Hold It

Thanks to DVDs (and Blu-Rays), it’s easy for the animation fan to stop a cartoon and look at an individual frame. The Fleischers did this for theatre-goers in 1938 with the release of the Color Classic Hold It.

At the end of the cartoon, director Dave Tendlar (listed as an animator with Nick Tafuri) has joyous cats jumping into the air. Then they “hold it.” The soundtrack goes silent and the drawing below is held for 15 frames.



There’s a fun series of drawings of two cats, twirling 180 degrees then back again in a cycle. Did any other studio try anything like this before 1938?



The cartoon also borrows a gag from the defunct Van Beuren studio. Four singing cats join their mouths together to form one mouth.



UCLA did a great restoration job on this cartoon.

One of the cats in this short is named “Myron,” no doubt in honour of Mr. Waldman (I do not know if he animated any of this cartoon. Someone likely does).

Jack Mercer does a fine job as a raspy cat singing the title song. The short begins with Bing Crosby’s theme “Where the Blue of the Night Meets the Gold of the Day.”