Friday, 19 February 2021

I'll Take Mine Neat

“Symbolic of this cold alpine region,” says narrator Bob Bruce over artwork of high mountains by Johnny Johnsen, “is the brave and faithful St. Bernard dog, ever on the alert in search for lost travellers.” We see the dogs enter in perspective from the background.



Cut to the gag.



Carl Stalling plays “Little Brown Jug” in the background, with lighter instrumentation for the little dog.

Crazy Cruise was Tex Avery’s last cartoon for Warner Bros. Bob Clampett took over his unit when he went to MGM in 1941 and finished this. It’s not an auspicious end to his career at Warners; one theatre manager in New Paltz, New York told the Motion Picture Herald: “This is poor material to give us in cartoon form. Someone in the studio might think it funny, but on the screen of a small town theatre it doesn't jell. This can’t be booked as a cartoon, as it’s more of a travelogue, and you know how boring some of those can be.”

And what’s a “cruise” doing at the top of the Alps?

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