Killing the Bagpipes

What happened after Tex Avery left the Walter Lantz studio in April 1935? Tex went on to better things. Lantz cartoons pretty much went into the toilet until Woody Woodpecker came along in 1940.

A good example is Kiddie Revue, a September 1936 short directed by Lantz and animated by Manny Moreno and Bill Mason. It can’t figure out whether to be coy or funny. “Funny” means a spoiled brat sabotaging vaudeville acts because he can’t go on stage ahead of them. I’ve never found spoiled brats funny.

Maybe the best gag is when said brat pours sneezing powder into some bagpipes. As you might expect, the bagpipes sneeze. The bland version of Oswald the rabbit grabs a shotgun and puts the pipes out of their misery.



There are no takes or exaggeration. It’s ho-hum stuff.

Jimmie Dietrich composed original music for this cartoon, including “Hello Ev’rybody” sung by the coy rabbits, “The Parasol Song” (sung by Berneice Hansell as a bunny), two versions of “Over the Waves” and a melody called “(Le) Secret” which may be from the Gladys Goose/bubble sequence.