TheLittleSongbird Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons. Actually appreciate it even more through young adults eyes, due to having more knowledge of it, various animation styles, studios, directors and how it all works.'He Was Her Man' is not one of Friz Freleng's, a director who did many great cartoons and a director held in high admiration by me, best, not being one of his funniest, wittiest or freshest. For relatively early Freleng, 'He Was Her Man' is worth watching though he would do much better later. It is never what one would call properly hilarious (but is never unfunny), Freleng's later efforts show more evenness and confidence in directing and the story. It is quite thin in terms of story and the structure is basically an excuse to string the events along. It is not terribly imaginative and occasionally momentum is not always there. Some of 'He Was Her Man' is a bit on the sentimental side and goes overboard slightly on the melodrama.However, the characters are well done, with the wife character being a touching and very rootable character. The husband is purposefully less likeable but it is a characterisation that is far from unrealistic.The cartoon has a good deal of poignancy and shows the darkness of the Great Depression without being too preachy. It has some variety and there is a good deal of liveliness. The conflict between husband and wife is nicely done and there is a good deal of cuteness and charm. The climax is fun and suitably unusual.Animation is very good, it's fluid in movement, crisp in shading, vibrant and very meticulous in detail. The music is outstanding, it is lovely on the ears, lushly orchestrated, full of lively energy and characterful in rhythm, as well as poignant, not only adding to the action but also enhancing it.Overall, worth watching. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Vimacone Early on in cinema, cartoons were generally not geared specifically to children. The general audience was kept in mind. In the case of WB shorts, the studio had adults in mind.This short is a take on the melodramas of the time. More specifically it's a parody on the popular song "Frankie and Johnny", which tells of an abusive husband who is unfaithful to his wife, only for her to shoot him in the end. This short is very much a product of The Great Depression. We see the girl, Frankie, forced to sell apples on a street corner in the snow, while Johnny sits at home and collects any profits from her. We see some disturbing and appalling scenes of spousal abuse, which can be very unsettling to modern viewers. This matches the modern definition of domestic violence, which has only been taken more seriously in recent years. Ultimately, Frankie triumphs over Johnny in the end.Because of the non-serious depictions of domestic violence, this short has not been shown often in recent years. Granted it was a downbeat cartoon to begin with. Even more disturbing, that this cartoon was reissued as a Blue Ribbon long after the depression had ended, indicating that it had some degree of popularity with audiences. Another unsettling part of this to parents would be that its wide-eyed late 30's cartoon mice exhibiting this behavior.This would otherwise be a testament to the fact that these cartoons were made with for adult audiences and how our society has changed for the better in terms of issues that were previously taken lightly.This short is available on the laserdisc The Golden Age Of Looney Tunes Vol. 3.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . for this 1937 offering from Warner Bros.' Animated Shorts Seers division (aka, the Looney Tuner prognosticators), sounds can be deceiving. The first clue that this sad tale is directed to we Americans of the (Then) Far Future is that the Frankie character clearly calls the lazy misogynistic fat cat mouse "Donnie" a few times BEFORE switching to the "Johnny" of the musical lyric, a clear giveaway that Warner is warning us against the Deplorable current White House occupant, Don Juan Rump. In the lead up to his Rigged Selection, Master Rump was famous for A)Bankrupting an unprecedented five gambling casinos, B)NOT releasing tax returns documenting the $10 billion he owes to his Russian Loan Shark Red Commie KGB Chief Vlad "Mad Dog" Putin, C)Being a court-document spouse rapist, D)Being a self-confessed Serial Finger Rapist, and E)Possessing the smallest hands of ANY White House Seeker in U.S. History (including Susan B. Anthony). Notice the tiny rodent-sized hands the male mouse sports during HE WAS HER MAN. Pay close attention to the male mouse beating down Frankie like a Bobo Doll, punching her repeatedly in her face. Mark the fact that the male mouse's assassination turns out to be a well-deserved "inside job." The second salient fact showing that Don Juan Rump is the focus of HE WAS HER MAN is the fact that the voice cast is NOT credited here (given Rump's infamous penchant for revenging himself against anyone at whom he takes umbrage, whether it is a hard-working contractor he knows cannot successfully sue for what they're owed in America's rigged court system, or one of the naked Teenaged Girls he's barged in upon in the beauty pageants he's purchased solely for this purpose, or one of the dish washers cleaning the rich people slobber off plates at his resort who cannot even collect their full minimum wages, or the parents of Dead American War Heroes). This anonymity was felt necessary to keep Rump, Putin, and their Henchpeople from murdering the talent involved in making HE WAS HER MAN, such as Olivia De Havilland (who voiced Frankie, and turns 101 this summer).

Lee Eisenberg In one of the many Looney Tunes cartoons not featuring the usual set of characters, a Depression-era female mouse has to sell apples in the miserable cold, and then bring them home to her abusive husband. But when he abandons her and takes up with another woman, she does what any woman has the right to do.Aside from the main plot, I see "He Was Her Man" as a Depression time capsule. Aside from the despair prevalent during that time, the female mouse sells apples for five cents. To think that five cents used to be worth something! But anyway, I recommend this cartoon as a look back at an era that unfortunately could return given the current state of the world.