Saturday, August 2, 2008

The Impossible Barney Bear series

I have mixed feelings about the Dick Lundy Barney Bear cartoons. The shorts are always hybrids, sort of a trait d'union between the Tom and Jerry shorts and the Avery's entries. So, as a whole, the series failed to have its own characteristics.
Barney himself was basically too much passive and didn't achieve to reach even that little of personality Andy Panda or Porky Pig had in their solos shorts, resulting friendly characters on whom solid entries can be tailored. Even if he often acts and reacts in the cartoons, all his actions results in fact out of character.
Despite all this, however, the shorts are enjoable, with some entries being very good.
"Wee Willie Wildcat", for example, came so far to steal two major gags from "Senor Droopy" and "Wags to Riches" (giving Barney, in this last case, a hat, only for the execution of the gag: no comment!) but this does not prevent it from being one of the best in the series, up there with "The Impossible Possum" and "Half Pint Palomino".
I'm gonna show you "The Impossible Possum" today. The highlight is a great sequence in which Barney, using a female possum hand puppet, tries to seduce the title character. The way Barney reacts, at the end, and his closing line to the audience, explain at better his typical passive behaviour.



See Youse,

Andrea

Be vewy, vewy quiet, I'm hunting....bears!

Prepare to witness to an historical meeting between Elmer Fudd and Henry Bear (and family)!









See Youse,

Andrea

Friday, August 1, 2008

The Michael Maltese Falcon

Maltese strikes again!









Come on, which classic short this story reminds you?
Don't you wonna win 600 gallons of genuine Niagara Falls?

See Youse,

Andrea

Tokio Jokio's on You

Since "Tokio Jokio" will not be on the warti..."patriotic pals" disc, it's time to post this beautiful copy here. This is not a great cartoon, being full of racial stereotypes and corny gags (WW2 references and unfunny jokes were numerous in McCabe's shorts). However there's something to enjoy, expecially the animation by Davis, with chaplinesque Hitler soon coming to mind.





I'm not having many comments posted recently. Let me know if you appreciated my last posts and what you think about them. I always want to know your opinions.


See Youse,

Andrea