If there was a series of sound cartoons without the name “Tex Avery” that I’d love to see restored, it’d be the Fleischer Talkartoons. They’re full of surreal morphing and odd gags.
In Twenty Legs Under The Sea (released June 6, 1931), an eel becomes a stripe on a barber pole (and a barber’s chair sprouts up from the sea bed), the faces of two fish separate to eat the little turtles in front of them, falsetto singing fish (accompanied by clams) swim into a barrel of rum, and weird creatures march, one of which only has a head and two legs.
The weirdest gag is when a large fish swims past a weed growing in the water and turns into a school of fish, with the last one turning and smiling for the camera. Why? Because, that’s why.
It’s a shame the versions of this cartoon on-line are ultra low resolution. It’d be great to see this in pristine condition.
The cartoon has a couple of songs in it. One, “We’re Going Over to Maggie’s,” sounds like an old drinking song.
Willard Bowsky and Tom Bonfiglio are the credited animators.
As low-quality as the UM&M prints are, the few early Flieschers that are out and about from the prints NTA made following their buyout of UM&M are even worse, with the contrast level on most turned up to about an 11.
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