Innertube Antics

The mid-40s are rife with with wartime references, and this cartoon is no exception. Never mind that it doesn't feature a character who'd go on to become a major cartoon star, but just a one-shot:,his seven minutes of frustration more than just carry the day. A humanized donkey--complete with regular people's clothes, shoes, a hat with earholes, no tail, and white gloves to inexplicably hide his hands--wrestles with an innertube which itself is quite anthropomorphic (wicked snicker and all).

Anyway, all the poor guy/donkey wants to do is not have his scrap pile significantly smaller than his neighbors'. This is a very fine example of what one calls "MGM humor"; there WAS such a thing before Tex Avery and Hanna-Barbera stepped in. It's well worth seeking out.

A donkey is the head of a suburban home. He puts out a small pile of rubber for wartime recycling. His pile is much smaller than his neighbors. He goes out in search for more and finds an innertube buried in the ground.

It's an MGM cartoon in Technicolor. It has an important wartime subject matter. This donkey is a lot of slapstick but not that funny. It's the same old, same old. I think he needs a sidekick. He needs a buddy for his antics. The solo effort struggles to gain traction.

When an anthropomorphic donkey realizes that all his neighbors have donated more rubber than he has, he is embarrassed. Then he notices part of an innertube protruding from the ground. The whole cartoon is his effort to pull the thing out. He is fried, hacked, blown up, on and on. It's one of those wartime things. No great shakes.

Sure, as far as the animation and score are concerned, this cartoon is on a par with other MGM cartoon shorts of the period. And of course, MGM had a release schedule to meet. But the fact that this cartoon is filled with violent, tired "gags" which were old even then, and the fact that there is NO Director/Supervisor credit, leads me to believe that whoever was responsible for this 7 minutes of wasted Technicolor film didn't want his name on it. And after seeing it yet again, I can't blame the guy or guys. The donkey character appears in at least one cartoon that's credited to William Hanna and Joseph Barbera (and it seemed like there was no low to which they wouldn't stoop at MGM). The violence is similar to that found in many of their Tom and Jerry cartoons. But if they DID direct this one, even THEY were ashamed of it. I'll guarantee you it's no Tex Avery cartoon.

I just recently had the open window of opportunity to see this rather obscure MGM animated short which was obviously produced during World War 2 (references to donating rubber to the war effort are abundant here). A nameless donkey is dismayed to find that his neighbours have donated far more rubber than he,causes him to search out more rubber to donate. He finds an old tyre tube buried in the ground, but when he tries (over and over again)to dig it up,he finds the tube has a mind of it's own,and has a rather sadistic agenda to carry out on the hapless donkey. What follows is seven funny minutes of what MGM seemed to do best,produce a well animated (some brilliant animation,and use of Technicolor)short that must have had them rolling in the aisles,back in the day. Unfortunately,little is known of whom ever worked on this short (no animation supervisor/director,or screen writer listed...'tho Michael Lah,who worked with Tex Avery on some of his funniest work for his MGM era is listed as one of the animators). Don't let this throw you from enjoying a well produced short from an era that turned animation into an art form. Not rated by the MPAA (which,at the time was called The National Board Of Review),but perfect entertainment for the whole family (if you can find any youngsters that would have any relevant interest in the history of animation)