Up Jumps the Devil

Andy Panda isn’t really the type of animated character I’m into, but there’s sure some great work by the Walter Lantz staff in his cartoons of the later ‘40s.

“Apple Andy” (1945) features the old good/bad conscience routine. The good and bad sides of Andy (dressed as an angel and a devil, of course) try to dictate to young Mr. Panda what to do about some winesap apples he’s not supposed to pick. At one point, the devil Andy clobbers the angel Andy. The pious look of the angel, the crazed look of the devil, and the mallet (with a head that expands before impact) are lots of fun.



Dick Lundy’s the director and he has a weird cut as the devil ducks behind the real Andy. It works okay on screen.



Emery Hawkins handles the scene. Here’s another great pose from him.



Hawkins and La Verne Harding are the only credited animators. Walter Tetley plays Andy and the devil Andy is Will Wright, who also voiced the wolf in the Woody Woodpecker cartoon “Fair Weather Fiends.” It sounds like Sara Berner is the good Andy. And the cartoon features a song and another of Darrell Calker’s swinging scores.