The Bear's Tale

OK, so children's stories are a common basis for cartoons (actually, Disney was responsible for that, as it was he who decided that cartoons should be directed at tykes). But Tex Avery's "The Bear's Tale" sends not one but two fairy tales down a crazy path. I guess that I should have predicted that someone would combine Goldilocks and Little Red Riding Hood, but I gotta say that Tex Avery (billed here as Fred) did probably the coolest job that I've ever seen. As you may guess, there are more than a few sight gags - namely the ubiquitous split-screen telephone call - and the final scene looks like the sort of thing that the censors would have cut...but they left it in! Can you imagine how that must have looked to moviegoers in 1940?! All in all, this is a funny one. Another great from Termite Terrace. Available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 5 Disc 2.

Tex Avery brilliantly tackles both Little Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks & the Three Bears in this fun Merrie Melodies short. We all know the two stories so I'll spare you the rundown but I will say it's cute how Avery combines the two. His Goldilocks is especially awesome. As humorous as this is, enough good things can't be said about the animation. Beautiful colors and exquisite backgrounds. Anyone who thinks these old cartoons weren't works of art is high on paint fumes. The music is also lovely. From the clever opening with mock movie title card to that hilariously risqué ending, it's really a fun and creative cartoon with wonderful artwork. Tex was one of the greats and this short is a solid example of his talent.

The first thing that strikes one in this 9-minute 1940 cartoon is the beautiful artwork. The opening scene depicting a castle high on a hill, silhouetted by trees, is just magnificent. That's one thing about good animation around the time: the watercolor look of some of these - "Bambi," for instance - is something that was only done back then. By the end of World War II, this beautiful watercolor art, which also had a 3-D like affect to it, was gone from most animated shorts.

On the somewhat negative side, Looney Tunes material was very subdued until around 1945 with very few "edgy" and more humorous, wild material. Even famed animator Tex Avery was a little restrained in the beginning years, such as we see in this cartoon. Also, as fellow reviewer Robert Reynolds points out here, Tex - who was billed as "Fred Avery" in the beginning - also did some voice work and was modest enough not to want credit for it.

Bernice Hanson, voicing "Goldilocks," was funny as were the three bears, who were always seen in contrast with each other and the humor was subtlety very good with them. This cartoon had its share of laughs but was more "cute" than funny. However, that's not to hint that it wasn't worth watching. It's extremely well done in a number of areas and highly recommended. It has a lot of charm to it and humor that may not make you laugh out loud but you'll smile frequently!

Hey, there aren't too many stories with Goldilocks AND Little Red Riding Hood in on the same story. For that original thought alone, it's worth watching.

Avery and his love of fairy tales wolf tosses out kid.

Tex Avery is one of the most famous cartoon directors of all time. However, surprisingly, his best work was not done while he worked for Looney Tunes but after, when he moved to MGM. His MGM films are hilarious, strange and often break the fourth wall. By comparison, most of his Looney Tunes films were a bit ordinary. Well, this is NOT the case with "The Bear's Tale"...a Looney Tunes short directed by him and nearly as goofy and hilarious as his best work at the rival studio.

This is also an interesting cartoon because arguably Avery's best cartoons were those involving fairy tale characters, such as "Swing Shift Cinderella". Here, he roasts both "The Three Bears" AND "Little Red Riding Hood"...and apart from the artwork, it seems much like his MGM films.

This story is a mashup of the two fairy tales I mentioned above. The cartoon is full of great gags, opportunities for the characters to break through the fourth wall and is filled with nice animation. Well worth seeing and among his best with Looney Tunes.

This short, in addition to being an early, if somewhat restrained, Tex Avery re-casting of a familiar fairy tale, features Tex Avery doing voice work as Papa Bear. You can recognize he vocals talents of Mr. Avery almost instantly just by the distinctive timbre he had, but I suspect the reason he did so much voice work was that marvelous belly laugh he had! It was absolutely wonderful and was used to great effect even in cartoons he didn't direct. Pay close attention to the opening, especially the cast credits. A delightful little short, well worth the effort to see. Most highly recommended.