How to Bastardize a Beloved Film by Yourself

All you really need is Windows Movie Maker, something that makes MPEG files, and a single funny cartoon sound effect.

I actually got around to watching BAMBI (1942) for the first time in God knows how long (all I know is is that the copy in our basement was still in its original wrapping!). I might post my thoughts on this film later on (though I'd rather rip SNOW WHITE a new one beforehand), but all I'll say is that I didn't laugh at all during the movie. Now I know it's completely wrong to think that a cartoon has to be funny to be good, but I always get at least one good laugh from the Disney features. But I didn't with this one.

So what better way to make sure there's a funny scene in Bambi than to make sure that it's one of the most traumatizing Disney moments?



I promise my next post won't be as silly. Blame Jon Cooke for inspiring me to make this if you think it's lame. Be thankful I don't show you the other things I come up with at 2 in the morning.

You can see a funnier Bambi parody here though.

In Memory of Bill Grace

I won't get too much into my recently deceased uncle, Bill Grace (1943-2006), and his life story much here, except to tell you that he was a great and funny man. He was a particularly strong one too, often seen lifting refrigerators and other large appliances by himself for one of his eight siblings.

My only animation-related memory of him was one afternoon he was over at my house, and we watched one of Cartoon Network's Acme Hour blocks (you know, when they actually played cartoons years ago, let alone ones that didn't suck).

Friz Freleng's Tweety & Sylvester short MUZZLE TOUGH (1954; arguably the most groan-inducing title in cartoon history) was on, and I never heard a grown man laugh so hard at a cartoon in all my life. This same block had a few Tex Avery shorts as well, but his laughter at this one makes me think of him everytime I watch it.

In particular, it was this scene of Tweety leading Sylvester up the stairs with a grand piano that had him roaring... Obviously he could relate to having to carry something so massive!

I have no idea who animated this scene (except that Sylvester with the piano keys as teeth is definitley by Art Davis), but I think this clip preserves my own memories of Uncle Bill and his sense of humor very nicely.

Famous Popeye: John Gentilella

I think I may have possibly found one solid reason for why the Famous Studios output needs to be properly researched. And he is John Gentilella.

I don't know much about this man's life story, except that he animated for Van Beuren and Terry before his 12+ year tenure at Famous.

John Gentilella was responsible for a lot of the wonderful animation in the Famous Popeye the Sailor shorts. Rewatching these cartoons, knowing which scenes he did, I can safely say this man could hold his own to the best on the West Coast. The animation of Popeye, Bluto, and Olive Oyl in these scenes are wonderful, filled with life and feeling. John also seemed to have a knack for handling many of the fight sequences too, as he is a master of fluid movement.

Having to pull these clips from VHS recordings from the 1980s (some of them unfortunately time-compressed) reminds me of how badly we need these and the Fleischer Popeye films released on a proper collection. Maybe some day, but it's been over 20 years, so I can't see it ever happening anytime soon. These are from some of the best Popeye cartoons done at Famous and I think John is a strong reason they are so.

If anyone is wondering why Popeye's voice sounds screwy, that's because it's not Jack Mercer voicing him, as he was drafted in WWII. I'm uncertain to who's voicing Popeye in these clips.


THE ANVIL CHORUS GIRL (1944)


FOR BETTER OR NURSE (1945)


KLONDIKE CASANOVA (1946)





I owe a huge thank you to Bob Jaques for introducing me to Johnny Gent's style. He has been very generous with his time and knowledge in our discussions of New York animators. He helped me pinpoint another great, Marty Taras, who is going to be a highlight later on.

You'll have to rewatch the FOR BETTER OR NURSE clip again, because I reuploaded it with a little bit more, with Bluto saying "You runt! Now nobody goes to the hospital!" at the request of Bob. He said: "I love the way Bluto forces out the word “runt”. It’s an animation flourish that I feel separates the good from the great." I agree with him completely.

Odor-Able Kitty (Bob Cannon)

Pepe Le Pew was always my least favorite Warner character as a kid. It must be because the shorts are simply remakes of the excellent cartoon FOR SCENT-IMENTAL REASONS (1949)... That one won an Oscar, so I guess Chuck went with what worked I guess!

But the actual character Pepe Le Pew is quite a funny one, especially in the earliest shorts, like his debut film, ODOR-ABLE KITTY (1945). This one has some fantastic Bob Cannon animation in it. Bob was always great with facial expressions and movements. He animated the ending where it's revealed that Pepe is really henpecked 'Henery' with two kids, and the French accent is a fake! I think Ken Harris animated the cat sneaking away as Pepe is getting beaten by his wife. The cat is male, BTW... Talk about a couple who needs marriage counseling!

Similar Endings, Different Animators (Bob Cannon & Ken Harris)

The Road Runner series always gets criticized for being the most repetitive of the Warner shorts. But they really aren't! Chuck and Friz would frequently reuse ideas, gags, etc. because they got a laugh in the original short. Case in point, one of the posters at GAC mentioned that while in a story meeting with Friz, he suggested "We did a gag in a Tweety and Sylvester cartoon where "X" happened. Put that in."

Case in point... Bob Cannon did this wonderful piece of character animation for the ending of Chuck's MY FAVORITE DUCK (1942). It's clear that early on Chuck didn't want the darnfool duck triumph unconditionally. "I showers him with lefts, and rights!" I'll post more of Cannon's work later on.




Now take a look at this ending animated by the great Ken Harris for RABBIT PUNCH (1948). Notice any similarities? It seems like Chuck only let his characters get off easy (or easy enough where cutting the film is a way out of a tight spot) when they were on higher moral ground, which Bugs usually was. Harris will get a spotlight in the near future!

Tom & Jerry Animators (Pt. 2)

Yesterday I highlighted the four animators that worked the longest on the series. Today I highlight some of the other guys.

Jack Zander worked on the earliest entries in the series, and specialized in wonderful expressive faces for Jerry. It fits in quite well with the Harman-Ising feel of the early pictures, but was still able to fit in with the direction Hanna and Barbera were taking with the characters. We're often reminded Jerry's a tiny little guy, as Zander always indicates that he's having some trouble standing on two feet (tripping, waving arms to stay standing up). Some examples of his Jerry scenes are at the beginning of FRAIDY CAT (1942), when they are listening to the horror story on the radio, or at the end of PUSS N' TOOTS (1942) with Jerry stealing a kiss from the girl kitten. This is my personal favorite scene of his, from THE LONESOME MOUSE (1943 ; also my personal favorite of series). If you don't find it enjoyable for Zander's animation, you'll at least get a kick out of hearing Jerry talking like James Cagney.



Pete Burness worked on several of the early-mid 40s Tom & Jerrys. His style was quite conservative, with his characters jerking from pose to pose, similar to what Ed Barge would do later on. He's often described as a sloppy animator by some, particularly during his stint as an animator for Friz Freleng and Bob McKimson at Warner Bros. in the late 40s. He then became a director of the Mr. Magoo series at UPA. Some of his scenes include this opening from ZOOT CAT (1944) and Tom and Jerry reading the "How to Catch a Mouse" book in MOUSE TROUBLE (1944).


Michael Lah packed a lot of energy into his work. He was a stand-in of sorts for Irv Spence during his absence in the mid-40s on Tom & Jerry (anyone have any theories for why he was absent?), moving on to be an animator for Tex Avery's unit (and for Dick Lundy's Barney Bear shorts). He also gets co-direction credit on Tex's last two films, DEPUTY DROOPY and CELLBOUND (both 1955). Mike handled this great energetic scene from SALT WATER TABBY (1947).


Don Patterson was also another energetic animator, one with such a kooky style that it almost seemed TOO wild for Tom & Jerry. This may explain his presence on only two cartoons, A MOUSE IN THE HOUSE and THE INVISIBLE MOUSE (both 1947). He moved on to be a director of some of the best 1950s Woody Woodpecker shorts at Walter Lantz, including TERMITES FROM MARS (1952) and WHAT'S SWEEPIN' (1953). Unfortunately his stint as a director was short-lived and was demoted to animator again at Lantz (why it wasn't Paul Smith who was demoted is one of the biggest mysteries in the history of animation). Here is a particularly kooky scene he did for A MOUSE IN THE HOUSE.


Come back tomorrow for a special highlight on two of Chuck Jones' best animators, Bob Cannon and Ken Harris!

Tom & Jerry Animators (Pt. 1)

One of the crucial aspects of the Tom & Jerry series by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera was that it had some of theGREATEST acting ever done in any cartoon. The cat and mouse rarely uttered anything besides an earth-shattering scream or priceless 'gulp', but this hugely underrated team of animators brought them to life with such beauty. The four regular animators on this series were Ed Barge, Ken Muse, Ray Patterson, and Irv Spence.

Today's post is a breakdown of what they did throughout the short SLEEPY TIME TOM (1951).

Ken Muse was working on the series from almost the very beginning. Hanna and Barbera always used him for personality shots for these characters to establish a feeling that they really lived and breathed to the audience. I would hazard to say he was the best of them. Here he handles this whole opening with Tom coming home from partying with his buddies.

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Irv Spence came over to MGM from Tex Avery's unit at Warner Bros. (I believe he was in Tex's unit at MGM very briefly too, but if you have theories of why he got switched to Bill and Joe's unit, please let me know!). He was well known for creating wild animation, and is responsible for many of the great eye-ball popping reations in Tom & Jerry shorts. He also loved handling Spike the bulldog, according to Mark Kausler. Spence is my personal favorite Tom & Jerry animator, and one of my favorites in general. Here he handles this scene with Tom being confronted by Mammy. It has a wonderful sense of looseness for a 1950s short.

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Ed Barge began his work on the Tom & Jerry series in the mid-1940s. He draws them very conservatively (and dare I say, 'cutesy', particularly in his earliest owrk), and they tend to jerk from pose to pose, but still always establishing a good sense of characterization, similar to Friz Freleng's animators at Warners. Barge handles Jerry's first two attempts at getting Tom to fall asleep.

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Ray Patterson and his brother Don had a long career in animation. I think Ray's best work is in the Tom & Jerry films, personally. Ray is able to handle lots of loose movement (though not as wildly as Spence would), and does a great thing with his characters where they purse their lips at random moments. See for yourself in this scene with the radio lullaby.

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I'd publicly like to thank Mike Russo for helping me become familiar with these wonderful animators. He is a very intelligible fellow who puts my Tom & Jerry obsession (which is quite large on its own) to shame. He also requested Ray Patterson's scene of Jerry disguised as a cannibal (voiced by Paul Frees) confronting Tom from HIS MOUSE FRIDAY (1951). I'm more than happy to oblige, Mike!

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I also appreciate those who have e-mailed me willing to help me out! Thanks, guys! Stay tuned tomorrow for part two of my Tom & Jerry tribute!