George Morgan’s “The Red Ball” reminded me a lot of “If Anything Happens, I Love You.” It’s a powerful animated short about grief, pain, and attempting to start over after a horrible loss that’s shaken up someone’s innocence. In this instance, George Morgan focuses on a family’s efforts to move on and find some kind of restart despite the lingering pain of their former lives.
Tag Archives: Animation
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Bowery Bugs (1949)
Bowery Bugs (1949)
Directed by Arthur Davis
Written by Lloyd Turner
Animation by Emery Hawkins
Music by Peter Burness
Steve Brody is one of the more forgettable of Bugs Bunny’s foils as he feels a lot like a carry over from Tex Avery and his MGM stint. In fact, the majority of “Bowery Bugs” feels a lot like it brings the formula over, relying on a short that is so much less about the chase, and more about various skits involving Steve Brody in search of good luck. He’s constantly set off his path by the prankster Bugs, who makes it his mission to drive him crazy. The set up is pretty bizarre, as Bugs seeks to sell the Brooklyn Bridge to a potential buyer, and tells the story of Steve Brody and why he jumped off the bridge in 1886.
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: High Diving Hare (1949)
High Diving Hare (1949)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Tedd Pierce
Animation by Gerry Chiniqiuy
Music by Peter Burness
You wouldn’t think you could do much with a short that centered on almost nothing but gags of Yosemite Sam falling off a high dive, but you’d be wrong. While short on variety, “High Diving Hare” is a blast because it feels like a return to form. Like previous shorts, there’s a three act structure, a perfectly funny set up, and a lot of really funny gags between Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny. I remember watching this short a lot during the “Bugs Bunny and Tweey Show” back on Saturday mornings but with a lot of the opening set up cut out to fit commercials. While the opening set up to the ensuing mayhem isn’t detrimental to enjoying the entire short, it does give the whole concept a lot of context,
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Rebel Rabbit (1949)
Rebel Rabbit (1949)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ben Washam
Music by Carl W. Stalling
This is probably the most unhinged I’ve ever seen Bugs Bunny and probably the closest that he’s ever come to transforming in to a super villain of a sorts.
Like previous exploits Bugs Bunny tends to be a victim of his own ego, which is something that’s often overlooked in future shorts. In “Rebel Rabbit,” he’s not so much battling a predator as he is, well, having a virtual mental breakdown on screen. Sadly none of it is really all that funny. Save for some sharp animation, “Rebel Rabbit” has no structure or much of a three act narrative to begin with. It’s basically just a string of skits with Bugs Bunny wreaking untold havoc on various states and ecolosystems all for the simple fact that he’s not deemed too worthy by the US Government.
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Mississippi Hare (1949)
Mississippi Hare (1949)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ben Washam
Music by Carl W. Stalling
“Mississippi Hare” is so problematic in the first twenty seconds that you have to constantly remind yourself of the context upon which this short was produced. There’s so much cringe inducing material that sets up the general premise for “Mississippi Hare” that it actively destroys any momentum it tries to pick up. And it’s not that the whole set up is extreme, it’s just that it’s so of its time, that I can imagine this short only ever appearing on Beta and VHS compilations in the eighties and nineties. Those VHS compilations often included shorts like this without editing anything out.
Ernest & Célestine: A Trip to Gibberitia (Ernest et Célestine: Le voyage en Charabie) (2022) [Blu-Ray]
Now Available from Shout! Factory and GKIDS.
I’ll be the first to admit that I had no idea what “Ernest & Célestine” was or that it had its own series, as well as a feature film. The good thing about “Ernest & Célestine: A Trip to Gibberitia” is that you don’t really have to go back and see the previous material to understand what’s happening. Basically, it’s all so beautifully animated like a moving storybook and is the tale of the love between a big bear and a small female mouse. Named Ernest & Célestine, there is a story of friendship but there’s also an unspoken true love that’s very punctuated in the final scene of the film.
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Hare Do (1949)
Hare Do (1949)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Tedd Pierce
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy
Music by Carl W. Stalling
In my head canon, since Bugs, the Coyote and Road Runner are in the same universe, and they all shop from ACME. Their prices depend on whether their devices will work, so while Coyote is buying junk, Elmer Fudd ends up buying high priced machinery to hunt for potential prey. Hence the machine that he’s seen carrying in the opening of the short which can best be explained as some kind of radar for prey that also includes a screen for them. The machine does work, but Bugs ends up catching on way too early for Elmer’s liking. I know, I know, Elmer points to it as “Awmy Surpwuss!” but who’s to say ACME doesn’t have that kind of department for hunters and predators?