Holiday Advertising

The music over the opening credits in Tex Avery’s Holiday Highlights is “Ain’t We Got Fun.” Sorry, Tex, there could be a lot more fun in this spot-gag cartoon, though I suspect the unemployment and two Thanksgivings gags went down better in 1940 than they do today.



Tex and his writing crew came up with a Hallowe’en gag. The calendar page flips over on its own to reveal a spooky background painting by Johnny Johnsen. The moonlit-highlights on the clouds are a nice touch.



“Symbolic of Hallowe’en,” we’re informed by KFWB announcer Gil Warren, “the old witch riding her broom across the sky.” Cut to a closer shot of the full moon. “Here she comes now!” he exclaims, as Carl Stalling changes the music from “Shine On, Harvest Moon,” to “We’re in the Money” with an auto horn over top.



Perhaps there had been a spate of airplane advertising banners in the sky around the time Avery made this.

There’s another character-flying-in-moonlit-sky gag later on and two gags referring to Fibber McGee. Avery ends the cartoon with a dog-tree gag, which doesn’t strike me as a topper. It shows you how weak the writing is. Mind you, the April 1st joke is just so silly, you can’t dislike it.

Dave Monahan gets the rotating writer credit, Chuck McKimson is the credited animator, and Stalling uses snippets of all kinds of music, including “Hail to the Chief,” Mendelssohn’s “Spring Song,” and the Warners favourite “Moonlight Bay.”

Today’s trivia is courtesy of the Hollywood Citizen-News of Nov. 17, 1954:

Gil Warren of Whitsett St., North Hollywood, has taken the name “Gilman Rankin” for professional purposes. He is a free lance actor.

Among the films Gilman Rankin appeared in was Midnight Cowboy. It’s a far cry from introducing a cartoon witch pulling a banner ad behind her.