Cartoon a Day: To Beep or Not to Beep

To Beep or Not to Beep
1963
Directed by Chuck Jones & Maurice Noble
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 3

Today's cartoon is a late entry in the Road Runner series. The plot is the same as any other film in this series...Coyote chases Road Runner...but the film have a very different feel than earlier films in the series.

Many of the early Road Runner shorts depend on a series of very short gags. As the series progressed, director Chuck Jones started to go for longer gags. Whereas many Road Runner gags would last a few seconds at longest, some of the gags in this film last several minutes. And it is with mixed results.


One gage which involves a giant spring seems way too labored and just doesn't flow well. On the other hand, the catapult sequence is skillfully paced and plays more like a series of short gags with a big payoff at the end.

The early Road Runner films are stronger but this is a worthy entry in the series. It is actually the final Road Runner short directed by it's creator, Chuck Jones.

Cartoon a Day: My Favorite Duck

My Favorite Duck
1942
Directed by Chuck Jones
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 6

Well it's been a crazy summer. There's been a lot of travel and internet problems at home that has made doing "Cartoon a Day" tough. Plus, the fact that I just got lazy. But with it being September 1, here we go again.

"My Favorite Duck" is the first cartoon to team director Chuck Jones and writer Michael Maltese. That team would produce some of the greatest cartoons of all time. In this short, Porky Pig is on a camping trip where he is annoyed by Daffy Duck who continues to point out that it is not duck season so you can't harm a duck in any way.

Not all of the gags work, but some are classics. The fishing sequence in which Porky ends up floating on the wrong side of the water is very original as is the ending where the film breaks and Daffy has to describe the end of the film to the audience.

From an animation standpoint, the highlight of the film is some of the unique angles used. There is an obsession with low camera angles here like what you might expect to see in a student film. In this film it works well, especially in the final moments of the film when Daffy's plan has backfired on him.

Cartoon a Day: Tom-ic Energy

Tom-ic Energy
1965
Directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble
Available on: Tom and Jerry - The Chuck Jones Collection

It might turn out to be a Tom and Jerry week here for Cartoon a Day, since I used some more Father's Day gift card goodness to pick up the recently released "Tom and Jerry - The Chuck Jones Collection" DVD set. The Chuck Jones Tom and Jerry films are going to be interesting to look at. After Warner Brothers got out of the cartoon business, Jones was courted by MGM where he ended up doing a number of projects, including the final 34 Tom and Jerry theatrical shorts. These films represent the final days of the age of animated theatrical short. They are also interesting in that while they are the work of a master, they are generally not considered to be a high point in Jones' career. However, it is interesting to see theatrical animated shorts done in full animation, from a time when animation was heading to a slimmed down television version (being spearheaded, oddly enough, by Tom and Jerry's creators...William Hanna and Joseph Barbera).

The look of these shorts is very different from the Hannah Barbera films. The look of the two main characters changed quite a bit. Jerry had a bigger head and larger eyes. Tom was given thicker eyebrows and longer ears. The color scheme is quite a bit different as well. Plus, the films are widescreen!

This short has the cat and mouse chasing around city streets and rooftops. There are some decent gags, but they just don't quite have the intensity of the HB years. The highlight of the film is when Tom gets caught up in the laundry, ends up dressed in a ladies clothes, and then is mistaken by another cat for a female. The scene is played Pepe le Pew style, complete with Mel Blanc doing the voice of the other cat.

I can remember seeing many of these shorts as a kid, and even then we could tell the difference between the older Tom and Jerry cartoons and these. I can honestly say that my memories back then were that these were not as strong, but it will be fun to revisit them with the eyes of an adult.

Cartoon a Day: To Duck...or Not to Duck

To Duck...or Not to Duck
1943
Directed by Chuck Jones (as Charles M. Jones)
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 6

We've talked before about how there are several different versions of Daffy Duck. "To Duck...or Not to Duck" is an interesting short that somewhat transitions between the looney Daffy and the indignant Daffy.

Here he plays the Bugs Bunny role. Elmer Fudd is hunting when he shoot down Daffy. Daffy then starts in with the "how dare you" attitude and ends up switching things around to turn the scenario into a boxing match between the two.

What's interesting is that this doesn't feel like a Chuck Jones short. It seems to lean a little more toward the Bob Clampett style. Some of the extreme poses that you can catch Daffy and Elmer doing if you freeze frame at the right moment are examples of this. Elmer's dog being the lone member of the crowd rooting for Elmer (and getting pelted with tomatoes because of it) also feels more like a Clampett gag to me. Regardless of whether it's the normal Jones style, it's a funny short.

Cartoon a Day: One Froggy Evening

One Froggy Evening
1955
Directed by Chuck Jones (as Charles M. Jones)
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 2

What better way to close out a week of "one-shot" cartoons than with the ultimate "one-shot" of all time. Often hailed as one of the greatest cartoons ever made, Chuck Jones' "One Froggy Evening." I can remember hearing about this cartoon for ages but never getting to see it. When I did finally see it God was smiling on me, for it was on the big screen where it belongs, before a late night showing of "Cinema Paradiso" of all things.

I think just about everybody knows the story...a construction worker finds a singing frog in the ruins of a building being torn down. The poor guy sees the frog as his key to money and fame, but throughout the picture the frog won't sing whenever anyone else is around. The man ends up ruined and dumps the frog in the cornerstone of a new skyscraper going up. The final scene of the film takes place 100 years later as a construction worker in a space suit discovers the frog and the cycle begins again.

We've looked at some of the work of Tex Avery in the past and talked about the extreme poses he often uses. I love that stuff, but this cartoon shows great subtlety in it's characters expressions, and it's just as hilarious.



There is no dialogue in this cartoon. The only voice we hear is that of the frog, but the expressions of the humans, subtle as they are, take us into the thought process of those characters. We know everything that's going on in their minds, especially in the case of the main character. In a way, we the audience are brought into his thought process even more because, just like him, we can hear the frog. His frustration and ultimately his desperation are shared with the audience.

The animation is brilliant, of course. I'm not sure how to describe the look of this cartoon other than to say it uses a lot of thin lines. This look was used in many of Jones' later cartoons, but this is probably the best example of it.

"One Froggy Evening" is not just a great cartoon, this is a great film. A brilliant example of comedy as well as animation. One of the greatest movie short subjects, animated or otherwise, ever made.

Cartoon a Day: Rocket-bye Baby

Rocket-bye Baby
1956
Directed by Chuck Jones
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 6

I hadn't intended for this look at "one-shot" cartoons to spend so much time in the 1950's, but that seems to be the way things have gone. "Rocket-bye Baby" is another great example of the unique designs used in some 50's cartoons, but with a definite Chuck Jones twist.

The story concerns some sort of strange event in outer space that sends two babies on their way to their respective planets in the wrong directions. An Earth baby ends up on Mars and a Martian baby ends up on Earth. It's an interesting take on the whole flying saucer fad which was going on at the time this film was made.

The expressions of some of the characters certainly point to things we would see out of Jones in the future, especially in works like "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Also on display are some of the longer drawn out expressions like Jones used in "One Froggy Evening" just a year earlier.

This short also has an interesting take on some of the background elements. In some scenes items such as furniture are little more than line drawings. You can see the background right through them, but it works great.

I didn't find this short to be as laugh-out-loud funny as some other Jones' shorts, but you can't help but love that little green baby.

Cartoon a Day: The Hunter Trilogy

I really fell behind on my cartoons this weekend. Missed Friday and Saturday, but I was determined to catch up with three cartoons today. What better way to do that than to take in Chuck Jones' "Hunter Trilogy."

Rabbit Fire

1951

Directed by Chuck Jones (as Charles M. Jones)

Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 1

Rabbit Seasoning

1952

Directed by Chuck Jones (as Charles M. Jones)

Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 1

Duck! Rabbit, Duck!

1953

Directed by Chuck Jones (as Charles M. Jones)

Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 3

Some might say that all three of these cartoons are pretty much the same. They do pretty much has the same basic plot...Daffy tries to get Elmer to believe it's rabbit season (when it's really duck season), Bugs does everything he can to turn it around on Daffy, and Elmer blows Daffy away in various ways. But each of these cartoons has their own special moments.

"Rabbit Fire" pretty much establishes the relationship of the three characters that will continue throughout the other films. It begins the running gag of figuring out how many different ways we can blow Daffy's beak off and also features the obligatory Bugs in drag moment.

"Rabbit Seasoning," which is my favorite of the three (middle chapters are the best folks, look at "The Empire Strikes Back") features much more creative, and gruesome, mangled beaks for Daffy and features the classic "pronoun trouble."

There's also another sequence with Bugs as a girl which not only improves on the previous film but also has Daffy pretty much admitting that the bit has been used before by screaming, "you're not going to fall for that old bit!"

"Duck! Rabbit, Duck!" takes things to a winter setting. It continues the tradition of blowing Daffy's beak off but also adds a highly original sequence in which Daffy gets called different animal names (such as "Dirty Skunk") and then Bugs produces a sign announcing that it's the appropriate season ("Dirty Skunk Season"). Elmer then, of course, shoots.

All three shorts feature incredible animation, especially on Daffy. Likewise, Mel Blanc's vocal performances, especially as Daffy, are some of his best. To sum it all up, probably the best movie trilogy ever that didn't have George Lucas' name attached.

Cartoon a Day: Heaven Scent

Heaven Scent
1956
Directed by Chuck Jones
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 6

It's about time Pepe Le Pew made an appearance here on "Cartoon a Day." Pepe is a favorite character for many, but if I am reading things correctly, he only appeared in 16 shorts.

The premise of the Pepe films are almost all the same. A cat somehow gets a white stripe down her tail and ends up being pursued by the lovestruck Pepe. In "Heaven Scent," the cat purposely paints the stripe in order to escape the nasty dogs of the neighborhood.

This isn't the greatest of the Pepe films, but it has several elements that work very well. The character of Pepe just seems to exist in his own world. He is completely oblivious to the fact that his advances are not wanted, or that he stinks. The way he walks, or more accurately the way he bounds, has always cracked me up. It's just another element that brings you into his little world where he is the most desired creature on the planet.

I think the backgrounds also help bring you into his world. They are done in a unique style. Lots of thin lines, blobs of color and odd angles. It's similar to what can be seen in some of the later Road Runner shorts, also directed by Chuck Jones. The backgrounds are this sort of romanticised view of Pepe's surroundings. It's like they are not reality, but what he sees in his mind.

Cartoon a Day: Spies

Spies
1943
Directed by Chuck Jones (uncredited)
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 3

Today's cartoon, "Spies," is from Warner Brothers' series of Private Snafu films. These films were produced for the military rather than the general public. It shows in the content of these films. The use of the term "Snafu" alone would not generally have been for public consumption (the "F" doesn't stand for fuzzy if you know what I mean). Not to mention the fact that we see Snafu getting drunk and picking up and going home with a strange woman.

This particular short is directed by Chuck Jones and written by Dr. Seuss. Snafu resembles Elmer Fudd to some degree and is likewise a very expressive character. The scene in which a drunken Snafu spills his guts to a beautiful Nazi spy sitting on his lap features a great range of expressions. It's classic Chuck Jones.

Mel Blanc's voice work is also great. In this short the Snafu voice goes from playful to drunk to panic . It's a great example of Blanc's range.

Ultimately this short is a great example of how a animation, a medium so often associated with children's entertainment, can be effective in providing both humor and a message to an adult audience in a very effective way.

Cartoon a Day: Bully for Bugs

Bully for Bugs
1953
Directed by Chuck Jones (as Charles M Jones)
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 1

Well, I decided that this week would be Bullfight week! Not that many people can say they've been in a real bullfight, but a lot of our favorite cartoon characters can. Let's begin with one of the best bullfight cartoons, "Bully for Bugs"



Bugs is on his way to a carrot festival, but he should've made that left turn at Albuquerque and ends up in the middle of a bullfight arena. When his tail meets with the business end of the bull, well "this means war."


Toro the bull really has a great design. He's a hulking figure, but his range of movement and expression is classic Chuck Jones. In several sequences, he moves from pose to pose with such quick movement, it helps establish his somewhat pompous character.


This short also has a great balance of simple and complex gags. In one scene, Bugs simply attaches a large rubber band to the bull's horns, stretches it, loads a bolder like a giant sling shot and let's fly into Toro's face (which we see from the bull's point of view). It's so simple, yet at the end of the short is one of the most complex gags you'll ever see. The bull slides on grease, is sent flying off a ramp, has glue spread on his belly as he flies, has sandpaper attached to the glue, the sandpaper strikes a match which lights a fuse which sets off dynamite just as the bull flies over it. Hilarious! But it's also worth noting that this short works well because the bull gets the best of Bugs too. Bugs' rear meets with those horns several times, so it's not just a walk in the park for the long-eared one. Still, he wins out in the end.

Cartoon a Day: A Pest in the House

A Pest in the House

1947
Directed by Chuck Jones (as Charles M Jones)
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 5


There have been many versions of Daffy Duck over the years. In the early films he put the "Looney" in Looney Tunes. Later he became a bit of a selfish ego maniac. In "A Pest in the House" we have another version of Daffy, here he's just plain clueless. As the bellhop in Elmer Fudd's hotel, he is given the task of taking a tired businessman up to his room. The businessman wants nothing more than to sleep, which Daffy, though at times he's trying to help, makes pretty much impossible. Daffy isn't trying to keep the man from sleeping, but, God bless him, he just can't help himself.



Mel Blanc's performance as the voice of Daffy is great, it's an interesting contrast with his foil, the businessman who only speaks at the beginning of the picture, other than that he's all reactions.



Some interesting things happen with Daffy's poses as well. The design of the character seems a bit different than we're used to seeing. He seems a bit more slender and his beak seems a bit longer.

This short is a good example of how cartoons were not always seen as kid fare. One of the best gags in the film was not written with the kiddies in mind. It involves the businessman hearing a loud drunk singing in a nearby room. Daffy heads over to silence the drunk, but soon we hear his inebriated voice joining in on the song. We never see the drunk, or see Daffy getting drunk, but we all know what happens.

Cartoon a Day: The Dover Boys at Pimento University or The Rivals of Roquefort Hall

The Dover Boys at Pimento University or The Rivals of Rouquefort Hall
1942
Directed by Chuck Jones (as Charles M Jones)
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 2

"The Dover Boys" is an odd little cartoon which I must admit I had not seen until tonight. It's presented as an 1890's style melodrama in which three college boys must rescue their girl from an evil cad.

Some of the humor may be lost on audiences today as we are not as familiar with the style being parodied, but a lot of the humor still holds up. The sequence in which the villain kidnaps the maiden is especially funny, not just because of the gags but because of the style of animation. It utilizes a technique called "blur animation" (according to the commentary track). This is where the character jumps between poses very quickly, with little in-between artwork. This works really well with the unique character design.

This is also an unusual film for Warner Brothers as it features an all human cast. None of the regular stable of characters or talking animals of any sort appear. But the design of these human characters is really intriguing. The three Dover Boys are all very different in their design, and the stiff design of the girlfriend works so well, especially when she breaks from her rigid pose quickly to throw the villain across the room.

The is definitely a cartoon that deserves further examination. I'll have to watch it again soon.

Cartoon a Day: I Love to Singa

I Love to Singa
1936
Directed by Tex Avery (as Fred Avery)
Available on: Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 2

Well, it was only a matter of time, how could I possibly ignore "I Love to Singa" for very long. This whole "Cartoon a Day" idea was designed to bring a little extra joy into my life, and if there is one cartoon guaranteed to make me smile it's this goofy little film. It's often listed as a favorite in polls of animation fans and many younger adults will recognize it's title tune from a famous episode of the show "South Park."

The story involves a young jazz singing owl (Owl Jolson) born to a family of classical musicians. They try to get him to sing their music, but he just can't help bursting into the title song. His father ends up throwing him out of the house, but after coming to their senses the family tracks him down when they hear him singing on a radio amateur hour.

There's really nothing spectacular here when it comes to the animation, or the story. It's certainly not the style we would see from Tex Avery or Chuck Jones (who served as an animator on this film) later in their careers. But every time you see that little owl singing away, you just can't help but chuckle. This is just such a great example of why I love classic animated shorts...they're just plain fun.