Farmer Al Falfa has been around for nearly a full century. Introduced in the silent era by animator Paul Terry, Falfa worked for a few different studios, including Paramount, before becoming one of the founding stars at Terrytoons, which inherited Educational Pictures' distribution deal with 20th Century Fox.
Unfortunately, after a 1-shot comeback in 1956, Falfa was retired. He had appeared in the first two Heckle & Jeckle shorts before disappearing for a decade, but was so far out of the public's consciousness by the time CBS brought Heckle & Jeckle and Mighty Mouse back to television, via a licensing deal with Filmation, in 1979, Falfa wasn't even considered.
The only memory I had up to now was dining at a Ground Round restaurant, and one of the Farmer Al Falfa shorts was playing with the sound turned off. And, no, this next item, 1936's "The Dry Spell", wasn't it.
Did you see that slight nod to Jack & The Beanstalk near the end? Too bad they couldn't use the giant. After all, that rain making formula Al bought was the equivalent of magic beans.
Rating: B-.
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