Hit or Miss: Freddie The Freshman?

[Marty26]

This is probably the first Hit/Miss poll where I have to vote "In-Between." It's a lively/peppy cartoon, but I've always thought the cartoon would've been better if Freddie actually lost his home team the big football game (after all the praise and accolades he was getting). Making him receive all those accolades and then win at the end was a little pointless (not to mention the fact that Freddie was actually rather pompous and a bit too conscious of his accolades). What does everybody else think of the cartoon?

Here's a Youtube link, for those who haven't seen it:

YouTube - Freddy the Freshman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ur4dKPW8js)

[oceansoul]

These early WB toons are too dull for me.

However the song is great, one of my favs from the Carl Stalling used ones.

[Ray Pointer]

I've always liked the early MERRY MELODIES due to the musical syncopation. It may be the repetition of technique that may seem "dull." Keep in mind that they were not intened for continuous viewing, so the similarity in production and technique would not have been apparent when seen by a separation of one or two weeks as originally seen in theaters. Some of these techniques were necessary to maintain production efficiency. It also created
a type of "brand" recognition.:bosko:

[cpdavison]

I had to go with "hit."

If this doesn't typify a "happy-peppy early 30s cartoon" then nothing does, IMO.

Craig D.

[captchucky]

This is a favorite of mine from the early H-I output. I like the song as well as the characters and action, kind of a "Touchdown Mickey"-lite. This cartoon shoud have the happy ending it has. The film is designed as pleasant 20's nostalgia for its intended depression-era audience.I'd like to see more of these "In the Vault" on future "Golden Collections." I have a lot of them on the laser discs, and thought this was one of the better early cartoons.

[Fibber Fox]

This is probably the first Hit/Miss poll where I have to vote "In-Between."

Marty, this probably describes the Harman-Ising efforts that I've seen. They're pleasant to watch and have their moments but I never really laugh at any of them.

FF

[Matthew Hunter]

I like this one. In fact, I like most of the Harman/Ising black and whites. Some tend to drag, especially the Merrie Melodie one-shots where the song is weak, but I can forgive those for stuff like Bosko and the Merrie Melodies that WERE good.

If you haven't seen the Foxy/Piggy cartoons, you're missing out! "Lady Play Your Mandolin", "Hittin the Trail For Hallelujia Land", "You Don't Know What You're Doin'" and "One More Time" are among the funniest things ever animated.

[Marty26]

I like this one. In fact, I like most of the Harman/Ising black and whites. Some tend to drag, especially the Merrie Melodie one-shots where the song is weak, but I can forgive those for stuff like Bosko and the Merrie Melodies that WERE good.

If you haven't seen the Foxy/Piggy cartoons, you're missing out! "Lady Play Your Mandolin", "Hittin the Trail For Hallelujia Land", "You Don't Know What You're Doin'" and "One More Time" are among the funniest things ever animated.

Ehhh, I kind of have to disagree with you about One More Time. That cartoon has always sort of annoyed me for some reason.

[Marty26]

This is a favorite of mine from the early H-I output. I like the song as well as the characters and action, kind of a "Touchdown Mickey"-lite. This cartoon shoud have the happy ending it has. The film is designed as pleasant 20's nostalgia for its intended depression-era audience.I'd like to see more of these "In the Vault" on future "Golden Collections." I have a lot of them on the laser discs, and thought this was one of the better early cartoons.

May be I'm being a little too critical with it, since it IS an early-1930's short, and back then the Merrie Melodies series of cartoons were supposed to be 90% music and 10% plot - basically cartoon performances of popular songs, if you will (for the record, I wonder if MTV's "revitalization" of the music video in 1981 was loosely based on the Merrie Melodies and Silly Symphonies).

Still, when judging the cartoon more objectively, it probably would've been better to have Freddy lose the game at the end, since he was a pretty arrogant/pompous character. And yes, I'm pretty well aware of the fact that this, as well as other MM cartoons, probably wasn't meant to be read into so much.

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Marty, this probably describes the Harman-Ising efforts that I've seen. They're pleasant to watch and have their moments but I never really laugh at any of them.

FF

Yeah, that's how I feel. I voted for "neither."

[Philo & Gunge]

Hit. This was the first H-I cartoon I ever saw (I had it on an old PD tape) and I think it's one of the better one-shot MM's of the era (as strange as it sounds, I do like Foxy, Piggy and Goopy).

[rp-j]

Wow, I'd not seen this one for a while so I tracked it down on one of my old VHS tapes...

Well, I had to go for "neither". It's no classic, but it's not a total loss either. Certainly a fascinating, if not entirely successful artefact from the period.:)

[Cartman]

A hit for me. I love the song (which was reused in RAW RAW ROOSTER).

[rp-j]

A hit for me. I love the song (which was reused in RAW RAW ROOSTER).

Ah, yes. If memory serves me right, wasn't it also used in the superb tennis sequence in "I Taw A Putty Tat"?:cool:

[frizfrelengfan]

I say it's a hit. It had me tappin' my toe and hummin' along. Which is what the early musical cartoons are supposed to do. And how can you go wrong basing a cartoon on a lively football game?

[Marty26]

Ah, yes. If memory serves me right, wasn't it also used in the superb tennis sequence in "I Taw A Putty Tat"?:cool:

It was used in almost every "competitive/athletic scene" of the Stalling-scored WB cartoons.

[frootloops]

They're pleasant to watch and have their moments but I never really laugh at any of them.

FF That's my exact opinion, almost word for word. I voted "neither". :bosko:

[Marty26]

Okay, I'm aware of the policy of not resurrecting old threads, but I have a question about this short. The song claims Freddy got "bounced at Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Brown." But (at least in today's slang), wouldn't that imply that he was rejected from those schools?

[Fibber Fox]

Okay, I'm aware of the policy of not resurrecting old threads, but I have a question about this short. The song claims Freddy got "bounced at Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Brown." But (at least in today's slang), wouldn't that imply that he was rejected from those schools?

More like "ejected." He was kicked out, not that he was denied admission.

FF

[Marty26]

Makes it kind of ironic, then, that he'd be such a "hero" in this song.

[The Spectre]

It was used in almost every "competitive/athletic scene" of the Stalling-scored WB cartoons.

But I think "Raw Raw Rooster" is the only (other?) time the lyrics appear.

[Marty26]

But I think "Raw Raw Rooster" is the only (other?) time the lyrics appear.

There was actually another cartoon from 1937 (forget the title) where a Native American starts playing it on his guitar and then singing it. Otherwise, as far as I can tell, it was only played as an instrumental.

[The Spectre]

Ah, yes. Sweet Sioux, isn't it?