Cartoon Discussion Of The Week (03/22/09) - Now Hear This

[Marty26]

This week's CDOTW will be for one of the oddest Chuck Jones cartoons ever made: Now Hear This.

YouTube - Chuck Jones - Now Hear This (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiIO1qsO7W8)

This is actually a pretty inventive little short. The random sound effects are interesting, the plot (an English man in need of a hearing aid, only to use the devil's horn as his aid) is strangely compelling, and the devil's theme music still gives me the creeps even to this day. It's also interesting that WB would use that "special outro" with Big Ben and the bicycle horn in the two other Modern Opening cartoons before the 1964 shutdown (Bartholomew Versus The Wheel and Senorella And The Glass Huarache). I definitely wouldn't call this cartoon a masterpiece by any stretch, but I think it's worth watching at least once.

Anyway, discuss!

[Speedy Boris]

This is Chuck Jones's last good WB cartoon.

[Matt the Y]

A lot of people enjoy bashing this cartoon (including Jones himself; in interviews, he referred to it as "Jones' Folly" and sometimes said that the main reason he made the cartoon in the first place was to piss off Jack Warner because Warner wouldn't be able to understand it :rolleyes: ) but, dammit, I LIKE this one! I agree with SB that this is Jones' last good Warners cartoon and, while the cartoon is certainly strange beyond all comprehension and, at times, doesn't even seem like a Warners cartoon, I think it actually deserves merit for being different, for TRYING to be different, and for being peculiar and strange in a very quaint and classy sort of way. Also, maybe it's just me here but I actually DON'T get a sort of pretentiousness and snooty "high-class" out of this cartoon the way I do with some of Jones' other cartoons of this era (such as "I was a Teenage Thumb", "The Dot and the Line", and most of his Tom & Jerrys); it's strange and bizarre, very arty and "abstract", but it really doesn't strike me as "pretentious". At any rate, I'd still rather watch this short of Jones' over "I was a Teenage Thumb" or "The Dot and the Line" (Jones' most overrated cartoon on Earth) any day of the week.

This was also the last WB cartoon to receive an Oscar nomation, FWIW (and also the only WB cartoon in which Treg Brown actually is credited for sound effects, instead of just as a film editor).

[oceansoul]

Well, I have to agree with Jones. :)
I definately don't like this one. It's too artsy-fartsy and pretentious, would fit better in the UPA filmography.

[Glowworm]

To be honest-I'd rather watch "The Dot and the Line" and "I was a Teenage Thumb" (both I actually enjoy) to this cartoon. It frightened me as a child-I must not have liked watching the poor English Bloke getting hurt-then again it was an extremely bizarre cartoon. It still is extremely bizarre-not to mention trippy. I do like that egg that suddenly "hatches" into a longlegged trumpet player-and the little purple man that keeps emerging out of nowhere. As well as the end where the battered Englishman fetches his old hearing aid from the garbage and walks off, happilly hearing the sounds of the world.

[Steve Siegert]

The fact that this is completely different than the typical Jones cartoon, I just did not enjoy it. It just seemed a little too weird. I did find this cartoon to be somewhat interesting, but about halfway through, I was just impatiently waiting for the cartoon to be over. If I were to show this cartoon to someone with the Looney Tunes intro and close chopped off, chances are they would not be able to identify this cartoon as a Warner Bros. cartoon. Then again, the same would probably apply to "Bartholomew vs. the Wheel" and "Senorella and the Glass Huarache", but at least those are both cartoons that I somewhat enjoyed.

[larriva9/11]

and, at times, doesn't even seem like a Warners cartoon,

The brand-new Abstract WB opening and closing should have indicated as much, even in its own day--this was very much meant to be a radical break from the usual.

Context is important, too; this is one of those toons for which conventional TV-style exposure (especially to MM/LT-loving juveniles) can do a severe injustice. Myself, I find that "Now Hear This" haters tend to fall largely into two categories: (a) those with a generic hatred of "artsy modernism", and (b) those who were annoyed by it on TV as a kid.

I suppose that in this light, it's worthy of noting that virtually all WB "one-shot experimentalism" from "High Note" onward ("NHT", "Nelly's Folly", "Bartholomew", "Teenage Thumb", "Senorella" etc) was a non-presence on TV until the 1980s or so...

[jonmayo15]

I like it in a wacky-not-WB-humor kind of way. It's extremely off-kilter, as shown by the new abstract logos and such. But hey, GIGANTIC EXPLOSION!
sums it up. The sound in this one is quite inventive.

[Speedy Boris]

"Pretentious" is probably the wrong adjective for this cartoon. That word implies that a piece of work tries to impress by saying it has more meaning and importance than is actually possessed. In "Now Hear This"'s case, it doesn't pretend to be anything more deep than a guy having trouble from his new hearing aid which causes various havoc (which just happens to be the devil's ear). I don't see how creativity in the gags or backgrounds = pretentious.

[nickramer]

Nice short. Treg Brown's masterpiece in sound. I hope the short will be included in "100 Greatest Looney Tunes" book.

[Jack G.]

Treg Brown was very important in this one.
John Dunn's kind of humor is all over this.
I like it because you don't know where the cartoon is going next (the first time you see it).

For this late in the studio I'd say it's very good.

[frizfrelengfan]

I like this cartoon because I have a tendency to like the different and the offbeat.

[Matt the Y]

I like this cartoon because I have a tendency to like the different and the offbeat.

Same here! Perhaps that's the reason I like it so much in spite of everything (as I explained in my last post!).

[wiley207]

The brand-new Abstract WB opening and closing should have indicated as much, even in its own day--this was very much meant to be a radical break from the usual.


Yeah, same here. Though I had already seen the "Abstract" WB logos on those gruesome Speedy vs. Daffy cartoons and Rudy Larriva's Road Runner shorts (just as gruesome!), when I first saw "Now Hear This" I was already familiar with the "abstract" intro, so for some reason it didn't set the "different" tone to me until the short's title came up. I bet some LT fans that never saw "Now Hear This" before (but saw plenty of post-1964 LT shorts) would see the cartoon starting up on CN or Boomerang and their first thought when the modern logo shows up would be "Oh no, here comes another Daffy vs. Speedy cartoon!"
"Bartholomew Versus the Wheel" seemed a little similar with the different animation style and whatnot. I actually joked that all the animators must've been very sick when making the short, and kept vomiting and had weak stomaches, fevers, headaches, etc. So they couldn't draw the way they normally would. I can picture it now...
( Bob McKimson: WHAT IS THIS CRAP?! It looks like a kid drew it!
Ted Bonnicksen: But boss... we're SICK! *burps* Oooh... can't we take a month to recover before finishing the 'toon?
Bob McKimson: NO! Dave wants this finished in less than two weeks! )
Then among completion of the cartoon...
( Bob McKimson: This cartoon is FABULOUS! It's very artistic! We're gonna release it for sure!
Ted Bonnicksen: (to George and Warren) We should get sick more often! Anyone still got the tainted potato salad? ;) )

But besides that, "Now Hear This" is one of my all-time favorites, since I am a huge Chuck Jones fan, and Treg Brown is a master with sound effects (this and "The Great Race" I consider his two best sound-editing jobs). The animation looks almost more like something Chuck Jones could've done at MGM! It looks like a cross between "The Dot and the Line" and his Tom & Jerry shorts! The DVD version looks even better with its superb quality.

As for the closing sequence with the Big Ben/bicycle horn sounds, it does indeed fit here, but is wildly out of place with "Bartholomew Versus the Wheel" and "Senorella and the Glass Huarache." Luckily beginning with "Pancho's Hideaway," they made a cut-short version of the opening theme to play under the closing animation. Speaking of which, I still find it weird why DePatie-Freleng went with the "Abstract" WB logos for the LT/MM shorts they produced. Did they think the "bullseye" was too outdated, or did they want to make it easier to tell the new WB shorts apart from the old ones?

[Marty26]

The generally accepted view was that WB felt the bullseye logo was outdated and wanted to "modernize" their openings. Notice that, not long after, they changed their logo to something more contemporary. Only to (thankfully) revert back to their original logo later. They probably also felt the bullseye openings would visually and musically clash with the more minimalistic styles of the post-64 shorts.

Regarding the drawing in Bartholomew Versus The Wheel, I think it was supposed to mimic James Thurber's style of drawing. For those who don't know, Thurber was a short story writer and a cartoonist. He was known for the distinctively humorous illustrations he'd tie into his short stories. Google him if you'd like to see or read some of his works.

[angilbas]

Before finding NHT, I expected (from certain printed comments and online remarks) six or seven minutes of doe-eyed characters and designs even wilder than those in Martian Through Georgia. The film is as bizarre and plotless as some of them said, but it has a level of integrity that no Jones film would match afterward. It serves notice about itself early -- the first sound is a pain-borne "Ow," and the devil glares at us soon after as ominous brass fills the soundtrack. Thank goodness Warner Bros. had the sense to issue this as a Looney Tunes, not a Merrie Melodies.

NHT could be interpreted as a parable about greed and denial. The old gent, believing that the new-looking bold red horn has to be better than his crumpled green trumpet, keeps trying to use it (or understand it) despite the increasingly frightful effects. He doesn't discard it until after that "GIGANTIC EXPLOSION!" cripples him.

Ironic moral at the end ... and with every credited person now dead, we may never know the name of the character in the pink suit.


-Tony

[larriva9/11]

Regarding the drawing in Bartholomew Versus The Wheel, I think it was supposed to mimic James Thurber's style of drawing. For those who don't know, Thurber was a short story writer and a cartoonist. He was known for the distinctively humorous illustrations he'd tie into his short stories. Google him if you'd like to see or read some of his works.

Exactly.

There's a side to me that wants to see this post-"High Note" experimentalism as WB's halting, foot-in-the-door attempt to fill the "boutique class" theatrical-short hole left by Saperstein-era UPA--certainly something that a Chuck Jones might have encouraged, even if it ran counter to the bread and butter of more Bugs + friends (esp. in the Bugs Bunny Show era).

[LooneyFan]

After Back Alley Op-Roar, Now Hear This is my favorite Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoon.
I think it fits well with me. The total cartoon is just totally random. Giant letters, spontaneous gags, out of this world sound effects, and so much more. I enjoy showing it to anybody is willing. Mostly everybody I show it to are not as big of cartoons as we are. So this cartoon would have to be the weirdest cartoon they have ever seen.
I think Chuck was seeing that the Looney Tunes and other cartoon series were dying. So Chuck wanted to give audiences something out of this world to show that he was not running out of steam and wanted to try something different.

[larriva9/11]

I think Chuck was seeing that the Looney Tunes and other cartoon series were dying. So Chuck wanted to give audiences something out of this world to show that he was not running out of steam and wanted to try something different.

He knew they were dying; but he also knew that a paradigm was shifting--that is, we were entering an age when it would no longer be Hollywood cartoon shorts dominating the Oscars, but NFB-type "art" affairs.

And I suppose that's also part of the backlash to "Now Hear This"; it wasn't so much that the cartoon was pretentious, as its inherent "following", esp. in the 60s and 70s when Hollywood animation was at its nadir of recognition and the cartoon ideal was self-consciously "arty"...

[frizfrelengfan]

Regarding the drawing in Bartholomew Versus The Wheel, I think it was supposed to mimic James Thurber's style of drawing. For those who don't know, Thurber was a short story writer and a cartoonist. He was known for the distinctively humorous illustrations he'd tie into his short stories. Google him if you'd like to see or read some of his works.
And see if you can find a copy of the UPA short "The Unicorn in the Garden," written by Thurber. The short is true to the story.

I'm straying off-topic. How about "BvsTW" for the next cartoon discussion.

[J Lee]

And see if you can find a copy of the UPA short "The Unicorn in the Garden," written by Thurber. The short is true to the story.

If you dig around on the web, you can also see how Friz Freleng handled Thurber's drawing style seven years after McKimson's cartoon with the animated sequences from "My World and Welcome To It", the NBC show starring William Windom based on Thurber's short stories.

[wiley207]

If you dig around on the web, you can also see how Friz Freleng handled Thurber's drawing style seven years after McKimson's cartoon with the animated sequences from "My World and Welcome To It", the NBC show starring William Windom based on Thurber's short stories.

Wasn't Mr. Wilbur and his wife in "Rocket Bye Baby" also drawn in James Thurber-fashion?

BTW, about "Bartholomew Versus the Wheel," I knew it was mimicking that style, I was just joking that the animators were all queasy when doing the cartoon and had to draw that way as a result :p

[Speedy Boris]

And I suppose that's also part of the backlash to "Now Hear This"; it wasn't so much that the cartoon was pretentious, as its inherent "following", esp. in the 60s and 70s when Hollywood animation was at its nadir of recognition and the cartoon ideal was self-consciously "arty"... Yeah, that's a better description for this short: Self-consciously arty. It knew it was being weird for the sake of it, which was all the rage at the time. And Jones wanted to do something different. (plus, he was about to be fired; probably wanted to go out with a bang)

When I think of the word "pretentious", I think of some modern art pieces, like a dot on a wall. Some try to find meaning in EVERYTHING (like "the dot represents all of us!" or "look at the empty space around the dot, symbolizing our loneliness in a huge world!"), when in reality, sometimes a dot on a wall is just a dot on a wall. ;)

[J Lee]

For what it's worth, I'd describe Jones' 1960s one-shots at Warners -- and even a couple of his Bugs cartoons -- as more "cloying" than "pretentious". They're not so much haughty as really, really pleased with themselves due to their cuteness/smartness, and well beyond what the story deserves.

"Now Hear This" is probably the least "cloying" of the bunch, because the stark designs and sound effects keep the cartoon from coming close to the word "cute". I'd rate it about on par with the last Jones-Maltese one-shot "The Mouse on 57th Street" and above "Nelly's Folly", "Martian Through Georgia" and "I Was a Teenage Thumb" on the entertainment quotent, but below almost all of Chuck's 1950-1960 one-shots.

[Marty26]

I Was A Teenage Thumb is another odd cartoon. Like Tom Thumb In Trouble (which ironically features the same fairy tale icon :)), it's just NOT a WB cartoon (rather, it's more of a Disney cartoon). The difference, though, is that TTIT has the excuse of being made before Jones found his style as a director. While IWATT was made in the wake of masterpieces like What's Opera, Doc and Long-Haired Hare. Even though I'm not too fond of either cartoon, I will also say that objectively TTIT is the better of the two shorts.

[Marty26]

Question: Who did the musical cue when that "car" forms out of the blue? That definitely doesn't sound like Bill Lava. Neither does any of the other music, except for Satan's theme and that eerie off-key rendition of Yankee Doodle.

[larriva9/11]

Yeah, that's a better description for this short: Self-consciously arty. It knew it was being weird for the sake of it, which was all the rage at the time. And Jones wanted to do something different. (plus, he was about to be fired; probably wanted to go out with a bang)

When I think of the word "pretentious", I think of some modern art pieces, like a dot on a wall. Some try to find meaning in EVERYTHING (like "the dot represents all of us!" or "look at the empty space around the dot, symbolizing our loneliness in a huge world!"), when in reality, sometimes a dot on a wall is just a dot on a wall. ;)

But if you notice, I'm not referring to NHT itself as "self-consciously arty".

Then again, judging by that second paragraph, you probably even think this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suprematism) sort of stuff is quackery...