Wacky Blackout

"Wacky Blackout" is a Looney Tunes cartoon that is rarely seen today....and for some reason it's posted along with many other cartoons on HBO Max. Its rarity is because the cartoon is clearly a propaganda picture and has tons of references to WWII....so many that most viewers today would feel lost. Additionally, and most importantly, the short just isn't funny nor is there much to recommend it. It also looks nothing like a Looney Tunes short...with lifelike characters and the animation looks like it was done by entirely different artists. Perhaps the best artists were working for the government and the war effort and we are seeing the 'second string' unit here!

By the way, if you care, the "I Dood It" that is repeated often by one of the characters is a takeoff on Red Skelton and his catch phrase.

There's a bit too much farmyard humour in this rather dull wartime cartoon. We head to the outdoors where the locals are maximising their efforts for the war - one cow even produced 5,000 quarts of milk! A woodpecker destined to be a riveter at Lockheed - assuming he doesn't fall foul of a cat first. The turkeys are all well fed - though with the oven looming at 20lbs, they quickly discover the delights of a diet! Turtle eggs. Might they be used for the military too? A jeep? You get the drift. Just about ever critter has a role to play for victory, and I'm sure it did it's job cheering the folks in the drive-in on a Saturday night who also just prayed for a "convenient" black-out, too! It's OK, but I"m, with the caterpillars.

This takes place on a farm. The animals are productive and a significant part of the war machine of 1942. We go from place to place, with very little creativity. I can't be critical. I imagine the moviegoers at that time enjoyed the propaganda images. Sometimes it was heavy handed. i wonder if a bit of humor for the sake of escape would have done more to sustain people. They were inundated with things concerning the war effort, including their own sacrifices. This film just didn't have a whole lot of originality.

Following some mildly risqué opening credits, we get treated to a series of spot gags on a farm, often relating to World War II. One features a baby bird who looks like the early version of Tweety* in "A Tale of Two Kitties". The part about the swallows and San Juan Capistrano seems to predict Robert McKimson's "Swallow the Leader".

It was around this time when Bob Clampett's cartoons started getting truly wacky. His cartoons in the late '30s had made use of his affinity for shape-shifting, but during WWII he went all out and pretty much became Termite Terrace's star director. While his spot gags didn't quite reach the quality achieved by Tex Avery, he definitely created some funny ones.

All in all, "Wacky Blackout" is certainly worth seeing.

*While Sylvester and Tweety are known as Friz Freleng's characters, Bob Clampett debuted Tweety.

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.

Have a lot of appreciation for Bob Clampett, with an animation and humour style that was very easy to recognise. He made a lot of good to wonderful cartoons, though some early efforts did betray someone still finding his feet. 'Wacky Blackout', one of the cartoons made when transitioning into and finding his distinctive phase and style, is pretty decent and definitely worth seeing. Having said that, it doesn't see Clampett at his finest and nowhere near being one of his classics, for this particular period of Clampett's career and considering the title it could and should have been more wacky.

'Wacky Blackout' is quite thin in terms of story and the structure is basically an excuse to string the gags along. The gags are amusing enough but lack wit and could have done with more wackiness and imagination. While most of the characters are fun enough, others are not particularly interesting in personality.

However, enough of the characters are fun, even if there is no discernible lead.

The cartoon has a lot of amusing moments, some variety and there is a good deal of liveliness. It doesn't feel heavy-handed and didn't feel reminiscent of propaganda, as a product of its time 'Wacky Blackout' is very interesting.

Animation is very good, it's fluid in movement, crisp in shading and very meticulous in detail. Even better is the outstanding music from the master Carl Stalling, it is lovely on the ears, lushly orchestrated, full of lively energy and characterful in rhythm, not only adding to the action but also enhancing it.

Voice acting is terrific, with Mel Blanc particularly again showing a remarkable and unmatched ability to give individuality to multiple characters.

In conclusion, decent but not Clampett at his best. 7/10 Bethany Cox