Figaro's Short Subject Career.

Though today it is common for characters created for Disney's animated features to appear in other Disney animated works, such was not true until rather recently and in fact such a thing was very rare for quite a long time in the studio's history. The only exception being the characters in Pinocchio. Jiminy Cricket appeared in yet another feature film called Fun and Fancy Free as well as appearing on The Mickey Mouse Club TV show and various educational films. Figaro on the other hand became a short subject star. He often appeared as Minnie Mouse's pet and made a comedy team with Pluto. Today we are going to look at 3 of these short subjects.

First up is his first appearance in a short film with 1943's Figaro and Cleo where he costarred with Cleo the goldfish (also from Pinocchio). This cartoon came about because of a scene cut from Pinocchio. This scene would have involved Figaro and Geppetto trying to eat Cleo while starving in the belly of a whale. Much of this scene though was animated and after this scene was cut much of this animation was used in this cartoon. An example being Figaro using his tail as a fishing hook to catch Cleo (animated by Fred Moore). The cartoon was directed by Jack Kinney who would have been the sequence director for that scene in the feature and this ended up being the last short film with the cat, Kinney would ever direct. This is probably the best of Figaro's shorts and features some great slapstick (thanks hugely to Kinney, who was one of the studio's greatest masters at cartoon slapstick). So enjoy.


Next up comes a typical example of the type of film Figaro would appear in under the direction of Charles Nicholas. While Disney's other two major short cartoon directors (Jack Kinney and Jack Hannah) of this time made films using fast paced slapstick and zany gags, Nicholas' cartoons were often times much softer and slower paced. However Nicholas' films still have their charms, especially the great animation from Disney masters. Much of the animation here is handled by Marvin Woodward and George Nicholas (who I do not believe had any relation to the director). Woodward animates such scenes as Figaro trying to volunteer and Pluto stealing his thunder, Figaro in the first aid kit, Figaro being hit by a cork and more. George Nicholas animates such scenes as Pluto chasing Figaro under the rug, Pluto falling on the slippery floor, Pluto getting hit by the cork and more. Charles Nicholas himself animates a few short bit in this film (Pluto pushing Figaro out of the way, Pluto getting mixed up with a roll of bandages and Pluto crashing under the bed. Other animators include Norman Tates, Harvey Tombs and Bob Youngquist. So from 1944 here is First Aiders.

 

Last is another cartoon directed by Charles Nicholas. This film is from 1946 and is called Figaro and Frankie. This film uses a rather usual storyline for a cartoon from this era. Figaro tries to eat a bird named Frankie. However while Jack Kinney and Jack Hannah would have used this story as a way to fit in as many cartoon gags as possible, Charles Nicholas here uses it instead to tell a simple story. Despite this though the "kiss and make up" part near the end (animated by Marvin Woodward) may make a cartoon fan think of Tweety and Sylvester's first cartoon team up (Tweetie Pie) released a year later, the scene here is not played for slapstick as it would be in that cartoon. Enjoy the film.
   


-Michael J. Ruhland


Resources Used
Pinocchio: the Making of the Disney Epic by J.B. Kaufman

        

Pica-Pau: Woody Woodpecker's Brazilian Movie

On October 5th a movie that features a classic American cartoon character is getting its first release, however my fellow Americans probably are not aware of this. That is because it is a Brazilian movie and a release in the US is not planned so far. This movie will be known as Pica-Pau: O Filme. This movie was directed by Alex Zamm (Chairman of the Board, Inspector Gadget 2, Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2). Despite being made for a Brazilian audience it was made in Canada with some help from Universal Pictures and has also been shot in English. Though it is unknown when or if it will actually get a theatrical release in the US, it will get one in multiple countries. The movie is a combination of CGI and live action.

Here is the preview:

  -Michael J. Ruhland

A Couple Short Films by Caroline Leaf

Hello fellow animation fans, I would guess many of you are probably aware of the National Film Board of Canada. From the 1960's until today this studio has brought us some absolutely incredible animation ranging from slapstick comedy to art house animation. One of the most artistically daring directors to work for this studio was Caroline Leaf. She allowed her work to take chances and dare to be different. Because of this and her sheer talent as a filmmaker, her films will always have a place in my heart. That is why today we will look at just a couple short films she directed.

Oud first short is The Street from 1976. This is a fantastic and very touching adaption of Mordechai Richler's short story, written by Richler himself. For this film Leaf used a very different style of animation than pretty much anyone had before. She used color oils to animate directly on the glass beneath the camera. Leaf animated this film completely by herself. The style proved very effective and so did the film.

   

Our second and last short for the day is Two Sisters from 1991. This is a dark and disturbing tale about what happens when you take trying to protect someone too far. The film has a very abstract style of animation provided by Leaf herself (with an assistant animator, Jacques Sainte-Marie). This style of animation adds to the uncertain and dark atmosphere of the film. However I cannot properly describe this film in words watch it below to see why this short is so brilliant.





-Michael J. Ruhland

Porky Pig 101

Get excited my fellow Looney Tunes fans, something great is coming your way. This is a new Porky Pig DVD collection containing 101 classic cartoons staring everybody's favorite Ham, Porky Pig himself. 99 of these cartoons are black and white Looney Tunes and to add to that we have two color Merrie Melodies. Quite a few of these cartoons have never been available on DVD, VHS, or Blu-Ray making this a very exciting purchase. DVD commentaries will be provided by Jerry Beck, Mark Kausler, Michael Barrier and more. I do not know if there will be repeat commentaries as there were on the Platinum Collection (by the way Warner Brothers if you read this I will always be interested in doing commentaries for Looney Tunes (no I am not doing any for this set and haven't done any so far)). The set will not be available on Blu-ray, but only DVD. The DVD will be available on September 19th.

I have a special fondness for these black and white Porky Pig films as you can really see the filmmakers gradually work their way to what Looney Tunes would become later with a lot of experimentation on the way. Some of these black and white cartoons give a feeling of true comic energy and you can tell that the filmmakers had fun making these. With how big of a fan that I am of these cartoons, I am especially looking forward to this set and all the joy I know it will bring me and hopefully you as well.

You can pre-order it here:

http://www.wbshop.com/product/porky+pig+101+%28mod%29+1000645629.do?sortby=ourPicks&refType=&from=Search

By the way Porky fans let us all sing our praises to this great cartoon Pig to get ready for this set.



















-Michael J. Ruhland

Dorothy and the Wizard of OZ on Boomerang

For those of you who have not heard Boomerang now has a streaming service online. On this service you can watch a great variety of cartoons including Looney Tunes, Popeye cartoons, Droopy and many of the early Hanna-Barbera TV shows. However as well as this the streaming service will introduce new shows. Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz is an Australian nd New Zealand co-production which premieres today on the Boomerang TV channel in Australia. However in the U.S. this show can currently only be found on the Boomerang streaming service. This show liberally combines elements of the OZ books, the 1939 movie and other OZ lore.

 The first episode (now up for streaming) is called Beware the Woozy and is written by Jack Ferraiolo (WordGirl, Home Movies) and directed by Jeff DeGrandis (God, The Devil and Bob, Dora the Explorer).   

-Michael J. Ruhland

Popeye and Donkey Kong

Did you know that if it wasn't for Popeye we may not have the characters of Donkey Kong and Mario? Well t this time Nintendo was trying to get the rights to make a game based off the Popeye characters. This game would have been much like the original Donkey Kong game. Bluto would have kidnapped Olive Oyl, and Popeye would have fought through various obstacles to save Olive (also instead of the hammer there would have been a can of Spinach).. However when the company was not able to get the rights new characters had to be created. Shigeru Miyamoto, a video game designer working for the company created Mario, Donkey Kong and Pauline as replacements for these characters. So if the idea for having a Popeye game actually happened when it was supposed to or if the idea have never come up at all, none of the Popeye or Mario games would exist.
   

While Donkey Kong came out in 1981, Nintendo would actually be able to make an actual Popeye arcade game just a year later.

Here is that game:




and here is Donkey Kong:




-Michael J. Ruhland

Happy 83rd Birthday Donald Duck

Today is the birthday of one of Disney's best and most iconic animated characters, Donald Duck. Though these years his quick temper and love of fun have entertained us all (as well as his trademark voice provided originally by Clarence Nash) So it is only natural to pay tribute to him here.

Donald's film debut was in a 1934 Silly Symphonies cartoon called The Wise Little Hen. The Silly Symphonies were a series of musical cartoons that usually starred one shot characters. Donald was one of the very few characters from this series to really take off and get his own series. In this debut cartoon Donald was animated by Art Babbitt and Dick Humer. This also marks one of the few times where Donald's sailor suit actually makes sense. Donald's friend Peter Pig was also voiced by Clarence Nash and this cartoon was directed by Wilfred Jackson.
 

Despite this though Donald's real breakthrough as a cartoon star was as a supporting player in the 1934 Mickey Mouse cartoon Orphan's Benefit. In this film directed by Burt Gillett, Donald as animated by Dick Lundy does his first angry pose. With this quick little bit of animation the character was fully formed. As Mickey Mouse was becoming much more viewed as a role model for kids, he could no longer engage in any negative behavior making him harder to write as a comedy character, however Donald, who could never be confused for a role model, could get away with this stuff, allowing much more comedy to flow out from him. This cartoon also introduced the character of the hen Clara Cluck. It was remade shot for shot as a color cartoon in 1941, but here we have the original Black and White short.




Next up comes one of my favorite Disney cartoons of all time, a 1943 wartime film called Der Fuher's Face. This short was originally to be called Donald Duck in Nutzi Land. The title was changed when studio musician Oliver Wallace wrote a catchy song called Der Fuher's Face. This film was directed by Jack Kinney, who was a master at slapstick comedy and probally Disney's greatest answer to the wild crazy and very funny cartoons coming out of Warner Brothers and MGM at this time. While many people refer to the Disney cartoons as cute while Warner Brothers cartoons are truly funny, Jack Kinney (as well as Jack Hannah and Ward Kimball) proved that that wasn't always the case. This is one of the fastest paced, cleverest and all around funny cartoons to ever come out of the Disney studio.





Last but not least we have another wild and crazy Disney cartoon, that easily stands against the crazy comedy coming from other cartoon studios at this time. We are going to look at Clown of the Jungle. This film was directed by Jack Hannah, who was also a master of fast paced wild slapstick. Donald's adversary in this film is the wild and crazy Aracuan Bird, who had previously appeared in the Disney feature, The Three Caballeros. This cartoon released in 1947 is a very funny short that never fails to make me smile.




-Michael J. Ruhland