Lights Fantastic

I was extremely amused by Lights Fantastic. Some of the plays on words were quite hilarious, like the Face and Sunburn Coffee (with the coffee cans doing the can-can), take-off on Chase and Sanborn. So was the typewriter sign used to advertise an upcoming movie, called Understood Typewriters (play on Underwood), which typed first "It's Sensational", then "it's Colossal", then trying to type "It's Stupendous" but first typing "It's Stupa", crossing out the typo, trying again with "It's Stoop", crossing that off also. (I thought it was going to be "It's Stoopid"! THAT makes little sense as how can a movie that is sensational and colossal also be DUMB?). The last line was "It's Swell!" The cartoon ended with a Win-a-Car conga line, opened up with tapping of Stucco House Coffee (Play on Maxwell House), shaking by peanut and jangling of cow bell for Darnation Milk, and the boy-and-whale "Oliver Oil". The other signs were funny, too; though I have not seen this cartoon in years, I remember it ever so well.

This cartoon is a good example of the fact that while Friz Freling was technically excellent, he was possibly the least imaginative of the directors in the Warner's stable. Lights Fantastic is essentially a rehash of _Billboard Frolics(1935)_(qv) and showcases Freling's tendency to recycle gags in multiple films. This is not to say that Lights Fantastic isn't entertaining - it is and it gives you a chance to enjoy Freling at his technical best, but it also reveals the dichotomy inherent in the canon of his work.

Another reused routine (appearing for the second time in _Show Biz Bugs (1957)_(qv)) is the trained performing pigeons that flew out the theater window instead of doing their act. _Bugs And Thugs(1954)_(qv) and _Bugsy And Mugsy (1957)_ both have material cribbed from _Racketeer Rabbit(1946)_(qv). Yosemite Sam stands out as Freling's best creation, from his introduction in _Hare Trigger (1945)_(qv) to the mid 1950's when the character ran out of steam.

"Lights Fantastic" certainly offers the viewer of today a decidedly comical look at the prevailing glut of neon-lit advertising signage as it existed during the mid-20th century at the busy intersection of New York City's famous Times Square.

Competently directed by notable Warner Bros. animator, Friz Freleng - "Lights Fantastic" is definitely one of those animated shorts that isn't gonna appeal to all viewers since a number of its sequences can be clearly looked upon, today, as being quite politically incorrect in nature.

Not the most original of Fritz Freleng's cartoons, with a concept that later cartoons would explore later and perhaps at times to slightly funnier effect. But that doesn't take away from that Lights Fantastic is thoroughly entertaining and a delight to watch. The animation is lush and fluid, with great care evidently taken with the details and drawing, and the shots of Times Square are positively glitzy. The music is catchy, wonderfully orchestrated and full of energy, it has a remarkable ability to synchronise as well as it does with the action(like the best of WB/Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies) and also to add to it. Lights Fantastic is never less than amusing, at its best it's hilarious and has Freleng's style all over it. The play on words are snappy and smart and the eye test gag is really funny and inspired stuff. The pacing is crisp, never feeling dull, the characters are eccentric and fun and Mel Blanc's vocal characterisations are dead-on, bringing so much life and distinction to each character he played(in Lights Fantastic and every WB/Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes he did). All in all, not quite classic but lights up in a fantastic way. 9/10 Bethany Cox

A mix of real-life footage of New York and cartoon footage of the typical 1940s advertising signs coming to life, Lights Fantastic is a classic cartoon.

From such great gags such as the free eye test ("if you can read this, you are Chinese"), to the Chinatown bus carried by rickshaw boys, to the Egyptian Cigarettes picture of one Egyptian giving another a hotfoot, this is pure fun.

Plus, it's classic Freling.