Honey's Money

It seems like in the Looney Tunes cartoons, Daffy Duck was usually the one whose greed proved detrimental to him. But in "Honey's Money", it's none other than Yosemite Sam. When he learns of a rich widow, he decides to meet her. Then, when he meets her, he sees that she's twice his size, as is her son. But Sam has to keep remembering that there's money in the deal...even if bad things have to happen to him! I thought that it was very interesting to see Sam in a lead role, as opposed to playing second banana to Bugs Bunny. But even aside from that, this is just a really hilarious cartoon, what with some of the things happening to Sam. I also noticed that June Foray (best known as the voice of Rocky the Squirrel) got billing alongside Mel Blanc. Usually, Mel Blanc was the only one who got billing. They both did very well.

Yosemite Sam marries a wealthy widow, despite finding her unattractive. Afterwards he realizes what a mess he's gotten into as the woman is an abusive nag who physically forces him to do housework. She also has a gigantic son named Wentworth (who Sam refers to as a "prehistoric horny toad"). In typical Looney Tunes fashion, the big bruiser likes to play rough and poor Sam becomes his personal plaything.

Great voicework from Mel Blanc and June Foray. Mel was a genius and this short provides lots of proof for that. Love the bit where greedy Sam first meets the widow and is instantly turned into a blubbering mess by her homeliness. Another great scene is when Sam throws the ball into traffic hoping the giant kid will be run over, only to have the whole scheme blow back on him. Being that it's one of the later efforts from Warner Bros, you'll notice the animation isn't the greatest. Stylistically, I prefer the earlier more traditional animation over the sketchy "backgrounds look like they were drawn by a child" stuff that appeared everywhere in the '60s. But, at the end of the day, some of these later shorts were funny enough to overcome the crude animation. This is a remake of an earlier Daffy Duck short called "His Bitter Half." Both are good but Sam brings a certain something to it that I prefer. He's one of my favorite Looney Tunes characters and I like seeing him get he spotlight.

Yosemite Sam reads about a widow that inherited five million dollars. So Sam decides they should get married. He pulls it off but doesn't realize at the time he has married a monster--and she has an enormous son. Sam is pounded on, run over by cars, forced to give piggy back rides to the 250 pound son, and on and on. Every time he tries to leave, he thinks of all that money. It's a cute effort.

It was interesting to see Yosemite Sam playing off against characters other than Bugs Bunny, even if it was also a bit odd. That said, it works great.

Don't let the story similarity to the Daffy Duck cartoon 'His Bitter Half' put you off. There is a similarity, but it is not a retread and has enough originality of its own to set it apart.

Milt Franklyn's music score doesn't quite enhance the action quite as much as Carl Stalling did so brilliantly, but it at least fits with the action and is also dynamic with it. What's more, it's excellent music on its own, with every bit the clever orchestration, lushness and characterful energy that Stalling's music had.

'Honey's Money' is also great fun and is very funny. The best parts even, like the ball gag, Sam being reduced to a blubbering mess, the alligator gag and the touch with the bank book, are hilarious. The dialogue is as fresh and as witty as Looney Tunes at its best (it isn't quite here, but certainly much worse was to come), and the story is always entertaining and energetically paced.

Sam proves that he can shine even without Bugs, not surprising seeing as he always did have a strong personality, he is true to his abrasive personality but one can't help feeling sorry for him. Especially when he has to put up with such an overbearing loudmouth such as the unnamed wealthy widow. The dynamic and personality contrasts do work well, and the same applies with Sam and the oafish Wentworth. June Foray, Billy Booth and especially Mel Blanc deliver spot-on voice work.

Where 'Honey's Money' impresses least is the animation. It's not bad, especially when compared to later in the mid-late-60s but one can't help comparing to the more traditional animation seen with Looney Tunes in their prime. The colours are bright and vibrant enough and the characters are drawn appropriately, but the sketchy more stylised backgrounds and generally lack of smoothness will not work for him, personally it would have worked better with a more traditional touch but budgets and deadlines wouldn't have allowed it to.

Otherwise however, 'Honey's Money' is a great cartoon. 9/10 Bethany Cox