The Fox & The Grapes

Here is one of my favourite cartoons of all time. Directed by Frank Tashlin when he briefly headed the Columbia animation studio in the early 1940s. Tashlin’s colleague at Warner Bros Chuck Jones was inspired after viewing this cartoon that he based the premise of his Roadrunner cartoons after the blackout gags that were used here.

I just wish that Sony would release these onto DVD.

The Coconuts

Cover of The Cocoanuts

The Coconuts was the first Marx Bros. film (to be released) from 1929 and it is the most dated of their films. Whilst Groucho and Harpo are both in great form, and even Chico is funny, the movie is a bit bogged down by the elements that would bog down future Marx Bros. films, namely needless crooning of some very boring songs (by Irving Berlin) as well as Chico playing the piano and Harpo playing the Harp. These elements can almost be excused here as this was a remake of their Broadway play and looks to be exactly like a play that has been filmed. Zeppo is also in the film but does nothing much.

The Coconuts also has the ‘Viaduct’ scene with Groucho and Chico and lots of scenes featuring Groucho and his usual foil, Margaret Dumont, playing the wealthy dowager.

Another this I feel should be noted is that the film is in very bad shape. I wonder what restoration Universal has done on the movie since they acquired it.

Pupetta of the Circus

This is from Dell’s Animal Comics #2 which came out in early 1942. I love the artwork of this story by Justin Gruelle, brother of Raggedy Ann creator Johnny Gruelle, and a great artist in his own right.

I always wondered why clowns and circuses were not more prominent in comic books and cartoons. You’d think that something so full of colour and movement would be ripe for these two mediums.

I haven’t really known much about these types of funny animal comic book, as I grew up primarily focussed on superhero comics and MAD (as well as Cracked). I must say that I have been impressed so far with the stories and art work contained within the books and wish that there was some way these could be reprinted and made available to the children of today as it is a shame that these wonderful stories have been allowed to simply fade away.
Of course there is Art Spiegelman’s wonderful book The TOON Treasury of Classic Children’s Comics, but this seems to be more focussed towards the adult collector.