The Magic Pear Tree

One of the very first short films to be given an MPAA rating was none other than Jimmy Murakami and Charles Swenson's mature cartoon, The Magic Pear Tree. While the film on its own is admittedly pretty straightforward and doesn't have that many surprises beyond its mere concept, it is fun to watch largely thanks to the voice cast and art direction alone.

While all of the characters are morally repugnant to some degree, the likes of Paul Frees, Agnes Moorehead and Keenan Wynn bring them to life through strong performances and naturalistic dialogue. Frees in particular manages to blend suave charisma and subtle dominance as the charming yet demanding Jean Navarro, who lusts over his rich friend Marquis' wife Chantelle in an effort to exploit the riches his friend possesses. In addition, Wynn was clearly having a ball delivering the repulsive piggish nature of Marquis in contrast to the more sophisticated Chantelle. It's saying how characters can be defined as much by their actors as they are by their attributes. Not to mention, the graphic character designs courtesy of Swenson's sketchy art direction fit each character's physical appearances seamlessly. Also, Laurindo Almeida's soothing guitar score fits the lustful tone of the short perfectly.

Now as mentioned, the film is pretty simple in its overall story since it goes for a general punchline about Jean and Chantelle planning a tryst against Marquis. Admittedly, Jean's arrogance is utilized through hysterical humor as he instructs Chantelle to exploit Marquis for his own personal entertainment. The characters' mere interactions alone help the film's simple premise work to its advantage, even if the constant obliviousness from Marquis is a bit too telegraphed given the weird behavior of Jean and Chantelle. Also, the main joke of the entire short is pretty obvious once the titular pear tree is utilized for the plot after being established. Perhaps the biggest complaint with the short is while the pear tree is used for a decent punchline at the end, it all concludes right there and it doesn't feel as impactful as it could've been. Maybe if Marquis had come to the realization that he was being used, this would've been far better than just being decent.

Regardless, The Magic Pear Tree is still an admirable effort from indie animators at the time. As the golden age of American animation was coming to an end and anew regime of daringly creative films were making their way to the public, this short feels quite unique for both its time and even today. Seeing as how mature adult-themed animation would go on to experience high highs and low lows over the decades, smaller simple works like this stick out like an uncovered diamond from long ago, if not flawless.

A rich man who is basically a pig, welcomes a handsome man into his castle. He introduces him to his wife and the two begin to plot a tryst. The arrogant young man asks the woman to do three things which she does. Finally, they play a trick, using a pear tree as the shade for their activities. Quite funny effort.