The Wacky Worm

This is another cartoon that uses a Jerry Colonna character, this time as a worm. Warner Brothers used his act in many of their cartoons, usually as a punch line as in the Bugs Bunny reply a lot to being trapped saying in a Jerry Colonna accent "On the contrary, I have you!" The worm character is cute the way it runs away from the crow who at times sounds a lot like Bugs' voice. As far as the ending goes "Who needs a worm anyhow." that is a line from a blackface vaudeville and film act called The Two Black Crows. From Wikipedia "Their catch phrase, "Who wants a worm, anyhow?", was the punchline to a lengthy dialogue that Moran initiated by telling Mack that, "The early bird catches the worm". Mack of course had never heard the expression, so he took it literally, and frustrated Moran by repeatedly asking inane questions about the saying. "Who wants a worm, anyhow?" was the closing statement by the crow in a Warner Bros. Cartoon called The Wacky Worm, and parts of the routine appeared in other Warner cartoons." If you are interested in Hollywood's censored past, many of The Two Black Crows shorts have recently been uploaded on Youtube, FYI. As for this cartoon, nothing memorable except the Hollywood references, so add a star or two if you are a fan of Jerry C. 6 out of 10.

Celebrity caricatures were a frequent gag and one of the more popular obscure choices was a comedian named Jerry Colonna. The only difficulty in doing a caricature of someone like Colonna is that caricature is extreme (in fact, the more outrageous, the better) but Colonna's whole act was farce-he was extreme by definition. So the best uses of the character were when the features were placed on a non-human character. Jerry was a worm at least twice, here and in Greetings, Bait and both are wonderful. The ending to this one is great and the whole short is extremely funny. The poor crow doesn't stand a chance! Well worth tracking down. Most recommended.