The Oily American

Moe Hican, the wealthy Native American, is having his daily hunt. This time with a hideously deformed moose. Unfortunately, the hunt doesn't quite go as planned, particularly with Moe's butler inadvertently getting caught in the middle of it.

Robert McKimson directed many excellent one-shots during his time with Warner Brothers (The Hole Idea being probably his most famous), but this has to be his funniest. The peppy Moe and his cynical butler are such great characters that I'm surprised McKimson never used them again. But they're nothing compared to the moose, who has to be one of the funniest "victims" ever in a WB cartoon. Seeing Moe's traps constantly turn on the butler is consistently chuckle-worthy, only strengthened by the Butler's increasing frustration with the Native's incompetence. And the ending, which I won't spoil here, will leave you rolling.

An easy 10/10.

"The Oily American" could have easily been a Road Runner-Wile E. Coyote cartoon, except that the embarrassment affects a different character. American Indian Moe Hican, in the oil business, is going for his daily hunt, and everything backfires on his increasingly frustrated butler (as opposed the the Indian, which would have been exactly like the aforementioned cartoons).

Of course, I can't think of petroleum without thinking of everything that's happened in the world during the past few years, much of it relating to control of the oil supply. Hopefully Barack Obama's election and coming inauguration will change things.

Anyway, really funny. And I'm not resigning from reviewing movies.

Hilarious cartoon about an oil-rich Indian's daily hunt gone wrong. The title to my rant is my favorite line from the 'toon, said after the sneaky moose Moe Hican's chasing gives the Indian a hotfoot! Many great gags in this 'toon! I hope that Warner Bros. sees fit to include this in one of their "Golden Collection" DVD sets soon. It's VERY mildly "politically incorrect", but it's a fine example of the perfect comic timing of the crew at Warner Bros, and nothing like some of the racially insensitive 'toons that they sometimes made, like the ones with "Inki", an extremely stereotyped black tribesman. I just hope the law advisers at Warner Brothers can see the difference.

Maybe not one of my all-time favourite cartoons, but one that still hits all the right buttons. The animation is fluid and colourful, with the character animation of the moose standing out among the WB characters. The music is lushly orchestrated and energetic with the ability to add to the humour and action, as any great music for a cartoon should do, the pre-existing tunes are recognisable and still appeal. The writing is fresh, witty with a little bit of a satirical edge without going overboard. The gags are just as hilarious and imaginatively timed, and the crisp pace and creative story(another very good example at Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes/WB doing something different and succeeding at that) help a lot. The characters are great, the moose is just hysterical- not in a long time have I seen a foil this funny-, the butler is delightfully snooty that shows disdain so entertainingly at still endearing Moe's incompetence. Mel Blanc's vocal characterisations in another one of his one-man-shows are dead on. To conclude, hilarious entertainment with a great premise done in a creative way. 9/10 Bethany Cox