In My Gondola

Finally, a cartoon that takes place in the homeland of my two blog colleagues and friends - Duck Dodgers and Mmm...donuts! Yes folks, prepare yourself for all kinds of Italian stereotypes on the following screenshots :)

This is a Columbia/Mintz Color Rhapsody In My Gondola (9/3/1936). The main star of this cartoon is Scrappy, a regular staple of Columbia black & white cartoons, together with Krazy Kat. This is one of Scrappy's rare appearances in a high budget Technicolor extravaganza (the other four color Scrappy cartoons were Holiday Land, Dr.Bluebird, Merry Mutineers and The Scary Crows). It's an unusually rich and sumptuous cartoon with good production values, that goes against the standard prejudices about Columbia cartoons as being some of the poorest and cheapest looking cartoons of the golden age (though this claim can be considered as valid for studio's late 30s black & white output).

This is a very pleasant and entertaining cartoon, well directed and animated (by Art Davis and Sid Marcus), but perhaps it's too harmless and tame in comparison to the earlier black & white Scrappys. Those were some of the strangest, most unpredictable and bizarre cartoons, very much on par with the earliest Lantz Oswald the Lucky Rabbit , or pre-code Fleischers.







The character of Scrappy was created by Dick Huemer , who together with Sid Marcus and Art Davis directed all the earliest entries in this series. Remember, this is the same trio that brought us also Toby the Pup in 1930. Like Toby, Scrappy has never achieved a true stardom, and remains one of the most obscure and rarely seen cartoon characters of the golden age, thanks very much to the fact that almost none of the Columbia cartoons entered into public domain, and all of them are still protected by copyright.

Everybody who want to learn more about Scrappy is invited to visit the fabulous Scrappyland - the Scrappy-est place on Earth, and the unofficial official Scrappy site since 1934.

Note: Many of you are confused about the Cartoon Network or Boomerang logo on this, and the other Columbia cartoons presented here. These cartoons were shown only on Spanish Cartoon Network, and to my knowledge they have never appeared on any other international versions of this channel.