Top 10 Cartoons (for Mindrot)

January 10, 1979 (Wednesday)

Dear Neal....

I sent off my list of 10 favorite cartoons to Mindrot. They said favorite and not best but the two lists would overlap a little anyway. It was hard deciding, and I tried to let every studio be represented. Below is the list with my reasons for picking them. I'd like to see your list if you have the time to cook one up. Well, here goes (in alphabetical order):

1. ACE IN THE HOLE. This is a very early Woody Woodpecker with Woody as a janitor in the air force who wants to fly a plane real bad. It has three fine gag sequences, climaxing with a great airplane ride that fortunately doesn't end with the plane careening to the ground as in FALLING HARE. This is a lot funnier than FH. It's great elaborate slapstick.

2. ALADDIN AND HIS WONDERFUL LAMP. This is my favorite of the Popeye 2-reelers. The story of Aladdin is so well done that the framing story with Olive seems out of place. It falls in that genre of romance-action flicks with comedy relief, like Errol Flynn's ROBIN HOOD and SUPERMAN. It's one of those parodies that exist as the real thing.

3. GROWING PAINS. This is probably my favorite Foghorn Leghorn cartoon because it has both the dumb Brooklyn dog and Henery Hawk--plus special guest star Sylvester. The chicken hawk doesn't know who the chicken is and gets advice from everybody, eventually making him do one of my favorite Warners schtick when he dresses as an egg. Then Sylvester has a conniption fit when he thinks he's laid an egg.

4. HOMESTEADER DROOPY. This is one of those cartoons that's a total laugh from start to finish. This is one of Avery's best in my opinion (don't see how Adamson could think DRAGALONG DROOPY is better). It has to be one of the best constructed cartoons ever done, with good running gags.

5. HOW TO PLAY BASEBALL. Like the above, you'll roll in the aisle with this Goofy cartoon. I guess Disney thought, "If one Goofy is funny, then 18 Goofys would be even funnier." Guess he was right, although this was directed by Jack Kinney.

6. OLD ROCKIN' CHAIR TOM. Mammy Two-Shoes decides to replace Tom with a cat named Lightnin' who lives up to his name. As Tom will be out of a job and Jerry will always be in danger, the two enemies decide to team up and get even with Lightnin'. This is the only T&J I know of that has a happy ending for all three principals. It's a beautiful cartoon in both story and animation.

7. POPPIN' FLESH. This makes the list because of the stop-motion animation for the title character. Anything you ever wanted to have happen to the Fillsbelly doughboy twerp does in this laugh-a-minute film. (This is one that really lives up to that description.)

8. RABBIT OF SEVILLE. Jones did something that most wouldn't think would work: make a virtually pantomime Bugs Bunny cartoon. It's a lilting cartoon with great music. From fade-in to iris-out a total gem.

9. SOLID SERENADE. An off-beat Tom and Jerry. This has quite a bit of dialogue from Tom in addition to the usual violent gags. In the course of his song, Tom is able to ingratiate both the bulldog and Jerry. Tom does a Charles Boyer impression. Tom's song is quite jazzy and sounds like Fats Waller. (Parental Guidance Suggested.)

10. THUMB FUN. No list would be complete without Porky and Daffy, and this is one of their lesser-known efforts but terribly funny. Porky picks up Daffy--a hitch-hiker. From then on Daffy does funny things like pressing Porky's foot on the accelerator adn saying "Hurry up, fat boy!" and starting a fight with a truck driver that Porky eventually has to fight. But Porky gets his revenge by iris-out in a well-defined character comedy by Robert McKimson (who unfortunately is now dead).