You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘1964’ tag.
Director: Robert McKimson
Release date: February 29, 1964
Rating: ★★★½
Review:
‘Bartholomew versus the Wheel’ is an oddball cartoon in both the Warner Bros. Canon and in Robert McKimson’s oeuvre. Narrated by a little boy the film tells about a dog, Bartholomew, who hates wheels, and bites them all. But things change when he tries to bite an airplane wheel.
‘Bartholomew versus the Wheel’ is a sweet little narrative directed at children and knows very charming cartoon modern designs that are unlike any other Warner Bros cartoon. Bartholomew himself has a very handsome rounded design, and the humans are often of a monochrome cartoon modern design. Also striking is the background art, which emulates children pencil drawings. This film thus is another pleasant surprise out of the studio’s last days.
Watch ‘Bartholomew versus the Wheel’ yourself and tell me what you think:
‘Bartholomew versus the Wheel’ 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: 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: 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: Chuck Jones
Release Date: December 8, 1964
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★
Review:
In ‘The Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse’ Tom is master of the house and Jerry is his slave. But then enters a cute young kitten. Tom gets jealous at the intruder and tries to get rid of it. But Jerry befriends the kitten and in the end the tables are turned.
One of the weaker entries in Chuck Jones’ Tom & Jerry series, ‘The Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse’ is a surprisingly unfunny cartoon, suffering from bad timing and ugly music.
Watch ‘The Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse’ yourself and tell me what you think:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3ngu09
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 133
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Snowbody Loves Me
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Ah, Sweet Mouse Story of Life
Director: Chuck Jones
Release Date: May 12, 1964
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★★½
Review:
In ‘Snowbody Loves Me’ we see Jerry freezing in the Swiss Alps, but then he finds a cheese shop.
Jerry manages to enter it, but locks Tom outside by doing so. Tom manages to throw Jerry out again, but like in the early Tom & Jerry cartoon ‘The Night before Christmas‘ (1941) his conscience plagues him, and he subsequently rescues Jerry from death.
Like ‘Much Ado About Mousing‘ ‘Snowbody Loves Me’ borrows a theme from an earlier Hanna-Barbera cartoon, and again, the result cannot stand the comparison to its source of inspiration. ‘Snowbody Loves Me’ is cute alright, typical for Jones’s late style, and its colors and designs are beautiful. However, the action is slow, and the gags are mediocre.
Watch an excerpt from ‘Snowbody Loves Me’ yourself and tell me what you think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8l0pty989g
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 132
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Much Ado About Mousing
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: The Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse
Director: Chuck Jones
Release Date: April 14, 1964
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★★½
Review:
In the opening scene of ‘Much Ado About Mousing’ we see Tom fishing for Jerry in a harbor, using cheese. But Jerry seeks help from a yellow bulldog. The bulldog gives Jerry a whistle with which he can call for the Bulldog’s help.
Sounds familiar? Indeed, this idea is borrowed from the early Tom & Jerry short ‘The Bodyguard’ (1944). ‘Much Ado About Mousing’ is not bad, but it pales when compared to the former cartoon. Its story and its gags are fine, but the music, by Eugene Poddany, wears the action down, despite his effective use of Ludwig van Beethoven’s famous fate theme from his fifth symphony.
Watch ‘Much Ado About Mousing’ yourself and tell me what you think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YnnF_b3EQw
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 131
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Is There A Doctor in the Mouse?
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Snowbody Loves Me
Director: Chuck Jones
Release Date: March 24, 1964
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★★
Review:
In ‘Is There a Doctor in the Mouse?’ Jerry invents a potion, which makes him lightning fast.
Jerry uses his new speed to eat everything that Tom wants to eat. When he runs out of speed he drinks a potion, which makes him enormous, thus abruptly ending the film.
Like the Hanna-Barbera Tom & Jerry cartoon ‘The Invisible Mouse‘ (1947), ‘Is There a Doctor in the Mouse?’ suffers from an all too powerful Jerry. When Tom is bullied, it’s not comical, it’s sad. The result is one of the weaker entries in Jones’ Tom & Jerry series.
‘Is There A Doctor in the Mouse’ has the questionable honor to be the first Chuck Jones Tom & Jerry cartoon with a pun in the title. Titles like these would dominate the Chuck Jones Tom & Jerries. They were not their best feature. Apart from being rather trite, they more often than not had nothing to do with the content, at all.
Watch ‘Is There a Doctor in the Mouse?’ yourself and tell me what you think:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ofixi
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 130
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: The Cat Above, The Mouse Below
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Much Ado About Mousing
Director: Chuck Jones
Release Date: February 25, 1964
Stars: Tom & Jerry
Rating: ★★★★
Review:
In ‘The Cat Above, The Mouse Below’ Tom is a successful opera singer performing Figaro’s famous aria ‘Largo el factotum’ from Gioachino Rossini’s ‘Il barbiere de Sevilla’ (what else?) at a grand theater, but awakening Jerry by doing so.
In this short Tom displays some fantastic facial expressions, director Chuck Jones’ trademark. It’s also probably the best of all Chuck Jones’s Tom & Jerry cartoons, albeit not as funny as Jones’ earlier ‘Long-haired Hare‘ (1949) or Tex Avery’s ‘Magical Maestro’ (1952), which both use the same theme.
Watch ‘The Cat Above, The Mouse Below’ yourself and tell me what you think:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6eg8vi
This is Tom & Jerry cartoon No. 129
To the previous Tom & Jerry cartoon: Penthouse Mouse
To the next Tom & Jerry cartoon: Is There a Doctor in the Mouse?
Director: Jan Švankmajer
Release Date: 1964
Rating: ★★★★★
Review:
In ‘The Last Trick’ two magicians in large masks perform their impossible tricks one after another against a black, empty background.
Although they stay polite, their congratulationary handshakes between the tricks gradually become more and more violent, ending in a disastrous mutual disembodiment. The last shot is of the only really living organism inhabiting this surrealist world, a beetle, dead.
‘The Last Trick’ is Czech film maker Jan Švankmajer’s first film, and already his obsessions with puppets, body parts and death are full blown. Its humor is dark, its images are grim and its story is very unsettling. Švankmajer’s first film (which contains a little stop motion animation) is also his first masterpiece.
Watch ‘The Last Trick’ yourself and tell me what you think:
‘The Last Trick’ is available on the DVD ‘Jan Svankmajer – The Complete Short Films’
Directors: John & Faith Hubley
Release Date: September 21, 1964
Rating: ★★★★★ ♕
Review:
One of directors John & Faith Hubley’s quintessential shorts,’The Hat’ is one of the most beautiful anti-war films ever made.
It’s an extraordinary blend of beautiful design, modern animation, improvisation and politics.
When a border guard accidentally drops his hat across the border, he and his enemy colleague argue about it and about war in general. Surprisingly, this is an improvised dialogue between jazz musicians Dizzy Gillespie and Dudley Moore, who also provide the film’s great jazz score.
The film’s leisurely speed is refreshing, its painted backgrounds of a snowy landscape are beautiful, the painted looks of the characters highly original, and its vivid animation by veteran Shamus Culhane stunning. All these aspects mount to a great and essential animation film. A classic.
Watch ‘The Hat’ yourself and tell me what you think:
‘The Hat’ is available on the DVD ‘Art and Jazz in Animation’
Director: Friz Freleng
Release Date: December 18, 1964
Stars: The Pink Panther, The Little Guy
Rating: ★★★★
Review:
In his very first own short The Pink Panther nags a painter by painting everything pink that the painter just has painted blue.
This is the Pink Panther’s first film, and it’s easily one of his best. Its simple idea is worked out perfectly into a tight plot (by John Dunn) with a grand finale. Its pantomime animation is effective and its sober design supporting.
Although he never got a name, the “little guy”, the white, big-nosed, mustached antagonist, who resembles both his creator, Friz Freleng, and Inspector Clouseau, is very important to the success of the series: he is easily the best designed opponent in the Pink Panther cartoons. Like the Pink Panther he’s monochrome, and a silent character, allowing the animators to make the best out of pantomime animation. Moreover, he could be staged in all kinds of functions and settings. Nevertheless, he kept a consistent character, being normally kind and gentle, but getting puzzled, then frustrated and often in the end, very angry with the Pink Panther’s antics.
Nevertheless, it took the makers a while to realize his potential, for though the little guy would return as a janitor in ‘We Give Pink Stamps’ (1965), he would only become a regular from ‘The Pink Blue Print‘ (1966) on, after twenty films with other, often talking, and always less wonderfully designed characters.
Watch ‘The Pink Think’ yourself and tell me what you think:
Dr. Grob's Animation Review 