Nelson
04-18-2005, 06:12 PM
As mentioned on my birthday post, I wrote that I recieved a collection of four cartoon shorts on dvd with very rare cartoons on the disc.But one of the one reelers is a standout masterpeice and i'd thought that I would share it with everyone.
*This post may contain some refrences that may not be sutiable for some members*
The Terytoon cartoon classic is... "Farmer Al Falfa's Ape Girl" it was made back in 1932 and was under the banner of Educational Film Exchanges, for release for Fox Pictures that suppiled short subjects for the studio during the 20s and 30s and it's a very rare pre-code discovery.Of course, the birth of the infamous production code began in 1934 and was brought down by Will Hayes, that would force all of the hollywood studios to cut down on the smut and sexual refrences that was made in hollywood during the dawn of the sound era from 1929 to 1934.
As for cartoon studios during this pre-code period, most of the other stuidos would follow this subject as for gags, the animators would use women as their prime sexual gags.For example, in the 1932 "Flip The Frog" cartoon, "Room Runners", Flip keeps spying on a sexy nude woman when she's drying herself off and in another scene, the same woman dashes across the screen wearing a skimpy night gown, that when she passes under the bright moon sky, the animators reveal her sexy body.But of course, the Fleischer Studios was the king of pre-code cartoons and keep in mind that back in those days, these cartoons were not made for children, but for adults, as the cartoons would run along the feature film during the entire day and night.
Betty Boop was the queen of the animated screen and since her debut, the animators would always have gags thrown in that Betty would loose some part of her clothing.One perfect example would be in "Bimbo's Moving Day" (1931) when Bimbo knocks on the door and annouces he's the moving man, Betty is dressed in sexy nightgown and says " I can't come to the door right now, cause I'm in my nitey" and Bimbo's quick response is..."Okay, I'll wait till you take it off".It was things like this, that the Hayes production code took place three years later.
Well a newly discovered cartoon from the pre-code era has popped and it's a perfect example on how far a studio could push the enevelope and it's an eye sore when viewing this short from 1932.Although the Paul Terry Studio(which the cartoon studio was based in the Bronx at this time) never really made any controversal cartoons during this era, But Terry alongside with Frank Moser did however make a cartoon that is funny and very shocking to watch.
The basic storyline is a takeoff on the Tarzan movies, but the lead character is not animated verison of Tarzan, but a "very sexy" female that rules the jungle.The main title character in this short is"Ape Girl", for which she's drawn and looks much like an animation verison of silent screen star Louise Brooks.The film open with a bunch of monkeys dancing around a tree and worshipping Ape Girl, who is seen having a erotic massage, in which the monkeys are giving her a leg and butt rub down.Ape Girl's antics include riding on a Dinosaur, swinging from tree to tree and screaming in her tribal, but Ape Girl brings sex into this cartoon that would have made any censor squirm in his(or her) chair.Ape Girl's outfit is a skimpy bikini top and her short mini skirt is revealing, as in once scene she is totally nudeupclose (from the bottom down) while she's swiming with the camera angle shooting downard and even though this is the only appearence of this character, that Ape Girl makes Betty Boop look like a saint in this cartoon.
Some great gags in this cartoon include a husband and wife as the wife keeps running her mouth at her husband and he shuts her up by punching her in the face and knocking her off out of the tree.A monkey that needs a haircut get one by the barber, shooting a gun at his head and shooting his hair off the easy way.Ape Girl using fish as ice skates and punishing a fish who won't get into the sardine can by pulling off his skin and giving him a spanking and another funny moment has Farmer Al Falfa shooing upward with elephants falling from the sky.The ending is hilarious when Ape Girl sees Al Falfa in trouble with a bunch of alligators, she rushes to his aid to save him and right after, she beats him up into a frenzey and claims Fal Falfa her new husband and king of the jungle.The cartoon ends months later with Ape Girl and Al Falfa getting married and with children who happen to look exactly like Al Falfa himself.
"Farmer Al Falfa's Ape Girl" is a pretty funny cartoon with a peppy muscial score by Philip A.Scheib, wonderful animation with it's silent era style of animation done by Moser and Terry and jamed packed adult gags all thrown in for good measure.It's very amazing that this cartoon somehow got pass the censors and I doubt that this cartoon ever made it to televison. but this cartoon is a prefect example of what studios was allowed to get away with back in those days before a very strict production code would take force.
NOTE:Another surprise is that my print of this cartoon has the original opening & closing Eductional Pictures title cards, something that is extremely rare among cartoon researchers.The opening card has a typical Terry mouse standing on the number of the movie and Farmer Al Falfa on the right standing the MPAA logo, complete with the Educational Pictures logo.
Finally after seeing all of the original titles for all the cartoon studios from the early 1930s, the Terrytoon titles looks very beautiful and it's worth seeing.
*This post may contain some refrences that may not be sutiable for some members*
The Terytoon cartoon classic is... "Farmer Al Falfa's Ape Girl" it was made back in 1932 and was under the banner of Educational Film Exchanges, for release for Fox Pictures that suppiled short subjects for the studio during the 20s and 30s and it's a very rare pre-code discovery.Of course, the birth of the infamous production code began in 1934 and was brought down by Will Hayes, that would force all of the hollywood studios to cut down on the smut and sexual refrences that was made in hollywood during the dawn of the sound era from 1929 to 1934.
As for cartoon studios during this pre-code period, most of the other stuidos would follow this subject as for gags, the animators would use women as their prime sexual gags.For example, in the 1932 "Flip The Frog" cartoon, "Room Runners", Flip keeps spying on a sexy nude woman when she's drying herself off and in another scene, the same woman dashes across the screen wearing a skimpy night gown, that when she passes under the bright moon sky, the animators reveal her sexy body.But of course, the Fleischer Studios was the king of pre-code cartoons and keep in mind that back in those days, these cartoons were not made for children, but for adults, as the cartoons would run along the feature film during the entire day and night.
Betty Boop was the queen of the animated screen and since her debut, the animators would always have gags thrown in that Betty would loose some part of her clothing.One perfect example would be in "Bimbo's Moving Day" (1931) when Bimbo knocks on the door and annouces he's the moving man, Betty is dressed in sexy nightgown and says " I can't come to the door right now, cause I'm in my nitey" and Bimbo's quick response is..."Okay, I'll wait till you take it off".It was things like this, that the Hayes production code took place three years later.
Well a newly discovered cartoon from the pre-code era has popped and it's a perfect example on how far a studio could push the enevelope and it's an eye sore when viewing this short from 1932.Although the Paul Terry Studio(which the cartoon studio was based in the Bronx at this time) never really made any controversal cartoons during this era, But Terry alongside with Frank Moser did however make a cartoon that is funny and very shocking to watch.
The basic storyline is a takeoff on the Tarzan movies, but the lead character is not animated verison of Tarzan, but a "very sexy" female that rules the jungle.The main title character in this short is"Ape Girl", for which she's drawn and looks much like an animation verison of silent screen star Louise Brooks.The film open with a bunch of monkeys dancing around a tree and worshipping Ape Girl, who is seen having a erotic massage, in which the monkeys are giving her a leg and butt rub down.Ape Girl's antics include riding on a Dinosaur, swinging from tree to tree and screaming in her tribal, but Ape Girl brings sex into this cartoon that would have made any censor squirm in his(or her) chair.Ape Girl's outfit is a skimpy bikini top and her short mini skirt is revealing, as in once scene she is totally nudeupclose (from the bottom down) while she's swiming with the camera angle shooting downard and even though this is the only appearence of this character, that Ape Girl makes Betty Boop look like a saint in this cartoon.
Some great gags in this cartoon include a husband and wife as the wife keeps running her mouth at her husband and he shuts her up by punching her in the face and knocking her off out of the tree.A monkey that needs a haircut get one by the barber, shooting a gun at his head and shooting his hair off the easy way.Ape Girl using fish as ice skates and punishing a fish who won't get into the sardine can by pulling off his skin and giving him a spanking and another funny moment has Farmer Al Falfa shooing upward with elephants falling from the sky.The ending is hilarious when Ape Girl sees Al Falfa in trouble with a bunch of alligators, she rushes to his aid to save him and right after, she beats him up into a frenzey and claims Fal Falfa her new husband and king of the jungle.The cartoon ends months later with Ape Girl and Al Falfa getting married and with children who happen to look exactly like Al Falfa himself.
"Farmer Al Falfa's Ape Girl" is a pretty funny cartoon with a peppy muscial score by Philip A.Scheib, wonderful animation with it's silent era style of animation done by Moser and Terry and jamed packed adult gags all thrown in for good measure.It's very amazing that this cartoon somehow got pass the censors and I doubt that this cartoon ever made it to televison. but this cartoon is a prefect example of what studios was allowed to get away with back in those days before a very strict production code would take force.
NOTE:Another surprise is that my print of this cartoon has the original opening & closing Eductional Pictures title cards, something that is extremely rare among cartoon researchers.The opening card has a typical Terry mouse standing on the number of the movie and Farmer Al Falfa on the right standing the MPAA logo, complete with the Educational Pictures logo.
Finally after seeing all of the original titles for all the cartoon studios from the early 1930s, the Terrytoon titles looks very beautiful and it's worth seeing.