I love this cartoon for its musical ensemble; composed of
various critters; most notably the frogs, and their wonderful harmonies; as
well as the humans, in this Cab Calloway inspired performance. It’s reminiscent of
Cab’s swinging, storytelling style of delivering his particular brand of music,
which by the time this cartoon was released, had overrun America and even
Europe. It was the era of the big band and the sound of swing, be-bop, and
jazz; all of which would coalesce into rock and roll in about 15 years after
this cartoon was first seen.
Also of note is that this is a Walter Lantz cartoon, which
is evident the moment you see his hand drawing the opening of the feature,
which is kind of a trademark of his work. Later on, after the advent of Woody
Woodpecker, this is the same hand which occasionally would stuff Woody back in
the ink bottle when he got too wild to control. I always loved that mixture of
reality and the cartoon. The Oswald Rabbit series was a definite attempt to
compete with Warner’s new cartoon characters, which included a fellow named
Bugs Bunny. Bugs won, but Oswald lives on, with a good many fans of his own.
I know this cartoon has a politically incorrect ending for these times, perhaps anytime for that matter, but it is only a cartoon and not in any way a suggestion on how to solve your differences. It seems sad that I must point this out.
I know this cartoon has a politically incorrect ending for these times, perhaps anytime for that matter, but it is only a cartoon and not in any way a suggestion on how to solve your differences. It seems sad that I must point this out.
Check out all of the crazy characters and their swinging
dance moves. The turtle is very good as he slides his partner beneath his
shell; only to have her fly from her own shell; as the dogs dance, and the octopi
become entangled in their own arms. Only the cuckoo in the clock has enough
sense to finally call an end to the evening’s festivities when the clock
strikes twelve.
The cartoon was a combination of winning ideas from an
in-house contest Walter Lantz ran in his studio with the rest of his crew to
furnish gags for the production. The prizes ranged from $2 to $10, which was
pretty good for 1939! Actually, the cartoon was begun in September of 1938 and
released in January of 1939, just a little less than 4 months’ time. Try that
with today’s animation! You might get the credits done.
The “Cartune” series predates the “Swing Symphonies” series which
came out in the early 1940’s. The music in this cartoon was inspired by the
Ella Fitzgerald smash hit of 1938- “I’m Just a Jitterbug.” You can listen to it
here;
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