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Beware of Awards

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Yesterday, Martine and I attended a screening of old cartoons from Walt Disney, the Fleischer Studio, MGM, and United Productions of America (UPA). Much was made of fact that several of the cartoons had won Oscars for animation.

It was at that point that my hackles began to rise. Academy Awards? You mean those awards voted on by industry members who bore grudges against the studio for which they worked or for competing studios. Granted, some Oscar winners deserved their awards. Knowing the film industry as I do, however, many votes are cast based on pure spite.

There is no doubt that the Walt Disney Studio made some great cartoons. But did “The Old Mill” (1937) deserve an Oscar? See your yourself: The Old Mill. There were some very arty effects, but zilch in the way of story or characters.

On the other hand, a controversial Donald Duck cartoon entitled “Der Fuehrer’s Face” (1943) was banned for decades because it showed the Quackster having a dream that he was a Nazi in Hitler’s Germany. It was a fascinating look at American war propaganda. Was it a little racist? Hmm, could be….

In the speaker’s idolization of Disney, he totally left out Warner Brothers’ Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. No Bugs Bunny, no Tweety or Sylvester, no Roadrunner, no Porky Pig, and no Daffy Duck. And he said very little about the 1930s productions of Max and Dave Fleischer. I am referring to Popeye, Betty Boop, and a host of great cartoons, such as Poor Cinderella (1934) or Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy (1941).

As a low rent film scholar, I am suspicious of awards. I never watch the Academy Awards on television, and I never take awards into consideration when planning my viewing. I may not have the so-called prestige of the Oscars behind me, but I am more likely to see films for other reasons than industry backbiting.

Betty Boop Meets Cab Calloway

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Cab Calloway and Cartoon Representations

As I hinted in yesterday’s post, I am not done with posting about the cartoons of Max and Dave Fleischer. Among my favorites were the Betty Boop cartoons with music (and dancing) supplied by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra. In 1832 and 1933, Calloway worked with the Fleischers and three or four Betty Boop cartoons.

These included:

Minnie the Moocher (1932)

Snow-White (1933)

The Old Man of the Mountains (1933)

The reason I say there were three or four cartoons partnering Cab Calloway with Betty Boop was that there is a separately titled segment of Snow-White entitled St James Infirmary Blues.

None of these films could be regarded as suitable for children. (That also goes for Poor Cinderella, about which I posted yesterday, and in which Betty is in the street wearing nothing but bra and panties). In both Snow-White and St James Infirmary Blues, we see Betty in a glass coffin whose pallbearers are the seven dwarves, followed by the evil queen and Ko-Ko and Bimbo.

Even worse is The Old Man of the Mountain, whose villain is a bearded dirty old ogre who chases Betty Boop down the mountain with lascivious intent, at one point ripping off her dress.

On the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) website, there is an interesting article entitled “When Cab Calloway Was Betty Boop’s Co-Star.”

Poor Cinderella

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Today we can see all the Walt Disney cartoons (except maybe Song of the South) most any time we want. The same goes for the Warner Brothers classics with Bugs Bunny, Daffy, Porky Pig, Tweety and Sylvester, and Wile E, Coyote. Even Walter Lantz (Woody Woodpecker) and Hanna-Barbera are all around us.

But the cartoons I most love to see were produced by the Fleischer brothers, Max and Dave. They were best known for their Popeye cartoons , but their work included an animated Superman, Betty Boop, Ko-Ko the Clown, and a whole host of other creations. Unlike Disney cartoons, those by the Fleischers included mostly human characters.

One of my favorites is a Betty Boop cartoon called Poor Cinderella (1934)—her only appearance in color. The cartoon was based on a hypnotic song of the same name that recurs through the cartoon. At one point, an animated Rudy Vallee is shown singing it.

Here, for your enjoyment, is the cartoon itself:

In the coming weeks, I will provide links to other Fleischer Brothers products. I have always loved them and delight in sharing them with you.

Spear and Magic Helmet

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Elmer Fudd in Warner Brothers’ “What’s Opera Doc?”

It was, to my mind, the greatest short cartoon ever made. In 1957, Warner Brothers released a Wagner opera parody (of Die Walküre, no less) featuring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. You can see it, with commentary, by clicking on:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q9doSQ1cHAw%3Fsi%3D5Xt62Ii3v2ti8pNn

I have written before about my suspicion that the United States has (d)evolved from a Bugs Bunny nation to an Elmer Fudd nation. Always immaculately garbed in hunting clothes, or in the case of this film spear and magic helme, Fudd nonetheless doesn’t know what he wants. He says he wants to kill the wabbit. But he also, in his strange incel way, loves the wabbit. And Bugs knows it and takes advantage of him.

Of course, in this film Bugs dies. His last line as he is carried off by Elmer is something to the effect that operas always end sadly.

Elmer Carries Off the Body of His Doomed Love/Hate Object

When Elmer first encounters Bugs in the film, he is poking his spear into a rabbit hole shouting “Kill the Wabbit!” while Bugs, standing off to the side, munches on a carrot. Only after a few moments does Elmer realize that Bugs is taunting him. He erupts in rage and uses his magic helmet to conjure up a storm. Whereupon Bugs as Brunhilda rides down a hill from a Greek temple lounging on the back of a fat white horse.

Naturally, Elmer falls immediately in love with Bugs/Brunhilda and his golden braided wig. They dance a pas de deux until—horrors!—Bugs/Brunhilda’s wig falls to the ground. Enraged again, he uses his magic helmet to whip up a storm that kills the object of his hate/love. Remorse follows as Elmer exits carrying the limp Bugs.

The film was directed by Chuck Jones, one of my favorite animators.

Eh, What’s Up, Doc?

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I Yearn for the America That Had Bugs Bunny as Its Hero

I love watching old cartoons from Warner Brothers and the Fleischer Brothers. They spoke of a wisecracking America that doesn’t exist any more. It was good to be represented by such originals as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Alas, now we are more represented by a fearful Elmer Fudd. Oh, he has guns galore, but he always loses in the end.

Bugs is like one of the trickster gods of many cultures around the world, including those of some North American Indian peoples. Take the Norse trickster god Loki, for example:

In Norse mythology, Loki is known as a trickster. He is described in the Prose Edda as a “contriver of fraud.” Although he doesn’t appear often in the Eddas, he is generally described as a member of the family of Odin. His job was mostly to make trouble for other gods, men, and the rest of the world. Loki was constantly meddling in the affairs of others, mostly for his own amusement.

Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd

I find my early cartoon heroes such as Bugs Bunny, Popeye, Betty Boop, and even Speedy Gonzales are representative of a country that is comfortable in its own skin. Unlike Elmer Fudd, who always takes the trouble to dress like a bold hunter, but who, in the end, is chicken-hearted.

And I’ll best anything that Elmer has a red MAGA hat in his closet!

Influence Numero Uno, 1960s Style

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R. Crumb Was My Guru in Dem Days

The 1960s were a difficult time for me. I was all set to start graduate school in film history and criticism in September of 1966, when, quite suddenly, I was in a coma at Fairview General Hospital, with my body surrounded by ice to bring my temperature down. It was then that my pituitary tumor decided to make a major incursion on my optic nerve and brain that almost carried me into the next world. Somehow, I struggled back to consciousness, received the last sacraments of the Catholic Church (the aptly named Extreme Unction), and was ready to remove a “cyst” (that’s what the doctor called it) from my pituitary.

Did I even know what the pituitary gland was? Not really. Within a few days, my brain was hinged back to allow a surgical suction device to remove the enlarged and inflamed gland. When later I saw my neurosurgeon and asked how big the tumor was, he answered, “About the size of a grapefruit.”

When I finally made it to Los Angeles after Christmas in 1966, I noticed some changes to my ways of thinking:

  1. I felt that because of my weird ten years of illness that I was, for all intents and purposes, from Mars.
  2. Quite suddenly, I lost my faith in religion.
  3. I found myself with a really weird sense of humor.

Self Portrait of Cartoonist R. Crumb

Since I was now in Los Angeles, I drifted toward certain local influences, such as The Los Angeles Free Press, an underground newspaper that mirrored my own sense of disillusionment. Then I made the discovery of R. Crumb, whose Zap Comics, Fritz the Cat, and other series were required reading. There was Mister Natural, Flakey Foont, and a whole galaxy of characters. Admittedly, there was a lot of misogynistic sexuality, which was a Crumb trademark, but that was the way I was feeling  about myself. It rubbed me the wrong way that women seemed to lie so casually and hurtfully. It was years before I understand that was a defense mechanism from weirdos like me.

Some of Crumb’s Early Misogyny

Oddly, I never outgrew my admiration of Crumb’s work. I no longer accept all of Crumb’s own neuroses and psychoses, but I believe he was a great cartoonist, and that his work will be remembered long after I am gone.

 

Enroute to Infamy

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Mr. Fish Cartoon of a Narcissistic Trump Taking a Selfie

I couldn’t resist sharing this cartoon with you of our narcissistic Presidentissimo. As his enemies close in on him, he becomes ever more objectionable. Does he think his base will protect him? I don’t think his base is growing at all.

 

Jim Carrey Takes on the Trump Troll

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I Scream, You Scream …

Actor Jim Carrey looks to be on the point of starting a brilliant new career, as an Anti-Trump Twitter Troll. The tweet that went with the above picture is:

Jim Carrey

✔ @JimCarrey

 Dear Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery @NPG, I know it’s early but I’d like to submit this as the official portrait of our 45th President, Donald J. Trump. It’s called, ‘You Scream. I Scream. Will We Ever Stop Screaming?’

Even more artistic is this one about General Kelly:

 

Guess Who

The accompanying tweet reads as follows:

Jim Carrey

✔ @JimCarrey

 All who enter his crooked carnival with integrity are doomed to leave without it. General Kelly has been trampled by his own compromise. Who dares be the next to ride the carousel of fools?! Muahahaha!!!

Finally, I couldn’t pass up this attack on the current Speaker of the House of Representatives:

Paul Ryan

And the tweet thereunto appertaining:

Jim Carrey

✔ @JimCarrey

 Tone deaf Paul Ryan brags that his tax bill is going to make low income voters an extra $1.50 a week! That’s almost enough for a box of Band-Aids. Who needs healthcare? WAKE UP REPUBLICAN BASE! You are parked on the tracks, cheering for the train that’s about to run you down. ;^P

You can see all the pictures by clicking here.

When Betty Boop Was a Dog

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Wanna Be a Member? Wanna Be a Member?”

“Wanna Be a Member? Wanna Be a Member?”

Today, Martine and I went to see a program entitled “The Greatest Cartoons Ever!” at the Alex Theater in Glendale. It was the 6th Annual show of cartoons put on by the Alex Film Society. Most of the cartoons were outstanding, but the one that caught my eye was a pre-Code black and white cartoon released in 1931 by the Fleischer Studios. Directed by Dave Fleischer, it starred Bimbo the dog and a very early Betty Boop.

Bimbo is trucking down the street when he falls through an open manhole, slides down a ramp into a strange kind of funhouse, and is accosted (see picture) by a bunch of strange members of a secret society who ask him: “Wanna be a member? Wanna be a member?” When Bimbo loudly answers, “No,” he is sent further into the funhouse where there are various life-threatening traps including knives, an anvil-like device full of sharp blades, and other threatening traps.

Several times, he is asked by the members of the secret society whether he wants to become a member. Each time he vociferously refuses. Finally, one of the members takes off his costume and is revealed to be Betty Boop, which makes Bimbo change his tune. He becomes a member, and all the garbed members are revealed to be Betty Boops.

There is one difference, however. Betty and her backup dancers all have floppy dog ears. No matter: Bimbo is now delighted to join with such “pips.”

If you have six minutes, you can see the cartoon on YouTube. It’s pretty wild.