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Episode 57
Of Course, You Know This Means Warners
During World War 2, many studios were
commissioned by the Government to create war-related films not just for the
army, but also the citizens back home.
These were to be some of the most essential tools in helping America put
up a strong fight against one of history’s most
evil forces. Cartoons were among the
most common types of films used for the war effort, many of them using
established characters. This show brings
us a cartoon designed to pay homage to those war films with the Warners at the
forefront.
Considering that they were
created in the 1930s, or 1929 to be more specific, it makes sense that they’d be around to star in such a
film during the early 40s. Some may be
wondering how this is possible if they were locked in the water tower, but
thankfully there’s a legit explanation for that in a future episode. For now, the big thing this cartoon has going
for it is how the Warners are doing important matters on the home front to help
the army, but still fit in their great light-hearted comedy. A narrator explains the importance behind
conserving things like water and gas, and the Warners show how they do that via
a few cute visual gags. They pour a lot
of water into the ground which turns out to be a sponge that squeezes it out,
and ride an invisible bike instead of taking a taxi. The Warners also have interesting ways of
getting things to donate to the army. They offer scrap metal from the
background causing a backdrop of a city to crumble, and Wakko gets rubber for
the army by using canine instincts to rip tires off a moving car. There’s even a risqué moment for a family
show when they get nylon for nets from stockings of a bunch of girls, and Yakko
and Wakko enjoy it a little too much.
For a grand finale, a community service act to entertain soldiers on
leave and obtain even more goods brings a lively dance number at the USO. The big band tune, the exceptional singing of
the Warners in harmony, and fast-paced dance routines from tap-dancing to
latching onto handsome soldiers bring quite a performance. It’s simply a grand old time that comes from
the world needing to apply strict customs to have a chance at preserving order
and liberty. This in turn makes the
whole cartoon one strong sequence after another, standing out for highlighting
its good cause for the time. Just
because it’s light-hearted doesn’t mean it doesn’t get its message across
well. In fact, it kind of feels like it
would feel right at home with actual World War 2 informative films made at the time.
The educational purposes may not make it the
best Warners cartoon, but it’s still greatly entertaining, especially if you
see it as a period piece.
A
Up a Tree
In the entire series, there are only
two more cartoons starring Rita and Runt left, this being the second-to-last
one. I personally find this a shame
since I find them to be some of the classiest characters in the cast with one
of the most enjoyable dynamics. Sure,
not all their cartoons are great particularly when the two have to be
separated, but more often than not, I get a positive experience from their
approach to situations they get into.
This cartoon, however, is one to separate them which holds it back from
true greatness, but is still pretty solid.
We start with entertaining banter between the two characters as they hop
off a train intending to get to Chicago, but end up in a cornfield in Nebraska
instead. Out of this is another one of
Rita’s elaborate musical numbers sung by the great Bernadette Peters of how
great Chicago is while Runt says Nebraska’s great because of corn. Then, these feelings are put to the side when
a dog at a local farm comes and chases Rita up a tree. Keeping with her natural feline instincts,
Rita is stuck up that tree while Runt is all set up to rescue her. However, Rita sarcastically says she’s
perfectly fine with where she is, and Runt naively believes her and leaves her
alone to fend for herself. Of all the
ways to separate them, this is honestly kind of pathetic. Rita just makes the problem worse for herself
by forgetting that Runt isn’t smart through responding with sarcasm instead of
honesty. Runt is at equal concern
through not doing justice to his lack of intelligence. I mean, despite not being smart, he’s figured
out that Rita is in trouble many times in the past. At least he has funny interactions with the
farm dog who keeps wanting to sniff him.
Plus, there’s solid entertainment from Rita in the tree. She brings another fun song sequence while
dizzy at the top of the tree, but still holds her own against a flock of
sparrows who make fun of her. There’s
also a fairly enjoyable hillbilly cat named Ma who’s been stuck up the same
tree for years, and insists that Rita can never get down and should just stay and feed off of
the bark. While Ma gives false hope to
Rita, there’s a satisfying payoff to her trouble when she straight-up takes the
leap of the faith off the tree, and lands on her feet as cats tend to do. Ma also turns out to not be dense by leaping
after her, though it does beg questions of how she’ll adjust to ground life
after spending so much time in the tree.
Ultimately, this cartoon just turns out to be a freak incident that
starts and resolves itself by the end with very little importance
accomplished. Not only that, but the
conflict being Rita in the tree and Runt put on a barking spree don’t make the
cartoon far off from actual animal incidents.
While it’s just one of those things that happens with little creative
edge to it, thanks to solid performances, dynamics, and music, I still find
this fairly enjoyable. For now, let’s
wait and see how these characters end their run in the spotlight on this show.
B
Wakko’s Gizmo
One thing in life that’s practically
made to be depicted in animation is a Rube Goldberg devise. That is to say, a big contraption that starts
with one little object that sets off a chain reaction of other small events
leading to a really big event in the end.
They’re a lot of fun to see in action, and in this cartoon, the featured
Rube Goldberg device is taken to a whole new level.
Created by the obligatory oddball of the
Warners, Wakko, the whole thing gets going with him obtaining a small marble he
sets rolling down a makeshift track.
Some of the things that occur from this start out as fairly basic such
as breaking rubber bands, causing a piranha to bite a stuffed animal bait, and
even set off a call for a pizza.
Then
come some more off the wall-occurrences from the invention. Some of them rely on total cartoon logic like
a Venus fly trap growing from one bottle of plant food. Most of them though happen by chance. We have Ralph running from a knight with a
mace while pulling a phone, a falling anvil sending a cow on a conveyer belt flying, and a rocket
that launches early out of shock of the cow. It’s total luck that those elements are in
place in order for the Rube Goldberg device to work, but then you have to
remember how crazy Wakko usually is.
There’s no definitive reason for how he’d know all this would
happen. He just does, and you can just
roll with it.
The last parts of the Rube
Goldberg device are about as innocent as they started out, occurring just as
the rocket knocks a satellite that pulls a rope. A pie gets launched, sets a bowling ball
rolling, and it acts as a weight to move a small Ferris wheel. Then comes the punchline to all this when all
these crazy events are revealed to have built up to a toy being placed on a
whoopee cushion. It’s a cheap laugh,
sure, but it’s hard not to find so many grand-scale off-the-wall events
starting from a simple rolling marble so astounding.
It’s a testament to how Wakko Warner
functions and a great exercise of animation as a comedy tool. Check this cartoon out if you want to see a
good example of how this show knows how to have fun with the medium.
A+
Cartoon Ranking
1. Frontier Slappy
2. Wakko’s Gizmo
3. The Warners and the Beanstalk
4. Brain Meets Brawn
5. Yes, Always
6. Drive Insane
7. Of Course, You Know This Means Warners
8. Meet Minerva
9. A Gift of Gold
10. Ups and Downs
11. The Helpinki Formula
12. Les Boutons et le Ballon
13. Gold Rush
14. Up a Tree
15. Kung Boo
16. The Brave Little Trailer
17. Girlfeathers
Song Ranking
1. Schnitzelbank
2. I’m Cute
3. Dot’s Quiet Time
Miscellaneous Ranking
1. Branimaniacs
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode with Brain running for president, and Slappy Squirrel facing a dog voiced by Jonathan Winters.
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