Thursday, July 26, 2007

Art Davis - "Mouse Menace"


Here's Art Davis' first cartoon after taking over for Clampett upon his departure for Warner Bros. There's so many great camera angles in this short. Not to mention how Davis has the backgrounds move and shake when there's a impact or explosion while the character remains still, never tilting in the direction of the background. I don't know if a lot of other directors did this but it really stands out here. What a great cartoon.

10 comments:

  1. It would take about several weeks to tell all the things that make this cartoon great. Thanks a bunch. Now my quest to see every single Davis cartoon has been complete.

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  2. This short is quite different from the ones that Art Davis had produced, especially the ones he directed later on in his career at Warner’s, such as Bye, Bye Bluebeard.

    Oh, by the way, I'm doing a three part post on the History of Popeye on my blog. I was wondering if you could help me out by giving me any information when the Fleischer’s started to direct the Popeye cartoons, and later on when Famous Studios had taken over? Thanks.

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  3. Hey Kevin, what do ya think of Catch as Cats Can? Personally, I think its Davis' most bizarre.

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  4. this blog rules!

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  5. anon-"Catch As Cats Can" cracks me up. I like the still evolving Sylvester. Like a lot of his shorts there some cool angles and cutting in it.

    Thanks, Cartoon Lad.

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  6. I love Catch as Cats Can,too. I think giving Sylvester that voice was the funniest idea Davis ever came up with.
    Hey,Kevin, what's your personal favorite of Davis' shorts? My choice is now Mouse Menace.

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  7. That was really great. The background shake is a fantastic example of something that resides in animation. Try that in live action. The whole cartoon was very funny, but I really got a kick out of the gag about the flat tire holding Porky up!

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  8. That's a great classic cartoon, very funny, definitely among Davis' best. Thanks for posting it!

    Did Artie animate such scenes in (Sid Marcus') Columbia cartoons as the stark raving loony hat makers in The Mad Hatter and the banana "peeling" as a striptease for a crazed monkey in Poor Elmer, etc? That's one for the experts.

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  9. Severin- right now I'd have to say Dog Gone Cats is my favorite though that'll change. I flip flop on that type of stuff all the time.

    Paul- You know, Columbia was and still is the studio that I've seen the least amount of shorts from. Though everything I've seen thus far I've liked. Most of it has been Fox and Crow cartoons. I know I have a bunch of non-Fox and Crow tucked away on CD somewhere. I gotta find that and watch them.

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  10. Man... truly awesome. =D

    Thanks a lot for sharing.

    Didn't know your blog yet. Now it's bookmarked!

    cheers

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