Friday, September 22, 2006

The Not So Little 'Tinker Post


I was listening to "All Or Nothing At All" by the Harry James Orchestra featuring Frank Sinatra today and the first thing that came to mind was the "Frankie" scene, featuring the same song, from Tex Avery's "Little 'Tinker". I love this cartoon, it's great to see a bunch of Disneyesque bunnies swoon over 'Tinker in his Frankie get-up in the same way Tex's Wolf does over Red. I read that Tex sort of dismissed this one as a cutesy cartoon and it is a far cry from the cruelty of Screwy Squirrel but like all of Tex's cartoons it's loaded with great gags. Here's some model sheets and screen caps of some of the beautiful backgrounds.

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8 comments:

  1. Thad9/23/2006 11:44 AM

    One of my all-time favorite Avery shorts, my 16mm print of it gets a big response at parties.

    I can't believe they got away with the Sinatra gags without being sued!

    - Thad

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  2. Kevin Langley9/23/2006 3:33 PM

    Sinatra was actually under contract with MGM at the time, so maybe he didn't mind too much.

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  3. Brett W. Thompson9/23/2006 8:38 PM

    Oh I love this one too!! :D

    I captured a couple of frames of that hilarious goofy rabbit running :)

    Thanks for this post, Kevin :)

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  4. Thad9/23/2006 10:38 PM

    As an addenum, one of the more appealing aspects of this cartoon is that it's more character than gag oriented. Sort of a hybrid between his late Warner stories and MGM animation.

    - Thad

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  5. Kevin Langley9/23/2006 11:14 PM

    Glad you liked the post Brett.

    I agree Thad, it reminds me more of his Warner shorts than any of his other MGM cartoons, he's playing off the character as opposed to using him to advance more great gags. I thought I was alone in my love for this cartoon, though I don't think I could pick a favorite from Tex's MGM shorts. It seems to change from day to day.

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  6. Ryan Khatam9/24/2006 4:07 AM

    Little Tinker is one of my VERY favorite Tex Avery cartoons!

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  7. JohnK9/25/2006 5:35 PM

    Hi Kevin

    do you know who the BG artist was? This is a hilarious cartoon all right, but "character"? Where?

    It's all gags. Great ones too.

    You have my favorite cartoon site, Kevin!

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  8. Kevin Langley9/25/2006 10:04 PM

    do you know who the BG artist was?

    I assumed it was John Johnsen, I can't find any background credits or even a mentioning of it. No one else besides Vera Ohman/Hansen or Joe Montell seems to be credited on Tex's cartoons and that wasn't later. Robert Gentle was doing Tom and Jerry background along with Johnsen, maybe it was him?

    You have my favorite cartoon site, Kevin!

    Really? I'm glad you like it!

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