The contents of the new April 27th Warner cartoon releases were announced (for real), and it’s not exactly for the “classic” connoisseur. The cartoons range from some ‘A’ cartoons (Foxy By Proxy, Hare Trimmed, Nasty Quacks, Daffy DIlly), some ‘B’ cartoons (Bushy Hare, The Prize Pest, Stork Naked), to some outright abortions from the end of the Warner run (Mad as Mars Hare, Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare, Suppressed Duck, The Iceman Ducketh). But mostly they are ‘C’ grade/filler cartoons of the Bob McKimson variety. These are the ‘talking head’ cartoons you saw on Saturday morning, and even as a kid you knew weren’t very hot. Personally, they are cartoons I can take or leave, and it’s usually leave.
It’s not surprising after over a third of the cartoons had been released that the true classics are slimming down, or that the later cartoons are probably cheaper to restore. But at the cheap price they’ll be (definitely a ‘drop in the cart’ purchase at Target) and the few real classics they contain, I’m not complaining.
In the meantime, here is one of the cartoons you won’t be seeing, A Feather In His Hare, one of the two “Character Versus a Jewish Indian” cartoons of 1948. Maybe that description makes it sound a little overtly prejudiced, but it’s hard to find much wrong with a cartoon where the native actually realizes he forgot to say “ugh”.
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Yeah, no complaints from me, either. Like you say, there are enough good cartoons on these to make them worthwhile (along with the low pricetag). I have accepted that the days of the Golden Collection box sets are over. People tend to forget that the DVD market has pretty well tanked and I am thankful that WB is even continuing with Looney Tunes DVDs at all. They could have easily just gone the “Tom & Jerry” route and endlessly repackage the same shorts over & over… or sprinkle a handful of new-to-DVD classics on a DVD Golden Collection repeats.
I am hoping this will be the start of an ongoing series. I’d like to get my hands on the remaining Tweety/Sylvesters, Road Runners, and, of course, Foghorns.
This is one of my favorite Bugs Bunny cartoons and definitely one of Jones’ most underrated. The Native himself is a hilarious character (doesn’t Tedd Pierce does his voice?) and the truly bizarre/WTF?-style jokes (the snowball in July gag, Bugs’ carefully laboring over the molding, painting, and baking of the vase to use as a weapon gag, the “Last of the Mohicans” finale) while a bit atypical of Jones, still make me LOL nonetheless.
A Feather in his Hare will be scheduled for released sometime after Democrats stop spending money or when the national deficit is payed.
EDIT: A Feather in his Hare will be scheduled for release sometime after Democrats stop spending money or when the national deficit is paid.
It’s really not the worst thing in the world that Warners is spreading things out a little — While they had to do it from a sales point of view, cramming Vol. 1-2 of the LTGC full of the cartoons most casual fans were familiar with was a path they couldn’t continue, or else you’d be left with nothing but the weaker efforts by the time you got to the latter half of the 1,000-plus cartoon inventory.
The treatment of the Indian stereotype by Jones, Maltese and Pierce is similar to the opening shot they used from the same time period in “Inki At the Circus” — panning in and preparing us for the standard stereotype with the silhouette of the ‘African Wild Man’ only to reveal a bored Inki playing with a yo-yo. But in this day and age, trying to explain to the suits that they were making fun of the racial stereotypes can’t overcome the fears that some people won’t (or will refuse to) see it that way, and the execs’ jobs could then be on the line.
I’ve seen this short many times, and I still can’t figure out what makes the Native American, Jewish.
Big hooked nose, glasses, whiny voice. Do the math.
I didn’t see Fethry in anyone’s hare, Thad. I am most displeased.
I love this cartoon. The best part is when Bugs puts a bunch of cigars in the dazed Indian’s hand!
Just out of curiousity, what’s your opinion about “Design for Leaving”? I’m not sure, if it’s an A or a B cartoon, but for most part it’s really funny (the ending is weird though).
Along with “The Prize Pest”, it’s one of the really good ones from the Pierce/McKimson unit.
I’d rank it a B. It’s not really funny enough to be an A, but it’s still pretty good.