Captains Christmas" with The Captain and the Kids (1938)

The Captain is playing Santa for the Kids, while his old nemesis Long John and his henchmen plan to rob him up and take all the presents for the boys.   But the band of would be robbers make a mess of the whole scheme.

When John does get in the house by accident he is dazed from a fall down the chimney and quickly reverts to being a big kid, playing with the toys he had intended to steal. While playing with the toys  things get out of hand and he winds up breaking them all, leaving the kids in tears.

Confronted by the heartbroken boys; as well as his conscience; he sets out to replace the gifts by singing Christmas Carols with his gang. They sing so poorly at first that people throw things at them to stop. But with a little effort they wind up singing beautifully and the people wind up throwing presents at them instead.

Gathering the gifts up in the sleigh the band of pirates then return to the scene of the “crime” in the true Christmas spirit, delighting the boys and assuaging John’s guilt. In the end all works out well and Christmas is saved.

There were only 15 Captain and the Kids cartoons made. This one was released in theaters on December 17, 1938.

"Mama's New Hat" with Captain & the Kids (1939)

When the boys buy a new hat for Mother’s Day they don’t expect the problems they are about to have. As they exit the store they trip and the hat ends up in a mud puddle; ruined. Spying a nearby horse they decide to swap the ruined hat with the one on the horse’s head. (This is a cartoon so there is no reason for the horse NOT to be wearing a hat.)

Sensing an opportunity, the boys quickly exchange the muddy hat for the one the horse is wearing. When the horse figures out she has been swindled she gallops after them, only to lose the trail. She is left searching the streets for the scent of the boys, and her hat.

Meantime, back at home, the boys have presented Mama with her Mother’s Day gift. She promptly goes for a stroll to show it off. And then she comes face to face with the horse, who immediately begins to chase her in order to get her hat back. A very frightened Mama leads the horse back to the house, and the horse actually gets inside to search room by room for what is rightfully hers.

The boys; knowing that they caused this whole mess in the first place; decide to do something. So, they sit the horse down and attempt to mollify her by having her try on every piece of headgear in the house; football helmet and lamp shade included. When the horse becomes dizzy with all the hats and mirrors the boys push her into the bathroom, where she finds herself in the tub with a very surprised, and angry Captain.

The chase that begins in the bathroom reaches epic proportions in relation to the size of the hat at stake. At one point; through the magic of cartoon reality; the horse becomes an airplane with the aid of an electric fan and a dining room table. When they snag the electric line they take most of the town’s power lines along with them before crashing onto a laundry “tree” in someone’s backyard with the contested headpiece landing just out of reach.

At this point the fan; which is still stuck to the horse’s ass; turns the laundry “tree” into a merry go round, with the prized hat becoming the “golden ring.”  The Captain and the Kids cartoons grew out of the comic strip of the same name; which grew out of the Katzenjammer Kids series. For a really good article about the history of that series; with links to the Captain and the Kids strip; use this link;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Katzenjammer_Kids

"School Days" with Flip the Frog - MGM UB Iwerks (1932)

In this MGM cartoon from the early 1930's school is in session once again. One of the local kids seems to have a problem with getting his dog to stay at home alone. When the dog continues to follow him the boy ties him to a steamroller for the day. At least he thinks so...

Arriving at school the boy is greeted by an overflowing playground with seemingly more children than can possibly fit in the one room school house. When class is called into session the children all go inside and meet their very old and not so personable teacher. They engage in all the usual activities associated with school and things seem to be going well in class.

But what about the dog? Remember the dog? He has grown tired of being tied to that steamroller and manages to tow it towards the school. Somehow he becomes untied from the machine as it rolls along on a path of destruction, depositing our canine friend just outside of the schoolhouse where his master studies inside.

Naturally the dog enters the schoolhouse to "sniff out" the location of his master. This serves to enrage the teacher, who promptly throws him outside. There the unfortunate dog meets a skunk, which starts a chase that winds up back inside of the classroom. It is there that the skunk does what skunks do best, necessitating the evacuation of the entire schoolhouse.

But all is not over until the dog, with the aid of his master, is able to shed his tainted skin. This is a very simple and fun cartoon with no real hidden meanings to it. Just fun in black and white.

Ubbe Eert Iwwerks  was an American animator born in 1901. His first job was working for an advertising company in his home town of Kansas City.  He was just 18 years old. This was also where he met Walt Disney. They bonded instantly.

During the 1920’s,  while working together, UB came up with the idea for Mickey Mouse, who Mr. Disney wanted to name Mortimer Mouse instead. UB won out and did most of those early cartoons by himself, frame by frame. By the time the 1930’s arrived UB had grown fed up with Mr. Disney; who was a very demanding boss; as well as not getting the credit he deserved for his accomplishments. (To this day many people credit Mr. Disney with the creation of Mickey Mouse, upon whom he built an empire.) And that’s how UB ended up at MGM. Flip the Frog was the first character he created there, followed by many others.

For more information about this often overlooked artist, use this link;

http://www.thegreat1930s.com/ubiwerks/