359. Conrad the Sailor (1942)

Warner cartoon no. 358.
Release date: February 28, 1942.
Series: Merrie Melodies.
Supervision: Chuck Jones.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Mel Blanc (Daffy Duck), Pinto Colvig (Conrad Cat).
Story: Dave Monahan.
Animation: Ben Washam.
Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: Conrad Cat is busy cleaning the deck, but gets distracted by his duties when he becomes a target of bullying from Daffy Duck.

It's worth to mention before we review the cartoon that what really stands out greatly about the cartoon; is not just Chuck Jones' drastic change in direction, or that Conrad Cat represents Goofy; but it's the art direction of the cartoon. Chuck's layout artist from this era, was John McGrew who designed a lot of unique and ambitious backgrounds for classic animated shorts. It was unusual for McGrew's work to appear in such cartoons, as many audiences were used to seeing watercolored, oiled backgrounds seen from Disney as well as other studios. McGrew and Jones both helped revolutionise the look of classic animation, as well as making the cartoons a lot of fun at the same time.

Compare his work to some of the cartoons he worked on like: The Dover Boys, Case of the Missing Hare, etc. All of his work in those shorts show how very versatile he was in terms of designing as well as providing the right atmosphere for cartoons. In this cartoon, not only does his layout work in all scenic locations of a navy ship look modern in art direction, but pleasantly realistic too. These screen grabs were borrowed from the late Michael Sporn's ever-so-inpsiring Splog; for more of McGrew's artwork on the short. Mike writes a great analysis here, complete with breathtaking frame grabs.

You can tell how risky and complex, both Jones and McGrew wanted to be artistically; they were willing to use their artistic abilities to the point where it could sometimes sidetrack from story purposes, as well as the animation itself; which to itself is a disadvantage in animation. A real shame he never received screen credit for his great work at Warners, much like the many other background and layout artists working in that era.

Conrad Cat, in his final appearance, is once again interpreted differently by Chuck. Perhaps judging by the lacklustre of The Bird Came C.O.D., Chuck switched to turn to comedy; giving him a Goofy persona. To add to that, have Pinto Colvig provide the voice.


Chuck's approach to humour has also drastically changed in the course of this cartoon, compared to what we're used to his approach. His pacing and timing has lived up to the Warner Bros. standards, as well as the gags.

The gags work coherently, and have that looney sensibility that lives up to the series' name. Perhaps this can be attributed to Dave Monahan, who had written shorts mostly for Tex Avery and Friz Freleng, who were the funniest directors Warner's had in 1940-1941.

From the start of the cartoon, it's clearly established that Conrad is working as a sailor for a navy ship, cleaning the decks. While the navy crew sing Anchors Aweigh together, Conrad sings the song alone; and it's clear he's established as an outcast.

Conrad's introduction scene is 45 feet of animation (30 seconds), and the action mostly consists of Conrad singing and cleaning. This was a real challenge approached to animator Ken Harris, who animated the scene. He had to create some inventive animation as well as gags to not lose the audience's attention, especially as the scene shows little descriptive action. So, he adds some decent touches like Conrad swinging the mop, and positioning his hand for the mop to hand neatly.

Another great addition to the cartoon is none other than Daffy Duck. Daffy had been appearing sporadically such as in a few black and white Looney Tunes, though this is his first colour cartoon since Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur, directed by none other than Chuck himself. This cartoon; Daffy's characteristics well interpreted by Chuck and Monahan. Daffy is not only mischievous and looney, but he's cynical, he can dominate people; and Chuck nails that kind of persona in this short.

He becomes an instant menace to Conrad once he discovers Daffy's footprints on the floor, and finds Daffy loitering on top of a mast. There, Daffy mocks Conrad's singing by singing in a mockery voice: "We're shoving right off, again", before leaving a forth-wall remark to Conrad, "Phew, is that guy awful? Gee, it makes me sick."

The sequence with Daffy pestering Conrad's duties is a brilliant showcase of how Chuck Jones has nailed the comic standards which you'd expect from a Warner Bros. short. Not to mention, it's also very inventive in giving Daffy more of a wacky personality.

As Conrad is scrubbing firmly of the deck singing angrily: "We're shoving right off for home!", Daffy replaces the water bucket with a bucket of paint; to make Conrad's navy life a living hell. Conrad sweeps the deck, not realising at first he is using red paint.

Daffy responds to this by disapproving Conrad sarcastically, "Very sloppy, Roscoe. You're a slovenly housekeeper". Conrad reacts to the criticism harshly and aims the mop directly to Daffy's face. Daffy grabs the mop, leading to a brilliant scene with Daffy grabs the mop and improvises by performing a short act in the style of vaudeville. The dry-brush effect on that scene is just delightful.

Daffy tosses the mop up in the air, and shouts to Conrad: "Catch! Catch!". The 3/4 up shots from Conrad's POV of the mop falling is another brilliant angle, as well as another great reason to admire how gutsy McGrew and Jones were in laying out the angle.

The mop falling in perspective is very complex to animate, and it would require only the ambitions of Jones' unit to accomplish it well. The next shot of Conrad's mini eye-take is just a brilliant showcase of timing. Chuck was never afraid to exaggerate poses, especially with eye-takes; and he used some of the most subtle kinds such as in shorts like Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur or Prest-O Change-O. After the mop smacks Conrad's face, the camera pans to Daffy sitting on top of the mop once again taunting Conrad; "Very petite, Betsy. Very, very petite". Once again, its a brilliant showcase in representing the potential of what the rest of the cartoon.

Despite the potential of having really good characters in creating an all-round funny cartoon; Chuck Jones is just not quite there yet. Sure, he has Daffy; and an improvement on the Conrad character (even if it means a rip-off to Goofy), as well as a really good sequence; but the only part that's really lacking in the short is the hyperactivity and energy from the characters.

Daffy acts looney like he'd usually behave in any other Warners cartoon, but its his looney energy that makes him somewhat tamer in this cartoon. Not to mention, in the latter half of the cartoon; both Conrad and Daffy remain silent a lot of the time, occasionally speaking a line of dialogue, and since the mop gag; the energy and characterisation just faded.

An example can appear in the crow's nest scene, where Conrad holds out his telescope on the lookout for Daffy. After placing the telescope back and supposedly grabbing hold of it again, he grabs Daffy's neck mistaking him as a scope. This leads to Daffy's sarcastic remark at Conrad, "Swell view, eh doc?".

Much of that sequence is performed in pantomime, and by doing that; you feel you are losing the personality already established from the characters. It just doesn't work in a cartoon which has a lot of fast-paced action. Note another scene which shows characteristics but lacks energy and motivation. Daffy has slider down a very long chute, but lands from the threatening hands of Conrad. Just as his hands get cleansed, Daffy licks Conrad's lips; unintentionally freeing him. It would've been more motivating a gag if Daffy's hyperactivity was there, such as his 'hoo-hoos'.

Despite some problems with characterisation and energy, you've got to appreciate the big change in Chuck's own pacing. Every scene is evenly paced, with no scene dragging too long whatsoever. This was a big step for Chuck, and this is what he's done right.


You'll notice Chuck certainly expressed a keen eye on dry-brush effect to help gain weight and anticipation into the action, and a lot of the time it's beautiful to look at frame-by-frame.

A clear example of that is seen in the cannon cleaning sequence. Conrad believes he is rid from Daffy, but finds Daffy is only standing right by the cannon. This leads to a childish game where Conrad's and Daffy's hands both overlap one another, and Daffy swirls Conrad's arms to get them into a sticky tangle.

Conrad manages to unfree himself easily by swirling into a frantic motion, which is seen in the screen shot. Another scene with some great, loose animation is the scene where Daffy plays the nursery rhyme clapping game Pease Porridge Hot with a perplexed Conrad. Note how Chuck's animators at that point were already very liberal in animation, and had this sense of freedom that you'd be under the impression that Chuck's allowing them to go loose. Daffy's little hitch dance in that scene is wonderfully loose and expressive.

Chuck always liked the idea of having a random, passing-by character interrupting the action, and passinby throughout the short before getting a sendoff. He's used that in cartoons such as the sailor in The Dover Boys, Humphrey Bogart in 8 Ball Bunny, and not to mention: the Mynah bird. Here, the recurring passing-by character is the sea captain. The captain is represented small in size, but big in power; hence the irony in size. During the action and chase scenes, the characters freeze when they are seen by the captain and both salute him in his presence. The timing of the captains' walk as well as Stalling's cue is entertaining comically, but it doesn't really have an edge, or a purpose; other than distracting the action.

It doesn't have much of a sendoff in the cartoon's ending, either. A scene with the captain passing by that does really stand out is the scene of Daffy and Conrad both sliding into the scene to salute. Watch how layers of Daffy and Conrad slide into the scene, with the characters starting out as transparent to opaque. It's difficult to create in terms of ink and painting, as the lighting has to be slightly different each layer. This is also another prime example of just how inventive Chuck's pacing is, and to pull it off takes a lot of ambition.

During the cartoon's climax, the short appears to built back the pace again: with Daffy's energy restored into the cartoon. Hiding inside a cannon, he hums to himself inside, but unaware of his knowledge Conrad has placed a giant bullet inside. Daffy points out obviously as a forth-wall gag, "Big bullet". Conrad lights the cannon, and the cannon fires, leading to Daffy riding the bullet.


He shouts, "Look at me, hoo-hoo-hoo, I'm a dive-bomber!". Once again, it's another great sequence which has the right pacing for an action-filled sequence. Daffy's attempts to dodge the bullet are very fluid in movement as well as impossible in action.

Believing that he has disposed of Daffy for good, Conrad walks among the deck with his mop to resume to his duties. To his surprise, he finds that the bullet has backfired leading to the bullet chasing Daffy. Realising the bullet and Daffy is leading directly to him, he expresses a "Here we go again" pose. Such a rich expression, too. This leads to the final gag where the trio (inc. the bullet) both stop at the presence of the sea captain as they salute before the bullet continues to chase them.

After almost four years of Chuck Jones directing almost consistent, tepid cartoons; this is the cartoon where he has finally broken out of the habit and started to pick up the pace much like what Friz Freleng or Bob Clampett were doing. It's got some great pacing, and not to mention even some coherent gags which in Chuck's earlier cartoons were not. Daffy Duck and Conrad in the opening scenes were great characters who created some good comedic situations, mainly in the mopping sequence; but then for a while the energy goes for a while. Though many do consider Chuck's real breakthrough in creating good comedy to be The Draft Horse, they to some extent correct. If there was a cartoon which Chuck Jones finally started to make his pacing slicker, and that none of his scenes dragged: it's definitely this short. However, in making an all-round fast-paced and great all-round entertainment: he's only so close. Like I said, the only lacklustre in the short is centred in the middle of the short, where you get long scenes of time of little to no dialogue, which doesn't quite combine well into the earlier sequences. I would personally attribute the problem to Conrad, who as a character just isn't adaptable as a character to match Daffy Duck, especially if Chuck prefers to have him silent much of the time. All in all, this was certainly an entertaining short, and from then on in his long career at Warners, Chuck could do no wrong.

Rating: 3/5.

358. Porky's Cafe (1942)

Warner cartoon no. 357.
Release date: February 21, 1942.
Series: Looney Tunes.
Supervision: Chuck Jones.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Mel Blanc (Porky Pig).
Animation: Rudy Larriva.
Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: Porky runs a cafe, which is operated with mechanical gadgets that help prepare a meal. Meanwhile, Conrad Cat finds he is in a pickle in various circumstances: such as an ant and a pancake mixer.

Still trying to create new characters who could successfully act through pantomime, Chuck Jones still attempts to make Conrad Cat work, but still hasn't make the character adaptable for a Warner Bros. short, except you could say Conrad has a little more character and emotion form the previous failure, The Bird Came C.O.D. Now, Chuck has regular characters like Porky Pig or Daffy Duck team up with Conrad, to perhaps make him appear more along the lines of a Warner Bros. character, though it doesn't meet such results.

Perhaps the most pivotal aspect of this cartoon would be Chuck Jones' timing. This isn't a criticism on his "slow pacing" which I've criticised over the past four years of Chuck's career; his timing has actually improved validly, starting from this cartoon.

Chuck appears to have at last capture the sense of speed and pace in his characters, that make his pacing sharper to the point it meets the other director's standards. From the first scene in the cartoon, Chuck appears to show security and confidence in his pacing and even gag development.

The opening scene which is set in Porky's Cafe, Conrad is seen working as a chef in his diner, and he flips the pancakes from the grill precisely in synchronisation of the popular Gavotte. A known popular melody for its time, it works itself as a gag; and Chuck's improved capability of slicker pacing has made a complete difference compared to what he attempted to accomplish previously.

Though Chuck's pacing is seen improved in many scenes of the short, I'll give another shout-out to his great timing delivery would be the sandwich scene during a communication scene between Porky and the customer, who we'll meet in further detail. He is given layers and layers of sandwich slices combined together, and he eats the whole lot. Moments later, his neck spontaneously reacts as the sandwiches are caught stuck in his throat, representing the shape of an accordion and reacting like a pair, too.

Though Porky's role in the cartoon is more predominant than normal; he is still represented as a weak character. Yes, he is presented as a loyal, hardworking employee who wants to meet the customer's expectations, but that's about it. His lack of temperament as well as a cynical attitude really lacks the spark with Porky here.


The scenes where he is first seen communicating with a customer who wears a feathered hat and a long moustache. Close enough to be considered a prototype Yosemite Sam, which I'm sure wasn't the case.

The customer himself shows more personality than what Porky presents, even though the customer's only motifs in the film is yelling for food to Porky. Despite the dictions on the character is what makes the character broader than Porky in that retrospect. Keith Scott suspects the voice of the customer is Bob Bruce, though the evidence is inconclusive. Most of the sequences with the customer is mainly a string of gags of Porky's poor service to the customer, whose services tend to lead to a circumstance, and yet this all leads up to a potential climax. This isn't a bad concept for a short, but Chuck hadn't used the right gag material to make this fulfilling as a cartoon.

With Porky issues asides, the cartoon itself still appears to function like its a pantomime short. The only real dialogue occurring in the cartoon is in scenes featuring the customer and Porky, but its not the sort of dialogue you'd be inspired by. Conrad Cat still is presented as a silent character, except for the occasional grunt, scream or even a rare speaking part in the scene. The two characters with different characteristics don't blend very well together in his cartoon, personally.

You get scenes that Chuck could have used in previous cartoons like The Bird Came C.O.D. where Conrad is looking suspicious on the missing pieces of pancakes, but takes some time to realise they're sitting on top of his chef hat. Having moments of dialogue as well as sequences where there is silence for long periods of time, especially on a particular character really makes the cartoon look inconsistent altogether. It's not that its terrible, but having Conrad and Porky together just isn't the right casting for the cartoon.

Most of the scenes featuring the customer and Porky aren't all interesting, though one that comes to mind shows some great visualisation that makes up for such a scene. The customer has requested to have soup served to him as a meal, which Porky serves to him immediately.

Forgot to mention, Porky's quick pacing from the entrance and exit doors of the kitchen really do look effective, adding depth to the sense of speed to emphasise his dedication to the job. The meal that the customer is served is alphabet soup, except Porky adds the final ingredients by typing random letters which spring to life, and then land on the customer's soup. For a wacky concept, Chuck sure made this visualisation look very appealing to watch.

From the start of the customer's dilemma gag, it seems a little aggravating to watch. The gag centers on the customer attempting to blow the steam off his soup, but only for the steam to return directly to the bowl, preventing himself from eating in fear of burning his tongue. Its a gag parallel enough to Elmer attempting to extinguish a candle in Good Night, Elmer. As that gag itself was incoherent and poorly conceived, the steam gag in the short is more exaggerated visually, on how it would be interpreted in real life.

 In reality, the steam returns from the bowl in an attempt to blow the evaporation away from a hot meal, and a lot of folks would get the general feeling. Chuck Jones not only beautifully visualises it into a gag, but gives the evaporating steam a little bit of personality too. After the customer supposedly blows the steam away, the steam is seen hiding around jars in the table; it then returns unnoticed to the bowl. This leads to a great take from the customer who sips with the steam surrounding him. He quickly places his hat under the bowl with great disturbance.

A sequence that will probably stick to the minds of others who have viewed the cartoon before would the mechanical gadgets who are seen baking a fried egg and preparing toast. The assembly line begins with a rooster who is seen nesting, but gets grabbed by the neck from a robotic hand and the outcome leads to an egg being hatched.


And so, this leads to some more assembly line business involving conveyer belts as well as mechanical hands doing the work, such as putting the toaster on or scraping the crusts off a piece of toast with a knife. Would've have been a more effective sequence had Stalling used Raymond Scott's infamous Powerhouse, even though it didn't become a cue by Stalling until late 1943.

It's a little straightforward in terms of gag approach. You've seen it in other motion pictures before, and in terms of an idea its cliched. But animation wise it was very complex to stage, and Chuck Jones as well as Warner's camera department knew how to handle such complicated staging without going too costly.

Conrad, in the short's subplot is mainly seen dealing with an invading ant who has entered the kitchen area, and becoming a clear distraction to Conrad's work. The ant at first hides inside a bowl full of cream, and as Conrad pours the cream in the grill to form a pancake; the ant is seen alive, and thus making the pancake walk.

It's a great little sequence when viewing character animation, as well as Chuck's sharp posing and the volume of his glorious facial expressions. Conrad fails at stopping the pancake from moving, at first placing the hand on top of the grill (causing his hand to burn), and continues to stop at nothing.

Watch Conrad in close-up as he is seen counting furiously to ten. The inner feelings of the character are greatly expressed and can be sympathised with. Bobe Cannon animation? Chuck Jones' timing is also pretty slick too, once more, especially in the fast-paced action of Conrad attempting to splatter the pancake with his spatula. The scene with Conrad swinging his spatula intensely that it causes his body to swirl like fireworks is very surreal itself in gag approach and timing. Beautifully crafted.

After a series of struggles from the kitchen, Conrad chases after the 'pancake-ant', leading into a chase sequence. Reading to the cartoon's climax, Porky is seen carrying a huge cake with several layers standing; and the climax only reaches its peak when Porky finds he is slippery around the cafe, crashing through tables, breaking china, etc. And at that point, Porky crashes towards the customer's table leading to an ultimate crash amongst Claude Cat and the ant.

The final scene, Porky is presented as a gag; for he's laid out in the style of a suckling pig; the customer and Claude are both trapped inside the cake. As for the ant, the ant has proved victorious towards Claude; for he ironically stands next to the bride figurine on top of the cake, kicking the husband away. From my point of view, the ant has a striking resemblance to the pygmy ant Porky faced in two truly terrible shorts: Porky's Ant and Porky's Midnight Matinee. Mmm, this doesn't sound like a good sign..

In all fairness, this short is no worse than Bird Came C.O.D., which is the truth. Chuck Jones' comic timing has a much more slicker and more appealing approach compared to previous cartoons where he is trying to be as successful with timing compared to the competence from Friz Freleng or Bob Clampett. Chuck's nailed it here, but from creating an all-round entertaining cartoon: he's not there yet. Chuck still isn't yet comfortable from breaking out from poor habits such as sequences that tend to drag, or incoherent gags; and also a heavy reliant on pantomime when it isn't really connecting. It's a starter for Chuck, but with a touch of comedy, a competent writer, and good characters: Chuck would be the great director we all would worship.

Rating: 2/5.

355. The Bird Came C.O.D. (1942)

Warner cartoon no. 354.
Release date: January 17, 1942.
Series: Merrie Melodies.
Supervision: Chuck Jones.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
No cast.
No story credit.
Animation: Ken Harris.
Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: Conrad Cat attempts to deliver a plant towards an empty stage theatre, which only leads towards chaos and confusion.


During Jones' early years as a director, his own created characters proved to not work as regular characters: Sniffles was a hit-and-miss character, the Two Curious Dogs didn't differ much--Conrad Cat just killed that lineup. This character is perhaps one of Chuck Jones' most confusing and blandest of the short-lived characters that he created.


You don't know if you can interpret him as just a silent goof-ball, or a Goofy rip-off in Conrad the Sailor, but in terms of how he was characterised, it really does backfire--even in this cartoon.

Whether or not this short was written by Chuck Jones himself, it's another prime example of how Chuck appeared to really not be capable of writing his own cartoons. It may not make much difference when he had writers like Rich Hogan writing shorts in that same manner, but even in Chuck's later career he proved to be a lackluster writer, especially in the 1960s.

The short (title parody of the film The Bride Came C.O.D.) consists of Conrad Cat, an employe of Arctic Palm Co. is delivering a piece of a plant towards the backlot of a studio, and consistently sidetracked from recurring accidents, and somehow wounds up towards an empty magic stage show: now that is a very clumsy piece of pacing in a cartoon story, showing no purpose too.

It's the sort of story pacing which just can't be done in animated shorts. It not only flaws validly, but it loses the audience's concentration, which is a serious problem concerning animation, as to create good animation and good gags, it needs to be registered well to the audience; in other words 'readable'.


Not to mention the "gags" that Jones creates for the short also show no inspiration or believability towards it at all, many of them feel forced, and the anticipation just makes the gags look very amateurish and dead. His somewhat goofy personality is also being forced with unfunny gags, and therefore making him unfunny himself.

Gags which lack execution and creativity that come to mind would be the sequence where Conrad attempts to deliver the plant pot through the back of the stage door. He steps out of his van, waters the plant, and then strolls towards the stage door where he finds he can't make his way through the door because of the width of the plants which blocks the entrance to the door.


The fact the gag itself fails is just because of how phoney the gag is, by making the plant feel somewhat human and block the entrance like its a pair of arms holdings its force from entering inside the stage door; its just delivered poorly to be even considered a gag, but the conception of the gag alone is abysmal.

To make matters even worse, the scene itself is riddled with terrible pacing for Conrad's attempts to make his way through the door is repetitive and dry.

Chuck would flirt with gag ideas of having inanimate objects appear alive and human in his earlier cartoons, such as having the door close itself; but for this short it just backfires validly.

And so, Conrad finally finds his way to move the prop tree into the stage door successfully by walking alone towards the stage door and quickly grabbing the plant inside the door as it closes on time. One of the most repetitive and perhaps poorly paced of many of Chuck's earlier shorts, as Chuck appears to struggle to tell a straightforward narrative.

If I were to nominate any signs where Chuck at least achieves a scene in his approach to humour as well as his timing, it would be the scene of Conrad unknowingly walking up a step ladder but drops rapidly to a lower level of the building, with off-screen violent crashes, and thus leading the camera to pan towards an elevator opening for Conrad to exit.

That is the one scene in the short which I'd consider to be the only funny scene. The stupidity of Conrad is nailed to a tee in the scene, especially in his characteristic walk which adds depth to his ignorance, and Chuck's timing for Conrad's drop is solid and well executed. Treg Brown also adds to the touch with his comical and appealing crash effects.

Conrad's walk animation is all animated on ones, and as soon as he doors, Conrad only appears for 3 frames in the drop; and leaving for his hat to float for another few frames before it falls with him. This is the sort of gag and timing which Chuck should have used more and more in the whole short, to make it passable. But just one small funny scene can't be enough to save an entire lackluster short, unfortunately.

Moving further on in the sound stage, Chuck moves the cartoon's plot to a completely different turn: where instead of Conrad delivering a prop tree to a stage show, he now has him spontaneously walking to an empty stage where Conrad attempts to entertain himself by performing magic towards an imaginary audience.


Conrad picks up the top hat where he is setting up for the trick, and in a close-up shot he manages to pull out a rabbit from the magician's hat, which as alone is cliched and dated a trick.

The scene itself is just a useless showcase, and having Conrad just sidetrack to a different scenario and there is just no purpose in terms of entertainment values which are overlooked in much of the cartoon. It doesn't add an identity towards the dim-witted Conrad, it's just a useless idea of changing the cartoon to a different setting, and its a transition that isn't handled well at all.

Despite its flaws, Conrad in the demonstration scene is very solidly animated, and its likely Ken Harris animated the scene for he's not afraid to change the axis of the character when moving in perspective. It's great to study when you watch the animator attempt to find an angle or attitude to the head to make the acting work better.

To make matters even worse not just for Conrad but the cartoon too, he ends up being confronted by a threatening, postured bird who lives inside the magician's hat. He marches sternly towards Conrad with a threatening glare before walking back to his hat. Note that its the same gag which was used originally in Stage Fright, and not to mention the same music cue.


It's rather unfitting to use an old gag which wasn't even funny to begin with, and yet use that again for a cartoon, and also to make it carry out for the remainder of the cartoon. By saying so, the rest of the cartoon pretty much centers on a battle of wits between Conrad and the bird.

It's a painful sequence to sit through not just in terms of repetition and pacing but because of the lack of sensibilities and charm featured in the sequence. It's unwatchable watching Conrad battling with the bird inside the magician's hat when its already predictable that the bird himself can easily intimidate and beat Conrad every time. The gag itself gets worse when Conrad, who grows sick of the bird tosses away the magician's hat but finds it anonymously returns and jams his face inside it, leading him to struggle to pull the hat off his face. It's just adding insult to injury for the poor quality and gags that Chuck keeps bringing into the short.

To show the sequence itself may not be truly terrible, Chuck at least brings in some emotion and creative expressions for Conrad, a quality that Chuck could use to at least make a lackluster sequence look charming in its own ways. It's pretty brave for Chuck to experiment with crude expressions that could go wrong in drawing, such as in the left screenshot of a perplexed Conrad whose eyes express it all. There he draws one eye contrastingly taller than the other, which itself is pretty gutsy for Chuck to create when creating new poses. Conrad's fuming face itself is a nice touch and is exaggerated to the point where you feel the anger of the character; and its a rare combination which Chuck was excellent at doing, and not to mention his animators who could put Chuck's posing into animation.

Leading towards the cartoon's closure, we sit through a very long pan and not to mention a very long, tiring piece of comic timing. Conrad's fall off the stage is passable enough, but it leads to such a confusing gag delivery to regard as. Conrad's fall leads him to pan horizontally to the left as the orchestra's instruments are left flying upwards, with Conrad unseen but the damage he is making is evident.

It's another poorly conceived gag which can't be perceived as even being entertaining or passable, as for a gag its just total incoherence. Not to mention the camera pan is moving as a slow pace, and henceforth making the speed or anticipation of the gag even unfunnier.

Conrad rises his head from the other edge of the stage, dizzy with flying birds. Conrad, picking up the plant then rushes towards the door to supposedly escapes but crashes towards a door blocked by bricks. After causing such chaos, he finally crashes towards a case with a group of top hats seen on display.

The final gag conclusion ends with each copy of the threatening birds walking out from their own top hats pacing towards Conrad. They pull the top of the hat down towards Conrad's face, before proceeding to walking back to their own hats.

After spending one month away from blogging due to work as well as a brief illness, this hasn't been a welcoming back short to review. As explained throughout the entire review, this is without doubt one of Chuck Jones' all-time worst Warner Bros. cartoons he ever made, as well as one of the worst Warner Bros. shorts in general. It's gag delivery is so poorly conceived and constructed, its confusing to follow through meaning the cartoon is easy to lose your attention span, but on top of all of that: the cartoon is merely just a bore. That's the worst of it, it's just a very boring short with lacks the magic or quality that you associate with Chuck Jones as well as Warner Bros. I'm convinced this might've been the cartoon which caused Leon Schlesinger to provoke Chuck into producing funnier cartoons, and from this point on: you start to see much more broader cartoons which end up living up to the name of 'Looney Tunes'.

Rating: 0.5/5.