Not Quite a War Dance

The Old Pioneer (1934) feels more like a Merrie Melodies cartoon than it does a Happy Harmonies short, which is what it is. Maybe it’s the presence of “California, Here I Come” and a few other tunes that remind of Carl Stalling.

Or maybe it’s the gags. They seem more at place in a 1934 Warners cartoon. Here’s an example. An Indian in a war dance suddenly switches to a strut-walk, with Scott Bradley changing the music to kind of a blues. I wonder if the Indian is supposed to be Cal Calloway-ish; the music isn’t hokey enough to be Ted Lewis or Eddie Jackson.



Bradley doesn’t get screen credit. Neither do the animators.