Ein Besuch im Zoo

A Day at the Zoo (1939)

*** (out of 4)

Tex Avery directed short gives us exactly as the title says. The narrator introduces us to various animals at a local zoo but there's often a twist in the story.

A DAY AT THE ZOO is a rather clever short from Avery who, as you'd expect, gives us the high quality animation but he mixes it with a certainly smart aleck attitude that is rather funny. There's a running gag throughout the running time dealing with a man who keeps picking on a lion. The narrator warns him to leave the lion alone several times but the pay off is rather funny. There are also a few nice gags aimed around people feeding the monkeys including one poor woman who should have listened to the sign. Fans of Avery's humor will certainly get a kick out of this one.

As someone who has always had a fascination with animals, I'm a big fan of this WB short. If I were to work in any occupation that dealt with animals right now, I'd be a biologist. But I surely wouldn't want too be a zookeeper, wrangler nor animal trainer. As long as I don't have to be around them, I'd be happy in some occupation involving animals without me having to be near them. Anyway, this is one of the WB cartoons in which the sight-gags and puns are the main focus/emphasis and another that's so well put together. The parts that I find to be the funniest and my faves are the recurring bits with Egghead constantly taunting the lion, the Alcatraz jailbird and stool pigeon, and the wild cat. If any of y'all like learning about animals like I do, then I highly recommend to watch this one.

A Day at the Zoo is a typically amusing Warner Bros. cartoon directed by Fred "Tex" Avery. You'll see pink elephants, a pack of camels smoking cigarettes, a monkey admonishing a lady trying to feed him when the sign says not to, and a human baboon switching places with an actual one. Some gags are now too dated (like the two panthers walking around and constantly saying, "Bread and butter", or two (human) Elks greeting each other), and the typical speed of Avery has not been fully developed yet (that would come when he moves to MGM). However, there is a historical interest here as this has a recurring gag appearance of Egghead, a precursor to Elmer Fudd, who keeps teasing a caged lion even after the narrator tells him not too. Egghead keeps saying, "I'm a bad boy" impersonating it's originator, Lou Costello. So to any fan of Avery and Warner cartoons, A Day at the Zoo is worth a look.

I'm always amazed and happy to see the corny puns Tex Avery and others like to present in classic-era cartoons. This cartoon is full of them. The scene is a zoo: "Kalama Zoo," where the "blue plate special" is on at feeding time, etc.

The puns keep comin' as we get a tour of the zoo, complete with a ton of "corn" and wisecracks. Some of it, of course, is really stupid but a good number of the puns are funny. We see camels (smoking), greyhounds (a bus), two bucks (deer) and five scents (skunks)." You get the picture. Very corny.

We see birds, too, such as the "Jail Bird" in a cage with a "Stool Pigeon" in the adjacent one. I'm telling you, it's non-stop cornball material ....and a lot of fun. The ending, with the lion and the idiot that was teasing him, was predictable but still humorous and clever.

nothing surprising. all lovely. because, after decades, the flavor of childhood has the mark of Merrie Melodies, with its silly situations and stupid characters, lessons and show in same package. good entertainment. and a tour at zoo, with the same ingredients of ordinary tour and the legendary Grayhound. so, Merrie Melodies .