Animated Shorts Hall of Fame

Danny & Annie

Don't really now what to say, other than I'm in total agreement with Justin. This is a beautiful story about two people who really love each other. The part where Danny suddenly dissapears had me choking up, and the comment about how she'd walk out of the church was a beautiful call back. I liked the animation, it had a exagerated style, but you could still guess as to how both of them probably looks in real life (if that really is caricatures of them and not just total figments of the artists). It doesn't go all the way up to WALL-E or UP levels of feeling, but it's somewhere in the neighbourhood.

Nice nom, FF

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Why not just kill them? I'll do it! I'll run up to Paris - bam, bam, bam, bam. I'm back before week's end. We spend the treasure. How is this a bad plan?

All-right, not only is this guy an attempted murderer, he's a fraud as well. Whatever this thing is, he's not a spider. Having only six legs, he's not a member of the arachnid family. He can't even spin his own web, as shown by the fact that he has a spindel on his back to pull thread from. He probably killed off the real spider and then took his place.

So, now that I've had my fun and been pidantic, let's get on with the review

As stated previously, this was a bit darker than the other noms, but that just made it more fun. I liked the fly weight pun, as well as it working as a way to tell the audience that this is one tough fly. I do think it's wierd that they even consider the hotel, but then I remember that this isn't a spider , so it all makes sense. They don't suspect anything, because this isn't a spider, so they can rest easy.

It was a very good plan from his side though. Making the beds out of webbing and keeping flypaper around was a great substitute for the animators to show how a fly can be caught. Not the brightest idea to have a peekhole into the next room, but then we had to have the flies become aware of what was happening.

I also have to mention the desk itself. For a few seconds, I actually thought they'd put in a real desk in the background and overlayed the animation, but I soon realized it was animated too. It only fooled me for a second, but it's very well done. Don't think that was the intension, but very well done.

Two great noms from FF. Too bad that's it. Very well, onto the next one. Great stuff!

Captain Hareblower

I SWEAR this must be THE MOST TIMES Sam's been blown up in a single cartoon, ever! LOL

A funny cartoon from my childhood that continued to make me chuckle. Sam has some great blustering in this one "I got ya outnumber! One to one!"

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Big House Bunny

Was looking forward to seeing this again, my memory of it is always that it's really hilarious and it held up. Mostly thanks to my boy Sam. 777174 or whatever it is is amazing, just the delivery by Sam is brilliant. One of my favourite things about this is just how extremely harsh it is on Sam; technically he's only doing his job by stopping Bugs from escaping and he gets really terrorized. Even though he's probably the most agressive of Bugs normal enemies he makes me feel bad for him more than any of the others, don't know why maybe it's because he is always super confident haha. So love Bugs first escape it's of course completely absurd as well as the goofy cartoon mechanics and just the visual of him floating away, i so love how it comes like four seconds after Sam declares that he'll serve fifty years. All of them are great though, they are all pretty much the same joke as well just with different results. There's just something about Bugs not being content with having switched roles with Sam but he goes and further tortures him with the escape gag, it's just so brilliantly uneccessary and cruel. The electric chair one in the office is pretty funny but my absolute favourite thing about that joke and one of the best in the episode is the pose that Sam takes on the chair sitting back all pampered with the cigar in his mouth (the picture i used) . The Bugs pigeon part at the end is a bit meh but i really love the idea of Sam locking Bugs out of prison because he just can't take him anymore, pretty much sums up their relationship haha.

Anyway yeah great choice Nope, i love Big House Bunny there's nothing standout about the animation but it is really funny.

Thanks everyone for letting me join a little late!

Glad those who have watched The Cobweb Hotel have enjoyed it. I had a VHS with various cartoons I loved watching as a kid and remember The Cobweb Hotel fondly with the fun story and creepy singing spider.

100% agree with you JJ (and Clazor, who agreed with JJ) about Danny & Annie. There is something lovely about hearing their voices and the animation is definitely secondary. StoryCorps started making animations for selected recordings and Danny & Annie was one of the first. The Rauch Brothers made the first animated collection for the organization but other animators have been collaborating in recent years. I cry every time I listen to Danny & Annie.

Here are some pictures of them and links to short NPR articles, if anyone is interested:


Two in a Million: Danny and Annie Perasa
'Never Say Goodbye': A Love And Life Kept Vivid

If anyone enjoyed Danny & Annie check out the StoryCorps website and listen to some of the other recordings. Whenever I'm feeling crappy, I listen to a few stories, laugh, cry or both and usually feel better afterwards.

I've watched Der Fuehrer's Face and The Monk and the Monkey. Will write a little blurb about them in the next few days and watch a few more.

A tale of two kitties



This was a bit too much yelling and screaming for me. Costellos high-pitched voice got on my nerves within two minutes, and it doesn't help that the tweety & sylvester format never was too much fun for me. I never realy liked them. The "give me the bird" joke had me half-chuckle and the final shot with the eyes going out made me smirk, but other than that there wasn't much. Good animation though, if a bit basic.

Sorry Ed, but this wasn't one of my favourites.

Little Rural Riding Hood (1949)



This one, on the other hand, was funny. I'd never seen these cartoons in their entirety, so I took this opportunety to watch them all. While I thought that Red Hot Riding Hood set the tone and might be the better cartoon, Rural took it a step further in both chase technique and comedy, pitting the Rural wolf against his more cultured cousin. The chase between Rural Wolf/Rural hood was awesome, the multible doors opening in walls, floor and ceiling looked great and must've taken some serious thought to plan out and execute. When the action moved to the city, I thought they lost momentum a bit, but the mix of the two wolfs trying to hinder the other kept the story going.

Overall, a really fun cartoon. Good nom Ed!

How they managed not to get sued by Disney for using the Goofy voice, I'll never understand (forgot to make that comment in the rural riding hood review, but seeing as they used it here too, might as well).

I don't really know why Tom & Jerry worked for me, when Tweety & Sylvester didn't. Maybe it has to do with the minimal dialouge, that T&J seldom talked and focused more on the physical comedy? In any case, this was more T&J than it was T&S for me, and therefore, it worked. We've had this situation before where the power dynamic shifts from what it usually is to the little guy being the stronger party (I almost nominated a T&J short called Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse which centers around the same subject), but bringing in another two parties into the mix was something new, and especially the fact that they up and switch focus in the end. I'm sure I've never seen a short wherein Sylvester drops Tweety half-way through to chase after Speedy Gonzales. As it is, it's a sudden turn, going from being big to being massive. Again I'm drawn to compare this to Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Mouse. The basic story is that, in trying to poison Jerry, Tom creates a tonic that makes Jerry stronger. After the drink runs out, Jerry tries to make more, only for Tom to steal it from him and drink it. Jerry mixes it wrong though, and Tom grows smaller instead. The short ends with Jerry hunting Tom. I thought this would happen (or something similar) with the cat and mouse here, but they didn't run out, they just grew and grew into the ridiculous. Until they didn't. When they finally do run out, they break the fourth wall, turns to the audience and apologizes, because as they've run out of stuff, they can't continue and so it ends. It's kind of brilliant, really. Avery gives us this crazy premise, wherein the characters grow and grow, dwarfing houses, cities, mountains and the planet itself, but are eventually stopped by the realistic fact of the limited space in the bottle.


...Or he just didn't know how to end the cartoon in a way that felt natural, so he just called it quits. One or the other

Fun cartoon, fun premise and a good nom. Thanks Justin!

great write ups, clazor and that you liked one and not the other is all good

If one of Camo's noms don't win, I'll be surprised and disappointed (unless one of mine wins)

Awesome man you have great taste

I expected The Great Piggy Bank Robbery to be well received but wasn't sure about that because it is very different to the more well known Tom chases Jerry cartoons as you said.

A Tale of Two Kitties

I don't have a whole lot to say about this one. It's not high-end Clampett, but it's not bad. The part with the Catsello bouncing up and down on the springs as Tweety beat the hell out of him every time up is pretty funny. There are other funny bits, but nothing exceptional. I think in this type of event, the competition is stiff so this won't really stand out for me in the end. I don't mean to badmouth it in anyway, but compared to, say, The Great Piggy Bank Robbery this short doesn't match up. I enjoyed those seven minutes though, so it's not a loss.

Transylvania 6-5000

Another classic among Bugs' shorts, and again it's horror themed. I'm not sure if it's because Bugs seems unaware of the danger or that he simply stumbles on to his salvation, but I prefered the Gossamer one to this. Having Bugs actually outsmart his opponent rather than relying on luck to win the day feels more satisfying somehow. They did get alot out of the abrakadabra gag, and it was funny throughout. The way the count first appeared, like an inky black shadow with fluid movements and a tattered, cape-like visage was awesome. Dracula couldn't have made a better entrance into the proceedings. It brings to mind the Dementors, only this was made thirty years previously to the book being written.

All in all a good pick with some nice animation. Great pick Gbg

Good write-ups guys. After JJ watches one more half of the members are at least half way through the noms, Nope is a quarter way through, then gbg, tat and Funny Face have yet to start. Good stuff so far

I've already watched all the shorts at least once, but I have to find time to do the write-ups.

BTW, watching the spider short wasn't too bad because he doesn't really look much like a spider, but the cartoon itself has a creepy feel to it.

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Yeah, i meant hasn't started their write-ups yet, Funny Face also said she has watched a few. Do it whenever you have the time i was just updating with where we are.

THAT was my all time favorite scene!

Transylvania 6-5000

I admit that the release date had me feeling those trepidatious feels. All of the stills I've seen also had me feeling those trepidatious feels. Now, I love some cartoons of the era that have some really garbage animation, (Scooby Dooby Doo) so I am not down on it right away. And Chuck Jones has made some classic American cartoons. It's not all roses going in, but it's not all thorns either.

I kinda got what I expected: An alright cartoon that's not as bad as it's worst parts, and not as good as its best parts. The worst parts: Pretty basic animation that doesn't nearly live up to the animation standards that exist for Looney Tunes and Bugs Bunny not really being the assh*le Bugs Bunny should be. The best parts: It is genuinely funny at times, and when Bugs is finally confronted head-on, we see traces of the lovable assh*le.

An alright cartoon that is not nearly up to the lofty standards of past cartoons.

they definitely took a lot of the assh@le outta nearly everyone during the sixties and while there were still some enjoyable cartoons, they did suffer for it.

I think they also started aiming for the kids only during that time so the feel definitely changed

I am fixing to watch The Cobweb Hotel. I see that link you posted Camo, but I think I found one with a little better quality.

The Cobweb Hotel