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The title could be the synopsis, too: Mickey and his pals are on vacation in Hawaii. There is no plot, we simply see the characters engaged in activities appropriate for the islands. This being a cartoon, the fun also contains its quota of mishaps: Pluto has issues with a starfish and a crab, Donald lights his fanny on fire dancing a hula, and Goofy has a recurring headache trying to catch a wave on an uncooperative surf. Animation from this era often seems slower when compared to the breakneck pacing perfected by Bob Clampett and Tex Avery in the 1940s, but this time the unhurried gait fits the material perfectly. A Hawaiian vacation has to be mellow for us to appreciate the lush colors and meticulous backgrounds that occupy each frame. Noteworthy is the "split-screen" action above and below water level as Goofy searches for his surfboard (while under water, Goofy's animation is especially "fluid"). The real disappointment is Mickey himself. By 1937 he was already the "hole in the doughnut," and having Minnie carry him by hula-dancing to his slack-key guitar only draws attention to his lack of comic potential. What she ever saw in him is anyone's guess.

`An Itch In Time' is one of a string of home runs Bob Clampett hit for WB in the early 1940s, including `Horton Hatches The Egg' and `Tortoise Wins By A Hare.' Soaked in manic timing and exaggerated mayhem, it's basically the saga of a flea who's busy breaking ground for a new home, and the dog whose ground is being broken. Because master Elmer will give him a dreaded flea bath if he so much as scratches, the unlucky canine is forced to endure an upward spiral of torment as the homesteading flea uses pick-axes and power tools to clear the `land.' Ultimately, the little monster lights the fuse to a small mountain of high explosives he's piled onto his victim's backside! There's a tremendous explosion, and the hapless pooch covers his eyes as his rear end erupts in a blazing Fourth of July display! That really has to hurt, and the dog takes flight, but soon he stops the action and says with a merry smile, `You guys better cut it out, 'cause I think I'm starting to like it!' For years this kinky confession was censored, but current prints have restored the clip, so now viewers can enjoy it in its original devilish glory. Still cut, however, is the closing gag in which the cat blows his brains out after he laments, `Now I've seen everything!' This was a common gag at WB, but it has since been purged from this cartoon and several others, including `Horton.'

"One More Time" is an antique cartoon: a relic from an era when sound was new and characters had huge, googly eyes adapted for a harsh world in black and white. The story is boilerplate cops and robbers, and gets its title from the song the characters sing throughout its length. And it's a very hot song: a jazzy, cautionary tale that would have been at home in any burlesque house or gambling backroom. Brave Officer Foxy represents law and order, and he doggedly pursues the baddies in a Prohibition-age world of rubbery menace where the entire cast sways and bounces to the music's devilish rhythm. The animation team of Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising and "Friz" Freleng produced three Merrie Melodies starring Foxy, and "One More Time" is their meanest. In 1931 they were still walking in Disney's footsteps, so their thugs are jowly, scruffy lowlifes of uncertain species (presumably canine), whereas Foxy wears a resemblance to a certain rodent who will go nameless here. The toon's simple plot gets personal when the thugs abduct girlfriend Roxy, but Foxy rescues her and corrals the fleeing toughs straight to the jailhouse. As he padlocks the door, the angry jailbirds deliver the song's finale through the barred windows. In triumph, our hero assumes centerstage and takes his bows while Roxy looks on dreamily. However, the cocky officer ought to be watching his back, because a baddie has emerged from a manhole with a machine gun. Foxy takes one bow too many and presents a perfect target for the mug who opens fire. With a cry of "Yeowwww!" that lasts to the closing fade, poor Foxy throws up his arms and grinds his backside helplessly on the pavement as the mug spanks him with gunfire. The moral: "Crime does not pay, but getting the last laugh does."