Lumber Jerks

I wouldn't compare this cartoon to Chip and Dale, those gophers are funny being themselves. Their flavor is certainly, English accent and behavior of gentlemen, that was funny as hell. It would be interesting to know what exactly means this world play "Lumber Jerks", 'cause I've came up with two variants. As usually this cartoon was simply killed in translation to Russian language, besides, somehow gophers turned out to be boy and girl :) I wish there was more of these characters to see, and I second that one of the drivers was Bugs Bunny, that was a nice touch. As for DVD release it is very worth buying the video quality is very good, that is remastered very good, vivid colors and stuff like that, audio quality is good as well considering that it is from year 1955, you know.

Two British gophers are storing their nuts for the weekend, when they find that much of their tree has been taken away which they have to find and bring it back. 'Goofy Gophers' indeed, try 'utterly lame never heard from again' gophers. I hold Looney Tunes shorts to a higher standard and when said standard isn't realized (or in this case even close), I'm sorely disappointed, and such is the case with this one. It just plain not the good at all and that saddens me a bit. This animated short can be found on disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1.

My Grade: D

cute cartoon very reminiscent of chip n dale but with english accents.

two chipmunks find their tree home has been demolished and follow it along the river and to the sawmill.

Clever and inventive cartoon but I still prefer chip n dale

Of the nine Goofy Gophers cartoons, four of them were directed by Fritz Freleng. And while the best of the Goofy Gophers will always be the first one 'The Goofy Gophers', all of Freleng's efforts are very good to great.

'Lumber Jerks' for me is the weakest of the four, but not really for any major flaws. Just that the previous three had a little more imagination and tighter pacing, this is unusually slow-moving for the series and it may be a turn off for some, for me the restraint was admirable but a couple of parts were a little too staid for my liking. 'Lumber Jerks' however is still a very good cartoon.

The animation is just lovely as always with the early and middle period Looney Tunes cartoons, with some bright vibrant colours and richly detailed backgrounds and everything is very fluidly and smoothly drawn with no obvious jarring anywhere.

While Carl Stalling for me has always been the slightly better composer, Milt Franklyn still does a fine job, it is always dynamic and beautiful to listen to with lots of energy, whimsy and lively character. More importantly, it fits beautifully, just that Stalling's music went one step further in enhancing the action more effectively.

The dialogue manages to be both sharp and restrained, clever in structure and filled with the usual fresh and zany Looney Tunes wit, never less than very funny. The gags, in laugh-a-minute mode, are imaginative and executed very well indeed, most of the humour coming from the endearingly over polite dialogue between Mac and Tosh.

The story is still entertaining, if not as lively in pace as the previous Goofy Gopher cartoons. One may miss the dark and sometimes brutal, but never over-the-top cartoonish or stomach-churningly sadistic slapstick and violence of their earlier outings with the intellectual and well-spoken dog, but the visual humour is still a lot of fun here.

Mac and Tosh work are a wonderfully entertaining duo, if a very acquired taste, being cute yet very funny in their over-politeness to one another. They are voiced adroitly by Stan Freberg and Mel Blanc.

All in all, very good though there's better in the Goofy Gophers series. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Fun Goofy Gophers short from Friz Freleng. In this one, Mac and Tosh's tree is cut down and sent to a sawmill. The duo try to recover their home, which turns out to be a pretty dangerous task. If you like the Goofy Gophers, you'll probably enjoy this cartoon a lot. If you're new to them, how much you will like this depends on whether you prefer your cartoons to be heavy on verbal humor or if you prefer sight gags. This has more of the former than the latter, although there are some funny bits in the sawmill, such as the artificial log and pencil sharpener gags. Great voice work from Stan Freberg and Mel Blanc. Lively score from Milt Franklyn. The animation is just lovely with beautiful Technicolor and well-drawn characters and backgrounds. The scenes inside the mill are excellent. It's a fun cartoon but not a classic or anything. I'm not the biggest Goofy Gophers fan but I will say they work best like this when it's just the two of them. Other shorts tried pairing them with the likes of Elmer or Daffy and the results weren't that hot.