Friday 27 January 2012

96. Buddy the Dentist (1934)

Warner cartoon no. 95.
Release date: December 15, 1934.
Series: Looney Tunes.
Supervision: Ben Hardaway.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Bernice Hansen (Cookie) and Jack Carr (Buddy).
Musical Score: Norman Spencer.
Animation: Rollin Hamilton and Jack King.

NOW this is the last year of 1934. I wonder why Jack King was demoted briefly to animating - it comes back again on I Haven't Got a Hat in 1935.

Our short begins with Buddy in his kitchen cooking with his frying pan and his dog Bozo is sitting on a chair looking at the food at the pot. It turns out that Buddy is reading through a cookery book on his recipe. He is making a: Candy Makino Fudge - basically he is making fudge. Notice the gag in the recipe that reads "Think of a Number Between 1 and 100" - Okay, I know this meant to be a joke - but a number of what?? Buddy appears to pour in a box of? - cinnamon I imagine but throws the box in (why?). As Buddy pulls out a spoonful of fudge out Bozo is about to sniff it but Buddy says something like "Ah-Ah, burnie, burnie" - and I assume it means that it's very hot.

As Buddy exits the scene to do something; Bozo then starts to lick some of the chocolate fudge in there and then his tongue burns - as he was warned. He rushes to a bucket under the sink to cool his tongue. Buddy walks in to see what happened, but Bozo pretends to be licking water from his bowl. Buddy returned with a squirt tube for him and pours the fudge in their.

Buddy walks into the living room balancing the squirt tube on his finger. He then reaches a baking tray in which he squirts the fudge out into tiny blocks. As Buddy does about half of what he wants - Bozo begs for some fudge - Buddy squirts out two pieces into his mouth. Buddy then finishes off the remaining parts for his tray. He places it neatly on the table and warns Bozo, "That's all you'll get. Besides candy's bad for dog's teeth" - Buddy forgot that candy's bad for EVERYONE'S teeth. Buddy exits the scene in which Bozo talks behind his back and speaks to us audience - something total gibberish!

Bozo walks to the table and sniffs the fudge. Buddy enters back to double check Bozo but catches him, "Hey there, you come here!" he says. Buddy persists Bozo to lye down, and encourages him. While Bozo is lying down Buddy operates the phone to dial Cookie. We see the dial scene - in which we see both lines (and a third of a crow landing on a telephone wire - for some reason. Buddy asks Cookie what he's made; and after she guesses a few times, she gives up. Buddy tells her that he's made some fudge for her. While Buddy is chatting her heavily on the phone - Bozo quickly leaves the scene into the kitchen without Buddy noticing.

 Bozo then reaches the table in which he accidentally bangs the table with all the fudge falling down on the carpet. Bozo then gobbles up the pieces of fudge one by one - uh-oh; trouble. Bozo then ends up with a tooth ache and starts to howl. He reaches the mirror and looks at the tooth to see the problem. He see an amusing shot of his tooth aching of a dog flea with a mallet banging at his tooth making a bell sound. Bozo then starts to yell in pain. Buddy then holds the phone in which he yells at Bozo to "shut up". Cookie thinks that Buddy is telling her to "shut up" in which she responds in a funny message "You can't tell me to shut up" and then she hangs up.

Buddy then hears the painful sounds of Bozo as though it sounds rather serious. He is about to run into the kitchen but is then interrupted. Buddy looks through the kitchen calling out Bozo's name twice before he stands his foot. Buddy then notices Bozo under the table and asks him to "come here". As Bozo refuses, Buddy grabs his collar by force to do that. As he tries, Buddy smacks his head under the table.

Buddy then pulls Bozo on top of the table and tells him off "Now see what you've done", until Bozo's tooth ache returns again. I like these socket effects for the tooth ache on his tooth. Buddy opens Bozo's mouth to see what's the fuss in which he clearly sees the aching tooth. Buddy goes, "See, I knew that candy would hurt your teeth". He brings out some tools from a table draw that includes a hammer, a screwdriver and pliers. Buddy now does the job as being a dentist - and of course he has no qualification to do that skill. He decides to try and pull off Bozo's tooth.

Bozo then starts to squirm and then both of them bang on the wall (why no sound effects for the banging wall). Buddy picks up an avertisement that lands on him that reads, Dr. Mohler (obviously a pun to "molar" which is a part of tooth) Painless Dentist. WE USE GAS. Buddy then tries to get inspired with that idea from "Dr. Mohlar".

Buddy starts off his experiment by placing Bozo on top of an ironing board, and then places a mouthpiece in Bozo's mouth. Buddy turns on the gas for Bozo to see if the experiment does work, his mouth starts to steam but it ends up with his body turning into an inflatible-type balloon. Bozo is then floating on top of the ceiling - with that plan proven to have not worked. Buddy thinks of another plan by using a vaccum cleaner, and stands on top of an ironing board.

He places it through Bozo's mouth in which his body gets smaller, but the vaccum cleaner starts to inflate until it bursts. Buddy was stuck on an ironing board the whole time but goes off flying. Well that proved to be too complicating and not to have worked!! As Buddy has fallen out of the house and back (by laundry wires).  Bozo is still in pain and Buddy still has to at least try to find him. He finds Bozo under Buddy's pillow and takes him out.

Buddy then comes up with another plan but it is going to be painful (and I wouldn't dare to look, but if I don't then how will I review the rest?). Buddy attaches a string to a type of toy bone of Bozo's onto his tooth. He throws the toy for Bozo to fetch but nothing happens. Since the string isn't being pulled and there's no way that it could work. Bozo returns to Buddy with the toy in which Buddy taps his foot with impatience. "Listen Bozo, I'm trying to help you", says Buddy - but he's helping him in a painful matter. Buddy throws the toy for Bozo to fetch but then he crashes into a wall and sniffs to investigate. Bozo returns with some weight lifts in which Buddy asks him to put them down.

Buddy thinks of another idea for Bozo to have the tooth of his taken out. Buddy ties the end of the string to a doorknob in which it causes the dog to bark. Buddy ties it to his teeth and tries to assure Bozo that it "doesn't hurt". Meanwhile a cat enters the house - how did that cat get in there?! Surely something must make sense. Bozo then starts to chase after the cat with Buddy's tooth being forced.
The chase is then being led to outside in which Buddy is still being knocked all over the place (make sure that his tooth being pulled isn't the baby tooth). Buddy and Bozo both land in the garden with a sprinkler sprinkling over them making them wet. The cat blows a raspberry at the dog in which Bozo continues the chase. Buddy is still being dragged and lands onto a toy wagon as he's still pulled. They pass through a truck that contains beer (with the sign reading "Burpo Beer"). The cat, Bozo and Buddy then tremble over a man digging.  The chase continues to be wild and also dangerous for Buddy.

They then reach Cookie's garden where she is sitting down relaxing on her hammock until she reaches the choatic chase by the cat, Bozo and Buddy on the toy wagon. Buddy falls onto her hammock and they both pop out of the fallen down hammock. Buddy then finds a tooth and thinks he's got Bozo's tooth. Bozo's tooth is out, but Cookie then finds another tooth and points that Buddy's tooth came out as well - ouch. Hope it wasn't permanment. They both laugh at what happened - and that's all folks.

Well this is the 1934 reviews and I must say this has been a REALLY tough year of reviews. Seriously, all the stories had just been focusing on the same story routines. This cartoon in my opinion wasn't so terrible in my opinion but there were some pretty limb stuff in there or that didn't make sense such as how did that cat enter the house. The dialogue stuff was pretty good and at least I could hear it clearly (probably due to better TV quality). The aching tooth gags were good I have to admit, and I thought that it was a good way to express aches and the feeling of it with that flea using a hammer to make it hurt. Well, that's the 1934 cartoons finished (Thank God). Now next is 1935 and that will be the turning point with Porky Pig and Tex Avery coming soon...

5 comments:

  1. I have seen this cartoon and......where's the dog's bandage 'round his jaw? Can't have a toothache based comedy story without that element!

    Steve C.,aka "Pokey" (blogger)

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  2. Steven, can't you create the label for director Hardaway?

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  3. I remember seeing this years ago. Very funny and rather entertaining. Thanks for posting it.

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