Shuffle Off to Buffalo

One of the Warner Bros. cartoons from the days before Bugs, Daffy and Porky - at this time, it was still Leon Schlesinger Productions leasing cartoons to WB - portrays a baby-making factory. One of the requests is written in Hebrew, and so the factory makes a baby that looks like an infant Elliott Gould. The reason that "Shuffle Off to Buffalo" has a title song is that Merrie Melodies throughout most of the 1930s were named after songs owned by WB, and they would have the characters sing the song. By the end of the decade, they had dropped this policy.

In 1946, Bob Clampett released a more famous cartoon about a baby-producing factory: "Baby Bottleneck" casts Daffy Duck and Porky Pig as owners of the factory who have an unfortunate experience one day. I certainly prefer that one more, as it has more of a plot. But this one should be of interest to people who want to know the entire history of Warner Bros. cartoons. At this point in time, they probably had no idea that their eventual star would be a witty rabbit.

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes, Hanna Barbera, Studio Ghibli and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons. With significantly broader knowledge of different directors, animation styles and studios, actually appreciate and love it even more now.

As has been said a few times already, 'Shuffle Off to Buffalo' is fairly typical of Rudolf Ising (not an enormous favourite of mine but understand his importance in animation history), leaning towards the cute kind of cartoon with a lot of sentiment in alternative to the laugh a minute and hilarious kind, the latter being the one that a lot seem to prefer (understandably, though am hardly biased against the former). This approach has varied with Ising. In some instances it has been very sweet and charming, in others it can be cloying and too cutesy. Generally 'Shuffle Off to Buffalo' belongs in the former category, despite the danger of falling into the latter with the premise.

'Shuffle Off to Buffalo' has a lot to like although not a great cartoon, not one to completely overlook if not a cartoon to watch repeatedly. It is not much new but it is done well still, it's fun to watch and it's charming.

Yes it gets a bit too saccharine to begin with, before the edge kicks in, and it is best perhaps to not talk about the story because there really isn't much of one. The stereotypes may be questionable for some.

What 'Shuffle Off to Buffalo' does so well however eclipses these problems. The animation is rich in detail for design and backgrounds, vibrant and crisp. There is a lush and atmospheric music score, with lots of clever orchestration and a truly infectious title song. The vocals are melodious and well-balanced and the antics/choreography are nostalgic.

It is hard not to fall in love with the characters, even if they are not especially distinctive other than the lead, and it has enough likeability and personality to not be dull. 'Shuffle off to Buffalo' is rich in natural sweet charm and some very imaginative ideas and visuals in its recreation of the authentic setting. There is nothing hilarious and the cartoon's hardly laugh a minute, but a good deal of it does charm, touch and constantly amuse. There are many fun moments and some inventive ones too. The pace avoids being too draggy, with it being full of energy throughout when things got going. There is also some surprising edge and also the odd parody that are fun to spot if familiar with them.

Overall, pretty good. 7/10 Bethany Cox

An early Merrie Melodie, this cartoon uses the song 'Shuffle off to Buffalo' (originally heard in '42nd Street') as a backdrop and soundtrack to what goes on at Baby Central before the storks take babies to their new home.

Singing and dancing babies (including Jewish and tribal, as this is in the days before PC) and an entertaining ledger writer, and an Eddie Cantor cameo, make this a punchy and fun cartoon, much better than some of the other fare coming from Termite Terrace at the time.

These were the cartoons where later top directors cut their teeth as on-the-ground animators, so they are always worth viewing, especially if you have a yen to see what was going on pre-Porky, Daffy and Bugs.

Another Warner Bros. Harmon-Ising Merrie Melodies cartoon short produced in association with Leon Schlesinger that I found on YouTube. Using the title song for inspiration, Shuffle Off to Buffalo is a series of gags surrounding a baby making factory with storks delivering various nationalities (and their representative stereotypes) to the proper homes. There's also caricatures of Maurice Chavalier, Eddie Cantor, and Ed Wynn animated here. If you're of a certain race who's easily offended by the way certain characteristics of them are emphasized, you may want to stay away from this but be aware they're only used here for humor purposes with no malice intended. This was a mostly moderately humorous short that mixed fairly tales with modern conveniences and popular music to usually entertaining results.