A blog reviewing all the available American animated cartoons of 1939, in approximately release order (or reverse order from the perspective of someone reading the blog after it is done).
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
036 Wanted: No Master
Title: Wanted: No Master
Studio: MGM
Date: 3/18/39
Credits: None listed on print (unless you count "By Milt Gross")
Series: Count Screwloose and J.R. The Wonder Dog By Milt Gross (counts as series?)
Running time (of viewed version): 8:00
Synopsis: Dog seeks vengeance on hungry master by getting him in danger of being married; as is true in all tales of vengeance, the revenger is ultimately destroyed by his own intrigues.
Comments: I think Mel Blanc is the voice of the widow in addition to the count. Second of the series in less than a month. But that was it for the series. The basic premise of the character seems different between the two shorts; Screwloose seems like a poor scammer in the first short, and like a moderately well off scammer in this one. The first one had slightly better visuals, but this one makes more sense as a story. There's a large proportion of jokes dependent upon backgrounds. The lines of the widow when the Count is blackened by cal dust are incomprehensible; sounds possible reversed (with a recognizable phrase in the middle ("cutest little thing I ever saw; I wish I could")). I'm unsure if it would have been done for the original or if she says something terribly racist that has been altered to hide it. The Count on the other hand says "I don't know nothin' bout this here lawnmower", which sounds like a specific reference to me. The coal blackening transfers from the Count to a door, then to the widow's rear. The certificate of marriage reads "This is to certify that Screwloose has this day taken Thisgal as his all full feded wife." I can't read the signatures. When the kids rush in, there's a piece of luggage with Sing Sing on it. There's also a black kid and a Chinese kid in the group, tho they are not visible at normal speed.
When Thisgal (for want of a better name) discovers Count Screwloose covered with the coal dust, her dialogue is actually understandable forwards—if only with great difficulty.
ReplyDelete"Oh, have you seen [unintelligble] cute little man about so high? He was the cutest little thing I ever saw. I wish I could find him. Sure you didn't see him? Oh, gracious, I wonder where he could be."
Count: "I don't know nuthin' about this here loudmouth." (Note: loudmouth, not lawnmower.)
Hey, these screenshots from "Wanted: No Master" are of a much better quality than the versions I've seen on Youtube and Dailymotion! Could you possibly upload your copy of the cartoon to Youtube or somewhere else on the web?
ReplyDelete