Hollywood Steps Out

This short is jammed with caricatures of notables-mostly actors and actresses, but J. Edgar Hoover is here too, as are Leopold Stowkowski and Sally Rand. Not only stars (Gable, Garbo and Grant) but character actors (the almost mandatory Ned Sparks appearance is here) as well. It was an excellent concept, tailor-made for the animators. Their audience would recognize the caricatures and get the jokes easily. This is one of the better ones. Most, if not all the animation studios did at least one or two such shorts. Well worth looking for. Most recommended.

As a huge fan of old Hollywood I always loved this cartoon. I find it amusing how younger folks have a difficult time understanding it due to the fact they probably don't watch enough old movies to know who these stars are. In the Wikipedia article on this cartoon, they mention the actor sitting with Claudette Colbert early on as Don Ameche. Upon repeated viewing I'm inclined to think it's the great George Brent. It looks too much like him and he was a much bigger star than Ameche ever became. Although brilliant I will agree it is dated in that all the references pertain to movies of that era. As a 55 year old, I grew up when these movies were staples on television and recognized almost all of the stars. All in all this is a great representation of when Hollywood was truly loaded with big movie stars. I'd cringe to think of what a modern version would look like. On a final note, there is nothing confusing about this cartoon and it doesn't matter if children don't get it. These cartoons were never meant for children as they were shown in movie theaters prior to the main events. I'd find it almost impossible to recreate this with today's version of Hollywood.

If you're someone who's not at all familiar with the 40+ Hollywood personalities (from yesteryear) caricatured in this animated "Merrie Melodies" short from 1941, then, you're probably less likely to be entertained by it as are those viewers who actually do recognize these people.

Directed by Tex Avery - "Hollywood Steps Out" invites the viewer inside Ciro's popular nightclub where (on a typical evening) some of the biggest stars in Tinseltown dine, dance, and hobnob (as well as seek the distraction of amusement by lesser-known entertainers in the business of show business, too).

Anyway - From a decidedly nostalgic perspective, I'd definitely say that "Hollywood Steps Out" is at least well-worth a view.

Set in the Legenday Hollywood hills restaurant Ciro's, this Tex Avery directed Looney Tunes short has way too many caricatures of popular actors and actresses of yesteryear to list them all here. It's notable to know that the stripper/ dancer scene is a prelude of shorts to Avery's later 'Red Hot Riding Hood' cartoons. It's a very interesting short and transports you back to the '30's even if you were born, like me, much MUCH later. This animated short can be seen on Disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2 and also features an optional commentary by Greg Ford.

My Grade: A-

One of the early Looney Tunes shorts not featuring Bugs Bunny or his ilk, "Hollywood Steps Out" portrays bar Ciro's, frequented by the top stars from the '30s and '40s. It's a good thing that I saw this now, when I'm old enough to understand it; if I'd seen it when I was six or so, I wouldn't have understood any of it (let's face it: how many little children can identify Henry Fonda, Greta Garbo and Jimmy Stewart?). Two glowing omissions - at least in my opinion - were Charlie Chaplin and Katharine Hepburn (what makes this especially irritating is that they included Bing Crosby). But still, it's a pretty likable cartoon. A similar one was "Slick Hare".

Yeah, it would be funny seeing him there.