Looney Tunes (Part 4): The Rest of 1937

I took an extended break once again, in the middle of watching this series of shorts, which comprise of the remaining chunk of 1937. Because, let me tell you...this one was a bit of a spirit breaker. After going through and withstanding several extremely lackluster characters (Buddy, Beans, and to a lesser extent, Bosko) I was really hoping that the introduction of Porky would change things...and well...how about you just read my thoughts?

I will make sure to mark titles that I found of particular interest for Better or for Worse (and a third Pink color that denotes shorts that I liked a lot, that have a particular quality that makes them worth while.) Merry Melody shorts (which are shorts that don't feature a recurring character) will be denoted by an "MM" after the title. I opted not to denote the year for these shorts, because all of them were released in 1937.

Disclaimer: I own none of the videos or images in any of these blogs, are they are mainly being used for review purposes.

_________________________________________________________________________________

154. Porky's Road Race 

This one starts with a disclaimer about none of the characters being real people and...it’s another one of those “celebrity” shorts where a bunch of 1930’s celebrities have wild antics. I recognized *most* of them, but some of them just didn’t stand the test of time. It turns into Wacky Races eventually, and it’s pretty fun, if significantly dated. (6/10)

155. Picador Porky

I laughed at the first joke and then didn’t laugh again. Porky and his friends enter a bull fighting contest, and Porky cheats to win. His friends screw it up by getting drunk. It wasn’t anything special.(4/10)

156. I Only Have Ice For You (MM)

 A weird little short about a turkey (I think) who delivers ice. It’s pretty bland, and just kind of odd. I don’t see this one as being anything worth remembering. (4.5/10)

157. The Fella With The Fiddle (MM)

A grandpa mouse tells his kids about a greedy mouse who gets his just desserts. There’s a lame plot twist you can see from a mile away, so it makes for a boring and predictable short. (5/10)

158. Porky's Romance

Porky falls for Petunia Pig (a character that still exists, but rarely) and after his marriage proposal is rejected he decides to kill himself. It’s a kind of dark short that is trying to force a new character, yet again. Yawn! (5.5/10)

159. She Was an Acrobat's Daughter (MM)

A nice little short that’s more of a series of gags about people at a movie theater. A few chuckle worthy moments, I liked it, but it was definitely lacking in a few places. (6/10)

160. Porky's Duck Hunt

 Woo-Hoo! The first appearance of Daffy Duck! And...it’s just sort of okay. Far and away the best part of the short was Daffy (or this weird prototype Daffy, but you can tell who it will become) but the rest of the short isn’t particularly interesting. Recommended for historical sake, I guess. (7/10)

Daffy won't appear again until 1938...Boo!

161. Ain't We Got Fun (MM)

 What starts out as a pretty mediocre “cat chases mouse” cartoon, picks up in the second half quite a bit. Slow start, but it picked up and had a neat little story that resonated a bit. (6/10)

162. Porky and Gabby

While the short itself isn’t anything special, the animation far exceeds anything that came before it (at least in the non-Merry Melodies shorts) and the characters are much more fluid moving. Porky and his friend Gabby the goat go camping. Not much else to say. (6/10)

163. Clean Pastures (MM)

 Oh, fuck this shit. Seriously. Out of “censored 11” shorts I’ve watched that were banned due to racial insensitivity, this one is far and away the worst (I’m not even half way through them...) the plot doesn’t make much sense when you think about it for two seconds: Something about heaven trying to convert sinners in Harlem using Jazz? Idk. It’s stupid. Even worse is that every single joke is at the expense of the African American community. Either these characters, are dumb, lazy, greedy, or just have huge lips for no reason. Ugh. I got a headache watching this. This is the worst short I watched thus far. Oh, and the fuck is up with the title? “Clean Pastures”? There wasn’t a fucking pasture in whole goddamned short. Just another shitty stereotype. (0.5/10)

164. Uncle Tom’s Bungalow (MM)

If you couldn’t tell from the title this is another one of the “censored 11” shorts. It’s definitely not as bad as “Clean Pastures” but it’s definitely a pretty shitty cartoon. Now, I have never read Uncle Tom’ Cabin, but I can guarantee this short is nowhere near a representation of the book. I thought it was pretty bad. And outside of a “The Fuck?” moment, which I will share below, the short is unremarkable. (4/10)

You know the phrase "White as a Sheet"?

When you get scared?

Well, these two characters get frightened in the short,

and well...

Hehe. I'll admit it got a slight (SLIGHT) chuckle.

165. Porky’s Building 

 Porky and some other bigger pig race to get a building contract...by both of them building the building. BUILDING! It was fun to watch, but nothing too too special. (6/10)

166. Streamlined Gretta Green (MM)

 A cute short, but an odd one. It’s about a little car that wants to be a taxi (which is confusing until a human finally shows up halfway through.) The little car is kind of a bad role model for kids as he almost get hit by a train twice. This also put me to sleep, but I don’t blame the short itself...maybe I was just tired. Good animation though! (7/10)

167. Sweet Sioux (MM)

Not gonna lie. I was quite worried when I realized this was about native Americans. Thankfully, it wasn’t that bad. Nothing too offensive except maybe one odd caricature. If the subject material was antiquated by today’s standards, I might have recommended it, but it’s too close to the middle of the road for that. (5/10)

168. Porky's Super Service

 Porky has a car service center. Then a baby torments him as he tries to fix a car. Really, it’s pretty basic. I can’t say much, because I don’t have much to say. Some of these just feel like an obligation to watch at this point. (5/10)

169. Egghead Rides Again (MM)

A super early version of the character (who despite the title, is in his first appearance) that would eventually turn into Elmer Fudd, named “Egghead” heads out West to become a cowboy. It’s not that great, and it’s pretty predictable. Not bad, just not great. (6.5/10)

See the resemblence? No? I don't blame ya.

170. Porky’s Badtime Story

 Porky and Gabby are late for work and have to make sure they aren’t late again, or they’re fired! (Gasp!) I liked the creative title, and there was a subtle detail with the alarm clock where every successive shot it was in, it showed a few minutes later, overall I liked it. (7/10)

171. Plenty of Money and You (MM)

Did I miss something? I have no idea what the title is referring to. It’s about a Hen that gives birth to an Ostrich (no explanation is ever given) and it’s just bizarre. The bad kind of Bizarre. I really didn’t enjoy this, the design of the Ostrich was kind of cool, but everything else was just too weird. (6.5/10)

172. Porky’s Railroad

Porky is a railroad engineer, and yeah, they kinda found a formula that “works” but, they stopped innovating the content of these shorts once they did. There’s nothing that special about this short. I wish these would get more creative. It’s not bad but, it’s the same short as “Porky’s Building” with some minor changes. (5.5/10)

173. A Sunbonnet Blue (MM)

It’s about mice in a hat shop. Surprisingly? It manages to be pretty bad. I found it annoying, and they made the pace way too quick. Repetitive music, and annoying songs and animation. The worst in awhile. (3/10)

174. Get Rich Quick Porky 

Porky buys into a scam where someone planted fake oil in a plot of land to get money. Turns out there’s real oil! The short wasn’t great, but it was better than some of the more repetitive ones from this time. (4.5/10) 

Time keeps on slippin'...

(Hey, that could be construed as a Looney Tunes Joke!)

175. Speaking of the Weather (MM)

Whew, I took another extended break from watching these shorts, but now I’m back at it! This one was...okay. It was another one of those really dated shorts where it’s filled with celebrity caricatures just doing...whatever. This one had them on covers of magazines (which may or may not have existed...) and it probably would have been better if I knew who anyone was supposed to be. Animation was good, but that might just be because I haven’t watched any others in awhile to compare. (6/10)

176. Porky’s Garden

 Ugh. This was boring. Porky wants to win $1. So he plants a garden, but his neighbor wants to sabotage him with Chickens. It’s difficult to watch these when it’s clear the people writing them had no clever ideas of jokes. It’s just slapstick, and nothing special beyond that. (4/10)

177. Dog Daze (MM)

I love dogs. I did not love this cartoon. It had no story, it was just dogs at a talent show. Doing...human things. At one point some fleas get loose and then well, it amounts to less than you’d hope. I was thinking, “Oh, sh**s about to go dooooown!” But, alas...it remained boring. (3/10)

178. I Wanna Be a Sailor (MM)

Phew! I was worried I wouldn’t see any good ones for awhile! I probably had more “laugh out loud” moments in this short than I’ve in any other thus far (that I can think of!) A little parrot wants to be a sailor, which isn’t necessarily a funny premise (none of the sailor stuff is really funny) but, there’s some cute random gags that deserve a laugh. (7.5/10)

179. Rover’s Rival

The Looney Tune’s Theme (Merry Go Round Broke Down) starts playing at the beginning of shorts starting here. This short was kind of sad, and a little darker than most shorts thus far. A little S.O.B. dog torments an older dog named Rover and Porky. It’s a little too mean spirited at points and not really funny. Looney Tunes shorts will eventually wind up resembling this short, but this seemed like a failed attempt at that sort of humor. (7/10)

180. The Lyin’ Mouse (MM)

 Just a retelling of that Aesop story about the Lion that spared the mouse’s life and how the mouse eventually repaid him. It was pretty mediocre (I love that word) and wasn’t really anything special. Just a run of the Mill cartoon. (5.5/10)

181. The Case of the Stuttering Pig

 WOW. Not necessarily funny, but this short definitely had a very “cinematic” feel to it. It had good use of shadows, and had an interesting story. I figured based off the title, it would at least be interesting an I was right! Just a little mystery for Porky to solve. Vibes of Snow White, which was released the same year, no doubt influenced this. (8/10)

182. Little Red Walking Hood (MM)

Interesting, I liked it. It was exactly what you’d think, but it was done pretty well and “modernized”. The only weird thing is that Egghead (the prototype Elmer Fudd) keeps showing up for no apparent reason until the end where he knocks the Wolf out. Okay? It was more weird and bizarre than funny. Still kind of interesting. (7.5/10)

Also featuring: "Proto-Granny" who would, I guess

eventually go on to become "Granny" AKA, that old

lady who owns Tweety and Sylvester.

No joke, there's an article on "The Looney Tunes Wiki" 

about this lady. Just to show there are people crazier than

me out there. 

183. Porky’s Double Trouble

A lookalike frames Porky for robbery. It’s really nothing special, but I guess it was entertaining. I have nothing bad to say about it. Nothing particularly good either. Very middle of the road. Maybe a little above that. (5.5/10)

184. The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos (MM)

 Another overly dated 1930’s celebrity caricature brigade, only this time...they’re all birds! What. How crazy. Definitely laughing my head off at the lack of jokes, and over abundance of celebrities I couldn’t even begin to recognize (this one had less than usual...) Minus points for not having a Clark Gable bird...he’s an absolute staple of these cartoons, how could you leave him out?! (4/10)

185. Porky’s Hero Agency

 Porky (who is now a little child that actually resembles the design most know him as) dreams of being a Greek hero (I believe it’s Hermès) to fight a Gorgon (the species that Medusa is) it was entertaining, but not particularly funny. I suppose it was interesting enough for me to do a little research into what was happening. Also, a few strange references...Popeye (owned by a different company), The Three Stooges and...well, a Nazi salute (Ugh). I guess the references were less dated than the previous cartoon, so props? (4/10)

186. September in The Rain (MM)

Boo! What a terrible cartoon. A stupid over-used premise (objects in a store come to life, this time it’s logos on boxes...which has been done before.) No jokes. Cringy racist caricatures. No thanks. At the very least, it’s very short. It ended really abruptly. Surprisingly, I looked into it, and I watched the full version...the short censored version is only 3 minutes long! Wow. Last cartoon of ‘37! (2/10)

__________________________________________

One can probably surmise that my lack of blue and pink in the color denotations, that I did not care for a majority of these shorts. Most of them while good, seem to edge in a direction where the creators of these shorts still haven't gotten the hang of what actually makes some of these cartoons "good," "bad," or "racist monstrosities."

I used the phrase "spirit breaker" earlier in the opening of this blog, and I'll elaborate: It just seems so frustrating that even after almost 200 shorts, they fail to get a grasp on not repeating the same boring schtick over and over again. I'm tired of dated celebrity caricatures, and objects in stores coming to life, and "a day in the life of some character with little personality" I want something a little more fresh, with a little more humor!

But, I digress. I know that Looney Tunes aren't the pinnacle of humor. I don't think even during the future Golden Era of Bugs Bunny and all the rest of the characters, I will laugh hardily at every joke. But, I at some point expect to see a little more effort than this.

Finally, I'll end by saying that I am not by any means a hater on "formulaic" story telling (i.e. where every story follows the same plot) but, it's more an issue with the formulas they've established in these cartoons so far being boring and not-entertaining. "If it's not broke, don't fix it." Well, these cartoons are broke, and they need fixing. I know the fixing is coming...but, when????

That's about all I can say right now...

- Alavem (All of Them)

Looney Tunes (Part 3): Beans and Pork

So, this next era of shorts focuses on two characters, a cat named Beans (that absolutely everybody and their mom has heard of, most obviously) and a pig named Porky who won't ever show up in another cartoon after this group of shorts. Obviously.

Both characters were in a previous short entitled "I Haven't Got a Hat" which didn't really focus on either one of them. To be real for a second, the studio had really wanted Beans to be their next big "star" (for whatever reason) so they pushed him into the spotlight, apparently ignoring that the PIG was the most popular part of "I Haven't Got a Hat." So, for now Beans will be the main character until the pig is brought back and proves to be the most popular character the studio had created up to that point.

As before, I will now continue with the regular reviews. As before, I watched and reviewed the first 153 these prior to starting this, so this part will continue to be "archival" reviews (or just general thoughts) with possible expansions with additional thoughts. I will make sure to mark titles that I found of particular interest for Better or for Worse (and a third Pink color that denotes shorts that I liked a lot, that have a particular quality that makes them worth while.) Merry Melody shorts (which are shorts that don't feature a recurring character) will be denoted by an "MM" after the title.

_________________________________________________________________________________

#112. The Lady in Red (1935) MM I can say that this cartoon made me feel more uncomfortable than any previous one. It’s about cockroaches in a cafe after closing (the titular Lady in Red is a cockroach). Then at the end a crazed parrot burns to death. Yep. (5/10)

#113. A Cartoonists Nightmare (1935) Wow! Pretty great. I mean, not really funny or anything, but the 7 minutes this took up flew by! Obviously, it’s a little meta story about a cartoonist getting trapped in his own cartoon and I like meta. Definitely a sign of a new era. This is the second short to star "Beans the Cat" so here he is: (7.5/10)

Sure to be-an all-time classic character!

#114. Little Dutch Plate (1935) MM The evil vinegar bottle needs his mortgage payment or the Dutch Plate Girl and the saltshaker boy will get evicted! Anyways, I thought it was boring, until the twist ending. Honestly, I can recommend it solely based on the ending, which is quite unexpected. Awesome! (7/10)

#115. Hollywood Capers (1935) Beans the Cat breaks into Warner Bros. and does stuff. It’s kinda dull. Kinda the first "Beans" short that shows that no...they aren't trying something new with the character and they are just gonna rehash the same boring nonsense...yet again. Not as bad as Buddy though! (6/10)

#116. Billboard Frolics (1935) MM A bunch of billboard ad characters dance to...the Looney Tunes theme? Hell yeah! I like these ones that seem to show the origin of how things would work out. There’s a B-plot with a chick and a cat, that’s boring, but the rest is great! (8/10)

#117. Flowers for Madame (1935) MM Flowers dance to a song I don’t know and a living cactus hillbilly saves everyone from a fire. The titular ‘Madame’ does not make an appearance, as expected. (4.5/10)

#118. Gold Diggers of ‘49 (1935) I can say this is the first genuinely “funny” short I’ve watched, outside of novelty. Very entertaining. Beans finds a slot machine imbedded in the mountains and wins gold out of it, so there’s a gold rush! Porky is here too! What joyous fun!

I should mention that while I'm intending to go too much into detail of the creation of these shorts, I do feel obligated to mention that this is the first short directed by Tex Avery, whom is probably one of few recognizable names, these days.

(I think I'm going to start being more liberal with the "Blue" text shorts. I'm starting to look like the beginning of the shorts you see on TV now, with the "Blue Ribbon" openings.) (7.5/10)

I've a feeling we're gonna start seeing less shit soon.

#119. The Fire Alarm (1935) Beans the Cat’s Nephews (2 Dogs?) come to stay at the Fire Department. God are they miserable little sh*ts! The absurdity of their actions can be funny though. But, not really laugh out loud funny. (6/10)

#120. I Wanna Play House (1936) MM ‘36! 2 cute (genuinely) bear cubs play hide and seek in the woods. Nothing special here, except one of the cubs sings “I’m Singing Because I’m Gay.” and that along with the title is bound to raise some eyebrows. Darn colloquialisms! (7/10)

#121. The Phantom Ship (1936) Beans and his nephews have a (somehow) quite boring adventure to Iceland where they search for pirate treasure. His nephews are less obnoxious in this one, so almost all their redeeming qualities are gone. NUTS! (5.5/10)

#122. The Cat Came Back (1936) MM Sort of like Romeo and Juliet with a cat and a mouse. And they are friends instead of lowers. Okay, maybe the comparison is a stretch, but! I really enjoyed this one. It was very cute.

And no, this isn't that other short. (7/10)

It's not this. This is leagues ahead.

#123. Boom Boom (1936) It’s WW1, I guess...and Porky and Beans (Porky is pretty much the main character now) are at War. It’s mostly just bullet jokes and grenade jokes. I mean, it’s really nothing special. Meh. (5/10)

#124. Page Miss Glory (1936) MM A bellhop at a small hotel fantasizes doing his job at a big club while he waits for “Miss Glory” to arrive. I gotta say, this is probably the first short that tried to LOOK different. It did well. Also, the Miss Glory reveal was great. This is a great short that I very highly recommend as being worth the watch. AMAZING! (9/10)

#125. Alpine Antics (1936) Beans is skiing for a $2 prize. It’s eh. Anywho, almost all the side characters except Porky seem to be lifted from Disney cartoons. And, of course Porky has the funniest bit (the fool is so excited to be riding a rocking horse down the mountain!) (5/10)

#126. The Blow Out (1936) Porky Pig wants an ice cream soda, so in his quest to earn 3¢ more to get it, he literally foils a terrorist bombing. See, that’s actually entertaining to watch. It only took 126 of these. Sheesh. (7.5/10)

#127. I’m a Big Shot Now (1936) MM A “sleazy back alley punk bird flipping a coin” robs the Birdville bank of thousands of worms. It wasn’t anything special. My biggest complaint? During the shootout at the end, the bird police did no flying whatsoever. Why? They forgot they could? (6/10)

#128. Westward Whoa (1936) The final Beans cartoon! It’s just Bean’s bratty nephews in a “boy who cried wolf” situation with “Indians.” Then it turns into a pretty racist dipiction of “Indians” and just sort of ends without the story being resolved. Oh well. (6/10)

BYE BYE YOU STUPID CAT, YOU BARELY LASTED FIVE SECONDS!

#129. Plane Dippy (1936) Porky joins the Air Force and tests a robotic plane. Has a few clever moments, and a moment with a dog at the end that of course I laughed at. Overall, a pretty decent cartoon. I’m sure the remaining 900~ of these will breeze by! (5.5/10)

#130. Let It Be Me (1936) MM A hen leaves her rooster for a celebrity COCK, who inevitably leaves her for another girl. Eventually the original couple gets back together. Besides it maybe being a little sad, this one wasn’t anything special. (6/10)

#131. I’d Love to Take Orders from You (1936) MM Wasn’t sure what to make of the title, then I found out it’s about scarecrows and...I’m still scratching my head. I thought it looked nice, with some really smooth animation. A little better than middle of the road. (7/10)

#132. Fish Tales (1936) This one was weird. Porky Pig goes fishing, and a bunch of bizarre things happen to him. 2/3s of it are “just a dream” but, even the parts that aren’t are super weird. Not super funny weird, just sort of surreal, and possibly scary for kids? (5.5/10)

#133. Bingo Crosbyana (1936) MM More gross bugs like in #110, it’s just flies this time. Also, it’s Bing Crosby as a fly, which the celebrity COCK in #129 was also a parody of, and also named Bingo. Regardless, I enjoyed this one and laughed a couple times. But, it’s not great. (6.5/10)

#134. Shanghaied Shipmates (1936) So, I only found this online in color, but it was originally in b&w so, I naturally I turned my iPad into greyscale mode. I also think the plot might be a reference to a 1920’s Soviet propaganda film (Battleship Potemkin?)! Oh, and the short itself was just ok. (6/10)

#135. When I Yoo Hoo (1936) MM It’s just a standard Hatfield-McCoy parody (Retrospective aside: Haha, soooo standard!) that ends in a tie after a failed cock fight. Not much to say here. I just didn’t see anything in here worth writing about. (5/10)

#136. Porky’s Pet (1936) Porky and his pet...Ostrich...are given the chance to hit the big time in New York for...no discernible reason. Do they make it? It ends far before they possibly can. There’s only a 3rd of a story here, and it doesn’t continue in other shorts. Boo! (4.5/10)

#137. I Love to Singa (1936) MM Yes! I’ve seen this one before! Multiple times in fact. It’s quite a classic. Not exactly funny, but definitely a well told memorable short. Owl Jolson is a great Jazz Singer! (8.5/10)

Didja know? South Park did a parody in the first episode.

#138. Porky the Rain-Maker (1936) Basically “Jack and the Bean Stalk” with pills that effect the weather rather than beans. Probably one of the first shorts I’ve watched that has a concept for actual jokes, and runs with it. Vaguely progressive but, overall middle of the road. (6/10)

#139. Sunday Go to Meetin’ Time (1936) MM Another “censored 11” cartoon that was banned for being racist, and yeeahh. It dots the i and crosses the t. Watermelon, chicken, and poorly drawn African Americans really make this one cringey to watch. Ew. (1/10)

#140. Porky’s Poultry Plant (1936) Uh, so Porky has to defend his friends(?) the hens...from an evil hawk, at his...poultry plant? Like, does Porky even know what poultry is and why he’s running the plant? This was so stupid. Almost funny in that way. ALMOST! (6/10)

#141. At Your Service Madame (1936) MM A bunch of piglets (not Porky) work to keep a fat idiot from stealing their mother’s fortune. I had a chuckle at a random joke, but not enough to make this anything memorable. (5.5/10)

#142. Toy Town Hall (1936) MM Just a bunch of toys singing songs. BUT, almost all these songs appeared in earlier shorts! Plus, the animation and recordings seem quite similar, as if some tracing was going on! Hmm...also dated references to 30’s movie stars makes this kinda trash. (3/10)

#143. Milk and Money (1936) Porky sells milk to pay off the mortgage. Mediocre, except for the evil mortgage collector! He’s hilariously evil, and the best part of this short. Probably the funniest thing in all of these that I watched yet! (7/10)

#144. Porky’s Moving Day (1936) Another hilarious character! Porky’s sidekick who does nothing except say “Okay, Boss.” over and over...pretty funny. I think the idea is he was a former boxer so he suffered head trauma? IDK. But, he while he was the best, the rest was just ok. Retroactively, I can say that this is supposed to be a stereotype. A lot of black stereotypes in these shorts say “Okay, Boss!” For some reason. Shame on me for finding him funny. (5/10)

#145. Boulevardier from the Bronx (1936) MM One of the main theme songs is used at the beginning for the credits for the first time. Other than that, this is nothing other than a reverse “Casey at Bat” with a pitcher rather than a batter. Very forgettable. (4.5/10)

#146. Don’t Look Now (1936) MM Cupid, and...uh...Satan(?!) foil each other on Valentine’s Day. Of course, Satan marries a skunk at the end. This one was just weird as hell. Pretty literally. (6.5/10)

#147. Little Beau Porky (1936) Porky is a camel washer in the legion in Arabia. I mean, it’s just kinda mediocre. But, I was impressed by how badass Porky abruptly became towards the end. Shooting machine guns and knocking out baddies left and right. (5/10)

#148. The CooCoo Nut Grove (1936) MM Another short full of 1930’s celebrity caricatures I (mostly) didn’t recognize. Most of the time I was either thinking “I don’t know who that is so I don’t get it.” Or “Hey, I know him!” The real puzzler was Clark Gable’s ears...he has big ears? (6/10)

Welp, I guess he does!

#149. The Village Smithy (1936) MM At first there was a narrator, and I was like “Oh, cool something new!” then he went away and I was sad. It was about a Village Smithy, in case you were wondering. More to the point, this probably more resembles a “Looney Tune” than anything that came before it, so there’s that. (6.5/10)

#150. Porky in the North Woods (1936) Porky has a wildlife refuge, and some evil possibly Russian dude decides he can still hunt and trap and stuff. Of course the animals get revenge. Nothing too special here. Even the villain was lacking. #150! (5/10)

#151. He Was Her Man (1937) MM Uh, so this one was extremely unpleasant to watch. It was just emotional and physical abuse between two mice in a relationship. They play it for laughs, but it’s not funny. I was agape when the girl shot the guy. Nothing “Looney” here. Jesus. (3/10)

#152. Porky the Wrestler (1937) Porky is...a boxer! Haha. Jk. He’s a wrestler. I don’t have much to say except that most of the jokes made very little sense. I mean, I’m cool with randomness. But, I never quite got what was going on half the time. Just confusing. (5/10)

#153. Pigs Is Pigs (1937) MM Hey, this one was pretty good. There was no songs (every Merry Melody short, the ones without recurring characters Bosko, Buddy, Beans, Porky...prior to this had one) and it was fun. No, the Pig wasn’t Porky. But he looks like him! (7.5/10)

Another fun fact: This moment from The Simpsons is a reference to this short!

ALSO!

From this point forward, all of the reviews are exclusive to this blog. I had written 153 of these prior to starting this Blog, and those were it.

__________________________________________

So...I'll guess I'll stop there.

I think that this era of shorts was the first and biggest step towards getting into Looney Tunes as most people know them. In fact, this is really where it all began. Porky Pig isn't quite the character you remember him as YET, but he is getting there.

The problem, thus far, is that the creators of the shorts don't seem to know what to do with Porky. Sure, he's the most popular character they've ever had...but, he was an accident!! How can they add more characters to bounce off him if nothing else they've ever done has stuck? Well, how about more happy little accidents?

In the mean time, the Merry Melodies are also improving, and getting away from music at the same time. (Thank God.) They are mostly enjoyable this time around, with a few stinkers here and there. "Sunday Go To Meetin' Time" being the worst of the bunch.

As for the best, I would point to "Page Miss Glory" and "I Love To Singa" as the best one's here. And, hey! Those are somewhat well known cartoons today, pretty much the first of the "classic" cartoons that a lot of people recognize (maybe...)

Overall, this was a big step in the right direction. I can't wait to see what the rest of 1937 holds! Woo-Hoo!

'Til Next Time!

- Alavem (All of 'Em!)

Looney Tunes (Part 2): The Dark Age of Buddy

Welcome to part TWO of my series on all 1,041 Looney Tunes shorts. This time I will be tackling what I find to be the 2nd Era of these shorts. It's a fairly short era, that mostly focuses on the antics of a character named "Buddy" (Who had one previous short in the last post.) and one cartoon with a cat named "Beans" who will take over in part 3.

Ultimately, I will probably shift focus to individual years of shorts, rather than vaguely defined "eras" but, I think this was a big enough jump.

But, before I do that, I realized I didn't properly reflect on the shorts as a whole last time. So, I will do that here:

The Bosko Era of Looney Tunes shorts (as I like to call them) was definitely trying a little to hard to be like Disney. The main issue, in my opinion is that Bosko didn't really have much of his own identity aside from being a slightly different Mickey Mouse. Plots, antics, and even character designs were pretty much ripped straight from (sometimes in the most literal sense) from similar Disney cartoons of the era. Additionally, compared to other Disney cartoons that were constantly experimenting with different ideas, these cartoons very rarely tried anything different. It's really difficult as a whole to recommend these shorts to anybody. They aren't exactly worth watching unless you're doing something ridiculous like me and trying to watch them all. 

I definitely had a few favorites, such as "Smile Darn Ya, Smile!" and "Bosko in Person" in which the main enjoyment I got out of them was the music. Compare some of my favorites coming later like "I Like To Singa" and "One Froggy Evening" I think that Looney Tunes thus far seem to be at there best when they really pull the punches with their music. It helps make for a memorable cartoon, as well as one that you'll be humming the songs to all day. 

Like wise, at the very worst these cartoons thus far are boring, offensive, or just downright dull. I absolutely despised some of the early stuff such as "Goopy Geer" (or whatever the hell that guys name was...) and I try to give these cartoons the benefit of "Well, it was early times..." but, that doesn't excuse some things. 

As a whole, I would say that the shorts are probably only worth watching for their historical value. But, definitely check out "Smile Darn Ya, Smile!" and "Bosko in Person" as they are the cream of the crop here. 

With that said, I will now continue with the regular reviews. As before, I watched and reviewed the first 153 these prior to starting this, so this part will continue to be "archival" reviews (or just general thoughts) with possible expansions with additional thoughts. I will make sure to mark titles that I found of particular interest for Better or for Worse. Merry Melody shorts (which are shorts that don't feature a recurring character) will be denoted by an "MM" after the title.

So, without further ado here's my thoughts on the "Buddy" era of shorts.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

#68. Buddy's Beer Garden (1933) I thought Buddy was a kid, but apparently he owns a bar. Just a bunch of bar jokes and silly music. PASS. (5/10)

Seriously, this isn't a little kid?

#69. Buddy's Showboat (1933) Ugh. So boring. I'm starting to hate Buddy. The only redeeming thing was what I think was a boob joke. (4/10)

#70. Sittin' On A Backyard Fence (1933) MM So aside from the bizarrely sex-driven plot in a kids cartoon, the end fight was awesome! (6/10)

#71. Buddy the Gob (1934) Yeah, you know...a Gob! Like a Sailor? (Yeah, me neither...) Anyways, another boring-ass Buddy cartoon. UGHH. (2/10)

#72. Pettin' in the Park (1934) MM What starts as another "animals wanting love" cartoon, devolves into birds racing across a lake. Not a fan. (4/10)

#73. Honeymoon Hotel (1934) MM FIRST SHORT IN COLOR! Very primitive color. Anyways...bugs on honeymoon, creepers trying to see them do it, things get hot. The colors in these early cartoons don't do full 3-color spectrum, so a lot of shades (especially in the yellow department, I believe) are pretty hard to come across. Still, worth watching for historical value. (6.5/10)

#74. Buddy And Towser (1934) I liked this. It wasn't particularly funny, but it resembles what "Looney Tunes" will become. (In B&W) (P.S. I won't be denoting ALL of which of these are and aren't in color from here out, but most of the Merry Melodies will be and the Looney Tunes won't.) (7/10)

#75. Beauty and the Beast (1934) MM Not the fairy tale at all, just a completely different plot that has absolutely not what you think it is. Don't bother. A few laughs here and there, but not justifiably watchable. (5.5/10)

#76. Buddy's Garage (1934) Buddy has a Garage. You'd think that would be simple, but this one is bizarre as all heck. I liked it! Can recommend based solely on how weird it is. (6.5/10)

#77. Those Were Wonderful Days (1934) MM MORE LIKE "THOSE WERE TERRIBLE DAYS!!!" PRETTY BAD. Nothing happens. There's barely a plot. They barely even sing, and Merry Melodies are supposed to be music based! Bad animation too. UGH!

Apparently, this one was so bad, that I took a half of a year hiatus from watching these (I should also mention I was unemployed when I started watching, and got a job soon after, that contributed to the hiatus.) (2/10)

TURN BACK THE YEARS!!!

#78. Buddy's Trolley Troubles (1934) Boring. Felt like I've seen this before. Some cute/trippy visuals though. Not something you want to comeback to after a hiatus due to shit. (3/10)

#79. Goin' to Heaven on a Mule (1934) MM Extremely racist. To a somewhat humorous extent. Why THIS wasn't a censored is beyond me. More shit. (3/10)

#80. Buddy of the Apes (1934) More racism, more boring nonsense. Still terrible, and very nearly the breaking point. They'll get good again...

(2.5/10)

#81. How Do I Know It's Sunday (1934) MM See? This one was good. Classic food mascots fight flies and sing. It wasn't the worst thing ever. (6/10)

#82. Buddy's Bearcats (1934) Buddy plays baseball and it's just so bizarre and nonsensical that I actually really enjoyed it. (5.5/10)

#83. Why Do I Dream Those Dreams (1934) MM It's just a stupid and simplified version of Rip Van Wrinkle. I'll probably forget about this one. (Retroactive Aside: I did.) (4/10)

#84. The Girl at the Ironing Board (1934) MM A bunch of clothing comes to life. Mostly forgettable, until the evil onesie pops up at the end.

INSERT ANOTHER HIATUS HERE. THIS TIME FOR 9 MONTHS!!! THERE WAS A DEATH IN THE FAMILY AND I GOT PROMOTED TO FULL TIME, SO FINDING TIME TO DO THIS WAS NIGH IMPOSSIBLE. (4/10)

TURN BACK THE GODDAMN YEARS!!!

#85. The Miller’s Daughter (1934) MM Look! Another short after all that time! Kind of a decent one. I don’t understand the title, or why the 3 Stooges were monkeys, or most of the visuals...the plot was okay. But, it was mostly randomness.

The reviews from this point on are longer than before, as these were originally on Twitter and they doubled the character count during my hiatus. (6/10)

#86. Shake Your Powder Puff (1934) MM There’s a jolly show at the Barn Yard! The weirdest thing are the 3 characters that look just like Donald Duck! Could they be rip-offs? (4/10)

I doubt it as this cartoon is only 3 months older than said Duck. To be fair, I have no idea the turn around time on these cartoons... Then there’s that dog...oh well!

#87. Buddy the Detective (1934) Buddy is a detective. Haha. Just kidding. He does nothing Detective like at all except the outfit. Also, he does appear until 4 minutes into the 7 minute short. More Buddy Garbage. Blah. (3/10)

#88. Buddy the Woodsman (1934) Buddy actually is a woodsman! Oh my gosh! Pretty much just woodsman jokes? Whatever that means? And then a bear attacks the lodge...whatever probably one of the best yet in terms of animation quality. (4/10)

#89. Buddy’s Circus (1934) Started off weird as hell then just devolved into stupid racist caricatures and jokes. At least I found this one in a decent video quality, too bad the short itself is of no quality whatsoever! (3/10)

#90. Those Beautiful Dames (1934) MM Genuinely heartwarming. Maybe I’m just a sucker for orphans, but seeing the toys come alive to help her was wholesome. Very nice. Well until it just turns into random jokes. As always! (6.5/10)

#91. Pop Goes Your Heart (1934) MM It’s Spring! No plot, but a few decent Springtime jokes. I particularly enjoyed a thing with dancing apples with worms for limbs. Kinda neat. (5/10)

#92. Viva Buddy (1934) MM Buddy is in Mexico, and surprisingly he doesn’t run into too many stereotypes. (Aw.) Instead it is just boring. The Marx Brothers show up for a second. Yipeee. (4/10)

#93. Rhythm in the Bow (1934) MM A bum rides the rails and then winds up in a bum community and sings a song and saves a dog. This one really doesn’t deserve much more than a description. (4.5/10)

#94. Buddy’s Adventures (1934) Actually pretty exciting (ok, for what it is) in the beginning and there’s so decent scatting on Buddy’s part! Honestly, this is probably among that character’s best. Plus, there’s actually a plot! And it doesn’t go off the rails too much! (7/10)

#95. Buddy the Dentist (1934) Another actual plot! And dialogue! Too bad it’s full of nonsense like him feeding chocolate to his dog...and attaching the in-house gas line to the dogs face to emulate Dentist gas...hopefully kids won’t watch this one! (6/10)

#96. Buddy of the Legion (1935) 1935! Buddy gets boring again. This time he gets a job as a book sales...boy...and sucks at it. He fantasizes about being in the legion and sucks at that too. Boring!!! (2/10)

#97. Mr. and Mrs. Is the Name (1935) MM So this one starts out with...topless mermaids! But, it’s okay because they have no nipples? Then it turns out it actually stars Buddy as a Merman...and they never refer to him as one. Uh. I don’t know what to make of this one. (4.5/10)

#98. Buddy’s Theatre (1935) Buddy owns a theatre. Who’ve guessed? It’s mediocre! Except the parts that Buddy isn’t in...the film he projects onto the screen! He’s the worst part. Sheesh. (5/10)

#99. Country Boy (1935) MM I don’t have much to say. It literally just they story of Peter Rabbit minus a few plot points. The only relevant thing about it is that I watched it right around Easter. Sheer coincidence. (6.5/10)

#100. I Haven’t Got a Hat (1935) MM The first appearance of Porky Pig, the first character anyone reading this will recognize! Basically this one was created to make characters to replace to unpopular Buddy. Beans the Cat also debuted here, and he’ll be the star next. Otherwise a mediocre short, but a very historically important one (as well as the 100th one!) The beginning of the end for "Buddy" (YES!) (8/10)

D'ERE HE IS!

#101. Buddy’s Pony Express (1935) Buddy races to the finish line. But, a crook swapped out his horse with a bad one! But, it turns out this “bad one” is actually better than Buddy’s good horse I guess so Buddy wins anyways! Yay? I was so confused! I recommend this because, darn it! It's strangely memorable. (6.5/10)

#102. Buddy’s Theatre (1935) Buddy owns a theatre. Who’ve guessed? It’s mediocre! Except the parts that Buddy isn’t in...the film he projects onto the screen! He’s the worst part. Sheesh. (5/10)

#103. Along Flirtation Walk (1935) MM The concept of this one was befuddling and kind of hilarious: It’s the big game! Everyone is at the stadium cheering on the players...a bunch of hens competing to lay the most eggs. The rival team cheats by shitting pool balls. WTF? (7.5/10)

#104. My Green Fedora (1935) MM A sequel! I guess? To #99 starring Peter Rabbit. It’s at least more interesting than the first one and vaguely more entertaining, but I use the word “vague” in a slightly more optimistic sense. (6/10)

#105. Buddy’s Lost World (1935) Buddy goes to the Lost World...which isn’t even lost, as he gets there super quick, and it’s not even uncharted because he has a map. There’s a dinosaur and some cavemen. The only funny thing was a moment of sheer ineptitude from Buddy. Just stupid. Kill me. (3/10)

#106. Into Your Dance (1935) MM It starts out as a pretty blatant rip-off of Disney’s “The Band Concert) which came out earlier that year. Then a bunch of other characters put on a talent show, and again, they were all Disney characters again! Ugh. (3.5/10)

#107. Buddy’s Bug Hunt (1935) Buddy gassed himself (Yes!) while torturing an insect, and then goes on trial for cruelty towards insects. Sadly he doesn’t die, but probably received brain damage, as he releases all the insects. Next. (3/10)

#108. Country Mouse (1935) MM No, there’s no City Mouse. It’s just a tough Mouse who thinks he can beat the champ in the ring. He doesn’t do well so his badass Grandma beats the champ up. I liked the Grandma, and there were a couple neat boxing jokes. (6/10)

#109. Buddy Steps Out (1935) Buddy goes on a date, which gives his portrait a chance to “step out” of its frame. (Okay, clever.) Then it turns into Disney’s “Thru the Mirror” which came out...later??? Woah. Well, gosh darn! Anyways, one more Buddy cartoon left! (6.5/10)

#110. The Merry Old Soul (1935) MM Old King Coal has married the old woman who lives in a shoe! Unexpectedly, she has like 100 kids (from whom?!) and now you get to see him get his kids to bed. Yep, and that’s it! What a story Mark! Haha! Worth a watch if you want something to ponder the stupidity of for a bit. (3.5/10)

#111. Buddy the Gee Man (1935) Buddy is a “Gee Man” sent to inspect prison regulations, and he of course screws it up because he makes the prison a nice place and everyone wants in. Kinda stupid. But it’s the last Buddy Cartoon! And it actually wasn’t trash quality! Bye, Buddy! (6.5/10)

Phew! Glad that's over.

______________________________________________

So, what did I think of this era of Looney Tunes?

Well, this is far, far, worse than the era of Bosko. For the most part, you can chalk it up to the creator's of the Bosko shorts leaving the company, or maybe the ill-fated idea of making a ill-defined boy the main character of the shorts (why not make it live action if it's going to be about a human?) the fact is, Buddy has absolutely no defining characteristics. It doesn't make the character at all appealing.

To make matters even worse, the Merry Melody shorts don't fare much better. In general, they pretty much have the same sort of overly weird tone to them that the Looney Tunes do. Not entertaining, and at best...bizarre (and I love bizarre, so fact that I dislike them is saying a lot.)

I can't really point to a single cartoon aside from "I Haven't Got a Hat" that is absolutely essential here, or really truly atrocious. These are just boring cartoons. Almost nothing worth looking more into. Just plain dullness, from a studio that still doesn't understand what makes Disney so popular. Thankfully, the next era will slowly show them coming to realize what exactly that is.

Oh, and fun aside: For whatever reason, while I haven't seen Bosko outside of these shorts in any form. I have seen Buddy outside of his. Apparently in 2016, there was an exhibition of Buddy at the Baltimore Library which required them to post a giant poster of him on the wall of the building. I also ran into a bizarre (probably unlicensed) version of Buddy on a garage somewhere else in Maryland.

In the next post, I will go over the Era of Beans (they really like "B" names back then) and the rest of 1936, before I switch to shorter posts going through the shorts year by year...

But, for now...

-Alavem (All of Them)