"Pantry Panic" - Woody Woodpecker (1941)

When all the birds go south for the winter, Daffy Duck decides to stay behind, giving no thought to how he will get through the winter. Ignoring all advice to the contrary, he avails himself of the last mild days of autumn. When winter finally does come, he is at first satisfied to sit it out with his stockpiles of food. But when those stores run low, and the cat comes to town, all bets are off as the two try everything in their power to trick one another into becoming the other ones meal.

The Schlesinger-Warner cartoons are amongst my favorite. They have the same fluidity as the Popeye and Betty Boop cartoons by Max and Dave Fleischer. They may a bit violent by today’s standards; video games and most major motion pictures and television shows excluded; but they do manage to impart some of life’s more important lessons. In this case, Walter Lantz has cleverly redone the old story of the Ant and the Grasshopper, as well as reinforce the Boy Scout motto about always being prepared.

"Hoppity Goes to Town" by Max and Dave Fleischer (1941)

If you have never seen this wonderfully idealistic cartoon before, then here's your chance. Max and Dave Fleischer, my favorite cartoonists of all time, collaborated on this 1 hour and 12 minute feature in 1941. The story takes place in New York City, in a weed patch known as Bugville. The inhabitants of this tiny weeded lot are making an attempt to live peacefully amongst themselves, as well as their human hosts, with all sorts of problems.

The myriad of characters are a sheer joy; there is Hoppity the grasshopper, the dreamer; Mr. Bumble Bee, who owns the honey shop, and his daughter Honey Bee; C. Bagley Beetle, a businessman, who schemes for greed, and enjoyment; Smack, the aptly named Mosquito; and Swat the common fly. Last, but not least is Little Buzz, a "young bee" who is a member of the Bee Scouts.

Long before contemporary animated films such as "Avatar", with all of its technology; or "Wally", with its politically correct message, would attempt to tackle the problems of mankind, Max and Dave Fleischer were already taking note of the human condition. Then, with the comparatively primitive technology available to them at the time, they played it back to us in the form of simple animation, hoping that we would see ourselves more clearly.

Look closely, and somewhere in this cartoon you will see yourself, as well as all of the problems with which we still live today. Throw in a couple of cool songs by Hoagy Carmichael and Frank Loesser, and this is a really entertaining piece of work. The film was also released under the title "Mr. Bugs Goes to Town."