A Norman McCabe tribute

In memory of Norman McCabe, who's passed away a week ago, I'll dedicate this post to three of his best cartoons. Enjoy!

Daffy's Southern Exposure
Daffy refuses to migrate to the South for the Winter, but he soon realizes what a big mistake he's made. Starving to death, in the middle of a snowstorm, he finally takes shelter in the house of two guys who are even hungrier than the duck. After a sumptuous meal, Daffy finds out what the two guys' real intentions are: eating him! After a wild chase, our duck eventually decides to escape to the South (and I do mean South!).

Confusions of a Nutzy Spy
In this WWII anti-Nazi cartoon, we find Porky Pig as a cop who's on the tail of a spy, assisted by his dog, who has a little sneezing trouble. Missing Lynx, the spy, tries to get rid of Porky with a time bomb, that eventually doesn't seem to work. But at the end of the cartoon, the nasty spy finds out that the bomb perfectly woiks!

The Daffy Duckaroo
In this cartoon, we see Daffy as a cowboy flirting with an Indian girl. But the troubles begin for him when he meets the boyfriend, who isn't exactly happy to see his girl in company of the duck.

The Rare and Unknown : " Club Life in the Stone Age "

In the Thirties Terrytoons supplied the low budget devoted to animation with some inventive idea and funny gags .
When in the 40s the animation become more sophisticated ( you can see in this cartoon how the animation looks like the one used by Fleischers in them same years ) they started to develope the formula cartoons ( not unlike Famous studios ) .
This cartoon still shows some inventive , but many of the gags , as well as the ending sequence , reveal to be greatly inspired by " Farmer Al Falfa's Ape Girl " .
Ironically ,this 1940 cartoon include also many gags that will be later reused in 1945 " Mighty Mouse and the Pirates " .
I will update this post with other pictures in the following days .
In the meanwhile , enjoy some screenshots that show gags and situations coming from the Ape Girl cartoon and some other sequences and ideas that will return in the Mighty Mouse epic .







































Yours Truly ,

Duck Dodgers

Blog founder and Administrator

Norman McCabe ( 1912 - 2006 )

Norman McCabe Died Jan. 18, 2006 .

At age 94 , Norm McCabe , the last WB director of the Golden Age still alive , joined his colleagues .
A great animator , McCabe also directed a limited number of cartoons before joining the Army .
He directed the popular " The Ducktators " , one of the finest WW2 cartoons made by the studio , describing the world situation at that time as setted in a barnyard , with anatrine caricatures of Hitler and Hirohito and a Mussolini-like goose coming into power .

He also helped the studio to develope Daffy Duck , directing some of his funniest cartoon ever , like the wonderful " The Daffy Duckaroo " .
And he directed other WW2-themed cartoons ( " Tokyo Jokyo " ; " Confusions of a Nutsy Spy " ) plus many enyoable Porky Pig cartoons .

His work at WB was ruined only by bad luck : he directed only black and white cartoons and never got the chance to diret a short in Technicolor ( a strange choice this one by Schlesinger , considering that the animation in McCabe 's unit was one of the best of the studio ) ; He then was drafted and when he returned his unit was now under Frank Tashlin ' control ( and later become McKimson ' s unit ) .

He also worked in modern TV productions ( like " Pinky and the Brain " ) and was an animator in Ralph Bakshi 's 1972 " Fritz the Cat " .

May he find Peace . We can only wonder the fun he is having right now , remembering the " Termite Terrace " days with his friends Avery , Clampett and the rest of the Golden Age directors .

Yours Truly ,

Duck Dodgers

Blog Founder and Administrator

" Sunday Go To Meetin ' Time "

Here you have a ton of pictures from one of the most offensive cartoons ever made : " Sunday Go To Meetin ' Time " .
This cartoon is a basket full of stereotypes about black people . If you do not know how many and what kind of gags directed to blacks were used in Hollywood cartoons during the Thirties/Forties , just watch this cartoon : you ' ll find them all here !
From stealing chickens and watermelons trough gambling and playing dices right to gags about the color of the skin or the physical appearence .
However , closing this cartoon into a vault , letting the dust of times destroying the prints without any work of restoration and pretending that it never existed is even more offensive than the stereotyped gags here included .
A view of this cartoon ( that , anyway , is very funny and entertaining , being the work of a great director like Friz Freleng , a master in timing ) not only delights but explains , to quote Leonard Maltin 's words in the Disney Treasures introductions , how far we have gone trough the decades .
Enjoy !



















































































Yours Truly ,

Duck Dodgers

Blog Founder and Administrator