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Granny

You are probably wondering why I am mentioning this character instead of the cat or the canary. Well, the next cartoon I am going to talk about is her debut appearance, so it seemed like a good idea.

Granny seems like a stereotypical old woman, but she can be pretty violent when protecting her pets. She is one of the few characters from Looney Tunes who still has one of her original voice actresses, (Granny had two) the great June Foray. I like Granny. She is a nice person, just don’t tick her off.

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Drafty, isn’t it?

“Have I got your attention?”

This is an army recruitment short. We see Ralph Phillips (who starred in “From A to ZZZZZ” and “Boyhood Daze”) now around 19 years old. His dreams are being haunted by an ominous shadow. While he sleeps, a little imp like creature named Willie comes and starts to talk to the young man. He tells him that he should join the army no matter what. It will help him throughout life and the horrible conditions are pretty much exaggerated in the cartoons, anyway. Ralph’s dog chases the creature, waking Ralph. They see the shadow again outside the window and now realize it is a join the army poster.

Personal Rating: 2

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So Much for So Little

“It’s up to you.”

Sorry for the lack of updates. I was on vacation and visiting relatives and seeing my baby second cousin made me think of my good picture of which to talk about. I decided on this Oscar winning short. That isn’t actually a Looney Tune or a Merrie Melody.

In it, we learn how to keep ones self healthy. (Made a while ago, as they mention smallpox as a viable threat.) We also learn that plenty of babies will die and it’s mostly our fault. However, if we remember that only 3 cents a week will save them, we can make a difference.

Personal Rating: 2 (Not bad, but plenty outdated as stories based on science tend to be.)

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The Return of Mr. Hook

“Now I’ll show you the back.”

Since I am talking about war time cartoons, I figure I better talk about this as well.

We see our hero, Hook, telling his shipmates about his post war plans. They laugh and ask about them. He goes to say he plans to woo and marry a girl. (In my opinion she is ugly. And her name is Choo-choo? Does she have a brother named Chugga?) Coming to the end of his plans, he sees all of them buying bonds. “Any bonds today” plays as it ends.

Personal Rating: 1

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Spies

“Full speed ahead!”

A thing I forgot to mention last time, is that some of these shorts were written by the great Dr. Seuss, such as this one.

We see Snafu bragging about a secret he knows and how he will never reveal it. Although unbeknowenst to him, he is being followed by his enemies. He walks through town and little by little, he leaks more and more. Eventually, he comes to a bar, and to the tune of powerhouse, he gets drunk. Now he could care less and he goes to a woman to tell her all about it. She is a Nazi and she lets all the others know what is going on. Then, when Snafu is sailing later, he is torpedoed and killed. In hell, he wonders who let his secret out. His answer comes to him in a mirror. Before the short ends, his reflection turns into a horses butt.

Personal Rating: 4

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Private Snafu

With the second World War well under way, Warner Bros. decided that they should help and do their part. They made a series of cartoons that showed how to survive. The catch was that their character would do everything wrong, so troops would know what not to do. Their character was named Snafu which everyone know stands for “Situation normal all fffffff… all fouled up”.

These were hilarious, but sadly most people never got to see them. (They were made for the troops after all.) Even if they hadn’t been, they were more for mature audiences. They had swearing, racial caricatures and even a little bit of nudity. However, they are now public domain so you can watch them online. Go do it now! I command you!

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Any bonds today?

Now what we have here is a short that is entirely music. We see a figure approaching and it is our patriotic cartoon character, Bugs Bunny. He starts to sing and tell us we must buy war bonds if we are going to win World War 2. Soon Porky and Elmer (in his fat phase) join him. So as you are probably guessing it is not really worth your time to watch it, right? Wrong! It is a great song! One that I find myself singing whenever I take a walk. If you do not watch this, then you are definitely missing out. (Just be mindful of the blackface. That is humorless.)

Personal Rating: 3

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Lady Play your Mandolin

“Hola!”

This is the first Merrie Melody and is one of my all time favorites, so lets get this party started.

We open on a bar with one of the catchiest songs ever played. (These old M.M.’s titles were just the name of the song that was played in the short.) All the customers are singing and drinking (beer) and having a great old time. After some music we find our character, Foxy. He is riding his horse to the party to have some fun. He arrives and plans to go in but his horse wants in on the action. Foxy ties his neck around a cactus (Imagine how horrible that would be!) and goes in.

He drinks and the entertainment begins. It is Roxy and Foxy asks her to (all together now) “Play her mandolin!” She complies and more music ensures. The horse is ticked at being left out and unties himself. He yells some thing and Foxy breaks some tequila over his head. His horse gets drunk and comes in. He drinks more and starts to hallucinate wildly. Pretty scary. He burns up and our characters finish their song.

Personal Rating: 4 (First cartoons aren’t supposed to be this good.)

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Merrie Melodies

I have no idea how these are supposed to be classified. I have read many different interpretations. One said these contain minor characters who do not appear in any other picture. Another said they are just music focused. I have found neither to be completely true. In my opinion they are exactly the same as their Looney counterparts, just a bit more Merrie. (Yeah, that’s the ticket.)

At one point, they were the cartoons that Warner Bros. released in color, but that eventually became every picture. I however, am a fan of Looney Tunes to such an extent that I do not care. They are wonderful, and every bit as enjoyable as the others. However, if anyone can tell me a difference that I have not mentioned, and makes sense, then I would love to hear it.

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Crying for the Carolines

I am quite sure this is the first Spoony Melody made, and if you watch it you can easily see why they never made many more. It starts with some guy singing, and we see some woods. A boat FLIES by, and we see the moon. After that, we see a city and the boat returns. That’s it, the end. Now it is not really bad, but it is just freaking weird. This is the kind of thing that would have messed me up as a child. These are just the kind of things we have to put up with.

Personal Rating: 1