anygoround

Some of you out there must be kidding to take a sword to this-it's one of the best! Either you folks don't like dream sequences or musicals (or both?!). This had the cleverest rhymes in its songs (by Larry Orenstein, the musical director of the "I Love Lucy" show, portraying the mayor here). Also worth noting are the clever sets, costumes and choreography. And yes, there are a lot of funny jokes! And ok, the only criticism I can find is she should have been looking up her father's relatives instead, by parental maiden name and married name logic.

The premise of the whole show might be strange, but that was the whole surreal point! The scenes and script are well constructed and thought out, including some foreshadowing in the intro and a great tag ending.

What's wrong with a dream or a little fantasy? We've certainly had it in other shows ( "The King of Queens" being a recent example with a "Honeymooners" parody) plus if you don't like dream sequences you'd probably pick on "Gilligan's Island" with several of them, but it allowed the cast to show diversity and versatility. A break from the norm is never bad. Let's lighten up everyone. It's not supposed to be taken seriously! Just pure fun entertainment.

And in the context of the Lucy episodes it's certainly as fun as the operetta or school pageant but I see people criticizing those too. Give these shows and their creators a chance!

Honestly, a little quirky or whacky 30 minutes or more of your life has certainly been spent on a dream or an evening of magic or delightful musical theater. And if you can't suspend your beliefs for the sake of this episode or "Brigadoon" or other fantasy stories, than you may as well never again read a book or go to an art museum.

See the episode again, everyone, please. It's truly fun and imaginative. And then see the early episode where Lucy thinks Ricky is going to murder her. Then tell me which episode is more clever! 🎠🎪

This is an early entry from director Avery and animator Clampett with surprisingly fewer of the outrageous sight gags and surrealism which would be notable in their later works. The proceedings of the story are presented in a pretty straightforward way considering its creators. This tale of an anything but dysfunctional scarecrow family does, however, offer its own realism and environmental world, right down to their home furniture (pumpkin lamps, cornstalks and such) and even their clothing with patches (although the one on the son's trousers switches from one leg to another!). Altogether this was an exceptionally well animated cartoon with great colors that surprised me (for example, the green of the crow's feet-an odd but effective choice!). I was only familiar with it on tv in black and white and just only recently saw it this way, and it appears to have been restored. The music was incorporated effectively and the voice work also was remarkable. Elmore Vincent (later on "Little House on the Prairie") was the father but I'm not sure who played mom...it may have been one of a couple of women active in cartoon voice work at the time-Sara Berner usually played younger characters like the mouse Sniffles created by Chuck Jones. More likely it was Martha Wentworth, who voiced mom in the Harman-Ising three bears cartoons at MGM, and years later in the 1960's was Madam Mim in Disney's "Sword in the Stone"...but again, as it is not on record I'm not sure it was her. The young son is really the focus in the story here as he tries to stand up to and intimidate the crows...this voice was supplied by Tommy Bond, already known in the Our Gang (Little Rascals) shorts as Tommy, then later as Butch, who certainly managed to intimidate Alfalfa! The characterizations are strong in this short and the story has great pacing and cohesiveness. An outstanding work in every respect.