Scrappy Birthday

Miranda wants a fur coat for her birthday, so Andy goes fox-hunting with a red-headed foxhound in this very good Andy Panda cartoon.

Director Dick Lundy seems to have envisaged a Screwy Squirrel scenario, but even though the general attitude seems to suggest that wackiest of Tex Avery characters, there are enough outrageous sight gags to keep this one moving along, including a couple that I haven't encountered before -- check out the one in which the fox is hiding in the tree. This one is a real treat.

For some reason, the body of the cartoon begins with half a dozen bars of "The Woody Woodpecker Song". Were they trying to turn it into a general theme for Lantz cartoons?

Whether one enjoys 'Scrappy Birthday' is dependent on what your thoughts are on lead character Andy Panda. Personally find him a cute and appealing character if not always with the strongest personality, whenever he was with Woody Woodpecker Woody was always the funnier and more interesting character. With his solo cartoons, some are better than others (which is true of a lot of animation characters with theatrical series) but they are watchable.

'Scrappy Birthday' is more than watchable. To me, it is quite good if not exceptional which is not unusual for the Andy Panda solo cartoons. Is it one of the worst of the series? No way. Is it one of the best? Not quite, despite boasting one of his stronger adversaries in humour and personality. Personally put 'Scrappy Birthday' somewhere around high middle of the Andy Panda series, which is not too bad a position to be in. A long way from scrappy.

It is quite thin story wise and holds not many surprises due to the scenario being a familiar one. It could have gotten going quicker, as it doesn't have quite enough momentum until the fox is introduced.

Andy Panda is appealing enough, though this is a case of the supporting characters making a much stronger impression.

There is however much to like. The animation is very well crafted, with rich vibrant colours and the attention to detail in the backgrounds is not too simplistic or too elaborate. Even better is the music. It's characterful, lushly orchestrated and is not only dynamic with the action it even enhances it. The writing has wit and made me smile.

Sight gags are beautifully timed and very amusing, some of them suitably outrageous. Did like the fox in the tree gag. The energy level is very high once it gets going. While Andy Panda engages enough, the supporting characters are a good deal stronger. Especially the suitably crafty fox. The voice acting suits the characters very well.

Concluding, worth a look. 7/10.

. . . incorrigible gals when they get under your skin. SCRAPPY BIRTHDAY finds Andy courting his sister Miranda Panda, demonstrating why this doomed species is so endangered. Too lazy from over-eating so much bamboo, pandas seldom look outside their nuclear family for mates. Since the human population of their home country apes panda behavior, the resulting catastrophic population explosion is forecast to soon result in an even more cataclysmic demographic collapse. This will mirror the events of SCRAPPY BIRTHDAY, in which the panda siblings get totally skunked when it comes to successfully propagating their species.