ReFrederator Blog

Great Director Week continues with an Oscar nominated classic from 1943, “Pigs in a Polka.” Friz Freleng loved making films that were FUNNY-funny, as well as MUSICAL-musical, and this raucous rehash of the Three Little Pigs falls neatly into that slot.

And, honestly, is there anyone out there under the age of, say, eighty who can listen to Brahms’ Hungarian Dances without imagining animated cartoon characters hopping around? This is difinitely one of the toons that put the ‘Merrie” in Merrie Melodies.

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Dave Kirwan

We revisit another Great Director with today’s ReFrederator offering, “Jerky Turkey”, a 1945 classic from that jumpin’ genius, Tex Avery. I’d say we were celebrating Thanksgiving early with this demented tale of Pilgrim vs. Turkey, but as things turn out neither bird nor pursuer get around to celebrating anything, seeing how they are both consumed alive by a third party (and, ultimately, seem modestly grumpy about the whole affair.) About half the gags in this MGM Cartoon defy anticipation because we just can’t believe anyone would stoop that steeply in the vaults of unrepentant corniness. The other half defy anticipation because… well, because OUR brains just don’t work the same way Avery’s did!

Watch this cartoon, then brush up on your Jimmy Durante impersonation!

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Dave Kirwan

ReFrederator is just a Betty Boop eyelash away from its 150th podcast, so we thought we’d catch our breath, and celebrate a bit early by revisiting some deathless classics in Great Directors Week.

Our man of the hour is Bob Clampett, and the cartoon is “Tale of Two Kitties.” Great, vintage stuff with two Abbott and Costello wannabe cats bumping into each other trying to eat a teeny weeny eeny beany bird. But it’s that naked fledgling, of course, who really steals the show! Tweety makes his screen debut here, and let me tell ya, don’t let the baby talk fool you — he turns out to be one vicious little son of a finch! Violent, crazy, laugh-out-loud-spray-your-morning-coffee-across-the-room Warner Brothers fun.

Another top toon tomorrow!

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Dave Kirwan

I guess if you’re Casper, everyday is Halloween – so we wind down Very Scary Week with one his later theatrical productions, “Spooking of Africa.” By this point in his career, our translucent hero must have made — what — a million friends? But we still find him moping around the jungle, trying to strike up some new relationships, but scaring the crap out of unsuspecting fauna instead.

Let’s see — what’s memorable here? Well… (A) Robert Owen’s snazzy backgrounds (B) Casper’s distinctly Noo Yawk accent, and (C) no theme song (don’t know why!)

Next week we scare up some all time classics. Join us. ReFrederator. Making the world a little more jolly. One cartoon at a time.

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Dave Kirwan

Very Scary Week continues with “Skulls and Sculls” which starts out spooky enough (monsters, disembodied faces, and menacing ghosts) but the whole thing turns into some sort of fraternity initiation, and the second half of the cartoon is all about college stuff. Which, come to think of it, is also pretty frightening — Felix the Cat carried around endlessly by a couple of rubbery undergrads.

And, hey, “endlessly” is the operative word here. The Pat Sullivan Studio sure got their money’s worth out of every animated cycle. You can probably run out and rotate your tires in the time it takes our hero to wait for the punchline in the Pit and the Pendulum bit.

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Dave Kirwan

Oh , yeah! Something I forgot to mention about today’s Tom and Jerry cartoon, “Magic Mummy” — there are skeletons! Lots and lots of skeletons! And we know what that means…

Xylophone music! Lots and lots of xylophone music!

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Dave Kirwan

Ah, yes! There’s a place far away — a world where fat, effeminate policeman warble catchy love songs over patrol car radios, while dozens of cops and convicts foxtrot happily in the most melodic prison imaginable. A care-free place with two thousand year old mummies who dance like animated hieroglyphics, but sing like Betty Boop, and phantom of the opera wannabes who play hot jazz on spongy pianos. Well, everybody plays hot jazz on spongy pianos. Come to think of it, their fingers are pretty spongy, too!

We call this happy domain Early 1930’s Black and White Cartoonland. The film Is “Magic Mummy,” 1933. The studio is RKO/Van Beuren. The stars are Tom and Jerry (no, not the cat and mouse — the human ones with little black sticks where their noses should be.)

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Dave Kirwan