Edgar Allan Pooh . . . NORMAN NORMAL is told that the "ethnic" American learned "just before the icicle broke." Warner Bros.' fading gang of animators experienced a Ghostly Final Gasp of Glory as they channeled the Spirit of Fatty Arbuckle to warn 21st Century America of its would-be P - - SY-Grabber-in-Chief, Donald J. Duck. First, Norman's boss "B.B." (an ironic reference to the self-styled Big Billionaire, as well as the size of his seed generators) browbeats ball bearing salesman Norman into internalizing his sleazy Art of the Deal: get your potential customer as drunk as a Mad Russian, and then have him sign a contract that your crooked corporation has no intention of honoring (since you've bribed the U.S. Congress and Judiciary into rigging the system!). In this case, the "ball bearings" product constitutes another sly Warner dig at Trumpenstein's under-sized equipment (Have you seen The Duck flailing his miniature hands about during his televised rants?) Norman's dad counsels him that "Success--that's the main thing; fit in--don't make waves." Pops pretty much is summarizing the syllabus for every Trump University course offering. As Norman questions B.B.'s total lack of Ethics, Conscience, and Humanity, both men are shown to regress to squabbling school boys, perfectly foreshadowing the Trump versus Rubio Debate Debacle. This cartoon ends with Norman in Voting Booth Purgatory.

phantom_tollbooth Alex Lovy's 'Norman Normal' is an exceptional little satire on business ethics and social behaviour. Produced by the new Warner Bros. department in the late 60s (long after the dreadful Speedy and Daffy series and lacklustre new characters such as Cool Cat had made Warner cartoons seem entirely past their best) as a "Cartoon Special", 'Norman Normal' takes an entirely different approach as a hip animated think piece which ultimately takes place inside the titular character's head. The amiable Norman must fight off unethical propositions from his boss, endorsements of conformity from his father, peer pressure from his acquaintances and the desperate search for approval by a man with a lamp on his head! A whole new contemporary attitude is apparent, especially in the scene in which Norman refuses to laugh at a joke about a minority group which seems like an apology for Warner's decades of politically incorrect racial humour (although a year later Warner Bros. animation department would close down with a short called 'Injun Trouble'!). The satire is sharp and funny and the modern atmosphere is enhanced by a catchy theme tune by Peter, Paul and Mary. It may have little in common with the golden era of Warner cartoons but 'Norman Normal' is a wonderful short and one of the few latter day Warner shorts that really works.

slymusic "Norman Normal" is a Warner Bros./Seven Arts one-shot cartoon that is very strange. But then, it's the sixties! Our hero, the title character, is a businessman who apparently gets to choose the path of his life via a series of doors. The animation is nothing really special, but the results are, shall we say, interesting.My two favorite scenes in this cartoon: First, Norman and his boss decrease in age and height as they argue together. And second, one of Norman's inebriated buddies regales him with a joke about a traveling salesman and an Eskimo ("That was no walrus. That was your wife!").There's not much else I can write about "Norman Normal"; you'll just have to see it for yourself. It somehow got tacked onto the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 6 Disc 4, even though it is not a Looney Tune.

Hotoil There are no falling rocks, speedy animals, clumsy hunters, Sinatra impersonations, mafia gags, or violent rabbits here. But this under-appreciated classic animated short came from the same studios that brought us Bugs Bunny, Road Runner & Tweety Bird.Not only that, it came out of the studio's worst era, which consisted of mostly bad Daffy Duck & Speedy Gonzalez shorts. Most of the animated pieces to come out of Warner Bros. in the sixties were predictable of Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett & Tex Avery classics, and they didn't fair well in theatres as the pre-film cartoon was just about extinct.But for some reason, an undeniably smart and subtly hilarious social satire rose from the ashes of the dying genre. I am of course speaking of "Norman Normal". I had heard decent things about it but when I saw the actual cartoon, I was on the floor laughing. The closest thing I could relate it to would not be any other WB cartoon but rather the Simpsons at their best.This may have been a nice series, but perhaps best left in it's own right as a singular sensation. Of course it didn't make much of a splash in it's time and thus will probably never see the light of TV, but hopefully the Cartoon Network will dig it from it's vaults and let a whole new audience appreciate it's short but sweet alternative comedy stylings.