Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Red-Headed Baby" is a cartoon from 1931 that has its 85th anniversary this year already. It is a collaboration between Warner Bros and Schlesinger Studios and the director is the prolific Rudolf Ising. I initially thought it may be a problem with the title including a color and the fact that this is still a black-and-white production, but it turned out fine. It's still not a great achievement by any means, but for 1931, it is certainly convincing. The voice acting was good, shame the actors are not credited, the music was fine too, spirit was appropriate as this film came out during the Christmas holidays. The villain, a nasty spider guy, is interesting and so are the little Napoleon and of course the title character. I enjoyed the watch. Well done, guys. It is in terms of atmosphere and tone similar to some Betty Boop work, but I must say I liked this one here even more than most Betty stuff. Watch it.

MissSimonetta The Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies wouldn't hit their stride until the mid-1930s, but this early cartoon will be of interest to film history geeks and fans of early sound cartoons.This is essentially a music video set to "Red-Headed Baby." The story is comprised of a theme so loved by Disney's Silly Symphonies theme: toys coming to life after night has fallen. It also uses the stock plot of the young lovers threatened by a lecherous villain, in this case an oddly-rendered spider.The gags are predictable, as is the ending. The title song is catchy as can be/ The short is cute enough, but I expect it will only be of value to those who are already enthusiasts of older cartoons.

MARIO GAUCI Included on Warners' DVD of CIMARRON (1931), what I said about the latter – that it is marred by the primitive technique of the time – also applies to this "Merrie Melodies" cartoon when compared to the studio's heyday in this art form. As was the custom back then, its sole raison d'etre is to promote a current hit tune (for which it is named); this is set against a backdrop of a toy-maker's workshop, where his creations come to life at night, and he eventually joins the chorus at the end. Typical ingredients here are the fact that the titular belle is at once romanced by a toy soldier and coveted by a large spider (which the latter ultimately defeats, with the help of the other toys). In the long run, though certainly a harmless enough short in itself, both the style of animation and the overall approach is very dated and, frankly, too corny to be appealing.

didi-5 This early Merrie Melodie is fairly lively, concerning a room of toys who dance and sing along to the radio while their creator (Santa Claus?) is asleep.The song 'Red Headed Baby' is first squeaked by a rosy-cheeked doll with the requisite big eyes (one would assume they are blue), and later by a Napoleon clone. It isn't a memorable song, and these aren't memorable characters, but there's a villain (a spider), a chase, and a bit of derring-do before the song plays out.Harman and Ising has started with Disney, working on Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, before taking some of the ideas from that series to develop Bosko for Warner Bros. The trouble with their cartoons are that many are exactly the same, regurgitating the same gags and situations.That said, these cartoons do have a certain historical interest and hopefully they will make it on to later Golden Collection DVDs (even if it is as one or two extras at a time, as a few have been already).