam as ‘General Pandemonium’, Tweety as Ugarte, Sylvester as Laszlo, Penelope Pussycat as Ilsa, and Pepe le Pew as Captain Louis. Also visible are e.g. Foghorn Leghorn, Sam Sheepdog, Porky Pig, the Crusher, Beaky Buzzard, Miss Prissy, Giovanni Jones and Pete Puma. Strangely absent are Elmer Fudd on the Looney Tune side, and Signor Ferrari on the Casablanca side.
The short compresses the original movie into a mere eight minutes, and parodies many of its classic scenes, including the flashback scene. As expected, the result is rather silly, but unfortunately not very funny, as somehow most of the gags fall flat (it doesn’t help that Tweety goes into a Peter Lorre impersonation four times). The film remains at its best when parodying the feature, but as soon as the cartoon characters go into their own routines the results get unpleasantly stale. Thus the film is more a product of nostalgia than one breathing new life into the decades old characters.
Thus ‘Carrotblanca’ may not be an essential film, yet it’s still a fun watch, I guess more for Looney Tunes lovers than Casablanca lovers. If anything, the short showed that the characters still had potential to entertain, a notion Warner Bros. cashed on with the feature length ‘Space Jam’ (1996).
Watch ‘Carrotblanca’ yourself and tell me what you think:
‘Carrotblanca’ is available on several Blu-Ray and DVD editions of ‘Casablanca’
Director: Hawley Pratt
Release Date: August 1, 1964
Rating: ★★★★
Review:
‘Señorella and the Glass Huarache’ was the last Looney Tunes short released before Warner Bros. closed down its cartoon department in 1963.
It’s also the only Warner Bros. Short directed by layout man Hawley Pratt, whom Friz Freleng already had given co-director credits in earlier cartoons from the 1960s.
The cartoon features two Mexicans in a canteen, of whom we only see their shadows. One tells a Mexican version of the Cinderella to the other, with the prince being a bullfighter, the castle being a ranchero etc. Otherwise the story is quite faithful, and the cartoon is rescued by the bold backgrounds and pleasant cartoon modern designs. These betray a strong UPA influence, as does the fact that this short stars human characters, instead of the stock talking animals of earlier Warner Bros. cartoons.
The end of the Warner Bros. studio didn’t mean the end of Warner Bros. cartoons; between 1964 and 1968 Warner Bros. suddenly started releasing cartoons again, now produced by Friz Freleng’s DePatie-Freleng company, most famous for its Pink Panther cartoons.
Watch ‘Señorella and the Glass Huarache’ yourself and tell me what you think:
‘Señorella and the Glass Huarache’ is available on the DVD-set ‘Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Five’
Director: Friz Freleng
Release Date: March 19, 1960
Stars: Sylvester, Sylvester junior
Rating: ★★½
Review:
‘Goldimouse and the Three Cats’ starts as a re-telling of the classic fairy tale with Sylvester as the papa bear, Sylvester junior as the baby bear, and a rather anonymous female mouse as Goldimouse.
This part uses a classic fairy tale voice over, but after three minutes the tale is told and makes place for a routine in which Sylvester tries to capture Goldimouse to impress his son. This part borrows heavily from McKimson’s Hippety Hopper cartoons, with Sylvester junior hiding in shame under a paper bag.
A nice touch is that Sylvester keeps on trying, even after his wife and son have long lost faith, making him a genuine fanatic. This cannot hide the fact that this is a cartoon of tried routine spot gags, which adds nothing new, despite the fairy tale setting with which the film starts. Despite Freleng’s excellent timing, one thus has ample time to enjoy the charming background art.
Watch ‘Goldimouse and the Three Cats’ yourself and tell me what you think:
‘Goldimouse and the Three Cats’ is available on the DVD-set ‘Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Five’
Director: Robert McKimson
Release Date: September 26, 1959
Stars: Foghorn Leghorn, Miss Prissy
Rating: ★★
Review:
As MGM and Disney more or less had stopped production of animated shorts, by 1959 the Warner Bros. shorts were easily the best looking animated cartoons around: the background art and the animation were both still top notch, and didn’t show any sign of cheapness, present at for example the Paramount and Lantz studios.
Unfortunately, story lines and gags were often another matter. ‘A Broken Leghorn’ is a good example: despite the clear quality of design, animation and background art, the story is a rather tired amalgam of blackout gags in which the Foghorn Leghorn tries to get rid of a young smart-alecky competitor.
His attempts to kill the competition includes making the little fellow cross the road (initiating a revival of Tex Avery’s road gag from ‘Señor Droopy‘), blowing him up with dynamite through a rain pipe, tying corn-to-the-cob to a gun, and attaching a fake worm to a landmine. Needless to say, all these attempts backfire.
The Foghorn Leghorn were always very talkative, and the large amount of dialogue wears down the comedy, hampering the already stale routines.
Watch ‘A Broken Leghorn’ yourself and tell me what you think:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6cn68y
‘A Broken Leghorn’ is available on the DVD-box set ‘Looney Tunes Golden Collection’
Director: Robert McKimson
Release Date: January 7, 1961
Stars: Speedy Gonzales, Sylvester
Rating: ★★
Review:
‘Cannery Woe’ centers on Manuel and José, two poor mice, who live at the beach and who are starving.
They really would like to join the Grand Cheese Fiesta, organised by the mouse mayor for his re-election, but they are thrown out. Yet, the mayor has more problems: there’s no cheese at the fiesta (‘something new is added to the store’, explains one of the cheese committee mice). Luckily, José is friends with Speedy Gonzales, and only has to whistle to get Speedy’s help.
Speedy fetches the cheese from the store, unhindered by guarding cat Sylvester, who only gets hindered by his own tacks, mousetraps and cannon. In the end, José and Manuel are awarded as cheese inspectors, but Speedy gets even a better job as ‘chick inspector’.
‘Cannery Woe’ is a very mediocre cartoon with rather run of the mill gags. In fact, the mice José and Manuel are more interesting than anything that follows, and one wonders why storyman Tedd Pierce and director Robert McKimson didn’t devote more of the cartoon to them.
Watch ‘Cannery Woe’ yourself and tell me what you think:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5bfqbq
‘Cannery Woe’ is available on the DVD-set ‘Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Four’
Director: Friz Freleng
Release Date: August 29, 1959
Stars: Speedy Gonzales, Sylvester
Rating: ★★
Review:
‘Here Today, Gone Tamale’ starts with a cheese famine in a harbor village.
But then a ship called ‘Dutch Treat’ arrives, full of cheese. Unfortunately, the ship is protected by Sylvester, but the starved mice get Speedy Gonzales (he knows one’s sister – let me correct this – he knows everybody’s sister) to get the cheese. In some blackout gags Sylvester does his best to catch Speedy Gonzales, e.g. with a large mallet and a guillotine. In the end, Sylvester has to admit defeat, and adding ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’, he puts on some Mickey Mouse-club-like mouse ears and joins some dancing mice.
The best gag is when Speedy Gonzales locks Sylvester inside a storage room full of Limburger cheese, but otherwise there’s not too much to enjoy in ‘Here Today, Gone Tamale’ and one has ample time to enjoy the functional layouts by Hawley Pratt, beautifully painted by Tom O’Loughlin.
Watch the opening of ‘Here Today, Gone Tamale’ yourself and tell me what you think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48XVdMdo4h8
‘Here Today, Gone Tamale’ is available on the DVD-set ‘Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Four’
Director: Robert McKimson
Release Date: January 18, 1958
Stars: Speedy Gonzales
Rating: ★★½
Review:
‘Tortilla Flaps’ is a Speedy Gonzales cartoon featuring a vulture as Speedy’s adversary.
The cartoon takes place during Cinco de Mayo. The mice are having their own little festival, where Speedy plays tennis with himself as an attraction at the fair. When the vulture threatens the festival, Speedy Gonzales takes care of him. Soon the vulture surrenders and he ends as an attraction at the fair himself.
‘Tortilla Flaps’ is one of the weaker Speedy Gonzales cartoons: the vulture is a poor substitution for Sylvester, and none of the chase gags are very funny. The best gag arguably is when Speedy makes the bird stop for a passing train, but the bird doesn’t make it in time…
Watch ‘Tortilla Flaps’ yourself and tell me what you think:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5bd2v0
‘Tortilla Flaps’ is available on the DVD-set ‘Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Four’
Director: Friz Freleng
Release Date: July 4, 1959
Stars: Speedy Gonzales
Rating: ★★★★
Review:
In ‘Mexicali Shmoes’, Speedy Gonzales’s usual adversary Sylvester is replaced by a couple of slow dumb Mexican cats called Manuel and José.
When Manuel does an ill-fated attempt to catch Speedy, José tells him you need brains to catch the little mouse. As José provides the brains, the two immediately set out to catch the rapid rodent. What follows are some blackout gags, the best of which features a street full of landmines.
Writer Warren Foster saves the best gag for the finale: tired of trying to catch the fastest mouse in all Mexico, Manuel suggests they should try to catch Slowpoke Rodriguez, the slowest mouse in all Mexico. José immediately rushes away to do so, but Manuel still has to tell him something important about Slowpoke…
‘Mexicali Shmoes’ is no all-time classic, but it must be the funniest of all Speedy Gonzales films, thanks to the interplay between the two cats. Because of their characterization, the film actually works. Manuel may clearly be the dumber of the two, José fares hardly better, and is equally hilarious to watch. Speedy Gonzales, on the other hand, is as bland as ever, and only speaks during the opening scene. All the more a pity that the two cats weren’t used again.
Watch ‘Mexicali Shmoes’ yourself and tell me what you think:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2xxt5j
‘Mexicali Shmoes’ is available on the Blu-Ray set ‘Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2’ and on the DVD-set ‘Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Four’
Director: Robert McKimson
Release Date: August 20, 1960
Stars: The Honey-Mousers
Rating: ★
Review:
Not to be confused with the delightful Tom & Jerry short of the same name ‘Mice Follies’ marks the third appearance of the Honey-Mousers, McKimson’s parody of the television sitcom The Honeymooners.
The short opens with Ralph and Ned departing way too late from a night out. Somehow, we’ll never know why, Ned taunts a cat on the way. The cat follows the boys home, and they mistake the ferocious feline for their wives when they arrive home. The two men flee the house. Then the wives arrive themselves, only to get the same treatment from the cat. In the end we watch the four going asleep on a tiny park bench.
It’s hard to say anything positive about ‘Mice Follies’, The story just makes no sense, none of the dialogue is remotely interesting, little to nothing is done with the parody element, and the few gags present all fall flat. And so, the Honey-Mousers wouldn’t return after this unsuccessful entry.
Watch ‘Mice Follies’ yourself and tell me what you think:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6eja79
‘Mice Follies’ is available on the Blu-Ray-set ‘Looney Tunes Mouse Chronicles: The Chuck Jones Collection’
Dr. Grob's Animation Review 