Mediocre Monkey Mayhem...The Golfers (007)

Special thanks to PopKorn Kat for a copy of this rather hard-to-find cartoon.

SERIES: Meany, Miny, and Moe

SYNOPSIS: Meany, Miny, and Moe have lots of trouble trying to play golf.

ORIGINAL RELEASE: January 11th, 1937

SUPERVISION: Walter Lantz

STORY:  Walter Lantz and Victor McLeod

ANIMATION:  Laverne Harding, Ed Benedict, and Leo Salkin

MUSICAL DIRECTION:  James Dietrich

STUDIO: Walter Lantz Productions (producer), Universal Pictures (distributor)

Pre-Show Remarks

Before I had done the research for this blog, I had no idea who Meany, Miny, and Moe even were. 

For the sake of those that might not really be in the know either, here's what I know;

They were initially created as one-shot characters for an Oswald cartoon, but I'd assume they were so popular with audiences that they requested that they give those three monkeys their own cartoons.

Many prints of this cartoon have a gag involving an African-American caricature removed. For the sake of historical accuracy and educational reasons, a screenshot of the gag will be shown.

Screenshots

In My Opinion...

Eh

It's not very good, but it's not bad, either. It feels a little juvenile--the later Pluto cartoons come to mind. The bit where the golf ball smacks into the chickens and topples them over made me chuckle. The pacing could've been a little snappier, though.

Next week...We finally reach our first Fliescher cartoon in House Cleaning Blues.

A Pig Packs A Punch...Porky the Wrestler (006)

 SERIES: Looney Tunes
SYNOPSIS: Many people are hitch-hiking to go to the big fight, and so is Porky Pig. Porky does arrive at the fight, but he is mistaken for the challenger. Can he take on the champ?
ORIGINAL RELEASE: January 9th, 1937
SUPERVISION: Fred Avery
STORY: N/A, Warner cartoons would not credit writers until The Lyin' Mouse.
ANIMATION: Charles Jones, Elmer Wait
MUSICAL DIRECTION: Carl W. Stalling
STUDIO: Leon Schlesinger Productions (producer), Warner Bros. Pictures (distributor)

Pre-Show Remarks

One of the more known aspects of this short is the abruptly cut scene during the "train" sequence. Allegedly, whatever this scene was, it was cut in prints as early as 1942, and only a very small snippet of audio survives on a 1950s television print. Even then, the short audio that survives does not clue us as to what the scene's contents once were.

Visually, this is one of the first shorts to try to make Porky look "cuter"--his head is now approximately the same size as his body, and his eyes are larger, making him look a little more boy-like. He's still pudgy, but nowhere near as fat as he was in his earliest appearances. The "perfect" Porky design would not be seen until Porky's Duck Hunt, and would continue to be improved upon by Bob Clampett once he started directing his own cartoons.

Model sheet.

Mel Blanc also makes a brief, early cameo here--he does Porky woo-wooing like a maniac when he wants to leave the ring. However, Picador Porky was produced first, so I will not elaborate on Mel's appearance here for too long. In this short, Porky is still voiced by Joe Doughtery. Mel would not take him on until Porky's Duck Hunt.

A short subject listing for the Strand Theatre, from the Jan. 16th, 1937 issue of Motion Picture Herald.

Screenshots

In My Opinion...

Fine

A fun little cartoon to kill some time with. I feel the train gag goes on for a little too long, but it's still a funny scene. Very nice animation in this one, especially in Chuck Jones' scenes.

Next week...Some monkey business in The Golfers.