Es war einmal

Fritz Freleng's 'Foney Fables' had a good concept going for it, taking several fairy-tales in brief segments and putting a different spin on them. It doesn't come over completely successfully, with a number of hits but a few misses, but it is quite entertaining.

It is very light on plot, being basically an excuse to string along short vignettes of different fairy-tales, and while most of it is energetic some of the lesser vignettes lack oomph. There are some very funny moments here, but only a few parts are really hilarious while most of it is lightly entertaining and amusing, but overall there was a little more need of wit and consistency.

A few of the vignettes don't quite work in 'Foney Fables'. The weakest one is "Jack and the Beanstalk", the material with the giant being really lame and idiotic, can't believe Freleng would dream up something so unfunny. Not far behind is the "Sleeping Beauty" segment, that also went overboard with the silliness so what could have been an interesting twist on a popular fairy-tale falls flat. Was also very mixed on the "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" segment, it does entertain but could have done with a little consistent wit and some of the slang may go over people's heads.

There are some very good highlights though. The funniest and most successful vignette is the hilarious one with "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", which is one of the genuinely hilarious and clever ones. "This Little Piggy Went to Market" and "Old Mother Hubbard" are also funny and clever, and also loved the breaking the fourth-wall with Tom Thumb and what was done with the grasshopper in the "Grasshopper and the Ant" segment. While this reviewer described 'Foney Fables as hit and miss, the cartoon does hit more than it misses.

Regarding the animation and music, they are fantastic and the two consistent assets of 'Foney Fables'. The animation is bright and colourful as well as beautifully and smoothly drawn with lots of meticulous detail. Apart from the perhaps slight misplacement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony (which is a great piece on its own, but was in two minds whether it fitted) in the "Goose that Laid Golden Eggs" vignette, Carl Stalling's music score is lushly orchestrated, bursting with energy and character and is not only dynamic with the action but enhances it. Also consistently superb is the voice acting, especially from Mel Blanc, exuberant in multiple roles.

In summary, hit and miss but interesting. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Foney Fables (1942)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Sleeping Beauty, Tom Thumb, The Grasshopper and the Ant, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Jack and the Beanstalk are fairy tales that we all know and love but this animated short puts a small twist on them.

Honestly, this short is okay and mildly amusing but it's really not as clever as I think it tries to be. Basically we are told the familiar stories and then see a different outcome. For example, instead of the Prince kissing Sleeping Beauty, he instead screams at her to wake up and shakes her. The giant can't chase down Jack because his second head is sick and doesn't feel like it. Haha, right? This short is cute in its own way and it's slightly entertaining but it's certainly far from a classic.

While fairy tales and fables are some of the easiest things to use in cartoons, you've never seen it like this before. In "Sleeping Beauty", Prince Charming could easily be Bugs Bunny. A fourth-wall-breaking Tom Thumb becomes a health adviser. The lazy grasshopper and the goose who laid the golden egg both have gotten involved in the war effort (it seems that the Termite Terrace crowd never missed a chance to promote the war effort). But the star turns out to be the boy who cried wolf; I guess that it was a little predictable what ends up happening, but everything leading up to it easily makes the cartoon worth watching. I can definitely see "Foney Fables" as a possible precursor to the "Fractured Fairy Tales" segments on "Rocky & Bullwinkle". Pretty funny, although I do wonder what Cinderella was up to.

It's a good idea but the execution wasn't there. The idea of taking famous fairy tales and nursery rhymes and doing parodies could work. The problem here is that this is unimaginative. Good artwork goes to waste because the stories are quite lame. I did like the wolf in sheep's clothing bit.

This amusing Warner Bros.cartoon puts a new spin on the old fairy tales, a few using the war effort (made in '42) as a source of the payoff for the gags, and most of them falling a bit short of the mark as far as outright laughter is concerned.

The best device of all is the running gag that has The Boy Who Cried Wolf set up for the final wolf moment. Others include Jack and the Beanstalk, The Ant and the Grasshopper, Sleeping Beauty, Old Mother Hubbard, The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg and Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, all of which produce no more than a chuckle or two.

Not bad, but could have been a lot better with just a little more wit. The cartoon itself appears on the Errol Flynn Signature Collection in association with the '42 flick, GENTLEMAN JIM starring Flynn and Alexis Smith.