Ruth did have thin little legs like you see here.
The cartoon stars Willie Whopper, who was prone to tall, unbelievable tales. In this one, Willie leads the Cubs to a World Series victory over the Yankees (we said “unbelievable”) and, at the end, is in a ticker tape parade superimposed over live action footage. But Babe’s in the car with him, even though he lost the game! Well, it is Babe Ruth we’re talking about.
The kid characters all have adult voices and Willie opens things by hitting black men on the head in a circus target game. One of them has a head designed like Bimbo in the Fleischer cartoons.
This was apparently the first Willie Whopper released. It got favourable reviews in the Motion Picture Herald: “A very timely cartoon on baseball that kept everyone interested and laughing.—Erma L. Raeburn, Arcade Theatre, Newell, S.D.” “Good cartoon and that's unusual.—Mayme P. Musselman. Princess Theatre, Lincoln, Kan.” “A good cartoon.—D.E. Fitton, Lyric Theatre, Harrison, Ark.” “This is a very good cartoon comedy with Willie as the hero of a ball game. These cartoons seemed to be improving and they are more entertaining. Running time, 8 minutes.—J. J. Medford, Orpheum Theatre, Oxford, N. C.”
Willie was gone a year later. MGM dropped the Iwerks studio in favour of Harman-Ising.
In Boulevardier from the Bronx (1936), Ruth is caricatured as an ACTUAL pig.
ReplyDeleteThe Cubs, the previous year (1932) had been swept by the Yankees, 4 games to 0, in the Series. Game 3 of that series contained the famous "Called Shot" incident, where Ruth allegedly pointed to the stands, and then blasted a home run there. Likely fresh in the minds of all when this cartoon was made.
ReplyDelete