A Name

Yeah, the revival doubled down on this too.

actually, speaking of the revival, it’s weird how they honed in on how bad of a liar Hank is, but he’s still good enough to keep the John Redcorn thing away from Dale.

Think it’s time for my annual Persepolis rewatch, a perfect movie.

I’d probably put John Redcorn in with “the gang”, but I don’t really know why Hank didn’t try harder to stop the affair.

Although I’m more surprised as to how Bill was able to keep it a secret, he’s a blabbermoith who loves it when someone hurts like he does.

That doesn’t mean this is ranked by who or what Hank loves the most.

For instance, if someone put a gun to Bobby, Peggy or Luanne’s head and said that it was either them or propane, Hank would give it up.

The gang, he’d pause before picking them.

Cotton, he’d let die.

Not sure if anyone cares, but if I was to rank which of Hank’s relationships are the most important on KOTH, I’d probably go

Bobby>Peggy>Cotton>the gang>propane>Luanne>his values>Ladybird

I’d classify Buck under “propane” and Kahn as “the gang”.

2.1C The Duck Doctor (1952)

Another duckling short, but at least this is around when the original Hanna and Barbera run was at its peak, vs Vanishing
Duck being from the tail end. Definitely funnier, even if I could still do without the character.

2.1B Droopy’s Double Trouble (1951)

I mentioned preferring reserved, chaotic Droopy vs warm, loving Droopy, and this one splits the difference by introducing his brother Drippy, who is much more violent but closer to that earlier take.

It’s a good time though, as Spike is a worthy and fair victim.

2.1A Droopy Leprechaun (1958)

Our first Droopy is a Michael Lah short, which feels wrong but also somehow right.

It’s a dumb one, but I give it points for featuring Spike in Ireland, complete with his Irish accent. But I’m not a big fan of Droopy as a well-meaning goofball vs quiet agent of chaos

Loaded with good bits, some of my favorites include the cop dressing down the dog (who I‘m pretty sure is Avery’s Spike despite not being named or voiced) and the one time the cat uses his ventriloquist voice, recalling Donald Duck’s voice like T&J’s duckling. It works here though!

1.4C Ventriloquist Cat (1950)

One of a handful of Avery shorts that was added to HBO Max’s Tom and Jerry package- a few of his cat-themed one shots and a couple of “_ of Tomorrow” shorts made it in for some reason I never questioned- this is a good time even if you can easily guess how it goes

The thing is, Bill Hanna seemed to think Clarence Nash’s voice for Donald Duck was the funniest thing ever, because he’d reuse the duckling’s concept and voice for Yakky Doodle and even made a What-a-Cartoon short reusing it one more time in the 90s. Annoying every time, although I love Donald.

1.4B The Vanishing Duck (1958)

One of the main reasons I prefer Tom and Jerry to Sylvester and Tweety is because Tom gets a draw or even a cic every now and then. Like here.

It’s nice to shake things up for an otherwise meh short. I never liked the duckling, who gets very tedious very fast.

1.4A The Unshrinkable Jerry Mouse (1964)

A cute, if forgettable Jones entry where Jerry teams up with a kitten to take on Tom. It’s been a while, but I believe this is a rare one from his run where we see an owner for Tom. I don’t have much to add other it’s odd to hear Mel Blanc’s moans for Tom.

1.4C (Blooper) Bunny (1991)

This 51 1/2 birthday short for Bugs is about as long as the previous one, but far more on the nose. Frankly, I think it runs as long as it should, the bit would have got older if it went for longer

Still, there are fun gags about how the bit keeps going wrong, its fine

I enjoy it because it’s simple Bugs/Daffy/Elmer material- a truly inspired trio- in a modern setting that somehow feels right for the characters.

It doesn’t have the most fluid animation, but I do like the color scheme a lot. It’s bright and inviting before digital coloring took over.

1.4B Box-Office Bunny

For a post-classic, I’ve always liked this one, even though it’s probably too brief to really cook (but it could have been shorter, fun fact- Tim Burton, of all people, pushed for Warner to extend the short from 3 to 5 minutes).

1.4A The Night of the Living Duck

I won’t lie, it’s nice to hear Mel Blanc, even though his heyday was long gone. The most memora aspect is Mel Tormé as Daffy’s singing voice, but what sticks out to me is that the opening cribs from Great Piggy Bank Robbery.

But hey, Daffy’s a comic book nerd.

I haven‘t been following for too long but I’ve seen you give very few A+’s, just for The Pitt, Andor, Adolescence. How many other series have you rated A+ episodes from?

Basically any Mike Schur pairing outside of April and Andy.

I see Tom and Ann on here, but at least they were terrible on purpose. Ann should have been with Leslie.

a.co/d/07wElDn9

Of course, if you want to own it and a bunch of other great cartoons (includes a bunch of Avery and Freleng MGMs!)

Looney Tunes S04:E09 - Go Fly a Kit / Ali Baba Bunny / Steal Wool Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the whole Looney Tunes crew star in a collection of zany, laugh-out-loud animated shorts from the 1930s through the 2000s.

tubitv.com/tv-shows/200...

Probably won’t be able to do a LT/T&J review for another day or so, so I’ll share another fun selection. I don’t know if Ali Baba Bunny is a top 50 OFT, but it’s a fun time.

Abbott Elementary is picking up the pace but decidedly staying old-school with its costumes.

1.3C Cat Fishin’ (1947)

We leave the stuffiness of concert halls to the great outdoors, as Tom tries to avoid guarddog Spike and get a little fishing in.

I like when Spike has genuine reason to clash with Tom besides him being annoying when he chases Jerry, who is similarly annoyed being bait

Between you and me, I prefer Cat Concerto for one primary reason- I don’t like seeing Bugs as the predator. It’s not the kind of situation he’s meant for. This scenario works better for Tom and Jerry, but I do like Rhapsody as well, which we’ll eventually get to.

It works much better here, thanks to stronger animation- Hanna and Barbera had a much higher budget- and quicker timing.

This short remains controversial because Warner released the similar Rhapsody Rabbit that year, which swaps Tom and Jerry out for Bugs Bunny and an unnamed rodent.

1.3B The Cat Concerto (1947)

And we hit the HB era- an award winners at that, which the title likes to remind you

Idk about you, but the previous short feels like a rip-off of this one- Tom is performing for an audience, which Jerry happens to live underneath of, so he fights back to go backsleep

1.3A The Cat Above and the Mouse Below (1964)

We hit the Jones era with Chuck return to a well he’s found success from before- operatic singing- in a pretty cute cartoon. Nothing too exciting but I think this is one of the better shorts from his tenure. Something about Tom failing on stage hits.

1.2C Doggone Tired (1949)

A pretty simple premise- a rabbit tries to keep a hunter dog awake at night so he won’t be any help to catch him in the day- done in typical Avery fashion. It’s a lot of fun, even if the beats and gags are familiar if you know his work. those discovering should love it!

1.2B Dixieland Droopy (1954)

We get two Avery classics after the one T&J, which is fine by me!

This is far from one of Tex’s wackier shorts, but I mean, it’s still a cartoon where a dog conducts a dixie band consisting of fleas. It’s pretty damn adorable and holds its own to many of his crazier

1.2A Dicky Moe (1962)

Not a Deitch short I’d go to bat for, unless your idea for a good Moby Dick spoof involves the Ahab type going around and mumvling “Dicky Moe” every five seconds. Again, a lot of the humor comes from Not Ahab messing with Tom, which just makes Jerry and Moe redundant.