Snow White - Betty Boop, Bimbo and Koko the Clown

 Snow White - Betty Boop Cartoon

This cartoon was released in 1933. It's kind of the story of Snow White with Betty Boop playing the titular role. The short was released in theaters 4 years before Disney's Snow White. Based on the early concept art for Snow White, Betty Boop may have influenced Disney's initial designs for the film.

"St. James Infirmary Blues" 

The two Betty Boop Cartoons I have rewatched the most are Snow White and Minnie the Moocher. This is for one reason. Cab Calloway! His singing in these cartoons bring them to a higher echelon.

Cab Calloway was a Jazz singer and band leader who became popular in the 1930s and continued performing until the mid-90s. He was extremely popular and influential. He was a trail blazer. He could sing and he could dance.

The song "St. James Infirmary Blues" was kind of a cover. It's a song with legends and speculation explaining its origin. Many artists have recorded the song or a variation of it. The song tells the story of a dying gambler. An alternative title for the song was "Gambler's Blues".

Beyond the song, Cab Calloway provided his dance moves. Fleischer Studio created rotoscoping. They used rotoscoping on film of Calloway dancing to animate Koko the Clown's dancing in this cartoon. The man had smooth moves.

The Cartoon

The characters are animated in the rubberhose cartoon style with the added detail of Cab Calloway's dancing. The backgrounds of this cartoon deserve special attention. They feature beautifully rendered pale images of skeletons and monsters. The devastated expressions on Bimbo and Koko's suits of armor when they're ordered to behead Betty are great details.

Psychedelic Pink - The Pink Panther

Psychedelic Pink - Pink Panther

I did not grow up on Pink Panther. Maybe because Nickelodeon aired more Looney Tunes or maybe because I gravitated towards Looney Tunes. I only started watching the Pink Panther cartoons when they began airing them on Toon in with Me on MeTV. I first saw this cartoon when they first aired it on Toon in with Me.

The cartoon often features a subdued laugh track that was commonly added for television in the 60s. I grew up on Scooby-Doo and sitcoms so that doesn't bother me but others might find it bothersome. The Pink Panther YouTube channel features both the laugh track free version and the version with canned laughter. The Psychedelic Pink featured in one of the compilations has no laugh track. The stand alone short has a laugh track. The short works better without the laugh track. 

I think this is one of the best because the distorted reality of the Pink Panther is further distorted by psychedelia.

Plot

The Pink Panther gets hypnotized to enter the Bizarre Book Shop. There he gets recommended a saucy book by the Little Man. Then the usual Pink Panther hijinks ensue until the twist ending.

The Writer

Jim Ryan wrote this short. He wrote for many projects through out his career including Pink Panther cartoons and the Scooby-Doo franchise. He wrote Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf and Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers.

The Director

Hawley Pratt was the co-creator of the Pink Panther. If you like Looney Tunes or Pink Panther cartoons, you have probably seen the work of Pratt. He worked with Friz Freleng at Warner Bros Studios and later at the DePatie-Freleng Enterprises.

Aesthetics

The cartoon drew inspiration from the psychedelic art movement. The style reflects the the colors, the lettering and patterns scene in the art style. If this style speaks to you, I would point you towards the work of artists like Gary Grimshaw, Wes Wilson and Bonnie McClean. 

The events of the story also embrace the title. The plot moves along like free association. Out of the way things happen but nothing feels out of place. The fact that the book the panther is trying to read is a dirty book is really funny.

Noodle the Animated Cat

Noodle and Bun (and Bean)

Noodle and Bun are TikTok and YouTube channels where animated shorts featuring Noodle the cat, Bean the dog, Bun the mouse and other animals.

I was introduced to Noodle by my nephew. I saw him watching this cat with the weirdest body shape and oddest movements and I got curious. At first I found the jiggly and unnatural movement a little off putting but I fell under the sway of this quirky cat's charms. 

The series lacks definitive episode titles, an episode guide and official premiere dates. That's not uncommon in contemporary internet series but it does make it a little tricky to talk about specific episodes when there are no common episode numbers, dates or titles to refer to.

My Favorite Character

I am a cat person. But Bean is my favorite character. I love the jelly bean design of that little dog. I love the look his face makes when he's upset. I love the way his mouth drops open. I love the sounds he makes. Every time I see that dog he makes me smile.

The Heart of the Shorts

My favorite short is called "What's Wrong with this Dog?" on YouTube. In the short, Bean is sick and Noodle is trying to nurse him back to health. The short is sweet and full of great visual gags.

The Baby Versions

I am very partial towards baby versions of cartoon, puppet and cartoon puppet characters like the Scooby gang in A Pup Named Scooby Doo, baby Toony Tuna from Toon in with Me and the Muppet Babies. One Christmas special sees Noodle get trapped outside and instantly flashback to being an abandoned kitten in a box. Another Christmas special features the dog, Bean, struggling to prepare the perfect Christmas. When Bean thinks he hasn't received a gift, he remembers the loneliness and abandonment of his puppyhood. They are sad circumstances for the introduction to even cuter versions of the main characters.

Sculptures

I tend to make little sculptures. It's my natural inclination to work in a small scale. Maybe it's because I've always loved miniatures. 

This was my second attempt at a Noodle sculpture. I gave up on the first one after I hated the way my attempt a wire armature came out. 

I used a mix of Cosclay, Sculpey and Arteza based on the color I needed. To create Noodle, I sculpted a tinfoil armature and slowly added Cosclay till I was happy with the silhouette. The eyes, ears, mouth and nose were little pieces of clay added to that. The most important thing I've ever learned about polymer clay is that you can bake it multiple times. After creating a Noodle that I was happy with, I moved on to Bean, baby Noodle, baby Bean, Bun and the Daffy looking duck. I used a piece of wire for Bun's tail and a little paint for details but the sculptures are predominately clay and aluminum foil. They have joined the menagerie of Toon in with Me and Sventoonie figures I made.

Watching every Simon's Cat Short on YouTube - Toonstalgia

Simon's Cat

The short of it is if you like Mutts, Garfield, Noodle Cat or are a cat person then this is probably for you. Simon's cat is one of the best channels on YouTube. It's a cartoon series created by Simon Tofield including shorts and a few longer projects.

How I Found Simon's Cat (I don't remember)

I develop amnesia when it comes to how I discovered YouTube channels. Did someone recommend it to me? Did I look up cartoons? Was it mentioned in another video? I haven't a clue. YouTube is one relentless blur of film and television clips, music videos and whatever other random stuff I fill my brain with on a regular basis. The best I can figure is sometime after 2008, when Simon's Cat premiered on YouTube, I watched it for the first time. As a cat person who grew up on comic strips about cats, I was very happy to find the series.

My Thoughts

I decided to binge the Simon's Cat shorts playlist. With each video averaging about 2 minutes, the playlist still promised to entertain me for a while with the playlist currently being 118 videos long.

Simon's Cat sits in my brain in the same place as Peanuts, Mutts, Calvin and Hobbes and other class comic strips. The art is simple, black and white (aside from a few color specials) and iconic character to tell brief stories. Traditional newspaper comic strips are printed in black and white, except on Sundays when they are printed in color and some comics publish their comics on the internet in color. Though some comics (like Garfield and Pearls Before Swine) publish color versions of their black and white comics on the internet. The storytelling is funny with simple events.  

The aesthetic of the character designs are cute with little ball eyes that remind me of Muppet monsters in the best way. Maybe it's a cat person, maybe it's not but the titular cat is adorable while begging for food or causing general chaos. Simon's Cat even includes a spider that this arachnophobe finds a bit cute. 

The characters draw the eye even when the surrounding scene is more detailed. This is impressive to me because the style of the art is all line art with minimal line thickness variation. It could become mixed up and look messy but it doesn't. The characters stand out.

The main difference between Simon's Cat and the other classic examples like Mutts and Garfield is Simons' Cat doesn't talk. The cartoon Simon barely talks. It's not the first cat character who couldn't communicate in English with either the other characters or the audience but it is a well done version. Simon's Cat communicates as expertly as my cat when she sits by my desk, fixes me with a stare and meows until I get up and refill her food bowl.