Someone recently pointed out to me that the video link to this cartoon had been compromised. I first ran it in January 2013. For those who have never seen it, share it with a Grandchild. It's not "Frozen" but it sure is a lot of fun!
Dave Fleischer really put a lot of effort and imagination
into this 1935 cartoon. I can almost hear the laughter of the audience watching
this just before the weekly “Flash Gordon” serial. The rocket ship is about the
same, but the cast of characters is straight out of Noah’s Ark!
The cartoon begins as all of the animals within hearing
distance strive to board the “Honeymoon Express”, as it prepares to take off
for a journey to the moon, and promises of connubial bliss. The only thing
which goes wrong is when the tom cat’s bride gets left behind. She is furious,
and he is “mooning” over her for the entire trip, even as the other guests
enjoy their “special” time with one another, far away from earthly woes. The
giraffes “necking” is one good example of the humor employed in this flight of
fancy.
The usual fluidity is readily apparent, and even without
the credits at the start, you’d have to be blind to not recognize this as a Max
and Dave Fleischer cartoon. The song “Dancing on the Moon” was written by
Charles Tobias and Murray Mencher; the song writing team who, along with Eddie
Cantor the comedian; wrote the Merrie Melodies theme song “Merrily We Roll
Along”. Mr. Tobias also penned the
popular hits “Lazy, Crazy, Hazy Days of Summer”, the World War Two staple
“Don’t Sit under the Apple Tree”, and even the slightly annoying “A Hunting We
Will Go.” His collaborations with his brother, as well as other songwriters,
are too numerous to list here.
There’s a lot that went into these old cartoons, usually
with only about 6 people working on them. The Fleischer team was typical of the
era, employing less than 10 people even for a feature cartoon. Compared to
today’s technically proficient releases; which usually cap out at about 1,000
people taking part in the creative process; the most amazing thing about these
older gems are that they got made at all!
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