Thursday 10 December 2020

Dem's Da Steaks Dat Prevail!

Wartime and immediate post-war meat shortages made for familiar gags (Bob and Ray were still doing them in the early ‘50s on radio). In What’s Buzzin’ Buzzard (1944), the Jimmy Durante buzzard gesticulates as he envisions biting in to “a big, thick juicy T-bone steak.” The steak fades in to the scene.



Just like one of those slides that was shoved into the projector at theatres, a title card slides across the steak.



The cartoon carries on. But as the iris closes another title card flashes on the screen.



“Ladies and gentlemen, just a moment, please!” shouts the voice of announcer John Wald. “Due to the numerous requests received in the last five minutes, we’re going to show you the steak again.” The title card slides back to reveal the steak as Scott Bradley’s orchestra plays “Auld Lang Syne.”



Ed Love, Ray Abrams and Preston Blair are the animators. The buzzard is not Jimmy Durante (whether it’s Jerry Mann, I don’t know).
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2 comments:

  1. Jonathan Wilson10 December 2020 at 08:06

    It's kinda interesting that some of the Jimmy Durante voices in Avery's cartoons are hard to identify/pin down the voice actors for (Keith Scott finally revealed the one for The Cat That Hated People this past Monday and Devon Baxter identified the turkey in Jerky Turkey a while back).

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  2. top_cat_james10 December 2020 at 16:02

    Just like the Joi Lansing callback at the end of The House of Tomorrow (1949).

    If only Tex had the foresight to feature a hot babe holding a steak platter. Academy Award winner!

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