Rocket-bye Baby

Chuck Jones's 'Rocket-Bye Baby' is an example of the "domestic" cartoons of the late 50s and 60s but with a sci-fi twist. Beginning with the strange concept that a cosmic disturbance resulted in an Earth baby being delivered to Mars and vice versa, 'Rocket-Bye Baby' never really finds its feet. Sharing more in tone with campy sitcoms like 'Bewitched' than with the average Warner Bros. cartoon, 'Rocket-Bye Baby' follows the progress of the Martian baby and his bewildered parents. Jones makes a wise decision in opting for the highly stylised animation which reflects the strangeness of the plot but, while there's the odd amusing moment, 'Rocket-Bye Baby' is largely caught between unfunny sitcom and self-conscious cartoon. An interesting but not especially memorable short which hasn't quite worked out the logic of its own universe.

One year, the planets Mars and Earth passed closer than ever in orbit around the sun and an astronomic anomaly means that a baby bound for Earth ends up on Mars and a baby bound for Mars ends up on Earth. In a general hospital on Earth a father goes to see his baby to be confronted by a green child - one that has amazing abilities too!

At the start this film looks like it is going to be more silly than anything else and that it won't do anything with the set up. Happily it manages to be quite funny anyway with some clever gags and generally an imaginative sense of humour. This can be seen in little things - like instead of a woman just screaming, she blows a little tuner horn to help her get her pitch right first. Or baby's various projects around his bedroom.

The characters look basic but the voice work of the father is really good and it makes him so much more than the rather rough sketch that he appears to be. The mother is fairly anonymous throughout but the baby manages to have just enough cheeky humour on him to overcome the fact that he is simply a green cute baby with all the character problems they come with!

The short is basic no doubt but it was different enough to make me laugh once or twice. The ending is a nice twist but needed a mock-dramatic tone to it to make it work as well as it should have done. Nevertheless this cartoon works despite the lack of any famous characters and the presence of that potential cinematic kiss of death, the cute cheeky baby!

Further playing off of the sci-fi craze of the '50s, the Looney Tunes' creators made "Rocket-bye Baby", in which Mars and Earth pass too close, causing a Martian baby to get sent to Earth while an Earth baby gets sent to Mars. When an Earth couple picks up the green, antennae-bearing infant, the husband wants to hide him from the world, while the wife doesn't mind the tyke. But when the extraterrestrial child starts getting excessively adept at science - he's probably the only baby who ever spelled out E=mc2 with building blocks - things really get wacky, especially since they receive a telegram from Mars informing them that their son has ended up there and they'd better not let anything bad happen to the Martian baby!

The truth is, the Chuck Jones-Michael Maltese crowd had plenty of stuff in popular culture to parody, and they play it to great effect here. One thing that I notice about this cartoon is that Mel Blanc doesn't do the voices; Daws Butler and June Foray (better known as the voice of Rocky the Squirrel) have that job here. But that doesn't diminish the quality. Every part of this cartoon has perfect timing, especially when the Martian baby builds his own flying saucer, flies around town, and befuddles a man who gives a speech explaining why there are no UFOs!

So it may not be the greatest Looney Tunes cartoon ever, but still worth seeing. And remember to check your baby when s/he is first born, just in case...

Unusually, this sci-fi cartoon is funny and imaginative (and original) without the presence of such a professional laugh-trigger as the teaming of Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. This time, it revolves around one-shot characters.

Once upon a time, earth and Mars came closer together than ever before. Thus, a serious mix-up occurred when a Martian baby greeted Mr. Wilbur in the waiting room, while Wilbur's son ended up on Mars. Not only is this cute little kid green, he also has antennae and a talent for science unbecoming for someone his age. The Martians inform the Wilburs about the mix-up, and add that if their kid, Mot, is harmed, then the humans' kid, Yob, will not be returned to his rightful parents. But the Wilburs are just a little too late to stop Mot and his "toy flying saucer" zooming off through the city. So a frantic chase ensues, Mr. Wilbur trying to save the Martian to save his own son.

The first impression I got from the cartoon was that it might well lack originality. I thought they must have done the mix-up in another cartoon, and this was just a rehash. But I wasn't expecting the second half of the movie to be as intriguing as it was. The ending was dramatic enough, but the highlight was Mr. Wilbur's series of problems with Mot and his embarrassment at having him for a son. The expressions are priceless. I wouldn't mind Mot, he's really cute and brilliantly animated if you don't mind green. Also particularly memorable is the chase sequence, in which a man who is beating the Martian theories into dust starts bawling in the middle of a fit of laughter, having seen the little green man in the spaceship. Most highly recommended!

8.75/10

Maybe the repeated line "Yob! Yob! Where's my Yob?" gets a little tiring and less funny eventually, that aside Rocket-Bye Baby is excellent. It looks great, the stylised look is coloured strikingly and drawn with a wacky elegance that is in keeping with the tone and Chuck Jones' style. The standout here was the facial expressions of the characters, beautifully done and often priceless. The music is energetic and characterful, more importantly it fits with what we see in the animation and goes even further in enhancing the fun factor. The writing is fresh and witty, but in a way that is natural in alternative to forced, and the gags are very imaginative and cleverly staged. The chase sequence and the one with the elderly lady's using a harmoniser to get her scream right were particularly well done. The characters are not iconic but work excellently in their own way, the father is the best character while the baby is cute without being in a sickly way. The mother doesn't get much to do though. The voice acting is wonderful, there's no Mel Blanc but Rocket-Bye Baby doesn't suffer from that seeing as Daws Butler and June Foray are just as talented as voice actors and do a wonderful job in their roles. To conclude, beautifully done and as a cartoon it's excellent. 9/10 Bethany Cox