Little Johnny Jet

"Little Johnny Jet" is a cartoon directed by Tex Avery, though its style is much more conventional than most of the films he made for MGM....though the characters are far from conventional!

The film stars a cartoon propeller-driven airplane. It claims to be a B-29 bomber but looks absolutely nothing like one. Apparently, this cute cartoon airplane is now considered obsolete in the jet age. But when the airplane's wife(?) has a baby, it's a lightning fast jet plane. What's next? See the short film.

This film is essentially a re-working of the previous year's cartoon short, "One Cab's Family"...also by Tex Avery. If you like anthropomorphic planes or taxis, then these films are for you. As for me, I just thought it was okay...mostly because although the characters were unconventional, the humor was very conventional and lacks the weird Tex Avery touches. Worth seeing but very far from Avery's best.

John is an obsolete B-29. He's a war hero but everybody just want a jet. His wife Mary gets pregnant. When the baby comes, he's also a jet. John enters an Air Force competition but he falls behind early to the jets.

This is another good one from the legendary Tex Avery. It's very similar to the cab story. Maybe Pixar got a bit of inspiration from these old cartoons.

There are a few bright spots here but to anthropomorphize some airplanes is pretty easy pickings. The plot involves a WWII bomber who uses propellers and is now termed obsolete. When he has a son, it is a speedy jet. This is what is putting dad on the scrap heap, until a race comes along.

This cartoon was nominated for an Oscar, which is welcome although a bit puzzling, as this is a prototypical Tex Avery cartoon-take something ordinary, twist it in some odd or extraordinary way and fire sight gags at the audience for the bulk of the cartoon. Avery often gave inanimate objects human traits, as he does here and this is a marvelous cartoon, but he did at least a dozen that were as good or better that weren't nominated. Which proves that the Academy Awards process is as much chance as anything else. This shows on Cartoon Network often. Recommended

A retired air force plane can't get a job to support his expanding family, because everyone wants jets these days. When his child is born and proves to be a jet.

Like Avery's earlier ONE CAB'S FAMILY, it uses the basic premise as a framework to string a lot of gags on. Fortunately, he has his best writer, Heck Allen, to work with.