Sunday, May 28, 2017

Toons You Might've Missed: Sh-h-h-h-h-h-h! (1955)

Legendary cartoon icon Fred "Tex" Avery finished his career at Universal, working for Walter Lantz. His final effort recycled a plot idea from one of his Droopy shorts at MGM, but this time, in "Sh-h-h-h-h-h!", Avery's protagonist, Mr. Twiddle, quits the jazz band he's playing with when his nerves get fried from excessive noise.



It didn't quite have the zip of Avery's earlier works, but it would be 25 years before Avery would return, this time at Hanna-Barbera, as he was partially responsible for the Dino & Cavemouse segment of the Flintstone Comedy Hour (2nd series) and created Kwicky Koala as his final coda.

Rating: B-.

6 comments:

Silverstar said...

According to Walter Lantz, one reason why Tex Avery didn't work out for him was because Avery was mainly interested in making one-shot shorts, rather than creating a central character and sticking with said character through a series of cartoons, a move Lantz claimed "had no replay or resale value, as merchandisers weren't interested in licensing a one-shot character". Make of that what you will.

hobbyfan said...

So it became a case of agreeing to disagree, and Avery went on his way. Thanks.

Chris Sobieniak said...

It's pretty obvious when you see one of two Chilly Willy's he did how he was disinterested in that start of the cartoon as he focused on the polar bear instead.

Between Lantz and H-B, Tex would found "Cascade Productions" where he produced TV commercials for products ranging from Kool-Aid to Raid spray.

hobbyfan said...

Some of those Raid ads have been posted here, Chris, including my personal favorite, the "Easy Rider" parody with Paul Frees & Mel Blanc as biker roaches. Y'think Cascade was the company that did the Looney Tunes ads for Kool-Aid in the 60's?

Chris Sobieniak said...

Yes, they did. I believe Tex used some great talent on those ads. He used Rod Scribner and Ben Washam on this ad for instance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du3qGXwfr0E

hobbyfan said...

That Looney Tunes ad is already here, under Looney TV.