Libros Famosos

Part of the reason that the Looney Tunes cartoons were so great is that they exposed children to high culture. "Book Revue" is one of the many cartoons that does this. Featuring a book store where the literature does impersonations of Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, and others, they go all out here.

One thing that I have to admit is that when I was six years old, I didn't get the references; I mean, how many six-year-old children can identify William Shakespeare or Dante's "Inferno"? I also didn't know that Daffy Duck was doing a skit based on Danny Kaye.

But even if you don't get all the jokes, it's still a hoot just for what they show. You're sure to love it.

Daffy Duck stars in the surreal short that has all the books of a book store coming alive in humorous ways. Fawning over Frank Sinatra, whom Daffy seeks to steal the spotlight from with his Danny Kaye impersonation (and he succeeds I might add). He also goes up against the Big Bad Wolf in this great Robert Clampett short (and pretty much all of Clampetts work on Looney Tunes was indeed great, so for this to be one of the standouts is really saying something). This animated short can be seen on Disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2 and also features an optional commentary by Micheal Barrier.

My Grade: A+

Young Man with a Horn: Harry James; The Voice in the Wilderness: Frank Sinatra; Brass: Tommy Dorsey- Sinatra worked for him; Drums Along the Mohawk: Gene Krupa; The Pie-eyed Piper: Benny Goodman; Arkansas Traveler: Arkansas-born Bob Burns (with his so-called "bazooka"); So Big: James Durante; Daffy Duck dressed up as Danny Kaye.

The line "... so round, so firm, so fully packed... so (free and) easy on the draw" was in reference to a Lucky Strike cigarette commercial- in coincidence, the Sportsman Quartet (also in this cartoon) used to do commercials for Lucky Strike on the Jack Benny Radio Program.

I love both Have You Got Any Castles? and Book Revue, both are very colourful and clever literary takes, but if I had a preference I have to go with Book Revue. The animation here is wonderful, very colourful and vibrant, and the music is superb, especially liked the use of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata at the beginning. The singing is top notch, and the references are recognisable and a delight to watch. And the main reason why I prefer Book Revue is because of Daffy Duck, he is absolutely hilarious, whether this is his best cartoon overall is up for debate as there are so many exceptional ones, but this is for me one of his funnier performances. Out of the supporting characters, the rapacious Big Bad Wolf is my favourite. The cartoon moves really quickly, the humour is spot on and Sara Berner and Mel Blanc's voice work is outstanding. Overall, superb cartoon and although I loved Have You Got Any Castles, I prefer this one but only marginally, probably the fact that Daffy's in it is to do with it. 10/10 Bethany Cox

It's swoon time over Frank Sinatra in the little old book shop and all the female characters who come to life on the covers of books are shrieking and carrying on, even "Whistler's Mother."

Musicians and all are not only to life but having fun with the music. All, that is, but Daffy Duck who jumps out of his comic book holding his ears, but then takes over the singing from there.

That are a lot of period references here, not just to Frank, but Danny Kaye, W.C. Fields, Jimmy Durante, cigarette commercials and many, many classic books. It's really too wild and crazy to explain. Suffice to say this is wacky Daffy Duck in one of his craziest cartoons. He and director Robert Clampett made a tremendous pair with outrageous animated short films like this. Who else would have Daffy doing scat music to Little Red Riding Hood (a highlight)?

As with some other Daffy Duck cartoons, this is total insanity....and a lot of us love it!