Wednesday 1 April 2020

Car (Stop) of Tomorrow

“This car is equipped with the latest sure-stop, toe-touch hydraulic brakes,” says narrator Gil Warren in Car of Tomorrow. “Just barely touch these brakes....”



Director Tex Avery cuts back to the car. The camera shakes, there’s a skid sound and part of the car slides out of the frame. The camera then pans over. “...You stop,” concludes Warren. On to the next gag.



There’s no animation at all in the punch line scene; it’s all camera movement over one drawing.

Avery and writers Rich Hogan and Roy Williams seem to cram in every possible gag about early ‘50s cars and throw in stereotypes about women drivers, mothers-in-law, Indians, Scotsmen, Chinese and the Los Angeles weather for good measure.

1 comment:

  1. Other than possibly "Batty Baseball", Tex took about eight years off from the spot gag cartoons after leaving Warners, then returned to them with a vengeance in the early 50s. Since it was right around the time he had to take a hiatus from MGM for health records, the return may just have been a way to lighten the load with cartoons that only had to be tied together by theme and not narrative.

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