The Country Cousin begins with the arrival of Abner Countrymouse in the city. He’s been invited via telegram by his cousin, Monty Citymouse, to enjoy the more refined metropolitan life. The film features no dialogue, just sounds, which is central to the plot since sounds could awaken the house cat. Visually, the two mice look very much alike; only their clothes differentiate them physically. However, Abner is quite a bumpkin. His manners are less refined, and he is seemingly incapable of being quiet. After Morty rejects the cheese from a mousetrap that Abner triggers, they begin dining on a table loaded with fine food. Morty has to shush Abner repeatedly, but once the country mouse drinks a glass full of champagne in order to cool his mouth from the taste of hot mustard, there’s little hope that he won’t wake up the cat eventually. Abner gets the hiccups, he tries to shush the radiator when it lets off some steam, and he even performs the mirror routine with his reflection in a purple gelatin, a very clever riff on Chico Marx’s routine. While he is still drunk, Abner kicks the sleeping cat, prompting a chase that leads him into an electrical socket, down a rain gutter, and into a can outside the house. He narrowly escapes people, trains, cars, roller skaters, various threats, and then decides to return to Podunk, which is forty miles away from the city. This short, one of the Silly Symphonies produced by Walt Disney, cleverly uses a series of visual gags and demonstrates the differences between Morty and Abner in their physical reactions. Abner obviously doesn’t really belong in a place like the city, and Morty’s recurring shushes only reinforce how out of place the country mouse is.
Watching The Old Mill Pond is quite an unnerving experience. It’s pretty clear early on that what is ostensibly about a show put on by frogs in the pond of the title is really a blackface revue. A frog that is meant to look and act like Cab Calloway serves as sort of an emcee for a variety show, but rather than being an homage or tribute, it does seem to be mocking the real-life people upon which some of these characters are based. Was having them portrayed as frogs some kind of bizarre blackface that was common at the time? Even if it were, would it have been flattering to the black artists depicted in this short cartoon? In addition to Cab Calloway and his orchestra, we see a frog who’s apparently meant to be Fats Waller and another group of frogs meant to be the Mills Brothers. Some frog diva (Ethel Waters? Really?) with backup dancers sings or performs something called “Jungle Rhythm,” and allegedly the representations include Bill “Bojangles” Robison and Stephin Fetchit too. The short begins and ends with a calm rendition of “Down by the Old Mill Stream,” something of a stark contrast to the raucous show going on behind the reeds of the pond. The Old Mill Pond is one of the Happy Harmonies shorts, meant to serve as competition to Disney’s Silly Symphonies, but it lost the Oscar to a Disney short this year and perhaps deservedly so.
Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor was the first color short in the Popeye series, and it includes a lot of the elements familiar to fans of Popeye cartoons. The encounter in the title occurs when Sinbad (Bluto?) sees Olive Oyl and sends one of his collection of beasts, a giant Roc, to wreck Popeye’s ship and capture Olive. There’s an undercurrent of competition between the two sailors from the start of the film, as Popeye and Sinbad both sing about how great they are. Popeye has to rescue Olive, who has been forced to dance for Sinbad, and the expected fight between the two men ensues. I, personally, have always found it hard to believe that Olive is so appealing that every man wants her. The trademarks are all here: Popeye’s mumbling and grammatically inaccurate speech (“I wants me girl”), his eating of a can of spinach to gain strength to defeat an opponent, and his inevitable victory. The Fleisher Studios cartoons did not have the same sharpness of detail that the Disney films of the era did. However, even with the muted palette of colors typical of the studio’s output, this short’s backgrounds are still quite beautiful. The story is intriguing for its unique details, too, such as the menagerie of beasts that Sinbad has accumulated: two-headed monsters, dragons, lions, serpents, and the Roc. These beasts fear him, but they obey his commands, leading to an interesting demise for the Roc. The bird takes Popeye to a volcanic island, only to be cooked like a turkey by the crafty Popeye. One of the highlights of a Popeye cartoon is the different ways that the filmmakers devised for him to defeat Bluto (or, in this case, Bluto-as-Sinbad). Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor introduces the twister punch, which involves Popeye twisting his own arm so that when he makes contact with Sinbad’s body, his opponent twists as well. It’s a clever addition to the canon, and it adds to the overall fun of this cartoon. Sadly, this was the only Popeye cartoon to be nominated for an Academy Award despite a lengthy and influential output.
Oscar Winner: The Country Cousin (Walt Disney was on a very hot streak back then.)
My Choice: Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor.
Popeye is/was a cultural icon, and this was one of the best of the many
cartoons featuring him. Plus, it’s more ambitious than its competitors.
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