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.

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#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.

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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)