The Rainmakers

In my opinion, the Heckle and Jeckle theatrical series is generally the best of Terrytoons Studios' regular character theatrical series (do like some cartoons from that of Gandy/Sourpuss too, personally find Mighty Mouse hit and miss). Which generally were interesting watches, if more the earlier ones than the later ones. It does help too that Heckle and Jeckle themselves are compelling lead characters in the way that some of the studio's other recurring characters weren't and their personalities were already very well established at this point.

1951's 'The Rainmakers' is towards being one of their best and another example of the earlier Heckle and Jeckle cartoons being consistently good, the best of them very good. 'The Rainmakers' is towards being one of the best and funniest ones and one of the best 1951 Terrytoons cartoons. It does deserve to be better known, as does the whole series (although not all their later outings were great they were still better than most of the other Terrytoons theatrical series at their worst).

'The Rainmakers' story admittedly is near-non existent and has very little originality.

For what it lacks in those things though, it is more than made up for in the gags, the characters and the energy as well as the animation and music. The music, a consistent good thing, is so lovely to listen to and there is such an uplifting vibe hearing it because of the snappy character it has. The animation, in what is to me one of the best and most ambitious looking Heckle and Jeckle cartoons, is every bit as great. It is vibrantly coloured, quite smooth in drawing and transitions, doesn't look static or simplistic and the attention to detail is good.

Moreover, the gag count is very high and the good thing is that all are amusing and at their best hilarious, often as well darkly anarchic without being sadistic. The dialogue avoids being corny and Heckle and Jeckle are wonderfully malicious with strong personalities. The character interaction is seen it all before but still very entertaining.

In conclusion, very well done. 8/10.

'The Rainmakers' is one of the more enjoyable Heckle and Jeckle cartoons. This one intentionally places less emphasis than usual on laughs, and concentrates on telling a story that kids and adults can enjoy. Without lecturing or moralising, this cartoon's enjoyable story also makes a serious point: if you do something that causes trouble, you've got to fix it.

Heckle and Jeckle are trying to enjoy a picnic lunch that includes a roast chicken. (Hmm, two cartoon birds are eating chicken.) But a rainstorm is pelting down, ruining their picnic. The two magpies find the wishbone in the chicken, and they make a wish. "I wish it would stop raining, forever!" says Jeckle, as the wishbone breaks and he gets the bigger piece. Instantly, all the raindrops hang suspended in midair, never to touch the earth. Heckle and Jeckle pop the raindrops as if these were soap bubbles, and then they do a cheerful song and dance: 'It's never going to rain a-gain, a-gain!'

Next comes the one real gag sequence, as Heckle and Jeckle learn (from a news report on television) the consequences of Jeckle's wish. There is no more rain, anywhere in the world. We see a few spot gags, such as a cartoon dog (who hasn't found out about the drought) diving into his swimming pool and discovering it has no water. When Jeckle realises that this is all his own fault, the news reader pops out of the television screen and demands to know what Jeckle intends to do about it. Jeckle shrugs with both arms (wings?) while he uses his foot to switch off the telly.

Fortunately, being cartoon characters, Heckle and Jeckle keep a private aeroplane handy inside their house. (Well, they would, wouldn't they?) The two magpies take off into the stratosphere, in search of a likely raincloud. There is one brief scene that younger children might find disturbing, when Heckle lassoes a raincloud that is animated to look like a little girl. The little-girl raincloud clearly doesn't want to be lassoed, and she puts up a struggle as both magpies stuff her into the cargo bay of their 'plane. Then they release her at an appropriate altitude to start a rainstorm.

'The Rainmakers' isn't especially funny, but it doesn't try to be. Many cartoons depict characters who wreak mayhem with no consequences to themselves, so it's intriguing to see a cartoon in which the main characters make amends for their own actions. The drought is depicted as specifically the fault of Jeckle, not of both magpies together, so it's pleasing to see Heckle making so much effort to help his friend. Also, this cartoon's excellent story has another point that kids might want to think about: if you actually get what you wish for, you might discover you didn't want it after all! I'll rate 'The Rainmakers' 8 points out of 10.

Heckle and Jeckle don't like it when it rains on their picnic. So they grab the wishbone of the turkey they have eaten, wish that it won't rain any more and.... it works. But after six weeks of no rain, there's a massive drought on. So the talking magpies build an autogyro and go in search of some clouds.

There's a very nice montage of jokes about people trying to deal with the lack of water, including one where a farmer lassoes a cloud and begins to milk it like a cow. But other than that it's a chance to see Heckle & Jeckle becoming heroes for a change. Not that there would have been anything for them to be heroic about except for their using their cartoon powers in the first place.