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).
Thursday, August 12, 2010
107 The Two Headed Giant
Title: The Two Headed Giant (hyphenated in some sources, but not on the title card)
Studio: Terry
Date: 8/11/39
Credits:
Story by
John Foster
Directed by
Connie Rasinski
Music by
Philip A. Scheib
Series:
Running time (of viewed version): 6:48
Synopsis: A two headed giant of indeterminate national origin is killed by a dog hired to do the job.
Comments: The red credits and blue moving behind them are pleasing. Post credits starts with some very traditional good morning music. For some reason the four toed feet on the giants looks a little unusual. It may just be the drawing, and the fur toes is something to point to as an explanation (edit: I think I meant four toes after the comma, but the poetry of "fur toes" is too good to remove). A buzzard who flies confidently but has a bad leg for walking fails as a joke, but it sounds like a good ironic setup for a dramatic character. The giants seem to have some sort of Greek or Eastern European accent (tho the kilt and music (the rabbits are coming hooray hooray) are clearly Scottish). "You make for me to be nervous" could be a lifted line. For some reason the current king is in a storybook about Jack the Giant Killer (as is Jack). Virtually nothing is made of the giant having two heads after the wake up scene. Jack extinguishes the sun to slaughter an enemy who is fleeing from him who only engaged him in the first place because he had been hired to murder all the giants, his pay being a woman. The giant has a kind of WB design.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B56GwzuGC2g
The bald giant does look a little like the design Hardaway and Dalton would use for "Porky the Giant Killer". As for the voices, I think they were trying to riff on Parkyakarkus (Harry Einstein), whose dialect humor had captured the imagination of the folks over a Warner Bros. two years earlier.
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