Back in the early to midst of the late 1930s, Warner Bros. still figured out inventive methods in order to fit in one the successful animation studios during the Golden Age.
In 1930, Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising started making Bosko cartoons and Merrie Melodies, just three years later both Harman and Ising moved to MGM to own the Bosko character at that studio for a designated redesign and the addition of Technicolor. While short films started to use color in their animated shorts around the mid 1930s, they were still against studios like Disney and most of the cartoons were not funny or deeply intriguing.
In my opinion, the first well-regarded Looney Tunes short to ever release is A Cartoonist's Nightmare (1935). Given that this is officially the 113th short, it didn't took too long to fully craft something this outstanding.
Directed by Jack King, he also was well known directing Donald Duck cartoons at the Disney studio. He made some truly untouched and overlooked films during that era like Donald's Crime, Chef Donald, The Trial of Mr. Duck, and my favorite by his, Donald's Dilemma. I also do like his Looney Tunes shorts as well. Shanghaied Shipmates has some great characters for it's time.
But now let's focus on this cartoon.
This cartoon begins with a very unique shot of the animated cartoon studio. It looks stellar in B&W.
I always liked those openings whereas an elder man leaves a department store and closes down at night, I love the lighting and atmosphere. It's honestly well-animated.
The staff members leave except for one animator. I just noticed this recently, but... THAT IS A TON OF SHEETS! Even just one singular row. I could just imagine working that hard drawing animated characters and lasting over hundreds maybe thousands of drawings.
Beans The Cat was a short-lived Looney Tunes star, and in this short, the animator works on drawing this menacing monster in a dungeon. After some time, the monster comes to life meanwhile the animator takes a solid nap. This makes matters worse as while the animator is snoozing, the brute carries him onto the scene. It's got great animation in it.
I love how more creative and engaging this cartoon gets. After the animator faces a few hits, the beast sends him not into the door of Cartoon Heroes but Cartoon Villains.
I love these villains. Some of them appeared in previous Warner Bros. shorts or maybe similarly look like their counterparts.
Spike The Spider must have been inspired by the evil ladybug from Your Too Careless With Your Kisses! (1932)
One Punch Otto is probably that octopus from Mr. And Ms. Is The Name (1935).
The Mad Doctor similarly resembles Rice-Puddin' from Wake Up The Gypsy In Me (1933).
And the beast is definitely from Merrie Melodies's version of Beauty and The Beast (1934).
Also Dirty Dan mentioned, reminds me alot of that one scene from Spongebob.
I'm not gonna lie, I don't really enjoy alot of the songs Looney Tunes produced this period. They either sound too wishy-washy or forgettable, but I do like this song the villains sing here. It's less sappy and more threatening almost like Dumbo's Pink Elephants or Winnie The Pooh's Heffalumps and Woozles song.
The gags are also really enjoyable, Beans eating a loaf of bread then stuck inside is a saw to cut the bars to escape. I just love it. It sorta gives me shows I loved when I was little vibes.
Beans then enters into the villains entrance and also has a pair of boots for good measure. It all ties with great action and sharp humor. The dream ends off with both the animator and Beans shaking hands as it fades with the watchman awaking the animator.
The ending is very sweet. The animator quickly draws and paints a treat for Beans. A plate of jelly.
I love this cartoon for it's originality and inovative ideas. Before then, the Looney Tunes shorts were mostly focused on the uncomforting damsel in distress and group of clones dancing. It was mostly filler anyway and perfectly safe, but man when I first watched this short after having experiencing the first hundreds of cartoons as a journey, this was the first Looney Tunes short to succeed that passion and creativity to an otherwise decent and timeless franchise.
Wanna watch this yourself?
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