This week's 5 for the day is such a broad and rich topic, with so many worthy choices, that it seemed prudent to put two people on the job, Keith Uhlich and Odienator. So, in a way, it's really a 10 for the day:
Keith Uhlich's list:
1. "I Love to Singa" (1936) - In which jazz crooner Owl Jolson (voiced by Our Gang bully Tommy Bond) runs afoul of his classical musician father and performs on Jack Bunny's amateur radio show. The characters' eyes are profoundly expressive—the little triangles of white light that reflect in their pupils rotate a full 360 degrees and add to these deceptively cheery protagonists a sobering touch of the manic-depressive. "I Love to Singa" is about stalwart determination, not to mention the simultaneous insanity and importance of artistic pursuit (and Owl returns as a genius sight gag in "Looney Tunes: Back in Action.")
2. "Russian Rhapsody" (1944) - In which Adolf Hitler, after spewing his way through a fiery Reichstag speech about deli condiments, sets out to bomb Moscow and comes face to face with musically inclined "Gremlins from the Kremlin," not to mention a very stern-looking mask of Josef Stalin. That the cartoon manages to both viciously lampoon Hitler (whose portrayal here complicated my childhood perception of him as a demonic historical bogeyman) and also make him something of a sympathetic protagonist is a tribute to the oft-unsung talents of director Bob Clampett, whose every hand-drawn frame is a virtuoso, stand-alone grotesque.
3. "Rabbit of Seville" (1950) - Jean-Luc Godard described Robert Bresson's Au Hasard Balthazar as "life in 90 minutes." Chuck Jones' "Rabbit of Seville" (in which Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd square off to a brilliantly mangled Rossini libretto/accompaniment) is life in seven.
4. "Three Little Bops" (1957) - The Big Bad Wolf's deliciously cruel dispatch by dynamite "to the other place" takes Friz Freleng's jazzy masterpiece (lead vocals by Stan Freberg, one of the few Warner Bros. voice artists besides Mel Blanc to receive an onscreen credit) to a whole new level of complexity. To this day, I can't decide if the Three Little Pigs' final declaration ("You gotta get hot to play real cool") marks them as friend or foe.
5. "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" (2003) - Joe Dante's magnum opus (the antidote to the atrocious Space Jam) resurrects the Warners cartoons even as it sounds their death knell. As shown by Bugs and Daffy's jaunt through a Salvador Dalí landscape in the film's justly celebrated Louvre sequence, there's no room left in the world for Termite Terrace's concentrated greatness. All that remains is present-tense anomaly and the persistence of a fond, half-remembered memory.
Odienator's list:
1. "Swooner Crooner" (1944) - The guys at Termite Terrace loved to parody the people, places and events of their time. "Swooner Crooner," a wartime cartoon, takes place in an factory populated by chicken equivalents of Rosie the Riveter. The chicks work for Porky Pig, laying eggs on an assembly line to the tune of Raymond Scott's "The Powerhouse." (You know—dun-dun-dunnn-da-dun-da-da-dun-dunnnn-dadada-dun-dunnnnn-dun!) The eggs stop coming when my fellow Hudson County native Frankie Sinatra shows up. Frankie appears as a bow-tied rooster who's so skinny that he disappears behind his microphone stand. He sings "As Time Goes By" and "Wrong," two of the numerous Warners-owned songs Carl Stalling was always sneaking into the pictures.
To combat Frankie's sway over his swing shift, Porky auditions several singing roosters to help him do what roosters are supposed to do—increase egg production. After seeing parodies of the top singers of the day (Jimmy Durante, Al Jolson, Cab Calloway), Porky gets assistance from rooster Bing Crosby, who engages in a cock-blocking battle with Frankie over who can get the most eggs out of their audience. Tashlin shoots all this with angles and camera setups not normally seen in cartoons (foreshadowing his career in live action films) and creates for Porky his only Oscar nominated short. The ending is notoriously disgusting, if you really think about it.
2. "For Scent-imental Reasons" (1949) - In Chuck Jones' book, Chuck Amuck, he says that cartoon scribe Tedd Pierce was the Termite Terrace inspiration for that smelly symbol of sexual harassment, Pepe Le Pew. "[Pierce's] devotion to women was at times pathetic, at times pathological, but always enthusiastic," wrote Jones. "Tedd could not really believe that any woman could honestly refuse his honestly stated need for her." Nor could Pepe. With his Charles Boyer-style delivery, his butchered French ("le petit femme fatale du skunk!"), his slobbery attempts to woo, and his failure to realize he's funkier than James Brown, Pepe is the perfect persistent male on the hunt. It doesn't matter if his prey is really a cat with a white stripe on her back. It doesn't even seem to matter if said prey is female, either. In "Odor-able Kitty," which precedes this feature, Pepe has a little episode of "Le Montagne Brokeback" when he mistakes a male cat for a skunk. His horniness knows no boundaries, and Oscar awarded him for it.
3. "Tortoise Beats Hare" (1941): Tex Avery, back when he was Fred Avery, directs Bugs in a rare turn as victim. Disney used fairy tales and parables for good, but the Looney Tunes used them for evil. Cecil Turtle robs Bugs Bunny in a ten dollar bet by getting his lookalike buddies to help him win the race. All of Avery's trademarks are there, the exaggerated double takes, the self-aware characters breaking the fourth wall, the speeded up takes, and the risqué humor. (Pepe Le Pew's famous theme also appears here, when Cecil starts running.) Bugs is completely outsmarted, but manages to keep his attitude when dealing with "that blankety-blank toitle!" Bob Clampett's sequel, "Tortoise Wins by A Hare (1943)," is better, but this has one of my favorite Bugs Bunny lines: "And I hope ya choke!"
4. "Rabbit Seasoning" (1952) - Michael Maltese was Chuck Jones' favorite cartoon writer, and this, the best of the Bugs vs. Daffy vs. Elmer trilogy ("Duck Rabbit Duck" (1953), "Rabbit Fire" (1951) and this) is hands down the most brilliantly written Looney Tune ever produced. The dialogue is fast, furious and infinitely quotable. Bugs and Daffy repeatedly run through the "Would you like to shoot me now, or wait 'til you get home?" routine with razor sharp comic timing, altering it on every turn but leading it back to the same conclusion every time. We even get an English grammar lesson in the process. "Pronoun trouble," says Daffy at one point, catching Bugs in his attempt to trap him into getting his beak blown off for the umpteenth time by Elmer. It's Schoolhouse Rock, Abbott and Costello and Sam Peckinpah rolled into seven minutes of animated bliss.
5. "Birds Anonymous" (1957) - Mel Blanc gets lots of credit for his work with Looney Tunes, all of it deserved. But in "Birds Anonymous", Blanc, as Sylvester, has an Oscar-worthy addict's breakdown of Ray Milland style proportion, breaking your heart with its intensity. Sylvester has joined an AA parody called Birds Anonymous, but finds that quitting bird-eating cold turkey has its price. After one last failed attempt to swallow Tweety, Sylvester cracks. "I gotta have a bird," he cries. "I'm weak! But I don't care! After all, I am a pussycat!" Blanc's dramatic delivery makes you feel sorry for the bad ol' puddy tat, and director Friz Freleng must have realized this was Blanc's vocal masterpiece. After Freleng won an Oscar for "Birds Anonymous", he gave it to Blanc.
Joe Dante destroyed my childhood.
Okay, lists like this are always gonna leave some jerk gasping for air and screaming, "How could you forget THIS one?"
I'm that jerk.
The two that I'd consider "Can't Omits" for such a list are (1) Duck Amuck (Chuck Jones, 1953) wherein Daffy find his very ontological existence challenged by the capricious whims of the animator. Looney Tunes meets Sherlock Jr., this toon is about as philosophically sophisticated as a family-oriented bit of 7m entertainment can be and (2) One Froggy Evening where in plebe believes he knows real talent (and his meal ticket) when he hears it. Problem is, he's the only one who hears it. Is this construction worker the Uber-stage mom, the only one convinced of his discovery's great gifts? That the audience is also in on things only adds to his and our pain.
I love it when toons do something more than merely make clever pop references, but reach for something a little more twisted, provocative or profound. Both these toons do just that.
Which Hare v. Tortoise cartoon has the end with all the tortoises saying "Mmmmm… it's a possibility!" ? (My wife and I say that whenever someone mentions something as a "possibility". It comes up more often than you'd think.)
Dan: Okay, lists like this are always gonna leave some jerk gasping for air and screaming, "How could you forget THIS one?"
I'm that jerk.
(Using my natural accent)
I knew dat dere'd be some joik sayin' "How couldja fugget dis one?" before menchuning some udda cartoon. So I says ta myself: I'll let da joik do it for me! Why should I do all da woik? So dere!!
Duck Amuck is a classic, as is One Froggy Evening (my favorite Looney Tune). I like your take on Evening, because I always looked at it as a bittersweet parable about greed. You've turned it into Gypsy, which is fascinating.
Goran: Joe Dante destroyed my childhood.
That's what watching Small Soldiers can do to you.
Totally down with both Keith & Odie's #1′s – I LOVE TO SINGA & SWOONER CROONER, both of which feature heaping helpings of merry melodies.
Not sure I could ever throw together a Top Five, but thanks to the recently released Volume Three DVD set, I must give huge props to HILLBILLY HARE. It had me – as well as some people I had over one night – gasping for air from laughing so hard.
Russ: "Hillbilly Hare" has the funniest square dance number, ever!
I feel a little deceptive not including "One Froggy Evening," or "Duck Amuck," or "Feed the Kitty," but to put a slight spin, how about this cross-section of Daffy:
1. "Porky & Daffy" (1938)-that weird period where the two were partners of a sort. Porky is Daffy's boxing manager. The duck finds himself in the ring with an athletically superior opponent. Daffy's weapon? Insanity, and lots of it.
2."Nasty Quacks" (1945)-The little girl likes her pet duck, but he's a really annoying freeloader to her father. Daffy is truly obnoxious in this one…even for himself – but to his credit, he can't quite bring himself to commit murder – especially when the victim turns out to be real hot.
3. "Golden Yeggs" (1950)-Daffy is more or less a victim in this one. Farmer Porky is forced to sell the duck to gangsters who think Dafft can lay a golden egg. The 4 minute egg sequence at the end is golden in itself.
4. "Boobs in Woods" (1951)-Daffy is just screwing with Porky for no reason whatsoever in this cartoon. I mean, Porky isn't even trying to hunt him in this one. Porky usually gets revenge in the end, which separates this middle Daffy period from that of Bugs.
5. "Deduce, You Say" (1956)-Daffy is now, presumably, over Porky in his station in life – that is to say, Porky is his sidekick. By this time, Daffy is primarily a character of bad luck mixed with misguided judgement.
Daffy sure changed a bunch over the years – more-so than most toons, I'd venture to say. Not just in appearance, but in roles. But does his development have character archs? Incidentally, I was just one away from having 5 as a cross-section of the Daffy/Porky relationship.
Bits of pieces of many of the listed cartoons (and in some cases the entire cartoons), are available on YouTube, just in case folks don't have a DVD collection handy. If you can't find the one you're looking for, you can at least find another with the same character. The only creation that doesn't seem to get much YT love is Pepe Lepew, sadly.
Anon
Upon more careful searching, I retract my statement about Pepe.
'Tis a treasure trove over at You Tube, anonymous. Looks to me like they have all the Censored 11 cartoons. Thanks for pointing us in the direction.
Woops- Sorry Ross for mispelling your name in my previous comment.
Keith: What are the Censored 11 cartoons?
I'm gonna do mine one at a time.
The Hypo-Condri-Cat Hubie and Bertie, two mice, need to get rid of house cat Claude. Claude is a pill-popping hypochondriac, so their game is easy. "He's sick. Look, he's turning plaid." "Yeah, yeah, sure, sure. Riot!" After a ghoulishly funny "operation" they mind-fuck Claude into thinking he's dead. Like Odie's "Birds Anonymous" pick, this is another tour de force, Oscar worthy performance by Mel Blanc. Claude's voice rings out with panic and anguished pathos. "But I caaan't fly!" It ends on a truly bizarre note, with Claude attached to a balloon flying up to cat heaven. He's found inner peace and is completely reconciled with his "death." "Farewell, you poor earthly creatures."
Jeffrey, the censored 11 cartoons are the ones Ted Turner wouldn't allow to be shown on Cartoon Network (or anywhere for that matter). I'd seen most of them when I was a kid, back when Mr. Colorization didn't own 'em.
You can read about them here.
Although I agree "Duck Amuck" is one of the great short films ever – I always rather resented the way Chuck Jones took 'wild & crazy Daffy' (I think Bob Clampett's creation) and turned him into a nasty fussbudget.
And on this basis I'd like to put in a word for "Draftee Daffy", a Clampett cartoon featuring 'crazy' Daffy trying to avoid being drafted into WWII.
Another good cartoon is Clampett's "Porky in Wackyland".
Just to be clear on something, Carl Stalling wasn't "sneaking" Warner owned songs into cartoons, putting them in was part of his job and part of the reason why the cartoon unit existed. The Merry Melodies in particular were origianlly created to promote songs owned by the music companies owned by Warner Brothers. Initially the idea was that people would see the cartoon, hear the music and go out to buy the sheet music. Later of course they were buying the recordings. Stalling had free run of the Warner music library for the cartoons. Even a piece like "Powerhouse" or "The Lady In Red" that were incidental music were owned by the company, although of course the operatic pieces that they used on occassion were public domain.
What Odie said, Jeffrey.
Just to be clear on something, Carl Stalling wasn't "sneaking" Warner owned songs into cartoons, putting them in was part of his job and part of the reason why the cartoon unit existed.
Yes, I know that Warners owned them and was happy to have them promoted in their cartoons. I didn't mean to imply that Stalling was doing something dastardly. What I meant was that, as a kid, I didn't know these songs (or any of the classical pieces), so it seemed like I was getting a free, sneaked in lesson on music from Mr. Stalling.
MGM did the exact same thing.
What makes a Looney Tune different from a Merrie Melodie? Is it something to do with that blue ribbon?
Wagstaff: What makes a Looney Tune different from a Merrie Melodie? Is it something to do with that blue ribbon?
There are a couple of theories on that, but first, let me start with that blue ribbon thingee, which originally wasn't there.
Warners (or was it UA?) thought they could make money by re-releasing the pre-1948 cartoons, so they cobbled them into this "Blue Ribbon" collection, which robbed the cartoons of their original credits and replaced them with the blue ribbon you see on a lot of WB cartoons. Their rationale was similar to what TV does now with the compressed credits at the end of shows.
On the recent three-set collections of Looney Tunes, they tried to put the original credits in whenever they could find them.
Now, I vaguely recall that Looney Tunes were originally in black and white and Merrie Melodies were in color. Merrie Melodies were also the shorts that capitalized on the Warners song library, whereas Looney Tunes were more straightforward cartoons.
As more characters came into the Termite Terrace fold, I don't know how they determined whether a cartoon was a Looney Tune or a Merrie Melodie. However, you can tell what kind of cartoon is which as soon as the Warner Bros. logo shows up. If the concentric circles are thick and few, it's a Looney Tune. If they are narrower and more numerous, it's a Merrie Melodie.
Looney Tunes were the first series that the Warner Brothers studio (actually Leon Sclessinger Company which did shorts) created. They hire Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising to produce shorts. Merrie Melodies followed a year or two later. Both were originally in Black & White, but Looney Tunes featured continuing characters, notable Harman & Ising's Bosco, while Merrie Melodies were usually one shots in the style of Disney's Silly Symphonies. When Warner Brothers were finally able to start producing Technicolor cartoons (the process had been licensed exclusively to Disney for 5 years) the Merrie Melodies started using the prcoess first, and started developing their own continuing characters, notably Bugs Bunny. Black & White production continued on the Looney Tunes series into the early 1940s.
what about "What's Opera, Doc?" and "Long-Haired Hare" ? they've always been two of my family's favourites, along with Rabbit of Seville [we're big into classical music here].
1. Fast and Furry-ous
2. Going Going Gosh
3. Stop, Look, and Hasten
4. Fastest with the Mostest
5. To Beep Or Not To Beep
Allow me to throw in a vote for Frisky Puppy, who only appeared in three cartoons.
None of these cartoons are particularly GREAT, by any means, but they stand as perfect testaments to just how much mileage you can get out of perfect comic timing.
The jokes are the same in all three shorts: Frisky Puppy comes up behind Claude Cat and startles him by barking. Claude rockets to the ceiling.
In theory, boring. But it never STOPS being funny.
One of the greater assemblages of comic talent in American history was probably within the walls of Termite Terrace, and I think Frisky Puppy is a great example of this.
But I'll also throw in a vote for that one where the dog adopts the kitten, then thinks it's dead — the one that Zemeckis and Pixar have ripped off.
Todd: But I'll also throw in a vote for that one where the dog adopts the kitten, then thinks it's dead — the one that Zemeckis and Pixar have ripped off.
We've sung the praises of Feed the Kitty here before. Marc Anthony, the dog in the picture, gives the visual equivalent of Blanc's vocal performance in Birds Anonymous. The Looney Tunes collection has a DVD commentary about the cartoon.
As for the Frisky Puppy cartoons, I only remember the one where Claude gets his revenge on the puppy at the end, sending him to the ceiling. Isn't that puppy similar looking to the dog that keeps trying to get Porky to adopt him?
1. Hypo-Condri-Cat
2. Daffy Doodles -because I'm a sucker for mustache vandalism.
3. Rebel Rabbit -Bugs makes 'em pay for that 2 cent bounty. Fills in Grand Canyon, cuts loose Florida, steals locks off Panama Canal.
4. The Great Piggy Bank Robbery -what a cast of villains! Snake Eyes, 88 Teeth, Hammer Head, Pussycat Puss, Bat Man, Double Header, Pickle Puss, Pumpkin Head, Neon Noodle, Juke Box Jaw, Wolf Man, and Rubber Head.
5. Super Rabbit -"Bricka-Bracka Firecracker, Sis-Boom-Bah, Bugs Bunny, Bugs Bunny, Rah! Rah! Rah!"
3. Rebel Rabbit -Bugs makes 'em pay for that 2 cent bounty. Fills in Grand Canyon, cuts loose Florida, steals locks off Panama Canal.
Bugs also posts at the House Next Door that Terrence Malick is a hack director. Bounty goes up to $1 gazillion dollars.
"Bricka-Bracka Firecracker, Sis-Boom-Bah, Bugs Bunny, Bugs Bunny, Rah! Rah! Rah!"
You know, every time I watch that cartoon I can NEVER say this more than once.
As for Daffy and his mustaches, I haven't seen that cartoon in AGES!