Looney Tunes: "The Wearing of the Grin"

Premiered July 28, 1951

It is a dark and stormy night and 12 miles to Dublin.   

Porky Pig (Mel Blanc) spies a "quaint old" castle in the distance and decides to see they can give him a place to stay for the night. 

On the way to the castle, he sees a sign that says "Beware the Leprechauns" and scoffs at the idea. 

Upon arrival, Porky is greeted by a "picturesque caretaker of the auld sod" who introduces himself as Seamus O'Toole  (an uncredited John T. Smith).  O'Toole informs him that nobody lives in the castle - apart from himself and the leprechauns. 

Porky scoffs at this again and demands to be taken to a room, slamming the front door.  This causes a mace above the door to fall, knocking Porky out cold. 

The caretaker is revealed to be a couple of leprechauns (calling themselves O'Pat and O'Mike) who, in true fairy fashion, decide to mess with Porky's head after concluding that he has come to steal their pot of gold. 

When Porky comes to, he is escorted to a room by HALF of the caretaker and doesn't notice at first. When he does notice, Porky is terrified and hides in the bed, which turns out to be a trap door! 

Porky drops down a shaft, landing in a leprechaun courtroom.  There the leprechauns charge and convict him of attempting to steal their pot of gold and sentence him to the "wearing of the green shoes." 

At first Porky admires the nice shoes, but soon comes to realize that they are cursed, as his feet begin a frantic Irish jig that dances him through a nightmarish landscape full of Irish symbols while O'Pat and O'Mike laugh at him. 

Will Porky be able to escape the leprechaun's trickery?  Or is he doomed to the "wearing of the green shoes" for all eternity? 

RigbyMel says: 

This Chuck Jones-directed short is the last solo appearance of Porky Pig in the classic era of Looney Tunes.  Porky was Warner Brothers' breakout star when he debuted, but had since been eclipsed by Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny.  

"The Wearing of the Grin" also stands out since there are not all that many St. Patrick's Day themed cartoons out there.   Some might argue that the short doesn't explicitly take place on March 17th, but with all the leprechaun mischief and Irish symbols (like harps and shamrocks), I think it has enough Irish detail to qualify as a "holiday" short.  

The green shoes plot point in this short borrows heavily from Hans Christian Andersen's 1845 fairy tale "The Red Shoes," which concerns a pair of ballet slippers that never let their wearer stop dancing.  His jig through an amazing surrealist Salvador Dali-inspired landscape is quite memorable.  

It's also interesting to note that the title of this short is a reference to "The Wearing of the Green," an old Irish street ballad. 

The animation is a lot of fun to watch and the voice work is - as always - great.  If there's a complaint to be made about this short, it's that the "Irishness" is a bit overly broad and stereotypical, but as this is a cartoon, broad and stereotypical work reasonably well for comedic purposes.  

"The Wearing of the Grin" is a silly and enjoyable short and is worth including in your holiday viewing this March.  

RigbyMel's rating: 

3 shamrocks

Peace On Earth

Premiered December 9, 1939. 
The subject of today's "Oscar Takes A Holiday" review is animation producer Fred Quimby.

Peace On Earth was nominated for the Best Animated Short Oscar in 1939.  It was directed by Hugh Harman and co-produced by Harman and Quimby.

Quimby won seven Academy Awards for Best Animated Short between 1940 and 1952.

On to today's review:

A squirrel (Mel Blanc) visits his grandchildren (Sara Berner and Bernice Hansen)  on Christmas Eve.  Outside, carolers are singing "peace on Earth, goodwill to men."  This prompts the grandchildren to ask the elder squirrel "what are men?"  Their grandfather tells them that men were "the orneriest, cussedest, dagnabbed tribe of varmints I ever did see," and explains that there are no more men left.

He tells them a story about how men fought each other for decades, finding endless reasons, prejudices and methods to kill one another.

Eventually, there were only two men left on Earth.  They shot each other to death.  The animals emerged from hiding and tried to make some sense of what men had done to the world.  They found a Bible in a bombed-out church and read the sentence "Thou Shalt Not Kill."

The animals decide that the Bible contains some other good ideas and they decide to rebuild the world and live peace in together.

J.A. Morris says:

I first stumbled on Peace On Earth some years ago when Cartoon Network aired it as part of their Yule Tunes special.  This cartoon blew me away and I still find it fascinating every time I watch it. Peace On Earth is one of the most powerful anti-war statements I've ever seen on film.

Viewers of today might be surprised to learn that pacifism was very popular when this short was produced.  This was due to the horrific experiences the world endured during the first world war.

Peace On Earth was released two months after Hitler invaded Poland and within two years, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and another world war was on.

Peace On Earth features typical 1940s cute "funny animal" characters...

 ...contrasted with very realistic (for its time) depictions of warfare.

This must have surprised viewers in 1939 who probably thought they were in for a cute Christmas toon.  The contrasts in style help Peace On Earth deliver its message.

This cartoon is often aired on Turner Classic Movies during the holiday season and it's available on a DVD called Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection.

Peace On Earth is an amazing cartoon and it contains a message about war that is (sadly) still relevant today.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 candy canes.

RigbyMel says: 

This animated short is ... not subtle in its messaging, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.  (Especially not in a short!)

The animation is stunning.  The rotoscoped humans at war make a stark contrast with the cute little traditionally animated animals that look like they sneaked over from the set of Disney's Snow White.

When you first see the animals' little village, it looks idyllic and festive, and when you figure out what's going on, you notice that roofs are made of old military helmets and lamp posts from discarded bayonets -- again, taking the cutesy and turning it sideways for emphasis.

The shock of the contrast and the subject matter in the Christmas setting adds to the power of the message.

Peace on Earth is definitely worth your time to track down. Trust me, it will stick with you!

RigbyMel's rating: 

4 candy canes.

The All New Popeye Hour: "Merry Madness at the Mardi Gras"

Premiered December 17, 1979.

Popeye (Jack Mercer) and Olive Oyl (Marilyn Schreffler) are watching a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans.  They’re planning to attend a costume contest after the parade. 

They’re planning to attend a costume contest after the parade.  The sailor man says he enjoys Mardi Gras, but he worries their nemesis Bluto (Allan Melvin) will show up and mess up everything, like he always does.  Olive suggests they get Mardi Gras costumes, so Bluto won’t recognize them.

Sure enough, Bluto shows up disguised in a gorilla suit.  He throws Popeye up in air and takes his place by Olive’s side.  She thinks it’s Popeye dressed as a gorilla.  Popeye quickly returns and dispatches of Bluto. 

Bluto eventually decides to encase Popeye in quick-drying liquid iron.  This upsets Popeye, since Olive was counting on him to escort her to the costume contest. 

With his rival (seemingly) out of the picture, Bluto puts on a “Popeye” costume and escorts Olive Oyl to the contest.

Can Popeye escape from his liquid-iron prison?  Will Bluto ruin their Mardi Gras celebration? 

J.A. Morris says:

This isn’t a great episode and the plot is rather thin.  However, I was a regular viewer of The All New Popeye Hour when it was new, so this was a nice opportunity to revisit a childhood favorite.  If you’ve seen a Popeye cartoon, you know the drill: Popeye and Bluto compete for Olive Oyl’s attention, stuff happens, etc.  Only this time their competition takes place at a Mardi Gras parade. 

This episode features some funny visuals, such as Bluto’s Popeye costume, and Bluto turning Popeye into a “Popeye balloon.” 

This series might not have been the best Popeye cartoon, but the voice actors were top-notch.  Jack Mercer voiced Popeye, a role he’d been performing since 1935. 

Veteran character actor Allan Melvin provided the voice of Bluto in this series.  Melvin did a lot of cartoon voice work, but he’s probably best remembered for his roles on The Phil Silvers Show, Gomer Pyle:USMC, The Brady Bunch and All In The Family. 

"Merry Madness at the Mardi Gras" is a short, fun Mardi Gras-themed episode.  There aren’t many episodes, specials or movies that focus on Fat Tuesday, so it’s always nice to discover one.  It’s not great, but it’s recommended, especially for Popeye fans.

J.A. Morris’ rating:

2 and a half King Cakes.

RigbyMel says: 

As a Saturday morning cartoon devotee, The All-New Popeye Hour was my introduction to Popeye as a child.   In the manner of lots of Hanna Barbera produced animation, it's pretty cheap looking from an adult perspective, but it's generally enjoyable, plus (as noted by J.A.)  the voice talent is great.

Wimpy makes a cameo as a balloon vendor in the short. 

"Merry Madness at the Mardi Gras" is a harmless, family-friendly romp around New Orleans.   I am not sure I remember seeing this particular episode as a child, but it may well have been some folks' introduction to the concept of the Mardi Gras.   Some of the physics (even if it's cartoon physics), bugged me -- wouldn't liquid iron be scaldingly  hot, for example?    Also, poor Olive Oyl doesn't come off too well in this,  Bluto's disguises are pretty darned easy to see through.

Maybe her Mardi Gras mask was obscuring her vision?

It's short and silly,  but as there aren't too many Mardi Gras themed cartoons out there, it's amusing enough.  Not a classic, but worth seeing at least once. 

RigbyMel's rating:

2 King Cakes