Drawn and Quartered's Belated Christmas Spectacular -- Episode #3: The Captain's Christmas (Salty Dogs and Katzenjammer Kids)

Director(s): Friz Freleng

Summary: Here’s a refreshing change of pace: a Friz Freleng cartoon not made for Warner Bros. You see, there was a time in the history of Termite Terrace where Friz Freleng thought that it would be best if he took his talents elsewhere, so he went to MGM to do animated shorts. It, sadly, didn’t work out the way it did with Tex Avery, so Freleng was back at Warner Bros as quickly as he left (the 1940 WB short, “You Oughta Be in Pictures” is a fictionalized take on it).

Anyway, in this, the last Captain and the Kids cartoon of 1938, the patriarch of the family (and titular Captain) gets robbed of his Santa costume and sleigh during his yearly tradition of playing Santa Claus to entertain his wife (Mama) and children (Hans and Fritz) by a degenerate sailor named John Silver and his nameless henchmen. While John does do a good job of playing Santa, he soon goes too far and ruins Christmas for the kids, prompting his peg-legged conscience to scold him and tell him to make things right.

Fun Facts: 

• This and the next cartoon, “Petunia National Park,” are the only Captain and the Kids cartoons that were done in Technicolor, rather than black and white.
• The title is kind of a misnomer, as The Captain only appears at the beginning of the cartoon, and he doesn’t do anything to stop or help John Silver redeem himself after ruining Christmas for the kids.
• This is the only Captain and the Kids short where Billy Bletcher (who did do voice work on Warner Bros. shorts. You’ve probably heard him as the voice of Papa Bear on the Dysfunctional Bear Family shorts, or Colonel Shuffle on “Mississippi Hare” and “Dog Gone South” and is the original voice of Pegleg Pete in the Mickey Mouse shorts over at Disney, among other roles) voices John Silver instead of Mel Blanc. John Silver’s singing voice in this short was provided by Charles Bennett.

The Channel(s): Cartoon Network and Boomerang (ToonHeads)

Part(s) Edited: In the rare time I saw this on television (this was one of those shorts I saw a lot on VHS tape as a child. It never occured to me that this would air on television, even during that small December window when Cartoon Network would pepper their programming with Christmas-themed animation) back in the early-to-mid 2000s (I want to say 2004, but I’m so sure it was 2003), the scene of one of the kids (the blond one) playing with a sad, shuffling black man wind-up toy and John Silver making it dance faster by shooting at its feet (causing it to run, despite being attached to the wind-up box) was cut. For continuity reasons (I think, and sincerely hope), the earlier scene of John Silver playing a toy piano with his pegleg and shooting his pistol twice was cut.

What Grinds My Gears About the Edit(s): Not much. All the years of watching it uncut on videotape, I almost didn’t notice that there was an edit done until I noticed the jump in audio (audio jumps and alterations [i.e., redubs and muting] almost always give away visual edits), and that was on the second viewing.

Video Comparison: 

Availability Uncut: It’s been on physical home media since 1983. First, it was on volume one of the MGM Cartoon Magic VHS. Eight years later, it was on the Tom & Jerry’s The Night Before Christmas VHS (that’s the one I had as a kid). Seventeen years after that (2008), it would appear as a special feature on the final volume (volume six) of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set (it’s on the second disc, featuring World War II-era cartoons and some post-war shorts that are considered propaganda, such as the three Sloan Foundation shorts directed by Friz Freleng that combine cartoon antics with lessons about the American economy and business). Four years after that (2012), it was released on the second volume of the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection (Blu-ray only. The DVD version just has Warner Bros cartoons with no special features or third disc).

Is/Was It on Streaming or Digital Download: Not as of this writing. The only MGM cartoons I’ve seen on streaming and/or digital download are the Tom and Jerry shorts and, of course, most of Tex Avery’s oeuvre. Anything that’s not it (including Harmon and Ising’s work after leaving Termite Terrace) hasn’t been released, as far as I know.

 

‘Til next time, stay Looney and be Merrie.

Lady Play Your Mandolin ("...And Nothing of Value Was Lost")

 

Director: Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising

Summary: When I say that the early black and white cartoons from Warner Bros had little to no plot, I mean it. The entire short is a flimsy excuse to show excessive drinking (which, considering that this was a pre-Code cartoon made before Prohibition in America was officially repealed, was rather daring in its day) and trippy animation set to the title song. What’s worse is that the Foxy character (who only starred in this short, “Smile, Darn Ya, Smile,” and “One More Time”) was such a blatant knock-off of Mickey Mouse that the character didn’t last long due to Walt Disney threatening to sue and the short itself saw no re-release or airing on television until Cartoon Network’s ToonHeads series did a special episode about the rare and obscure works of Warner Bros Studios. That being said, it is a fun short to watch and the title song is catchy.

The Channel(s): Cartoon Network (ToonHeads: The Lost Cartoons)

Part(s) Edited: As mentioned in the summary, this cartoon was never re-released or shown on television until Cartoon Network’s animation history show ToonHeads did a special episode called ToonHeads: The Lost Cartoons, which showcased the Warner Bros. Studio short films and live-action pieces that casual viewers wouldn’t know existed, such as gag reels showing what working at Termite Terrace was like, animated shorts made for military audiences (most notably Private Snafu and Mr. Hook), 1950s commercials using the Warner Bros characters, and a failed TV pilot called Philbert.

The ToonHeads: The Lost Cartoons version trimmed the opening song to remove the duck playing the clarinet and dancing on the piano along to the title track; the gorilla waiter (who was also on “Goopy Geer”) walking through the bouncy party and coming in through the doorway laughing after the Joe E. Brown hippo wails like a police siren. The ToonHeads version also adds an iris effect transition when the gorilla waiter knocks on his head and we go to the scene of Foxy riding to the bar on his horse.

How It Plays With the Edit: I don’t know why any of this was done, except because of time and pacing. I do know the edited version on ToonHeads: The Lost Cartoons kind of ruined the fun and bouncy tone of the music. As always, here’s a video comparison:

(original version)

(ToonHeads: The Lost Cartoons version [starts at 6:14])

Availability Uncut: Since this is a public domain short (and has been since 1960), you can find the uncut version on YouTube and other video sites, as well as on some official releases. “Lady, Play Your Mandolin!” is available as a special feature on the 2013 Blu-ray release of the Edward G. Robinson/Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. gangster film Little Caesar and the 2023 Blu-ray release of the Richard Dix (yes, that really was his name) and Irene Dunne Western saga, Cimarron. A high-definition version is available on the streaming service, Warner Bros. Discovery RIDE (and is the same high-def version on the Cimarron Blu-ray) and aired on MeTV+ (MeTV’s sister channel). You can also find the edited-for-time version as part of ToonHeads: The Lost Cartoons on the first volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set and the second volume of the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Blu-ray.

Update: “Lady, Play Your Mandolin” is no longer on Warner Media RIDE and, as of 2025, is streaming on Tubi.

Bosko, The Talk-Ink Kid (Crashing Pilots)

Director(s): Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising

Summary: In what is considered the pitch pilot to the Warner Bros. cartoons (and one of the earliest examples of incorporating lip sync to sound in animation as well as one of the earliest examples of mixing live-action with animation), an animator (Rudolf Ising) draws a cartoon human on a sheet of paper, who springs to life in front of his eyes. The cartoon character (voiced by Carmen “Max” Maxwell) introduces himself as Bosko and shows off his many talents before Ising puts him back in the inkwell.

Part(s) Edited: You’d think a cartoon this short and only seen by Leon Schlesinger as part of a pitch to see what kind of animated shorts an executive would want for his studio wouldn’t be subjected to cuts, would you? 

Well, it was. 

While it might seem that the edits were done for time reasons (as there were a lot of works to cover within the hour [with commercials] and spending time on this would have eaten a lot of clock), I feel that some of Bosko’s dialogue was cut so it wouldn’t sound so stereotypically black, though kudos to Cartoon Network for not overdubbing Bosko’s original voice like they did with Mammy Two-Shoes from the Tom and Jerry shorts.

When Cartoon Network aired this as part of a special episode of ToonHeads about lost, rare, and obscure works from Warner Bros (mostly animated, though there were some live-action pieces and a couple that were hybrid), they cut Ising taking a drag from his cigarette (though they left in him stubbing out his cigarette in an off-screen ashtray), the cartoon started when Ising actually draws Bosko instead of when Ising is wracking his brain trying to come up with something, Ising actually drawing Bosko was sped up, Bosko’s line, “Well, here I is and I sure feels good”, along with some of Bosko’s dialogue with Ising was cut (the ToonHeads version goes from Ising drawing Bosko to Ising immediately asking Bosko what can he do), Bosko’s line, “Okay, boss. Watch dis here,” after Ising tells Bosko to show him what he can do, and pretty much everything after Bosko does a a stereotypical Yiddish dance while doing an a capella of  “Khosn Kale Mazel Tov”. Cartoon Network’s version goes from the Yiddish dance to Bosko belting out a long note next to a piano that just magically appeared (it was from one of the many scenes that got cut) until Ising sucks him back in the fountain pen and puts him in the inkwell, which was also sped up slightly.

How It Plays With the Edit(s): For the casual viewers, the edits weren’t too obvious. This short didn’t have a plot, so you don’t have to worry about losing any story beats, and considering that a lot of films from the early days of movies have lost footage, you’d be excused in thinking that “Bosko The Talk-Ink Kid” either had scenes lost to time or actually was that short, since pitch pilots are supposed to be rudimentary outlines of what a series is going to be like. I’m pretty sure anyone out there trying to create a new animated or live-action series, whether you’re just starting out or have been in the game for years, will agree with me on this. If not, the comment section is there to correct me. Just be respectful.

Availability Uncut: The short is public domain, so you don’t have to worry about legality when it comes to finding it online. If you’re into collecting physical media, it’s not really available on an official home media release, unless you count the Inside Termite Terrace VHS from 1988 or the Uncensored Bosko DVD that came out in 2000. YouTube has it uncut. As for the “edited for time (and possibly content)” version that Cartoon Network aired on ToonHeads, that’s, if you can believe it, readily available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, volume one, or the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection, volume two.

For comparison's sake (and for those who don’t have a DVD player, a Blu-ray player, or a VCR/VHS player), I will provide a link to the compare/contrast video I made myself, but you (the reader) have to support any and all official releases of these cartoons (this will be a given for all future posts): https://drive.google.com/file/d/11zzOOEgsUJtzd9dPePxEyd85kCEf_LUF/view?usp=sharing