Stick to Shorts: A Classic Cartoons Podcast

You Ought to Be in Pictures (1940)

For the season finale, J.D. ties up loose ends with the help of Danny Horn (The Fantastic Miss Piggy Podcast) as they discuss a Friz Freleng masterpiece. We get into Freleng's early career, the peculiar popularity of Porky Pig, and, making his Stick to Shorts debut, Daffy Duck! Host/Producer: J.D. Hansel Guest: Danny Horn Content Warning for Cartoon: smoking. Availability: Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Vol. 2; Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection, Vol. 2; Looney Tunes Platinum Collection, Vol. 2; Porky Pig 101. Notes: Here's an interview with Friz Freleng [https://youtu.be/NbZwISKdfnQ?si=l8lkuK8Cu5PvbD6E] (alluded to near the beginning of the episode) that was a helpful resource for learning about his story. Content warning: he uses an outdated, now offensive term around 7 1/2 minutes in. The episode of the podcast Stuttering Is Cool I referenced in the show is #230 [https://stutteringiscool.com/podcast/porky-pig-role-model-for-people-who-stutter/]. (I feel the need to clarify that my chuckling around this part of the episode was not snickering or mockery, but just something that happens sometimes when I feel particularly anxious. I found the conversations in the Porky episode of Stuttering Is Cool episode highly valuable, so I hope my listeners with check it out.) The Friz Freleng quote about The Captain and the Kids is from page 283 of Of Mice and Magic by Leonard Maltin. The Freleng quote at the end of the episode pertaining to You Ought to Be in Pictures is from page 242 of the same book. The episode mentions the Schlesinger Productions Christmas Party film, which is worth watching shortly before or after watching to this cartoon or listening to this episode. It is available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume Six DVD set or the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume Two Blu-Ray set as part of "The World of Leon Schlesinger". You will find most of the trivia and casting information about this cartoon repeated in lots of places, but I was specifically pulling from Jerry Beck's audio commentary track on the cartoon and his book The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons.

The Invisible Mouse (1947)

Tori Schmidt joins J.D. to talk all things Tom and Jerry! We needed an example of a generic Tom and Jerry cartoon, and we decided this one’s ordinary enough. We think you’ll find that this run-of-the-mill MGM cartoon proves their mill was pretty darn good. We talk about William Hanna and Joe Barbera’s early careers, the remarkable success of their cat and mouse duo, and the remarkable failure of Chuck Jones’ Tom and Jerry era. Host/Producer: J.D. Hansel Guests: Tori Schmidt Content Warning for Cartoon: spanking; cartoon violence. Content Warning for Podcast Episode: mentions of gun violence and other harm that these characters do to each other (whacking, cutting, etc.). Availability: Tom & Jerry's Greatest Chases, Vol. 2; Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection, Vol. 1; Tom and Jerry Golden Collection, Vol. 1; Tom and Jerry: 85th Anniversary Kids Collection. Notes: My main sources for the history of Tom and Jerry were the MGM chapter of Of Mice and Magic and the documentary How Bill and Joe Met Tom and Jerry. My comments on the kind of violence that Hanna and Barbera were willing to do compared to what was happening at Warner were greatly influenced by Michael Barrier's observations about the use of sharp objects in their cartoons on pages 407-408 of Hollywood Cartoons. I learned of Joe Barbera's penchant for plate rail gags from Mark Kausler's audio commentary track for Puss Gets the Boot. In the episode I mention the Cartoon Research article "The INVISIBLE Article" by Charles Gardner [https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-invisible-article-part-1/].

Hollywood Steps Out (1941)

G! G! Ryan Roe and Anthony Strand (Movin' Right Along) attempt to help J.D. decipher the pop culture references in classic cartoons. Do they succeed? Listen to find out! (They don't.) Listen anyway! (You won't.) Topics include: one-shot cartoons, the old celebrities we first encountered in cartoon caricatures, the career of Tex Avery, and what this cartoon tells us about how the animators saw their own place in the Hollywood system. Please write in to tell us who has the most oomph! Host/Producer: J.D. Hansel Guests: Ryan Roe and Anthony Strand Content Warning for Cartoon: wolf-whistling; visual fat joke; smoking. Content Warning for Podcast Episode: discussion of a joke that is definitely bad, but I don't know how best to categorize its badness. Racist? Antisemitic? Xenophobic? All of the above? Availability: Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Vol. 2; Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection, Vol. 2; Looney Tunes Platinum Collection, Vol. 2; Looney Tunes: Parodies Collection. Notes: I strongly encourage you to check out Devon Baxter's article "'Hollywood Steps Out': The Full Scoop" on CartoonResearch.com [https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/hollywood-steps-out-the-full-scoop/]. It has a lot more info than I shared on the podcast, naturally. Other sources that I cited in the podcast (but feel I might as well name again here) include Donald Crafton's essay "The View from Termite Terrace: Caricature and Parody in Warner Bros. Animation" from Kevin S. Sandler's Reading the Rabbit, the "Behind the Tunes" featurette "Looney Tunes Go Hollywood", and The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons by Jerry Beck for its introduction by Leonard Maltin and its entry on Hollywood Steps Out by Keith Scott. For the explanation of Avery's departure from the Schlesinger studio, I refer you to the article "The Heckling Hare Problem" by Thad Komorowski [https://www.whataboutthad.com/2012/12/15/the-heckling-hare-problem/] and pages 365 and 609 of Hollywood Cartoons by Michael Barrier. The info about Avery's sabbatical comes from Hollywood Cartoons by Michael Barrier, pages 430-431.

Superman (1941)

ToughPigs' Danny Horn and Joe Hennes fly in to talk about Superman in his cinematic debut! We also look at where this fits into the history of the Fleischer studio. Host/Producer: J.D. Hansel Guests: Danny Horn and Joe Hennes Content Warning for Animated Short: flashing lights; death. Selected Availability: Public Domain; Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection; The Superman Motion Picture Anthology (among other releases of Superman: The Movie); Max Fleischer’s Superman 1941-1943. Notes: At some point in this episode, one of us referred to comic book writer Grant Morrison using he/him pronouns. It should be noted that, in recent years, Grant Morrison has expressed a preference (albeit a very loose one, from what I've read) for being referred to with they/them pronouns. Apologies for the error. Click here to read the article on Cartoon Research by Jerry Beck on the rumored deleted dialogue from this cartoon. [https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-line-that-wasnt-there-superman-1941/] In all honesty, my homework for this episode was a little rushed and relied on video sources almost exclusively, possibly at the expense of accuracy. Most of my info about the Fleischer studio came from the documentary Out of the Inkwell: The Fleischer Story. For information more specific to Superman and his shorts, I relied on the audio commentary track on the cartoon by Paul Dini on the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection and the featurettes Max Fleischer's Superman: Speeding Toward Tomorrow and First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series.

Dumb-Hounded (1943)

Our Cartoonorama continues with our introduction to the MGM studio! Ryan Roe joins this discussion about the debut of one of our favorite characters: Droopy! We talk about Tex Avery's talent for over-the-top gags and how this cartoon fits into (and doesn't fit into) the genre of chase cartoons. Host/Producer: J.D. Hansel Guest: Ryan Roe Content Warning for Animated Short: attempted suicide (sort of?); guns. Content Warning for Episode: mentions of above. Selected Availability: Tex Avery’s Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection; Tex Avery Screwball Classics: Volume 1. References: The voice cast credits can be found in this article: "'Hello All You Happy Taxpayers': Tex Avery's Voice Stock Company" by Keith Scott [https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/hello-all-you-happy-tax-payers-tex-averys-voice-stock-company/] The MGM chapter of Of Mice and Magic by Leonard Maltin was used for general information on the MGM studio and Tex Avery's time there. I heard/saw the interview with Tex Avery in which he talks about his approach to cartoons in relation to Disney's in a Behind the Tunes featurette called "A Conversation with Tex Avery". That version had music under it, so the audio I used is from this upload of the footage on the YouTube channel Historic Films Stock Footage Archive [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQOd610gtBM]. I can't remember if one or both of them got cut, but the script includes quotes from animators Eric Goldberg and John R. Dilworth. These come from the documentary King-Size Comedy: Tex Avery and the Looney Tunes Revolution. The John Canemaker quote is from the documentary featurette Droopy and Friends: A Laugh Back. I mentioned that Chuck Jones said Tex Avery felt that something had gone wrong with Bugs in Avery's Tortoise Beats Hare. I heard this in the audio commentary track for that cartoon that is made up of archival clips from Chuck Jones interviews.