Russian Rhapsody

A very funny, energetic cartoon (but what do you expect coming from Clampett?). It starts out with a devastating caricature of Hitler ranting and raving. The level of exageration is amazing. Hitler sprays spit as he talks and has a truly manaical look in his eyes. He decides he is the only man to carry out a bombing mission to Moscow, but en route his plane is attacked by gremlins from the Kremlin. The Kremlins are mostly caricatures of the Warners staff. Leon Schlesinger is seen hitting Brother-in-law Ray Katz with a mallet in one scene. There is also a great scene of Hitler being electrocuted by the gremlins to an amazing drum solo. He twists and writhes into different shapes that show his true colors, such as a jackass. The cartoon ends with Hitler doing a Lew Lehr imitation, a reference that is lost on modern audiences. The only thing that mars this cartoon is a glaringly bad cut that was probably due to a censorship problem with the studio or the Hays office. Schlesinger would not have paid for a retake if something was cut.

yes I saw this one in the Film Museum of Brussels. it was a bit silly, I thought, but it fit right in the context: a lesson about communism in Hollywood. this cartoon contains of two parts: the first one was about how the situation was in those years of war and the second one was to ridicule it with lots of satire and parodies of existing political figures. the cartoon left me a bit unsatisfied, because I wondered the whole if Hitler would have seen this (because the 'main' character is a satire on him)? they couldn't tell me in the Film Museum, what was a pity. I do realize why this cartoon was banned (or should be banned at the time): it contains too much propaganda for political systems.

During the early 1940s, It was pretty easy for allied nations to mock Adolph Hitler and his Nazi ways. But shortly after a year when this cartoon first appeared, footage of the concentration camps was released world-wide to stunned individuals. All of a sudden, Hitler and the Nazi party were no laughing matter.

So maybe this was why I never saw this toon air on my television during my youth years. Yet I recently caught it and *shocker* enjoyed it! Mel Blanc did an amusing job imitating Hitler plus the Gremlin theme song is pretty catchy! Along with the energetic directing by Bob Clampet (Nearly all of his toons had some anarchy in them) and the familiar faces of Warner Bros. animators & execs, put on the bodies of the gremlins,make this cartoon memorable.

It's best to watch it with an open mind,forget what Hitler stood for, and enjoy watching the "Gremlins from der Kremlin" .

This cartoon answers the question of what Hitler would order at a deli. In fact, Hitler's entire speech centers on the subject! Very funny! What an outstanding cartoon, with many references which people of my age won't understand. (I need to ask my dad about these things). Highly recommended.

Throughout the Cold War, it was customary to portray Russians as drunk at best, evil at worst. Even today in movies, Russians tend to get relegated to the roles of mobsters and corrupt oligarchs. Apparently, we've forgotten that the Soviet Union was our staunch ally in World War II. "Russian Rhapsody" sticks with that. It portrays Hitler -ranting like in "The Great Dictator" - concerned about German planes going missing over Russia, so he decides to fly there personally (he's the best pilot). During the flight, Gremlins from the Kremlin start dancing all over his plane and dismantling it.

I should say that this isn't the best Looney Tunes cartoon. Far from it. But I just like that there was one cartoon that portrayed Russians positively.