Fresh Airedale

...you'll dislike this one. I first saw 'Fresh Airedale' on the compilation 'Canine Corps'. I am an avid fan of Looney Tunes and impressed with their idiosyncratic blend of enjoyment, humor, and cleverness. 'Fresh Airedale' is a gross aberration: unenjoyable and outright difficult to watch. The plot, which is painfully simple, features an unscrupulous, nasty, and greedy dog named 'Shep' getting his own way. That's basically it. His house-mate, a faithful and heroic cat, is framed and left out in the dark. OK, it's just a cartoon, but cartoons are supposed to be fun, and I don't understand what message Chuck Jones was trying to convey. This episode certainly does not seem fit for a compilation.

Yes it is only a cartoon and evidently the previous posters that gave this cartoon a poor review may not have had the misfortune of working with an individual who was as two faced as the dog. I and many others have! This cartoon is so representative of the "luck" of the rat, it's a true classic. I have used snippets of it so many times in my classes and in the proper setting they have ALWAYS got the laughs and the comments they deserved. I believe it was made as an observation of Society and done so with tongue in cheek for our amusement. It's entertainment, and a lesson that not every negative act has a bad ending, it's made for laughs, enjoy and don't waste energy.

This is in the very top tier of Looney Tunes cartoons from director Chuck Jones. It feels more cohesive and less abstract than something like Dover Boys, but completely separate from his later, best known work.

It was produced in 1945, right as beautiful, fully drawn backgrounds for cartoons were reaching their peak. The animation of the characters is also impressive, and conveys personality much better than most one-shot characters. And as an added bonus, there's actually a great subtext in its unusual subject matter that could apply to any number of subjects, political or social.

When forced to interpret the situation of a steak gone from a plate, which owner wouldn't believe the cat was the selfish ingrate and the dog the stalwart champion? It raises some interesting questions about preconceived notions, though I don't believe it was intended to answer them or send any particular message. The last scene in particular gives the impression that there is indeed some serious motive behind the ludicrous story, related somehow to hero worship and public figures not at all turning out to be who they seemed to be. But this is just icing on the cake - even if you don't think about what it means, it's a wonderful cartoon all around.

That Fresh Airedale is directed by Chuck Jones and has Mel Blanc doing voices is reason enough to see it or any cartoon for that matter. Fresh Airedale does have much to admire about it, at the same time however it is very easy to see why anybody would dislike it. It is very different to what we usually see with Jones, here is a darker and much more scathing approach in alternative to the witty laugh-a-minute one we are used to. There have been times where being different can work and others where it doesn't, Fresh Airedale is an example of the former though it does have a tone and approach that either will take some getting used to or is not going to bode well with people. Like with me this said, you may be one of those who didn't care for it first time, finding the change of pace not easy to swallow or finding it went over your head but on repeat viewings you pick up on what was missed first time round and you appreciate it more. Talking about what is so good about Fresh Airedale, the animation is fine, objects, character designs and frame blend and flow smoothly, effort clearly was made in making it as detailed as possible and the colours are still lush while maintaining the darker tone of the story. Fresh Airedale is also beautifully scored, with great energy and also sensitively to the more dramatic bits. The writing, remarkably ahead of its time, takes a scathingly cynical edge and is satirical in tone without coming across as too overly mean-spirited, it is very sharply observed throughout and manages a couple of funny moments. The story is paced well and even though in terms of plotting you are never quite sure of what it's trying to do the message makes its point, and while it's a depressing one it doesn't come across as too heavy-handed. In terms of characters, the most relateable is definitely the cat and it is him you find yourself rooting for. The dog Shep is portrayed as a sociopath with no redeeming qualities, and a great job is done making the audience hate him, not everybody will like having the main character being the one you dislike most but the approach works wonderfully within the cartoon and what it's trying to say. The voice work is excellent, Mel Blanc has had more to do before but he still puts a lot of vigour into his characterisations, while Frank Graham is also great. The ending in a way does underwhelm in the sense that there is no justice when the cartoon is literally crying out for it, however Fresh Airedale while not appealing to all tastebuds is most interesting and really well done in almost all respects. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Two years before he debuted Charlie Dog (the mutt who always invades Porky Pig's life) in "Little Orphan Airedale", Chuck Jones cast a different hound in "Fresh Airedale". Canine protagonist Shep accepts a bone to allow a burglar into the house, but when the cat stops the crook, Shep takes credit. His anger surges when he learns that another dog somewhere else is considered the Number 1 Dog.

I see that some of the scenes came from a never completed cartoon featuring Franklin Roosevelt, that they canceled following FDR's death. While I understand that people may have not been able to handle a cartoon depicting the 32nd president - or at least his dog Fala - after he died, I still think that it would be interesting to see what remains of that cartoon. As an insight into the population's understanding of the president, that is.

Otherwise, I didn't detect anything really unique about this cartoon. Worth seeing, if only once.