Reprinted
from Animania #20, February 1981
and Animania #21, June 1981
[Click
here for 1935-1936]
1937
60. PUTTIN' OUT THE KITTEN / March 26 / Story by
Art Davis / Animated by Sid Marcus.
Scrappy very reluctantly puts his little cat out for the night. He
has a strange dream, in which the kitten returns through a window,
and discovers that the Mother Goose characters on Scrappy's nursery
wallpaper have come to life. Watching these strange figures cavort
to the music of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" has a devastatingly
disorientating effect. The poor cat crashes into the wall, tangles
with a boot and bucket, rolls around on Scrappy's skates, and takes
turns getting his head and behind trapped in a fishbowl. Scrappy awakens
from his nightmare, but lets the kitten in, anyway. The cycles of
numerous fairy tale characters prancing about provide the highlights
of PUTTIN' OUT THE KITTEN; too bad it wasn't a Color Rhapsody. Incidentally,
the kitten sings the same song used in 1933's SASSY CATS.
61. SCRAPPY'S BAND CONCERT / April
4 / Story by Allen Rose / Animated by Harry Love.
62. SCRAPPY'S MUSIC LESSON / June
4 / Story by Art Davis / Animated by Sid Marcus.
Petey Parrot, arguably the most obnoxious cartoon character of all
time, torments Scrappy and his obese Viennese music teacher no end.
The belligerent bird covers the piano keys with gum, so Scrappy's
teacher spends most of the fiim tearing his clothes in attempts to
free himself from the sickening mess. For no reason, Petey performs
"The Stars and Stripes Forever" on sax, fife, xylophone,
drums, and Ted Lewis style clarinet. However, everybody is not happy.
The brow-beaten instructor storms away in disgust (also inside a drum).
Scrappy's musical aspirations are destroyed. In the end, Petey winds
up trapped in the gum. If Petey appears something less than endearing
here, consider that it's only a dry run for his sadistic antics in
SCRAPPY'S PLAYMATES. Without an appealing absurdity (Daffy Duck) or
a pervasive awareness that this is a movie (Screwy Squirrel), such
one-sided slapstick comes across as unfunny, mindless violence.
63. I WANT TO BE AN ACTRESS / July
18 / Story by Allen Rose / Animated by Harry Love.
Scrappy's girlfriend, Heidi, sneaks into his makeshift movie studio,
where she tries to convince him to make her a star by making love
to him, then doing imitations of Greta Garbo and Katherine Hepburn.
Then, Scrappy, Heidi and Oopy go into a tap dance number based on
two tunes associated with Alice Faye, "The Balboa Song"
and "Sing, Baby, Sing."
64. THE SCARY CROWS / August 20 /
A COLOR RHAPSODY / Story by Sid Marcus / Animated by Art Davis / 3
strip Technicolor.
Farmer boy Scrappy and his dog Yippy begin the day's chores. As soon
as he plants a seed, a flock of hungry crows swoop down on the field
and devour it. Scrappy and Yippy chase them but outnumbered and much
slower, are routed by the birds. Spurred into action by a little girl,
Scrappy starts this vicious cycle again. He's only successful when,
the setting sun dropping beyond the horizon, he climbs into bed after
a hectic day.
65. CANINE CAPERS / September 16 /
Directed by Howard C. Brown / Story by Art Davis / Animated by Sid
Marcus.
On bicycle, Scrappy and Yippy run through their paper route. One of
their customers, a mean dog catcher, sees the headline, "Dog
Catchers To Round Up Stray Dogs," and immediately jumps in his
threatening-looking truck. To catch the unwitting hounds, he converts
his vehicle into a vacuum cleaner, then a hamburger stand. He nabs
Yippy, "paw prints" him, shaves his head and sentences the
poor beast to the rock pile. Scrappy manages to steal the jail key
and free all the- incarcerated animals. CANINE CAPERS is a pretty
funny film, but don't show it directly after THE DOG SNATCHER.
66. THE FIRE PLUG / October 16 I Story
by Allen Rose / Animated by Harry Love.
When the Hickville Fire Department's old geezer of a chief retires
the aging station horse, Scrappy protests, since he and the mare are
pals. Later, a two-alarm fire takes place. The chief's unfamiliarity
with trucks becomes obvious when he drives in reverse and gets the
hose caught on a pole. Scrappy, on the mare, races him to the fire
and arrives their first. After a problem with an unruly hose, Scrappy
puts out the fire, but too late; the former, hem of "Red Hot
Follies" burlesque has been reduced to rubble. Meanwhile, the
chief has lost control of the truck, crashed into a tree and been
sent hurling through the air. Amazingly, he lands on the back of the
horse. Scrappy sings, "The Old Grey Mare, she's great as she
used to be", as the faithful beast takes her master home. Rendered
in a. gorgeous range Of grey tones,. THE' FIRE PLUG, in emphasizing
narrative, represents something of a' departure for the series, telling
`its story simply and effectively.
67. THE CLOCK GOES ROUND AND ROUND
/ November 6 / Story by Art Davis / Animated by Sid Marcus.
In this mixture of live action, and animation Scrappy gets the bright
idea of stopping all clocks so he'd never have to go to school, and
causes all movement in the world to come to a standstill. Wandering
through a haunting world of petrified persons, he quickly decideS
he liked it better before. In trying to rectify the situation, he
makes the clocks, and everything else, move in reverse. After struggling
to re-adjust the timepieces, Scrappy finally restores normal time
/space relationships. A unique Scrappy episode which promises much,
but only partially delivers, mostly due to an over reliance on stock
footage. The same live action stock shots appear throughout the film,
and what should be an exciting finish turns out to be the build up,
shown in reverse. There are films--numerous Fleischer cartoons (KO
KO'S EARTH CONTROL, HA HA HA), YOU OUGHT TO BE IN PICTURES (Warners),
Disney's THE THREE CABALLEROS and SONG OF THE SOUTH--which treat the
merger of live action and animation in a more creative manner.
68. SCRAPPY'S NEWS FLASHES / December
8 / Story by Allen Rose/ Animated by Harry Love.
Lots and lots of spot gags comprise Scrappy's Movietone newsreel parody,
which includes Lew Lehr's "monkeys is the kwaziest people"
schtick, Vyvyan Donner and the fashions, Ed Thompson with the sports,
and Scrappy's imitation of Lowell Thomas. The spoof is even carried
to the beginning and end titles and the music.
1938
As the COLOR RHAPSODIES cartoons become more and more
lavish, the quality of production values in the KRAZY KAT and SCRAPPY
series continues to decline. In 1938, Columbia's black and white cartoons,
even more than previously, become the "second line" product.
69. THE NEW HOMESTEAD / January 7
/ Story by Art Davis / Animated by Sid Marcus.
Theatre owners were encouraged to advertise this one with the slogan
"Meet Petey Parrot, Scrappy's New Pal (makes you wonder if Petey
Parrot was related to Charley Chase)!" Concerns the ill-fated,
attempts of Scrappy and Petey to construct a house.
70. SCRAPPY'S TRIP TO MARS / February
4 / Story by Allen Rose / Animated by Harry Love.
The spirits of Scrappy and Yippy, while they sleep, sneak away to
a rocket ship and zoom tv the red planet. They receive a warm welcome
from the creatures of another world, who gleefully sing, "How
Do You Do, Little Scrappy, How Do You Doodle Doodle Doodle Doodle
Do (a variation of the theme song of the Happiness Boys, Jones and
Hare's radio program)". The Martian Queen escorts them to the
"Mars and Pars" nightclub. Shortly after enjoying the music
of the house band and an extraterrestrial Helen Morgan, Scrappy, realizing
it's time to go home, bids his gracious hosts a hasty adieu. Scrappy
and Yippy fly home and quietly re-enter their sleeping earthly forms.
Music, character designs. and background art complement each other
splendidly, so this outweighs not only the sum of its parts, but many
more highly-touted cartoons. The film does offer some lovely futuristic
backgrounds (the Martians' landing strip, the night club), but what
stands out is the joyful mood, its visualization of a child's imagination
in flight. A truly delightful Scrappy cartoon.
71. SCRAPPY'S PLAYMATES / March 27
/ Story by Art Davis / Animated by Sid Marcus.
The cartoon begins with Scrappy taking home a new pet, and singing
(to the tune of "Polly Wolly Doodle), "Oh, My Dog Butch
is a great big dog and my dog's name is Butch." But Petey Parrot
doesn't care for this newcomer one bit. Scrappy tells them to be pals,
but as soon as he leaves, Petey directs a series of violent attacks
at Butch, slamming him against. the wall so hard the whole house shakes,
throwing glass bottles at him, shooting him, prompting his fleas to
retaliate. Yet when Scrappy returns with a big ice cream cone for
each of them, the two are the best of chums. A weaker Marcus-Davis
effort, due in no small part to the odious Petey Parrot. Scrappy appears
only briefly.
72. THE CITY SLICKER / July 8 / Story
by Allen Rose / Animated by Harry Love and Lou Lilly.
City boy Scrappy visits his country cousin, Elmer, in rural Squeedonk.
The worldly wise lad plays several snappy practical jokes on Elmer
and his girlfriend, so the hick retaliates by having Scrappy butted
into a pigpen by a goat, and fall into a well. Elmer and his sweetheart
sing a song(based on a folk tune--Daughter, Daughter) admonishing
Scrappy's pranks. Then, Elmer dares Scrappy to plow a field. Scrappy
accepts, and is dragged around by a calf, and bumped into a hay bailing
machine by an irate bull. This arouses sympathy from the girl. Just
as Scrappy appears to have enticed her away, Elmer wins her back by
pretending to have the measles, which convinces his cousin to beat
a hasty retreat. Not one of the highlights in animation history.
73. THE EARLY BIRD / September 16
/ Story by Sid Marcus / Animated by Art Davis.
Motivated' by a book with the lesson, "The Early Bird Catches
the Worm", a determined little bird goes after a Brooklynese
worm, who can grow arms and hands whenever he needs them. It's a chase
cartoon though far from a typical or an unfunny one. Some gags are
really bizarre and violent, in the Columbia tradition, `such as the
worm forcing the bird through a meat grinder, but others are quite
inventive; in one inspired sequence, the `bird accidentally inhales
the air from a balloon, expands, and, as he exhales, propels himself
across the top of telephone wires, playing them like a gigantic zither.
A little boy, who hardly looks like anything even vaguely resembling
Scrappy, appears at the extreme very beginning and the extreme very
end of the picture
74 HAPPY BIRTHDAY / October 7 / Story
by Allen Rose / Animated by Harry Love and Lou Lilly.
Scrappy's friends give him a surprise party. They sing "Congratulations
to you, Scrappy / Congratulations everyone / We'll have a lot of fun."
Unfortunately, an insufferably bratty little girl crashes the gate.
The rotten kid gives Scrappy a spitting jack in the box, infuriates
the guests by interrupting their rendition of "Sing And Be Happy,"
bawls constantly, rips a piece cut of the birthday cake, and ultimately
succeeds in driving all of Scrappy's friends away. Scrappy tries to
catch the naughty girl by pulling a rug out from under her, and lands
up with the cake on his head. Sprightly tunes and goofy characters
don't compensate for a lack of imaginative gags, and a star who's
almost as hard to stomach as Petey Parrot.
[Click here for 1939-1941]
