Wacky Wigwams (1942) has something else in common with Merrie Melodies. Besides being a spot-gag cartoon like Wacky Wild Life by Tex Avery, a variation on Avery’s stripper gag from Cross Country Detours (1940) found its way into the short.
“Back in the days of the covered wagon,” intones the narrator, “the territory which is now called the state of Oklahoma was known as the Cherokee Strip.” The panning camera stops on a helpful sign.
The camera resumes panning. Why look! It’s a stripping Cherokee!
The gag in Cross Country Detours ends with a card over the stripper’s body so we can’t see her naked. In Wacky Wigwams, guess what?
Even a better-looking print can't save this one.
Columbia put out another “wacky” cartoon—Wacky Quacky (1947) which featured a duck resembling Daffy engaging in Warners-type gags with a dumpy, bald hunter.
Just as many of the '30s Columbia cartoons look like Fleischer or Van Beuren cartoons gone wrong, many of their '40s efforts (pre-UPA) look like Warner Bros. cartoons gone wrong. And yet every once in a while they'd trip up and make a good cartoon, almost despite themselves.
ReplyDeleteWarner Bros. cartoons with Woody Woodpecker music.
ReplyDeleteI like Flora. Wacky Quacky is funny just to count how many Warners gags were ripped off by Cal Howard. But there are others that are just odd, or where you really don't care about anything you're watching.