The Weirdest Walter Lantz Cartoon

[Pietro]

What do you think is the weridest Walter Lantz cartoon?

1. "The Merry Dog" (1933), this is the weirdest
Christmas cartoon I ever saw!

2. "Spooks" (1930), this entire cartoon is a bizarre
spoof of "Phantom of the Opera." The weirdest thing
about this Lantz cartoon is the scene where the
grotesque phantom asks Oswald, "What does a chicken
say when it lays a square egg?"

3. "The Mechanical Man" (1932), another "boy saves girl
from villian plot." However this one is filled with tons of
bizarre gags. This cartoon has a very close resemblence
to the 1931 Van Beuren cartoon, "Wot a Night."

-Pietro

[Matt Yorston]

My picks:

"Wrestling Wrecks" (1953), directed by Don Patterson, has more than its share of "weird" moments particularly the cartoon's opening scene in which the announcer narrates the various upcoming matches with the wrestlers involved all having physiques that match their monikers (i.e. Hatchet Man has a large axe blade for a nose, Quicksand Joe actually is a swamp of quicksand with a face, The Phantom is only a set of boxer shorts, false teeth, dark glasses, and wrestling shoes, etc.). Also some of the more visual gags can be considered "weird" such as Woody going to the arena and making a seat for himself by pulling out a bleacher stand as if it were a typewriter ribbon and Woody placing a large metal sheet inside the chest of one of the wrestlers so that when the other wrestler kicks him there, he not only gets repelled by the metal but the man's feet end up coming out of his back as if he were made of elastic!

"Termites From Mars" (1952), also directed by Patterson, contains some weird gags (an entire city of skyscrapers disappearing into the ground and being replaced by a battallion of army cannons as preparation for the invaders, the ray gun scene which ends with Woody becoming an outline of himself, one of the martian termites attaching a TV set wire to Woody's beak so that the man who was on TV earlier explaining about the martians now appears in the whites of Woody's eyes) as well as a weird plot, one of the most innovative plots involved with a Lantz cartoon.

"Sh-h-h-h-h" (1955), directed by Tex Avery, goes without saying. This is probably *the* weirdest Lantz cartoon as well as one of the most underrated. I mean, throughout the cartoon, the lead character, Mr. Twiddle, is warned by his doctor that if he does not receive any peace and quiet, he will simply blow up and, in the end, Twiddle becomes so enraged, he does just that ("People just won't listen to their doctors' advice")!

Also, "Dig That Dog" (1954; one of my favorite Lantz cartoons) is somewhat "weird". Cuddles, a Great Dane, has the innate ability to bury *everything* he sees in the backyard including: the mailman, a house, an island, a train, and, in the finale, the moon itself (after he was rocketed there by his master in a futile attempt to rid himself of the mongrel)! But everything turns out well... there is profit to be had with an astronomic body to be found in one's own backyard after all.

[Larry T]

Usually, these cartunes don't get half as bad as the Fleischer's, but there a few weird ones I know of I can add here:

1. Termites From Mars- - as said by Matt, a weird plot with weird gags and a weird setting, but perfectly innovative. This one used to give me the creeps when I was younger- watching the termites eat everything, wood or not, then finally getting caught by Woody on a band of scotch tape. Visually very enticing however, with the flashing colour card backgrounds during the sequence when Woody is blasted by the raygun, and the entire screen turning to red during the "Arm yourselves" scene at the beginning.....

2. Destination Meatball- Woody wants food; Buzz Buzzard owns a grocery store; Buzz literally "jacks up" the prices to make the food unafforable; Woody finds another way to get it- Like a lot of Don Patterson cartoons, this one is totally sans-dialogue, except for the trademark laugh of Woody at the very end. The majority of the cartoon revolves around Woody getting doused with invisible ink and generally beating up Buzz and wasting his groceries at the same time. There is a very weird and gruesome scene however, where Woody gets ink poured on his limbs at diffrent times and appears to be dismembered..... Buzz thinks he HAS dismembered Woody and attempts to hide the body- when he sweeps his parts into a trap door, Woody actually IS dismembered as the parts roll independently into concealment....

3. Mother Goose On The Loose- One of my all-time favourite Lantz cartoons, this one is just plain weird because it is basically a perverted version of a Mother Goose storytelling line. Little Bo Peep, Mary (with the little lamb), the "Fish" in the pail Simple Simon is after, the "Maid all forlorn" in the house that Jack built, etc. etc. etc. are essentially burlesque-style girlie models instead of cute storybook entities. All the rhymes here have been corrupted, but not in a way you're used to Hollywood doing them....

4. Apple Andy- My favourite Andy Panda cartoon. Andy gets sick eating unripe apples. A great "weird dream" sequence features his being tortured by the "Devil in the White Night Gown" on a "Baby Bottleneck"-ish machine. Bizarre stuff.

5. Alley To Bali- Another Don Patterson cartoon (gee, is this a trend?) Woody and Buzz are "Long Pigs" (don't ask what that is) sacrificed to a Singapore-style volcano by a female deity that lures them in. Bizarre scenics and flashy colours with strange animation- a cartoon that leaves you asking yourself after watching it..... "What in the heck WAS that????"

6. Crazy Mixed-Up Pup- One of my favourite Avery Lantz cartoons. The owner and his dog switch identities due to mixups in their medical attention. Weirdness abounds with the situations they get into and their counterparts' reactions.... but funny stuff anyway!

[PlopKat]

1.Voo Doo In Harlem (1938) This takes place after hours in an animation studio. Some ink is spilled and becomes caricatured jungle natives who sing the title song. I don't recall any gags but what makes it memorable is that the backgorund are live-action photos. All the cartoon characters return to paper when the real-life black cleaning woman shows up. She takes the paper and burns them in the incinerator. The last shot is of smoke from the fire.

2. The Painter & The Pointer (1944). Andy Panda wants his dog to stand still as the dog's picture is painted. This makes the dog the target of a couple of spiders who want to eat him.

3. $21.00 A Day Once A Month (1941) It's payday on the army base, except this unit seems to be composed of nothing but toys, except for Woody Woodpecker and Andy Panda who make cameo appearances. The gags aren't memorable (only ever-so-slightly better than those in Voo Doo In Harlem) but the title song is quite catchy. Surprised it didn't turn up in one of Abbott & Costello's wartime comedies.

-PlopKat

[Bobby B]

Originally posted by PlopKat
2. The Painter & The Pointer (1944). Andy Panda wants his dog to stand still as the dog's picture is painted. This makes the dog the target of a couple of spiders who want to eat him.



"Now if you move, BOOM, no more doggie!"