Sunday, March 25, 2007

A Wicky Wacky Romance (1939)

Here's a very entertaining early color Terrytoon released on November 17, 1939. At the first sight, it's typical for the late '30s output of Terry studio. It's fast paced, funny, with solid animation (one of the uncredited animators was Carlo Vinci). However, "A Wicky Wacky Romance" has one very curious distinction - it can be considered as the real precursor of Mighty Mouse cartoons. Nearly all the basic ingredients of a typical MM cartoon are here, three years before the "The Mouse of Tomorrow". Take a look at these screenshots and judge for yourself.

























































at

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:00 pm

    Those watercolor backgrounds were beautiful! The cartoon looks like it was a blast too. They sure got a lot a lot of mileage out of the peg leg gags didn't they?

    There really needs to be a Terrytoons revival, history has really overlooked them in favor of the more "polished" looking cartoons from Disney, Warners, and MGM.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Craig D11:12 am

    Was that mouse on the top of the palm tree doing the TARZAN yell? Looks like they might've re-used that bit of animation in “Billy Mouse’s Akwakade” (Terrytoons, 1940)

    (I could be wrong, though!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. J. J. Hunsecker1:01 am

    Where do you get such nice copies of these rare cartoons? And where can I get some, too?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Duck Dodgers8:05 am

    Is that hot dog going to be any way good, Captain Craig?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Duck Dodgers7:32 am

    J.J. ,
    sometimes you can find such wonders in "garage sales", sometimes trough years of trades around the World

    ReplyDelete
  6. J. J. Hunsecker1:15 am

    Duck Dodgers,

    I've been collecting some rare Columbia and Lantz cartoons through a "Garage Sale", but they're from unrestored 16mm prints. Where do you people find such nice quality copies? Europeon television? (Because they certainly don't show those cartoons here in the United States anymore.)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hammerson6:41 am

    >> Where do you people find such nice quality copies? Europeon television? <<

    Yes, in many cases. "Totally Tooned-In" package with color Columbia cartoons was regularly shown on Spanish Cartoon Network and Boomerang. French TV also used to show some spectacular prints of Terrytoons, Famous and Lantz cartoons, during the late '90s (sadly, they were dubbed in French). In the recent years, it seems that classic cartoons have vanished from Euro-TV (with sole exception of French CN and Boomerang).

    >>And where can I get some, too?

    I can't trade right now, but perhaps later... You can send me an e-mail.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hammerson6:46 am

    >> Was that mouse on the top of the palm tree doing the TARZAN yell? <<

    Yes it is. I'll check "Billy Mouse's Akwakade" later to see if it's the same bit of animation.

    ReplyDelete