Tag: Carl W. Stalling

Conrad the Sailor (1942, Chuck Jones)

I wasn’t sure what I was going to say about Conrad the Sailor when it started. It seemed pretty simple–Conrad is a lame cat sailor and Daffy Duck makes fun of him. It was a simple case of Daffy being a bully.

Maybe I could have done something about how cartoon icons are often callous and cruel.

Then Conrad escalates the situation and starts trying to kill Daffy. Daffy, while a jerk, was never insane and murderous. He was a jerk.

The role change makes Conrad the Sailor a little more interesting than its content.

As a cartoon, it’s decent. There’s a nice swaying of the ship in the opening titles. There’s a good gag with the ship’s captain coming through (until the final time Jones uses it–as a finishing gag–and it’s too little).

Besides being interesting and mildly amusing, Conrad doesn’t make much of an impression.

2/3Recommended

CREDITS

Directed by Chuck Jones; written by Dave Monahan; animated by Ben Washam and Ken Harris; edited by Treg Brown; music by Carl W. Stalling; produced by Leon Schlesinger; released by Warner Bros.

Starring Mel Blanc (Daffy Duck) and Pinto Colvig (Conrad Cat).

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Easter Yeggs (1947, Robert McKimson)

I’m sorry, I think I missed something… did Bugs Bunny just kill the Easter Bunny?

Or did he just maim him?

Easter Yeggs ought to be a lot better. It’s got an Easter Bunny who conspires to get out of his duties on an annual basis by acting emo, it’s got Elmer Fudd and it’s got a psychotic infant who uses a revolver as a pacifier.

So what’s wrong with it?

Oddly, a combination of weak animation and director McKimson’s reliance on live action directorial mores. McKimson actually uses an over-the-shoulder shot in Yeggs, which makes no sense. Especially since he’s going over Elmer Fudd’s shoulder when he’s not the protagonist….

McKimson’s strange approach aside, there’s some really awful animation too. At times, Bugs appears to have a potbelly. And to be about twelve feet tall.

The last two gags are really great though; they save the cartoon.

2/3Recommended

CREDITS

Directed by Robert McKimson; written by Warren Foster; animated by McKimson, Richard Bickenbach and Izzy Ellis; edited by Treg Brown; music by Milt Franklyn and Carl W. Stalling; produced by Edward Selzer; released by Warner Bros.

Starring Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny / Easter Bunny / Bratty Kid) and Arthur Q. Bryan (Elmer Fudd).

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Balloon Land (1935, Ub Iwerks)

For lack of a better word, Balloon Land is disturbed. It’s a cartoon about a magical place where everyone is a living balloon. Not just people, but plants too. Objects are solid though.

The new balloon people–Iwerks opens showing the reproductive process–are made through one creature’s snot and then inflated. We later learn balloons can be made but not immediately inflated and the snot can also be used as a gooey weapon.

It’s a happy place with a happy song, except outside the gate there’s the Pincushion Man, who murders balloon people with his infinite pin supply. Since he’s been cast out, he’s had to settle for killing the balloon plant life.

Two newborns head out of the protected area and piss him off and Balloon Land‘s narrative gets underway.

The animation’s fine and all that, but it’s a freaky cartoon once one gives it any thought.

2/3Recommended

CREDITS

Produced and directed by Ub Iwerks; music by Carl W. Stalling; released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

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