Four Mouths in One

All kinds of things come alive in the Oswald short The Navy (1930). Among them are a concertina, a ship, and an anchor.

Oh, and funnels. Not only do they come to life, they sway and sing like a quartet. On top of that, they pull off a gag beloved by the Van Beuren studio—they combine their “mouths” into one and continue singing.



Jimmy Dietrich has a nice jazzy score with trombones toward the end.

Clyde Geronimi, Manny Moreno and Ray Abrams are credited animation, with Tex Avery, Pinto Colvig and Les Kline mentioned in smaller lettering. With Avery and Colvig on staff, you can guarantee gags will be crazy. There’s even a “two mouths” gag involving Oswald, the same as in the 1933 Lantz cartoon Merry Dog.