Mexican Joyride

Thanks to my friend Kevin Langley, I just adore Art Davis cartoons. I speak for most of us when I say that Davis was an extremely underrated director. Where jokes fail in his cartoons, animation quality makes it up. "Mexican Joyride" is definitely his best short. It's just too funny for me to pass up! The animation is also just superb with talents like Bill Melendez and the great Emery Hawkins under his wing.

I'll probably post more Davis shorts later, but for now, enjoy his masterpiece work.

Looney Tunes - Mexican Joyride (1947)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

Hare-um Scare-um

The third appearance of Bugs Bunny. It's also the first time he's been colored gray as well as recieving his name from the model sheets. This one's actually my favorite of all the proto-Bugs shorts. The jokes always leave me laughing, the characters are great, the animation's good, and the musical score (By legend Carl Stalling) fits well with the picture.

Below is a model sheet of this Bugs and the cartoon itself.

Merrie Meleodies - Hare-Um Scare-Um (1939)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

The Barber of Seville

The first cartoon with the redesigned Woody Woodpecker as well as one of the best Woody cartoons ever. There's also wonderful animation from Verne Harding, Les Kline, Pat Mathews, and of course, Emery Hawkins. I also love the aria Woody sings at the end of the cartoon.

Would you trust this guy with a razor?

Woodey Woodpecker - The Barber Of Seville (1944)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

Jerky Turkey

Another funny Tex 'toon.

This is one of the few cartoons that Tex directed that wound up in the public domain, and I thought it was wonderful to see I found a high-quality video of the whole thing in English!! A good one to watch on Thanksgiving, don't ya think?

Aside from that, there's still wonderful animation done by Preston Blair and many others as well as the story being done by Heck Allen.

MGM - Jerky Turkey (1945)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

Slap Happy Lion

One of the best from Tex Avery. I think this is the one short with the most gags thrown into it, making it one of the most outrageous shorts Tex and his crew ever did. After all, what's more silly than a lion being afraid of a little mouse?

MGM - Slap Happy Lion (1947)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

The Aracuan Bird

Yep. I'm back again! I just got a job a few months ago, so I haven't been able to post as often as I would like to. Here's something just for the sake of something new.

One of my favorite Disney characters is the rare Aracuan Bird featured in two classic Donald Duck shorts, Clown of the Jungle (1947), and a segment on Melody Time called Blame it on the Samba (1948) where in both shorts is voiced by the great Pinto Colveg. I love this guy because there's definitely some Tex Avery influence on him. It's a shame that he didn't come back for more shorts than this since he's such a fun character. Below is a model sheet form Blame it on the Samba and the cartoon, Clown of the Jungle.

Hammy Model Sheet

This is one of those rare posts where I examine modern cartoons. There's a handfull of those that intrigue me, and this model sheet from Dreamwork's Over the Hedge is one of them. After seeing this model sheet and several others, I came to the conclusion that the movie would have looked better if it was animated traditionally instead of computers. Below is a model sheet of the character Hammy. He looks a lot cuter here than he did in the final project.



I want my COOKIES!!!

Prest-O Change-O

The first colored bugs Bunny cartoon and the first directed by Chuck Jones. Chuck did a lot of Disney-esqe 'toons from the 1930's, which is when this was made. The same rabbit is back, this time colored white, quieter, and just as crazy! Oh, yes, did I mention he does magic tricks too?

Visit this site for more pictures: http://duck-walk.blogspot.com/2006/05/more-magic-from-that-crazy-white.html

Merrie Melodies - Prest-O Change-O (1939)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006

Porky's Hare Hunt

I've been meaning to do a post on this one for a while, so here I go.

The Very first Bugs Bunny cartoon. At first created by Ben Hardaway, this rabit was quite different from Bugs even though they're one in the same. This hyperactive rabbit is a lot less calm than Bugs and here, his first foe was actually Porky Pig! Later on this little white rabbit will evolve into a grey, cool hare.
Oh yes, let's not forget his laugh and voice. It's a lot like Woody Woodpecker's, isn't it?

Musical Moments from Chopin

One superb musical cartoon. I'm a sucker for cartoons timed to music, and at the Walter Lantz studio, no one does it better than ex-disney animator Dick Lundy. He really knew how to time actions with music. I think Lundy may have been in charge of the "Musical Minatures" series. This one in particular has various pieces from classical pianist Frédéric Chopin instead of focusing on just one piece of music.

Musical Minatures - Musical Moments from Chopin (1946)
Uploaded by Cartoonzof2006