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.
It may also be the character designs (the horses still have the rubber-hose look).
ReplyDeleteSeems to be similar to the Cab Calloway moves in "Minnie the Moocher"...
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