Tex Avery's Clementine

“Hey, Bill.”
“What, Joe?”
“Remember how we took Tex Avery’s Southern wolf and turned him into a dog?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, why don’t we take that ‘Clementine’ song Tex used in ‘Magical Maestro’ and give it to the dog?”
“Joe, that would be the Chuckle-berriest!”

Okay, the conversation didn’t go like that. But you have to admit some of Tex’s ideas at MGM were the same as the ones the other unit at the studio put in its TV cartoons when Metro shut down production.

Magical Maestro (released in 1952) is one of Tex’s “revenge” cartoons. Mysto the magician gets revenge on Poochini the opera singer for not buying his magic act. Poochini then gets revenge on Mysto for screwing with his performance of “Largo al Factotum” from Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” (well, what other opera IS there in cartoons? Unless you’re Bugs Bunny on a plump horse, I mean). Mysto and his wand turn Poochini into all kinds of singers, and the situation is reversed at the end.

Oh, for good measure, Tex and writer Rich Hogan have completely refined a gag from his Warner Bros. travelogue Aviation Vacation (1941) involving a hair getting “stuck in the projector.” Instead of Mel Blanc’s character on screen screaming at an unseen projectionist, Poochini pauses in his act just long enough and casually takes care of the situation.

This is one of those cartoons you have to freeze-frame to appreciate the expressions as Poochini is controlled by Mysto’s wand. Here are a few from the Clementine scene. These two are consecutive.



The next pose is below. No in-betweens to smooth things over. Tex wanted to show the abrupt change in Poochini and does it by making a sudden switch in positions so enabling the singer to go into a little Western song and cowboy stroll while playing the guitar. He walks wide because he is wearing furry chaps and that is how someone wearing them would walk.



Some random frames. The animation is on twos. Tex has the background moving every frame.



Poochini butt.



A look of contentment.



The contentment evaporates. He realises he’s not singing Rossini now.



He shoves the guitar away (while still playing it). He’s seething.



He’s angry now and back to singing “The Barber of Seville.”



Mysto’s rabbits suddenly appear. Tex has them show up here and there during the cartoon so you don’t know when to expect them and are surprised when they appear.



Poochini didn’t expect them. When he realises he’s holding onto those rabbits again, he throws them out of the scene.



Avery comes up with various ways to change costumes back to the tuxedo, some of them using an obscuration gag. That’s what he does here with the oversized cowboy hat.



I believe this is a Grant Simmons scene. Mike Lah and Walt Clinton also animate; I can never figure out Clinton scenes. Judging by the opening scene of the old brick theatre, Johnny Johnsen is the uncredited background artist. And, as you have likely read elsewhere, the orchestra conductor is a parody of MGM musical director Scott Bradley.

This cartoon is full of great little scenes. Far better than this one, in my estimation is Poochini as Carmen Miranda and as the Ink Spots.

Daws Butler should be recognisable as the voice of Mysto. Historian/impressionist Keith Scott went through studio records. People who guess at actors’ identities and get it wrong don’t have to guess who you are hearing in this cartoon any more. Read them here.

Warners has done a wonderful job restoring this short for a BluRay release (as a side note, I am happy their latest version of Car of Tomorrow is minus some very frustrating DVNR issues). You can see unrestored versions of other scenes in earlier posts by clicking on the “Magical Maestro” label to the right.