Un día en el zoológico

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.

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.

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.

Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best cartoons ever made. While the ending is an easily foreseeable one, 'A Day at the Zoo' is one of Avery's best early cartoons to me. Sometimes there was the sense that he was still finding his style at this point, but the visual and verbal humour were in classic Avery style in 'A Day at the Zoo' and there was evidence of the wild wackiness he was famous for (if not done as imaginatively as later).

It is no surprise that the animation is superb, being rich in colour and detail, the meticulousness is also noticeable. The character designs are fluid and well drawn, if not quite the creative ones of his very best cartoons. Carl Stalling's music is lush and characterful, with clever orchestration and a mastery of not just adding to the action but enhancing it as well (Stalling was a near-unequalled master at this, though Scott Bradley gave him a run for his money).

'A Day at the Zoo' is great fun and never less than amusing, the running gag never outstays its welcome and is executed with enough variety to stop it from becoming predictable and repetitive. The characters carry the cartoon beautifully and the pace is always lively without being so relentless that it feels rushed.

Mel Blanc shows once again his unrivalled ability to voice multiple characters and give each of them an individuality rather than giving them all the same personality and voice.

In summation, great. 9/10 Bethany Cox

A nice little set of jokes concerning various animals at the zoo. For example a Rocky Mountain wildcat that is upset for missing a prize on "bank night" (hence his behavior). Or a pair of well behaved elks (who are two gentlemen - obviously members of the "Elks" Lodge - who are greeting each other (and both are named Bill). A monkey is surprised at his resemblance to a man at the zoo, and convinces the zoo keeper that there must be a mistake here. And another monkey gets angry about a woman who disobeys a simple zoo regulation on a sign. There is also a running joke, with overtones of Lou Costello's running tag line on radio "I'm a baaad boy!" dealing with "Egghead" (the predecessor of "Elmer Fudd") and a Lion. An easy to take cartoon. One problem about using the "You Tube" versions (which, for all I know, is true about the quality of the actual cartoons) is that the sound track is not in sync with the cartoon images. Hopefully someone can fix that.

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.