Buddy Publicity Drawing...

Just a quick post... While reading my copy of Leonard Maltin's wonderful book about Hollywood cartoon history Of Mice and Magic there was a publicity drawing that I saw of Buddy that came to an interest to me.

I have no idea who did this drawing but it's a drawing from the Buddy cartoon - Buddy's Garage. It caught me to an interest because we know that the designs and drawings in a Buddy cartoon are very bland and uninteresting but this publicity drawing (probably drawn at the Schlesinger Studios at the time) caught me an interest. This is certainly drawn in some style and it's drawn in some type of comic form. The bully has some style in there definitely and it shows the speech bubble reading "Quack".

I don't know very much about publicity drawings made at WB but I guess it means that they were created to try and attract attentions for the upcoming cartoons I imagine even though it would've been drawn in a different type of form. Buddy has no appeal whatsoever in the design he is created but here I quite like that cartoonie looking Buddy as he certainly has some style here. The drawing is quite loose here as I mentioned the cartoonie form but it makes me think - why couldn't it be like that in the actual Buddy cartoons as they are just bland as hell. I've not seen the Buddy cartoons shown in such detail here before like on the brute. In a way the actual style is weird as it's not like the cartoon style of Warner Bros. that we know of - only because of the comic look.

I thought it would be a fine idea to post this as I've already surpassed watching the Buddy cartoons and reviewing them; and that showing this drawing around and comparing that it looks more snappier than the animation drawings.

112. Buddy the Gee Man (1935)

Warner cartoon no. 111.
Release date: August 24, 1935.
Series: Looney Tunes.
Supervision: Jack King.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Jackie Morrow (Buddy) and Billy Bletcher (Warden/MachineGun Mike/Prisoners).
Musical Score: Norman Spencer.
Animation: Sandy Walker and Cal Dalton.

Well, this is finally it - the last of the Buddy cartoons. The final of the blandness. The end of Buddy's career. We will celebrate with a bottle of champaigne and also some hot pudding.

Our final Buddy cartoon begins in Washington D.C. at the Departments of Justice. A dog agent then walks out of the office as he is delivering a letter to Federal Agent Buddy at 000 1/2 Cornbread Ave. in Kansas City, MO (Missouri). The letter gets delivered. Meanwhile Buddy is at home on his desk as he is about to cut open the letter with his knife so that he can be able to read it of course. Buddy is given the job to investigate on the warden on how he is treating prisoners at "SingSong Prison"?? okay.

It looks like that Buddy's job is being a spy or something. he brings out a mustache as a disguise. Buddy then walks to his hatstand to put on the sailor hat on and he grabs out a horseshoe from his pocket and throws it away and I guess the luck on the horseshoe was useless since it had a twisted nail inside it but I don't know. As Buddy threw the horseshoe away it broke his mirror in which Buddy does a Jack King's hat-take in which Buddy starts to run out of the door.

Buddy then steps outside in his backyard where he is calling for his dog and the kennel says he's called Gee-Man. Okay; I know that Cookie's been through three designs but is this dog going through a 3rd name or just the position or job of the dog? Because it doesn't look so similar to Bozo so I might as well refer his dog as "Buddy's dog". Buddy's dog then comes out of the kennel dressed in a Sherlock Holmes fashion puffing a pipe. Buddy whispers something in his dog's ear in which the dog is interested. He runs out of the kennel and they arrive at town very quickly.

Buddy and Bozo then climb on top of these group of kids' heads in a line done in height order. The gag was reused from an early Buddy cartoon Buddy the Gob. There is another scene in which there is a pig and frog in a sailor suit and the dialogue is NOT even hear in the copy I'm reviewing that I can't even understand if it's meant to be a joke or a reference. Oh well; I hope somebody could try and help me out. Buddy and the dog then start to climb on top of the back of a police car - and I'm assuming that they know that it's heading to Singsong Prison. I like the gag on how the police's car exhaust pipe explodes black smoke onto the man who was down a manhole. Funny timing.

We then go to the shots of "Sing Song Prison" in which there is a tower guard sleeping but then pulls the switch to let the door open with an incoming mass of police officers in their vehicles. Buddy and his detective dog are inside the prison building in which they are spying on the warden to see if he's doing a fine job. The name of the warden is called Otto B. Kinder (obviously a pun to "oughta be kinder". Buddy takes a peek inside in which he sees the warden walking in circles that Buddy writes down in his notbook as part of his inspection.

Meanwhile the next part then shows these prisoners that pop their heads up as they are about to go into song warming up their vocals. They then start to go into song singing Lulu's Back in Town. The warden is indoors rather angry about the singing going on in which he bangs the desk with a tray landing on top of his head. The warden then walks to the prisoners with his anger "Quiet, quiet! Back in there you bums!" Well, at  least we get the good personality of the warden who doesn't like them singing since the prison is called "Sing Song Prison" so they must at least have some rights. Buddy also jots that down in his notepad.

Meanwhile there is a prisoner who is holding a letter and shows it to the next person presenting "Get a load of this", the other prisoner reads the letter from the other prisoner's girlfriend or wife called Sadie. The end of the letter reads; "With all my love, your own Sadie. P.S. These are for you: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Looks like the wife doesn't care about his crime but his personality I guess. The guy who wrote the letter remarks "Not bad". Meanwhile there is guard who appears to have a letter attached to a bayonet directed to the prisoner who read the love letter. The letter seems to show that the prisoner has to pay some charity a donation of 10 cents. With the dialogue I don't know who the letter was from or what they're even saying. It's the video sound quality that isn't so great.

The warden enters the scene as he hears chatting and laughing from the prisoner and shouts "QUIET" and shouts "No laughing around, here". Buddy is upstairs from the hall but can see what the warden is doing. This is another incident that is being written down on Buddy's notepad. Meanwhile the next part then shows a prisoner who is rather lazy and is uselessly tapping on the rock to the theme of London Bridge is Falling Down. The warden walks into the scene in which he gives the prisoner a bigger hammer to smash rocks with so that he can begin working and shouts "Get to work". The worker then accidentally hits the warden on the head as he was about to take a whack at the rock but the warden's head pops out through a jacket and shouts "What's the idea?!".

Meanwhile even Buddy's detective dog uses his tail to write in the notepad. There is a prisoner who has an iron ball attached to his foot and he places it inside a cannonball in which he plans to try and escape from the prisoner (probably because of his hatred towards the warden). The cannon explodes but it goes off at the wrong direction - backwards. The warden enters the scene in which he gives the prisoner a pick-axe to continue chopping rocks. Buddy has finished the notes on inspecting the warden. He then walks over to a typewriter in which that he has completed the inspection and recommends for a warden replacement.

After the letter; the newspaper is screaming with a headlines that reads in giant letters BUDDY MADE WARDEN! So it turns out that Buddy was chosen to be the warden of Sing Song Prison; and I imagine that everyone is somehow going to like him with his ability to have fun, make the prison cheerful but I wonder if they won't like his blandness. There is even a newspaper boy that shouts out that he is the warden; and somehow THAT is big news. Buddy must've ALREADY been recognized from people before being given the job as the warden.

Buddy then steps up at the rocks as he is calling a meeting for prisoners and asks "Is everybody happy?" which he is impersonating Ted Lewis. All of the prisoners then start to cheer on Buddy as they already like the new warden. The next part on the microphone I think he is saying "Light up the land". The prisoners have already thought of what to do with the old warden and they use him to hammer. Now doesn't that not seem harsh? I know he was a strict and boring warden but couldn't be not have been sacked - which is the easier way? Buddy even offers the prisoners some ice-cream which he gives them out for free. Now I imagine that SOME of you people probably would wish to go to that prison if you committed a crime. A pig and a dog then ask for ice cream.

Buddy then starts to go around with his cart offering more people some ice cream. Meanwhile there appears  to be a monkey who throws a rock inside the prisoner's mouth in which he shoots them out of his mouth that produces tiny stones. Even the prisoners are allowed to sing - while the "old warden" barred them from fun at all in prison - well; is prison even MEANT to be fun? Buddy also offers cigars for the prisoner who is having his shoes polished and his nails filed. Okay; but isn't Buddy a "too kind" warden because I don't know if them having so much fun is a way for them to owe a debt to society. No, I'm not a boring old fart but don't you think Buddy is treating them too kindly here - I don't know many other prison wardens that would do something like that.

Meanwhile there appears to be a guard who is shouting "Calling Machinegun Mike!" The guard goes up to the prisoners who are licking their ice-creams but they believe to hear the sounds of a machine gun and they point at a different direction. The guard then finds Machinegun Mike in which he gives him the letter but puffs smoke on his face. The letter reads that Machinegun Mike is pardoned by order, which I presume means that he is free. It was signed by chairman of Official Pardon Hans Cuff (obvious pun to handcuff). The cartoon has a lot of these puns that you'd expect to see in comics or something. What I find pretty amusing is that Machinegun Mike scrunches the letter and continues to dig with a drill as though he doesn't care.

Meanwhile there is a group of people who are banging indoors begging to go to that prison probably because of how luxurious that they heard about. There are a group of people trying to get their way through the doors in which some of them manage but then the doors are locked shut with the other people no longer allowed to go on. Buddy leaves up a notice reading "No Vacancies" - and that's all folks.

Wow! This is another achievement that has accomplished. Not only have I "made it through the storm of Harman-Ising cartoons" but I've even made it through "the cyclone of abominable proportions" even in a short period of time. Well, the abominable cartoons haven't faded away yet and they will return - eventually; and even pop back every once in a while. This cartoon was in fact quite a good way in my opinion to end the Buddy series since he didn't appear in the cartoon TOO much and that the other characters got their share although some parts of it could be better like the plot and that maybe Buddy was too soft as a warden. But THAT was part of the whole joke because everyone wanted to go in. Of course; as we know the Buddy cartoons had a BAD start with that awful Tom Palmer cartoon Buddy's Day Out. Earl Duvall then directed a few Buddies which in my opinion were pretty good. Friz Freleng's Buddies were very dull and pretty bad, and so was Ben Hardaway. Only Jack King seems to have made the only good Buddy cartoons no matter how flawed they are.

I'm so glad that I have finally completed the Buddy reviews and I had no idea that I'd probably be able to get this far. Buddy is one of the most forgotten Looney Tunes characters and probably the blandest; and it's probably important that I've gone through the hard parts. I still have a very long journey to go since I haven't reached Porky's famed era, Bugs, Daffy, Sylvester, Road Runner or even Cool Cat. So now, Buddy - now that you're probably out of my head forever; and I will never miss him - not even a close bit. Comparing the Bosko and Buddy cartoons where they basically have the same personalities but as Bob Clampett puts it "Bosko in whiteface". Bosko is still a far better character than Buddy even though Bosko is basically nothing; but at least he has some appeal to the audience with his singing and dancing skills and the animation is very smooth. Buddy is just a blander version of Bosko with absolute no design or caricature and is nothing special.

His girlfriend has been through three different designs but so has Buddy. Buddy looked like a little kid in Buddy's Day Out but at least Earl Duvall made him a little more appealing in the next cartoon Buddy's Beer Garden and the last design of Buddy by Bugs Hardaway is just even blander; but I do really like the last design of Cookie than the curly blonde one. Also originally that Buddy did have a dog named Happy and a baby named Elmer but they were eliminated after the first cartoon but Buddy still always had a dog with him but he seemed to have at least 5 DIFFERENT DOGS which makes it more confusing. First it was Happy, then the dachshund in Buddy's Beer Garden, then Tower in Buddy and Towser, Bozo in a couple of the Buddy cartoons and last one the dog he had in this cartoon (Buddy the Gee Man). With Buddy gone; the bland stuff has basically gone past; as some Beans the Cat cartoons are pretty good and that with the arrival of Tex Avery; the cartoons do get even better. Although the Merrie Melodies are still not go great for a little while (especially in Friz Freleng's cartoons). When 1935 will be nearly complete, 1936 will be a great year; the arrival of Frank Tashlin and Carl Stalling who would pioneer the Looney Tunes. Stay tuned. Well, all I can say is: Goodbye Buddy! Good I've managed to review all his cartoons in a quick amount of time.

110. Buddy Steps Out (1935)

Warner cartoon no. 109.
Release date: July 20, 1935.
Series: Looney Tunes
Supervision: Jack King.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Jackie Morrow (Buddy) and Bernice Hansen (Cookie).
Musical Score: Bernard Brown.
Animation: Chas. "Chuck" Jones and Bob Clampett.

We iris in to see Cookie's house as Cookie is posing in the mirror ready for her date out with Buddy. Cookie hears her pet canary in her cage chirp in which she lets it out to rest on her finger. They are both singing the song (well the bird is chirping to) About a Quarter to Nine. Goodness me, whenever I try to get a bird to rest on my finger; they'll just scatter off. As Cookie and the canary sing the brief song she hears the doorbell ring. Cookie approaches to the door - and who else could it be? Our hero and favourite character, Buddy. *Ahem*, pardon me - apologies! I meant - our "bland" hero Buddy. Buddy greets Buddy as Cookie does the same and she lets him in. They both put their jackets on and leave the house.

The canary inside the cage then flies out to see if Buddy and Cookie have disappeared. The canary then starts to fly out of the house and starts to chirp to some merry songs in the cold air. Brrr. There appears to be some type of snowstorm going on outside in which it the canary doesn't have enough strength to fly past and ends up being snowed back into the house. Poor canary.

Meanwhile inside the house; there is a picture frame of Buddy that comes to life. Buddy is holding onto the picture frame itself so that he doesn't blow away that easily. Buddy steps out of the picture frame which is why the title is called Buddy Steps Out. Buddy then opens up the hardback cover of a book for him to step over to the window sill. He jumps to climb on top of a window opener in which he wants to close it shut. The blizzard makes Buddy struggle in which he asks for "help". Mmm, I've always noticed in these cartoons; so many characters cry "help" in situations and want help. Meanwhile there is a ceramic figure of a body builder holding a globe who probably resembles Atlas in mythology.

The muscly ceramic figure then approaches the scene in which Buddy struggles. He drops Buddy off the window opener and onto the book. The muscly figure then closes the window. Wait a minute; what about the canary - that bird has to get back in somehow. The muscly figure then pulls Buddy out of the bookcase in which he thanks the figure as he returns back into the picture frame. Meanwhile the canary is sitting on top of a roof but then flies back to the house. OH so the canary wasn't forgotten then - good. The bird is sitting on top of a windowsill in the freezing snow. Bless. The canary then starts to use it's backside to wipe the window and pecks on it trying to get anyone to help open the window.

Buddy inside the picture-frame then listens to the sounds of the bird tapping the window and he steps out trying to help out. Buddy walks to the book again in which he opens the hardback cover to the window sill and tries to open the window himself but doesn't have the strength. Buddy then calls for muscly figure who is called Atlas, he shouts "Atlas! Atlas! Give me a hand, Atlas ol'boy". Altas then approaches to the window sill and opens up the window easily as Buddy asks him to help out. The canary is standing very stiff and frozen due to the exposure outside. Buddy pulls the bird off the snow and takes it inside.

Buddy starts to wipe off some of the snow that has landed onto the canary. Buddy thinks and scratches his head on what he will do to help out Cookie's canary. Buddy then thinks of an idea and carries the frozen canary "Poor birdy", Buddy says. Buddy walks down to the blinds in which he slides down the window blind with the string. He then manages to get up another part of a window blind and he turns on a luminaire. Okay; so what's the plan gonna be?

Buddy then places the canary on top of a small dish carried by a statuette from the lamp. Buddy then walks to get a lighter and lights fire at the bottom of the small dish in order for the pigeon to thaw. The canary starts to thaw but then he sneezes in which the ice-cubed had already been melt into water and sneezes water onto Buddy. Buddy walks to the canary to give him a hanker-chief as he sneezes. Buddy giggles and says "Blow your nosey", and it appears that the canary seems to blow onto the hanker-chief like hearing a horn sound.

Buddy ties the cloth around the bird's head in which the canary feels much better. Buddy gets a kiss on the cheek for that. The canary then starts to fly to a radio in which he is about to turn onto a button. The canary then starts to fly back to a box as it looks like and sings in a very chirpy attitude. With the cloth around the canary's head that Buddy did - would this count the canary as being a female then?

Buddy is therefore on the spotlight as he is dancing on the floor. At least the animation of Buddy dancing on the spotlight is in fact pretty good animation. There is another ceramic figure who already has "stepped out" and he is controlling the lights by using the lamp. He lowers down the lamp for Buddy to continue his dance movement. Finally; some dance movement that is in fact really interesting to look at. The tap dances are in fact pretty good. It's rather a mystery of course on who animated that and I'm not gonna bet who animated that scene since you can make mistakes in animation IDs easily.

Meanwhile there is a joker inside a card that also steps out by doing the similar dance routine that Buddy is doing. As a matter of fact; the dance that the joker is doing is a little more loose in my opinion since he moves a bit more. he lands on a small pot with a similar type of chest draw and comes out with a cigar in his mouth. Meanwhile there is a group of blonde girls inside a can of soup called Gamble's which is of course a spoof to the company Campbell's. Bernice Hansen did the Gamble's soup girls singing. The next part shows a pig inside another merchandise company that associates with ham.

The next sequence then shows a fly that is rowing and also singing Avalon. There is a soldier inside a can of insect spray. The soldier then steps out and sprays on the bug. The slug then starts to swim to a box of suds in which it all falls down. The insect sings I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles. The gag is that the insect DOES in fact blow bubbles while  in the sink.

Meanwhile the inanimate clock then looks out the window which is a sign that the real-life Buddy and Cookie are returning home. Buddy and Cookie are walking back to Cookie's house in which they have to fight through a terrible storm. Cookie shouts "Thank God (?) we're nearly home", and Buddy replies "So am I, Cookie". The clock then starts to ring it's alarm as part of the battle stations system. All of the inanimate creates that stepped out to real life then go back into their normal positions, and so does Buddy.

Buddy's hand has a key in which he unlocks the door for Cookie to get back into her room. Cookie bids Buddy "Good night Buddy", in which Buddy kisses Cookie's hand like a gentleman and bids her a goodnight back. Cookie then walks up to the picture frame of Buddy in which she remarks "Isn't he a dearie?" she kisses Buddy on the picture frame quite a number of times with the final comment "You darling". Wow! It seems maybe Buddy must've done something that meant Cookie's got it bad for him. The picture frame of Buddy winks to the audience (probably because he got the best luck with kiss marks on his face) and that's all folks.

At least this cartoon had a good story that didn't have the real life Buddy around all the time, but the picture-framed Buddy was the star of that cartoon. I like the designs of Cookie here of course as she looks prettier than the other cartoons - in my opinion - and that's all I'll say. The animation and staging of Buddy tap dancing was actually pretty good I have to say. Jack King has proven to be better than Bugs Hardaway of course. Yipee; I have completed this Buddy and I only have ONE more Buddy cartoon left to review and it'll be over! Yes; the Buddy cartoons (well, reviewing them) has gone by really quickly and I'll get to the Porky cartoons soon enough, and Beans the cat (well there are some great Beans cartoons though like A Cartoonist's Nightmare.

108. Buddy's Bug Hunt (1935)

Title card courtesy of Big Cartoon Database.

Warner cartoon no. 107.
Release date: June 22, 1935.
Series: Looney Tunes.
Supervision: Jack King.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Jackie Morrow (Buddy), Billy Bletcher (Judge/Spider) and Bernice Hansen (Butterfly).
Musical Score: Norman Spencer.
Animation: Bob McKimson and Paul Smith.

Since there is a very annoying time-code which was taken from an old video tape and it's the only video that probably exists so far on the Internet; I'm afraid that this is gonna have to do. Don't worry; this Buddy cartoon and two more Buddy cartoons and Buddy'll be gone and out of our miseries.

The cartoon begins with Buddy with a butterfly net trying to catch a butterfly and is enjoying the day. Buddy doesn't even look out at what he is doing while catching a butterfly as he climbs up some small ladder; and runs through a cow's head and a farmer's head while the farmer was milking the cow. Buddy then runs past a sign that reads Be Sure to see Seasdie Beach and parts of the sign is turn off. The butterfly is standing on top of a sign; in which Buddy uses his butterfly net to watch it in which a woman pops out (with her dress being the same as the billboard poster's) and she walks off-screen disappointed. Buddy then looks down disappointed and then notices the butterfly flying past Buddy in which he chases it into his bug-house.

Buddy is inside the bug-house and he is looking for the butterfly but he obviously can't find it. He then notices it on top of a flower. Buddy then grabs hold of the flower blocking the butterfly from escaping out of the petals but Buddy shakes it down the stem and ends up inside a glass and he traps it. Buddy sees another glass in which he has a bag of butterflies and places them inside another glass. At least they're not moths or otherwise they'll eat the damn bag but I hope they eat Buddy's damn clothes for my amusement. Buddy then walks to the next part and he sees a spider hanging onto a cob-string. Buddy pulls the string out of the spider.

Buddy then steps over to a microscope in which he examines it by gluing the spider onto the table - poor spider. The spider then cries for help. Okay; for anyone who has arachnophobia - don't bother screaming; this bland drawn spider ain't scary. Buddy then accidentally gets ether coated on him in which the screen dissolves into a dream sequence that will appear. Good effects for the time of course. The dream sequence then starts to dissolve with the spider who is managing to get out from the sticky liquid easily and then is all free. The spider then notices that Buddy is already sleeping because of ether in which the spider laughs and climbs down the table.

The spider starts to climb up another table in which he frees a group of flies inside a jar in which he takes the lid off. The spider then starts to take the cork out of a bottle with a frog inside it. The spider is speaking to all the insects (that Buddy captured as part of his hobby) is speaking gibberish and I wonder if that was the concept. The spider then starts to take some steps back as he is going to get the cork out of the bottle himself - even if it's doing it the hard way. The cork then loosens and the frog is set free. Mmm; at least the gag works since frogs are pretty slippery to escape.

Buddy is trapped by a spider web created by a group of spiders to trap Buddy. Meanwhile there is a spider who drops down a small box open that reads REDUCING PILLS. It is poured onto a glass of water and Buddy is calling for help but the bugs aren't going to help him - not after what Buddy did to them. Buddy has a funnel inside Buddy's mouth in which the bottle of water with pills inside it is all gobbed into Buddy's mouth. All of the bugs are glad to see Buddy suffering in which Buddy starts to shrink at a small size. Buddy is trapped under the spider web in which he tries to get out but a group of bugs then start to go near Buddy and they sing about how that they are going to get their revenge towards Buddy.

There is a ladybird design spoof in which she is dressed in dots like a normal ladybird. The frog (I imagine that maybe Bletcher did the voice of that frog) then sings about Buddy will be in trouble for what he did to the insects and species. They appear to be treating him as though that today is his Judgement Day. There appear to be these group of bugs that find a rollerskate and they break it in half - how come? Is it something to trap Buddy in or something? We'll find out - I guess.

Buddy is tied up and is held prisoner and appears to be that the damaged roller skate was used for Buddy to sit down on and not to escape. Buddy is placed into the trial in which there are a group of bugs that use some grater in which the cheese turns into alphabet and sticks onto flypaper. The title then reads "Acme Fly Paper". Ahh, I wonder if that's where Chuck Jones got the idea to use it for his "Road Runner" cartoons? No? I think this was probably the first Warner Bros. cartoon to use the term "Acme". The Acme flypaper reads:


Hear Ye, Hear Ye - Buddy Will Be Tried in Court for Cruelty to Insects. 

The jury are sitting down in unused egg boxes; a sheriff then reaches to the scene in which he announces about the court about to start. A cuckoo clock then pops out of it's clock which I guess was part of the gag.

The judge then bangs on his table but pulls out some type of card to Buddy and wants Buddy to "cross your heart, hope to die, because here you won't tell a lie". The judge then bangs his mallet on top of Buddy's sailor hat and I think he says something like "Won't talk, eh?". The judge then approaches to the first witness in the trial in which there is a bug that accuses Buddy for losing it's leg and has a clothesline peg attached to it. The bug witnesses; "He yanked it off right near the joint; and now they call me Peg". The judge looks at him rather smugly, tuts at him with pity and then calls the next witness.

The next witness is a butterfly who seems to look like Cookie and of course; the voice is Bernice Hansen. The butterfly witnesses about something like her parents were taken away from Buddy and she "was left to die". The judge then says a line (that I can't make out what it is but I think it could be a reference). The next witness is a bird and is apparently voiced by Bernice Hansen's adult voice which is rare as she does the child voices. Another insect who appears to be dressed as a widow then witnesses: "That nasty old such and such..." and then speaks about that Buddy apparently ripped her husband and died. The witnessing here is pretty grim to listen to in this cartoon - even the one by the female butterfly - I wonder if this had influence on Pluto's Judgement Day but that cartoon wasn't released until August 1935 so who knows?

The judge reacts to the witnessing which is grim and shouts "For goodness sakes" and he bangs on Buddy's head for shame until he wipes the mallet with a cloth. The judge then turns to the jury; "Gentlemen of the jury; what is your decree? You find the prisoner guilty or do you insist him free?" Hmm, does every verse happen to have rhyming couplets back then - like in Disney's Snow White where she meets the forest animals.  A wrinkled old man of the jury then considers Buddy to be guilty but wants to see him punished and hurt - all of this does sound grim.

The judge then responds with this result with an "Okay - give him the worst" in which Buddy is taken out of his seat in which he is being sentenced to the Cigar lighter. It means that he is going to get burnt - obviously. The lighter is then switched on from low to full in which Buddy cries for help. Is he still stuck on that fire; I know he's tied up but couldn't he think of a neat idea like trying to crawl away from the cigar lighter so he probably wouldn't get burnt so much. This continues to happen until the dream starts to fade back into reality...

It appears in the dream that Buddy was screaming because on his buttocks his magnifying glass is reflecting sunlight on Buddy's backside. See; that's why Buddy should have been careful with ether since he could've been put in a deep sleep and probably would've got burnt and not woken up in time - that's the consequences. Buddy then runs to a nearby tub and cools his backside down. After the nightmare that Buddy just had with the bugs - we then lets out all the insects to be free as the dream must've taught him a lesson. Mmm; this is probably one of the earliest cartoons in which bad dreams for rough people that turn them into sweet people at the end. Walter Lantz used it for Boy Meets Dog, Disney on Pluto's Judgement Day, Tom and Jerry in Heavenly Puss, any more shorts to name?

All of the bugs start to fly out of the hut and even the animals such as frogs; bugs, etc. from the ground then leave the hut. Buddy is then making sure that all of the animals from the hut have banished and tells them to "Shoo". Buddy then slams the door of his hut in which the entire hut collapses and falls - probably must've been old. Buddy's head pops out of the planks, and he looks at these two frogs on a plank balancing on top of a broken down piece of wood as though they're playing seesaw. Buddy chuckles at the seesaw - and that's all folks.

Due to that really annoying time counter that was all over the cartoon; this was in fact a pretty decent Buddy cartoon to watch; and of course it's one of his last. It was one of the earlier concepts of a dream fantasy in which Buddy is in trial until all is revealed at the end as it was a dream but of course it isn't one of the best at all. Some parts of it seemed rather dark to me; even the witnesses who call Buddy a murderer and of course he isn't - he's just bland and weedy - he could barely even hurt a fly. Acme appears to be used for the first time in this cartoon (well; at least in a Warner Bros. cartoon; does anyone know where it originated in cartoons)? Well, the good news is that at there will be two more reviews of the Warner Bros blandest animated character and afterwards he will be banished from the Looney Tunes forever at least 9 more reviews to go until we finally meet Tex Avery's cartoons - so stay tuned and keep reading the following reviews.

106. Buddy's Lost World (1935)

Warner cartoon no. 105.
Release date: May 18, 1935.
Series: Looney Tunes.
Supervision: Jack King.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Jackie Morrow (Buddy) and Billy Bletcher (Bozo).
Musical Score: Norman Spencer.
Animation: Rollin Hamilton and Sandy Walker.

It's not easy to say but I'm glad to see that Jack King is back on the direction spot while he seems to have been demoted to character animator briefly - probably because Hardaway was taking his place for a while - it seems. Of course Jack's cartoons at WB aren't so spectacular but was probably the best director before Tex arrived - I have to say. He was probably the best Donald Duck director, though. I seem to notice in later 1935 Buddy cartoons that he wear's a captain's hat on.

 The cartoon begins with Buddy's boat with the wind power flag reading Capt. Buddy's Expedition to the Lost World. There are a group of people on the dock all of them are waving goodbye to Buddy and good luck. Just as Buddy and Bozo have turned the propellers on - they forgot to pull the rope off the dock. The dock then starts to break apart with all the people falling into the water and all struggle to get back up to the part of the dock not broken down - see, funny gag.

As Buddy and Bozo are sailing in their exciting expedition, they somehow discover land (are you sure this was not marked in any of the maps that probably had the whole world drawn on it by then). Buddy and Bozo then approach the lost island in the middle of the ocean (and how did his boat get that far from that engine)? They park onto the island then start to explore around this lost island. Buddy has the map to the lost island (well, it couldn't be lost if it was already drawn on map - but it could've been abandoned, maybe - oh well; it's a cartoon). Buddy shouts "Oh boy, it's the lost island, hooray, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!"

Bozo then starts to bark around in excitement, and then notices man footprints on the ground. As he sniffs the footprints, the footprints move two steps. Bozo then starts to sniff the footprints as this is a bizarre world since it sniffs - I imagine. As Bozo is sniffing through for what we think is a forest. But then the creature moves, and it turns out the legs aren't trees - they're the legs of a brontosaurus. What a wonderful set-up there and some unique animation. The brontosaurus then starts to walk on and sniff Bozo who is sniffing the footprints. Bozo then turns around with a frightened look at the dinosaur and runs as fast as he could.

Bozo then starts to run around the lost world through the paths in a fast speed with the plants swaying past. Bozo then passes through a fat girl playing skip-rope (it seems there's people on the lost island already). The fat girl then looks at Bozo startled. Meanwhile there appears to be a type of caveman that is digging the ground like a dog and notices Bozo running like a fire engine. Bozo then skids and stops as he notices the caveman digging the ground. They both then start to mimic each other like actual dogs and copy the actions in a similar way. The caveman then digs up the bone and walks off. At least we saw a good use of speed in this cartoon.

Bozo then starts to dig underground as he smells some more bones, but he struggles a little bit and it turns out he pulls out a whole dinosaur fossil underground. The rib cage then traps Bozo like a cage; and the timing was done well. Bozo then starts to howl inside the rib cage begging for help from Buddy. Buddy walks through the forest in which he hears Bozo's howling in which Buddy does a flipping hat-take - one of Jack King's traits as a director. Buddy walks to the scene and finds Bozo trapped inside the dinosaur skeleton. He tries to find an idea on how to get Bozo out. Buddy then walks over to the skeleton's head and figures out how to get him out. Buddy then opens up the dinosaur's jaw in which he whistles Bozo out of the fossil and shouts "Here, Bozo". Bozo then licks Buddy's face in which he asks him to get him down shouting "What's the matter with you?".

The caveman dog-figure then starts to sniff up something, in this random shot. Buddy then looks over at the rocks and notices Bozo isn't around so; he calls Bozo over to see what there is. Bozo pops out of the rocks and licks him. Buddy tries to quieten down Bozo in which he still looks at the caveman-dog sniffling about. Huh, it turns out it wasn't a random shot overall. I like the idea of this cartoon so far in that crazy world they're in - it's creative; it makes the film exciting - at least a bit. I like the bizarre idea for a caveman who acts like a dog to be sniffing about; and that there's dinosaurs on this island stating that they're probably not quite extinct in this short.

Bozo and Buddy then start to come across the caveman again in which Bozo interfere's with it. Bozo starts to chase the caveman out of the scene but Buddy has to catch up so that he doesn't lose Bozo. The caveman and Bozo both enter the cave but Buddy hits into a rock that slides through the entrance to the cave in which Buddy is blocked from entering. Buddy steps back up on his two feet and starts to shout out Bozo's name numerous times to try and get his attention or to listen whilst in the cave. Buddy is still waving about, and doesn't notice that a carnivorous plant is standing right behind him and Buddy's in trouble.

Look at the close-up of the carnivorous plant licking it's lips - just great animation. It seems that Jack King had a knack of using close-up shots for his cartoons in climaxes; which is a good thing since Ben Hardaway and other directors had a knack of using long-shots all the time. Buddy is still shouting for Bozo's time but then he starts to turn around with his hat-take but the carnivorous plant eats Buddy. Buddy is pounding at the plant's mouth numerous times but the plant swallows Buddy before it's too late. Buddy slides through the roots and pathway of the plant's roots underground and ends up in another part of the lost world. Buddy turns to look at these group of caveman in some area that are hammering on rocks and stones.

It appears so that some of the caveman are treated as slaves where they have to pick up the stone with their mouths and ride the other cavemen or even use them to play a game of croquet. I like the conception here with the dinosaur bones as hoops with the stone being the croquet ball. The caveman on top of the other caveman then does a gay stereotype "Oh for heaven's sake". Buddy then looks down at the cavemen people in which he slides down what he thinks is a pole but it turns out to be the neck of the same brontosaurus Bozo saw. Buddy then bounces down at the top of the dinosaur's back.

Three cavemen then pop out of the rock and they are doing an impression of the Three Stooges - where they are fighting - prodding each other in the eye. Like the sound effects used so far. The dinosaur has an instant likability towards Buddy as he licks his face. Buddy then grabs out an apple from his pocket and the dinosaur eats it. Notice how Buddy completely disappears in one frame but comes back in the next frame. The three Stooge-cavemen then come up with an idea in which they plan to capture Buddy and also Bozo. The caveman then unleashes Bozo from a dog leash and walks him along to a mousetrap with spears to be the bars of a cage.

Bozo is then placed inside the mousetrap in which the caveman starts to set up a trap for Buddy to be imprisoned too. Bozo starts to howl loudly for help, and Buddy hears the sounds of Bozo as he decides to help his dog out. Buddy shouts "It's Bozo", and he takes his captain hat off the dinosaur's head and back onto his hat. Bozo is at the scene and Buddy steps in trying to unleash it aware of the trap. Buddy then steps onto the trap and the spears prison both Buddy and Bozo. The cavemen of the lost island and the three cavemen start to dance with joy. They then take Buddy and Bozo away.

The next part we see that Buddy and Bozo are inside a pot that is boiling; and a whole tribe of cavemen are hear to celebrate the moment (probably because they've been eating too much rocks or stones all the time). A caveman in the background shows his part to celebrate by playing dinosaur skeleton bones as a church organ - or some type. There is then a dancing routine going on and if I'm not mistaken - this is taken from Lullabye from Broadway - am I right? They both hit each other on the head with their cubs as part of the routine to make the dance more entertaining. They both hit each other on the head at the same time which makes the gag work - in my opinion.

Meanwhile, Buddy and Bozo are inside the cauldron and are being stirred crying for help (I feel the close-up is presented slightly dramatic) since it already expresses the feeling that they're already in danger and feels too risky to be shown - but that's just me. Meanwhile their friend dinosaur stretches it's neck to hear the "Help" noises coming from Buddy. The whole tribe are still crowded together but they all scatter as the huge dinosaur enters the scene. Buddy then bursts "Hooray! It's our friend, Bozo!". The dinosaur then starts to deal with some caveman.

The dinosaur picks up a caveman but starts to wiggle it around with his mouth until it goes flying off into the camera. I like Jack King's film techniques that he's done before in the cartoons - and certainly more interesting than what Hardaway or Freleng did in this period. The dinosaur then starts to find another caveman inside a cave but reaches it's head inside, and at the lower-ground level the dinosaur's head pops out to grab the caveman itself - and I like that gag, and sounds something maybe what Tex would use for a gag.

The dinosaur then starts to pick Buddy and Bozo out of the boiling cauldron and are being picked up slowly and carefully as part of their safety. Buddy and Bozo then start to slide down the dinosaur's neck in which it's a happy ending for all three. Buddy is liked a lot by Bozo and the brontosaurus that he gets to have lots of licks on his cheeks - and that's all folks.

Now that Jack King is back on the director's chair - he turns out a really unique cartoon that is pretty good. The animation is pretty unique like the three-quarter down shot of a brontosaurus' head coming up into frame which is some decent animation. I like the idea of the concept of being in a lost world that no-one ever goes to - but somehow it's already identified in the map of the world. There were some pretty fine gags in there such as the beginning on the dock or even the caveman who behaves like a dog was pretty weird but the feeling of a weird world Buddy has came across. At least this cartoon tells us that this world dinosaurs aren't yet extinct. Well, at least this cartoon seemed to enjoy me at least (with King gone for a while; I Haven't Got a Hat was probably the only one I quite liked). I hope this cartoon showed some very slight potential of great Warner Bros. cartoons coming - and we'll see.

104. Buddy in Africa (1935)

Warner cartoon no. 103.
Release date: April 20, 1935.
Supervision: Ben Hardaway.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Jackie Morrow (Buddy).
Musical Score: Norman Spencer.
Animation: Don Williams and Jack Carr.

This is the first cartoon I think where in the title cards a face of Buddy pops out to us (a process that the early Beans cartoons would do). Jack Carr is credited here as an animator who did voice Buddy in several cartoons - but how long would be at Schlesinger's. I know he was more of an animator than a voice-actor; but does anyone know?

Our cartoon begins with tribal music played in the background - but then we see an African tribe who is mowing the lawn. It turns out that the native is actually mowing the lawn on the top of his roof made from hay. The next part we see shows two natives - as one of them has a type of fruit put in his mouth. The other native twists his bone-tail to that he grinds the liquid off and places the remaining pieces in. Some strange things are going in this town somewhere in Africa.

One of the other natives is playing a game of horseshoes - but it turns out to be a different type of horseshoe game. The native is using 'littleluns' with ring piercings on their noses as a loop so that it can land into the pole. Meanwhile, Buddy is inside his van called Buddy's Variety Store. One of the gorillas is then walking around in the jungle but wants to hitchhike in Buddy's approaching van but Buddy passes it on. Due to the extremely poor video tape quality - it's really hard to see what's happening, a bit.

We see another shot that appears to show a monkey who is in charge of traffic I guess - but I really can't tell because of the quality. There are these two monkeys they seem to pass the giraffe. Then, we see a kangaroo who is picking up litter and doing community service. What?! Kangaroos - there aren't EVEN any wild kangaroos in Africa. Buddy's van then stops at the giraffe's traffic light (or something) until the monkey guard allows him to go through.

As Buddy's van is about to approach to the African village - one of the guards at the door grabs out a native with a bell to go indoors. Buddy's van approaches to the village and then he parks his van. Buddy opens up the  back part of the van in which he has brought in some African equipment such as African instruments like a drum. Buddy then starts to play with a tribal drum but a lot of the natives are interested in his skills and they enjoy his playing skills. Buddy them welcomes the African natives and asks if they want something - and ask it. They dump all the fruit in the van and Buddy gives them a piece of an African collection to them.

Meanwhile the same gorilla who was walking (that wanted to be hitchhiked); is walking along - we were given that shot for some reason. Buddy is still giving them the rest of his items until he's starting to run out of them. A native then walks into his dark home; to place two light bulbs on each of his ears. The light bulbs work as he is sitting down. He places a lamp on top of it so that he can read the newspaper. I guess this was a handy gag because often African huts are dark. One of the natives has bought a big box of Roman candles but then starts to go all over the place - which I guess is quite a fun gag.

Buddy then hands out one of his bottle that he calls "Buddy's Famous Jungle Bitters". Buddy spots a monkey trying to take a sip from the bitter bottle but is caught by Buddy. Buddy raises "Hey, you get out of there!". Is it me or was Buddy's voice by Jackie Morrow or some child actor because it doesn't sound like a falsetto that Jack Carr would put on. As Buddy watches the monkey scatter away - Buddy continues to hand out the rest of the bitter bottles to the rest of the natives.

The natives then start to go into song once they've taken a drink out of the bitter bottles. The tribes are then singing the song Marchin' Towards Ya, Georgia! It's a little bit more lively and fun to watch I got to admit - with one of the natives playing around with it's hair tails. At least the singing isn't bad at all. We see these shots of the natives who is playing bagpipes by an elephant dancing - which is a little confusing to me. Plus, no bagpipe sounds. One of the natives then stretches its mouth to make sounds until it goes back to normal size. One of the natives with a really long sings, but an annoyed native then turns off the switch (I guess because we can't hear it sing).

Buddy is doing some juggling with some bitter bottles followed by two approaching natives that do an interesting dance that sort of look like their doing aerobic dancing. The next shot appears to show some turtle with strings on it's shell so that it looks like it's playing it's own banjo. Damn quality - it's hard to tell. The song is then concluded by the native vocal singers.

Meanwhile the monkey is still standing by the car and it looks like he is trying to open the bitter bottle he stolen or something. Buddy approached the scene and shouts "Hey, cut that out!". He puts out his hand, "Give me that bottle!". The monkey refuses. Buddy then starts to try and chase after the monkey himself. He goes under his car to try and find him. As he pops out; the monkey smashes him with a bitter bottle. Buddy grabs the bottle off the monkey and he spanks the monkey for doing so. The monkey then runs out of the village complaining.

Meanwhile the same gorilla who was hitchhiking (or at least trying to) then shows the baby monkey (I imagine that this gorilla is the parent of the monkey). Anyway, the baby monkey is complaining to his parent on what Buddy had done to him - spanking. The gorilla then starts to reveal his skin that shows he will beat up Buddy and also to toughen up his chest.

The mother gorilla and her baby then try to enter the village but are stopped by the guard. The monkey then suggests on smacking the guard to the ground - which the gorilla does. The monkey walks by to twitch the guard's nose as he walks past the village. Buddy is busy pumping a tire - but only to be interrupted by the gorilla and the monkey. The monkey points that Buddy was the one who smacked him. The gorilla then jumps on the tire leaving Buddy going high in the air. The gorilla, who obviously doesn't have the brains like humans tosses Buddy on the tire but the gorilla is jabbed by the pumper. He punches the pumper in which Buddy falls out of the tire.

Buddy then lands behind a tower, and the gorilla has the tire in which he will try to attack him with it. The gorilla then tries to bounce from another tree and does so in which he crashes and damages the tower. The monkey then screams - finally; the gorilla gets annoyed so the monkey is burst out of the scene by the bumper. Buddy and the gorilla both become friends, shake hands - and that's all folks.

It was another hard cartoon to review - it wasn't that the cartoon was bad - but it's just the low video tape quality was annoying. Hopefully some Warner Bros. archivists will restore this in a good condition; but yet it's expensive to restore films into good conditions. I didn't think the overall cartoon was terrible, and I didn't think the African native caricatures weren't meant to be harmful at all. The singing in it wasn't so bad - but the animation was still mediocre. Buddy's voice sounds a lot like a child which is really off-putting to listen to, and isn't Buddy meant to look like a young adult. With that child voice - it's disgusting.

102. Buddy's Pony Express (1935)

Warner cartoon no. 101.
Release date: March 9, 1935.
Series: Merrie Melodies.
Supervision: Ben Hardaway.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Jackie Morrow (Buddy), (Cookie) (?) and Billy Bletcher (Bad Guy).
Musical Score: Bernard Brown.
Animation: Ben Clopton and Cal Dalton.

Our cartoon begins in a one-horse town in the middle of nowhere which is lawless. There is gun-shooting going on in the streets. There was a Sheriff injured as he flips backwards until a doctor places him on an injury bed. We see more gags such as two outlaws shooting at each other on telephone poles - and they get shorter each time they fire a gunshot. Another gag which I do think is pretty good is when there is a outlaw is drawing his gun at the small one into the gun. The outlaw aims him at the air until he shoots him out but falls back down to crash the big outlaw to the ground - BOOMPH. Now that gag works well itself.

Two grave diggers then approach the scene in which they bury the bodies (what; do they automatically become dead). From what we know is that this is of course a lawless town; and that they enjoy shooting sprees. As I reach to the next scene of Buddy playing the piano; and let me ask - why is there dogs as humans - has Buddy gone to another dimension? Okay; I guess that I can't make a problem out of it - since Elmer Fudd would appear in cartoons full of anthropomorphic animals like Bugs or Daffy. But Buddy appeared in a world with just humans and no animals that speak. It makes me think - is Buddy in a completely different world? Besides; he's no human himself so I guess it's suitable for him to stick with animals. Anyway; no big deal - let's move on.

Anyway; to the next scene. Buddy is inside the bar playing the piano with his piano stool moving out to do some tap dancing. There is a scene of some dog ordering probably some liquor from the pig waiter but once the dog local tries it - he falls down and flops like a fish. Cookie is walking into the scene in which she is singing a song I can't make out - but the singing sure is bad. Buddy is still showing off his skills on the piano in which he tries to impress Cookie.

Cookie then sings about that she notices some outlaw walking into the scene and is shooting around to get people inside afraid. Cookie asks the guy on the table to light his cannon in which the hat blows out and Buddy was the person pretending to be an outlaw - what the hell? Try not to have too much fun or you could get shot and killed. Meanwhile; a dog local walks into the scene and shoots the poster to be attached to a wall. There is a "Pony Express" race that would be starting at 2.30 in the afternoon. The winner would get a "Mail Contract" and I wonder if that's meant to be a dated pun or some cliche but I don't know if it was intended.

Everyone else is excited to take part in the pony race - in which they rush out the doors. Buddy and Cookie then read the poster in which Buddy laughs "It's cinch". He runs up to a window and point "That's my horse". The horse is pretty energetic. Cookie asks, "Is he fast", with Buddy's reply; "He's the fastest in the county". Meanwhile there is a bad villain who is looking out to see what Buddy and Cookie are doing and what the bad guy will do against it. Buddy watches his clock and says, "Gee, I outta get ready - I'll see you at the race; Cookie".

The bad outlaw then looks out the window to see if Buddy and Cookie are gone. He laughs "Fast horse, eh?". He steals the horse from Buddy by untying it and walking the horse away. The bad outlaw then takes him to park the horse outside a glue factory. What's he going to do - borrow some glue inside the factory and steal it to glue Buddy's horse? Nope, so far - it turns out that he's "shooing" a vulture away from his horse. The bad outlaw is blowing a balloon to try and get his pony all pumped up - but it doesn't work. Instead; he uses a pumper to get some air in that flattened-out horse - but fails the first time as he shoots up in the air.

His horse is extremely sleepy and can hardly move. The bad outlaw then grabs out a paintbrush with some paint in it to paint pupils on the horse's eyelids so it looks like it's awake. The gag is that the horse raises it's eyelids to look at the bad outlaw - with the painted pupils still showing. The bad outlaw has then finished with the disguise on his horse and then laughs evily.

Buddy has finished putting on his outfit as he hears the trumpets playing. There is a weird gag or jump as Buddy jumps out of the window - bounces off and lands on a sick horse thinking he's riding his noble steed. Buddy's horse then rides to the start of the competition, and come to think of it - the horse doesn't even run that bad at all - just sleepy. It seems to scatter around the place a couple of times, though. Cookie is in the crowd waving at him shouting "Good luck" as Buddy still says "It's a cinge". The villain laughs.

The race is about to begin as the guy with the gun sitting on a horse shouts "On your marks, get set---" but fires in which he flies off the horse and onto the ground. Which is a pretty funny gag. The race begins with these dogs running the race with some people riding it. Hang on a minute; I thought this was a pony express race - not a dog race. There is a handicapped dog who is trying to run the race but spins around a number of times as there are incoming dogs coming by. There is a rabbit (not mistaken as Hardaway's rabbit  in 1938 but looks similar) - the dogs are then running and chasing after the rabbit by trying to go down rabbit holes but starts to make the action chase sequence too complicated.

Okay, I really don't understand on why there's dogs in that race - what about the horses? Okay, after that sequence - we finally see the horse racing as Buddy and the bad outlaw are doing their best to try and beat one another. However, Buddy gets yanked out of the scene in which the bad outlaw laughs at Buddy's accident. But Buddy manages to catch up again in which the bad outlaw grabs Buddy's horse tail and starts to spin it around and around until it plays off and hits the ground. They are both pretty dizzy but then get back on their feet to defeat the bad outlaw - if they could.

The bad outlaw then laughs at Buddy and the horses' accident again until his neck hits a cactus and he spins. Ouch. Buddy is now overtaking the bad outlaw in the race (I guess the dog racing wasn't even part of the race). Buddy and his horse are on the edges of a mountain road - and Buddy is almost about to fall off the edge but is still holding onto the reins. Buddy is trapped on a tree in which the reins spin around numerous times until he falls back again onto the horse's saddle. Meanwhile, the villain is in the lead again (which isn't shown) but he crosses a bridge. He makes the race really unfair for Buddy as after he crosses the bridge - he shakes it to delay Buddy even further.

The bridge then suddenly turns into a type of wheel and the villain as to run very quickly. The wheel-bridge then crashes into a rock breaking into pieces. Buddy falls off and is stuck with his suspenders trapped on a branch sticking out from a cliff. The outlaw laughs at Buddy's misfortunes and he drops a rock to make things really bad. Boy, he really is a nasty villain; not giving any chances for anybody to win. The rock bounces off the branch and whacks the villain in the face. The villain then tries to grab himself up the edge of the cliff but his hands are surprisingly so strong that the grass fall on him; in which the villain and his horse fall down and crash Buddy off the branch. They end up splashing onto a lake but Buddy uses his horse to row him to land - but the villain underwater is still winning.

Buddy's horse has nearly drowned as Buddy pulls him out of the lake. Buddy tries to drag his horse to move but for luck - thunder strikes. As thunder starts to strike at the horses' rear end - Buddy's horse manages to keep up in such a good speed. They then start to run inside a cave - but it's so dark that you can only see their eyes. When you see the thunder coming - you can see their skeletons - like X-ray vision. Buddy and his horse then rush out to the end of the cave - and is now competing with the villain. It's starting to become really close as to who will win that race.

Cookie is chanting for Buddy to "come on" as he's very close to finishing. Both of them fall into the mud, but it turns out that Buddy won the race; as he's gone over the finish line. It means that Buddy has won the "Mail contract". Both Buddy and Cookie are about to kiss each other on the lips but I guess to escape from being in trouble from "Hays Office" (who didn't often like kissing scenes) they accidentally kissed Buddy's horse. The horse blushes - and that's all folks.

Except for some really great gags that did appear in that overall cartoon - the rest of it just flaws to me. I didn't understand about why there were dogs racing in that race considering that this was a "pony express race".  There were two-many long-shots in that film which didn't make the film in my opinion to be very exciting. Although I guess the only part to me that saved the cartoon was the gags - in which they do deserve some credit and effort. Cookie's singing voice at the beginning is really annoying and I don't think it's Bernice Hansen. Not many Buddy cartoons left to review - and I can't wait to finish them, and Buddy will be gone in my mind.