Bartholomew Versus the Wheel

This is one of those latter-day Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoons near the end of the original Termite Terrece period just as the studio first closed in 1963. This was one of two (the other being Chuck Jones' Now Hear This) that has the more modern open done to Bill Lava's version of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" which would be adapted by DePatie-Freleng when they took over producing the Warner cartoons for the next four years. The ending theme, however, for only these two was the sound of the chimes of Big Ben. This cartoon, directed by Robert McKimson, has the UPA-influenced stylized design that started appearing in many of these latter-day cartoons. They're pretty good designs for this particular story of a dog whose name is in the title chasing and eating every wheel he sees because of one from a hand-ridden scooter that ran over his tail one day. Narrated by a child actor, this short goes by on charm with occasional giggle-, instead of guffaw-, inducing scenes. One other thing I'd like to note is that Bartholomew's bark is the same as Dino's on "The Flintstones" (since Mel Blanc is the voice of both, that's no surprise). So on that note, if you're in the mood for a charming, simple story for kids, I highly recommend Bartholomew Versus the Wheel.

I say this as a fan of Merrie Melodies/Warner Bros/Looney Tunes since goodness knows how long. Anybody expecting the usual will be surprised for either the better or worse depending on who you are. While unusual for me Bartholomew Versus the Wheel was still a well done cartoon. Sure, some of the backgrounds are rather crudely drawn and the colours could have done with being less sparse. The music though is catchy and fittingly orchestrated, if not in the same league as Carl Stalling, and the stylised character designs were interesting and easy on the eyes at least. There are some amusing moments too, while the story is endearingly cute without being overly sentimental. Bartholomew as a title character is delightful and immediately identifiable. Mel Blanc's voice work is outstanding as you would expect from one of the greatest voice actors of all time.

All in all, very cute if unusual. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This is definitely not your usual Merrie Melodie cartoon. In fact, you can tell it's going to be different when you see the modern 1960s abstract WB opening and closing sequences (which features a weird arrangement of "The Merry-Go-Round-Broke-Down," whereas the normal 1936-1964 Merrie Melodies theme is "Merrily We Roll Along!") When I first saw this on Cartoon Network's "ACME Hour," I was really surprised by this cartoon. The animation is a bit similar to Hanna-Barbera, and the drawing style is reminiscent of James Thurber's illustrations. (UPA tried doing a Thurber-type cartoon back in the 50s, "A Unicorn in the Garden.") The backgrounds are crude crayon-style, and the music is not your definite Looney Tuney music (hey, they didn't have Carl Stalling anymore!) When I first saw it, I thought the animators must have been sick or something like that and couldn't draw like they usually do. However, the story is SO CUTE! It is one of Robert McKimson's finest cartoons of the 1960s.

All the Termite Terrace greats who made such wonderful cartoons with the characters like Bugs and Daffy also from time to time made other cartoons that allowed their genius to shine with a freedom they might not have with the franchise characters. Chuck Jones in particular made many great cartoons like that. Here's one for Robert McKimson, an often underrated animation director who did a variety of work with almost all the classic Looney Tunes characters but is best remembered (by me, at least) for his work with Foghorn Leghorn. This is a charming story about a dog named Bartholomew who develops a vendetta against wheels after a boy on a scooter runs over his tail. The short's narrated by the dog's owner, voiced by child actor Leslie Barringer. The animation is intentionally crude and appealing in its childlike innocence. The colors are gorgeous. The music is some of the best from any short Bill Lava had anything to do with. It's an adorable cartoon that's fresh and smart. Both kids and adults should like it. I think it might be McKimson's best work outside of the Foghorn series.

If not for the opening and closing credits, I would have never guessed that "Bartholomew Versus the Wheel" came from the Warner Bros. animation department (let alone from the director of the Foghorn Leghorn and Tasmanian Devil cartoons). Drawn very crudely - seriously, it looks more like a storybook - the cartoon clearly identifies that Warner Bros. animation had passed its heyday. To be certain, the studio heads closed the animation department in 1963, prompting Friz Freleng to open his own animation studio (Robert McKimson joined, but Chuck Jones moved to MGM). DePatie-Freleng loaned cartoons to WB for a few years until WB cut off relations with them and tried to restart its own animation studio, but that didn't last very long, and so no more cartoons came from WB.

Anyway, this isn't a bad cartoon, but the era of their really great cartoons was definitely over by this point.