Acme Hour 6/22/01

[Matthew Hunter]

It seems the pattern continued the entire week. In fact, we got 2 rare WB's, one of which (Rookie Review) I have never seen on CN before.

"Little Rural Riding Hood"(MGM)
"Hold the Wire" (Popeye, redrawn)
"Little Bantamweight" (MGM)
"Rookie Review" (WB)
"The Bookworm"" (MGM)
"Little Dutch Plate" (WB)

-and I have a question for the title card experts on that last one, for those who saw it. Why does "Little Dutch Plate" have fairly modern-looking title cards, but it is much older than said cards? Don't most of the 2 and 3-color Technicolor toons have either the little Vitaphone pennant or the concentric circles with title inside? Was it butchered like this when it recieved its Blue Ribbon title?
-Matthew

[J Lee]

All the pre-1936 color Merrie Melodies that were re-released as Blue Ribbons were given the concentric circle open and closing titles.

Now, why Warner's would re-release a 1935 Freleng song-and-dance MM in 1947 or 1950 when the studio had gone in a completely different direction is another story entirely. I'm sure post-WWII audiences were pretty unhappy if they were expecting to see Bugs, Daffy or Sylvester pop up on the screen only to find "Merrie Old Soul" or "Flowers for Madame" showing up there instead.

[Crazy Tom]

Originally posted by Matthew Hunter
Why does "Little Dutch Plate" have fairly modern-looking title cards, but it is much older than said cards? Don't most of the 2 and 3-color Technicolor toons have either the little Vitaphone pennant or the concentric circles with title inside? Was it butchered like this when it recieved its Blue Ribbon title?
-Matthew

Interestingly enough there are several that are "Blue-Ribbon" butchered. 1935's Country Mouse, The Lady In Red, and The Cat Came Back are good examples of 2-strip technicolor films that got zapped. Even odder than that, the Vitaphone pennant was actually inside the circles in one 1936 cartoon before the springing WB came along...I Wanna Play House.

(Incidentally, the springing WB came along the same way as "B" films released from the beginning of both WB and First National Pictures in 1934 and 1935...through a cloud of haze. Check out Turner Classic Movies and you will see what I mean by that.)