The Fire Alarm

In the mid-1930s, Looney Tunes was facing a big problem. While the animation quality of their shorts was very nice and comparable to their better competitors, their characters were bland and had little identity of their own. And, for several years, the studio tried out several potential stars....all to no effect until they eventually created Porky Pig. One of the bland stars that didn't succeed was Beans the Cat. He was cute but that was about it....and he often was dealing with his bizarro nephews, Ham and Ex....bizarre because they were dogs!

In this film, Beans is working at the fire station when his nephews are dropped off for a visit. Nor surprisingly, they are in the way and are brats. What's next? See the cartoon.

Because Ham and Ex are brats, they are much more entertaining than most of their other appearances. Still, Beans is about as interesting as boiled tofu! It really leaves you wanting to see more of the pups and less of the cat! I think injecting a bit of Samuel L. Jackson into Beans would have helped!!

Overall, a gorgeously animated film which is more entertaining than usual...especially since it ends with a good old fashioned beat down!

Before Warner Bros. animation had truly found its way, it made a series of shorts that tended to show its upcoming stars pulling all sorts of gags. "The Fire Alarm" is an example, with Ham and Ex pulling a series of pranks while their uncle Beans is supposed to be watching them for the day. The best part is what they do with the fire truck. Otherwise it's nothing significant. Porky was just getting started around this time, while Daffy and Bugs were yet to debut.

2 puppets are left to their uncle's attention who works at the Fire house.

They are so spoiled and they do nasty things.

You observe some scenes of child abuse, which are not acceptable for our time. But back then it would have been OK to physically punish children in 1935.

It is a good movie just to see how far animation industry has developed so far.

It is a short one and I recommend you too see it if you have time or encounter it on TV.

It is always interesting to see a Looney Tunes cartoon that doesn't have any of the famous iconic characters, and instead see characters that are not as compelling in personality or are in cartoons as refined or as funny but serve well for historical interest.

Such is the case with the characters of Beans, Ham and Ex, first seen in 1935's 'I Haven't Got a Hat' (most notable for the first appearance of Porky Pig in a decent cartoon that didn't do Porky justice), and this cartoon 'The Fire Alarm'. 'The Fire Alarm' is not a great cartoon, but it's decent and above average without anything to be frustrated or offended by. It is very light on plot, basically stringing along scenes and gags together with not an awful lot going on story-wise, what there is is very predictable.

Like 'I Haven't Got a Hat', while there are smiles throughout the whole duration of the cartoon, 'The Fire Alarm' is short on humour that's consistent or hilarious, it's not that it's unfunny it's just that there's not enough and it's mildly amusing really.

The animation on the other hand is very good. It is nicely drawn and detailed with the black and white looking crisp. The music is lively and lush.

Again like 'I Haven't Got a Hat', there is a warmth and gentility that was appreciated and the cartoon is amusing and charming.

Beans didn't last as long as the previous two Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies stars Bosko and Buddy, and, while there are funnier and more interesting characters around most definitely, he is a much better character than either of those two, being neither an annoying stereotype or bland. Ham and Ex make one smile. The voice acting is solid.

Overall, decent and above average, nothing to be alarmed by but doesn't quite win one over at the same time. 7/10 Bethany Cox