One More Time

"One More Time" is an antique cartoon: a relic from an era when sound was new and characters had huge, googly eyes adapted for a harsh world in black and white. The story is boilerplate cops and robbers, and gets its title from the song the characters sing throughout its length. And it's a very hot song: a jazzy, cautionary tale that would have been at home in any burlesque house or gambling backroom. Brave Officer Foxy represents law and order, and he doggedly pursues the baddies in a Prohibition-age world of rubbery menace where the entire cast sways and bounces to the music's devilish rhythm. The animation team of Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising and "Friz" Freleng produced three Merrie Melodies starring Foxy, and "One More Time" is their meanest. In 1931 they were still walking in Disney's footsteps, so their thugs are jowly, scruffy lowlifes of uncertain species (presumably canine), whereas Foxy wears a resemblance to a certain rodent who will go nameless here. The toon's simple plot gets personal when the thugs abduct girlfriend Roxy, but Foxy rescues her and corrals the fleeing toughs straight to the jailhouse. As he padlocks the door, the angry jailbirds deliver the song's finale through the barred windows. In triumph, our hero assumes centerstage and takes his bows while Roxy looks on dreamily. However, the cocky officer ought to be watching his back, because a baddie has emerged from a manhole with a machine gun. Foxy takes one bow too many and presents a perfect target for the mug who opens fire. With a cry of "Yeowwww!" that lasts to the closing fade, poor Foxy throws up his arms and grinds his backside helplessly on the pavement as the mug spanks him with gunfire. The moral: "Crime does not pay, but getting the last laugh does."

Foxy's hour upon the stage was a brief one, perhaps three cartoons, for reasons both obvious and not so clear. The Foxy cartoons are entertaining enough, but not overly so. I suspect Foxy was a wee bit too much like a certain rodent for the studio's taste and comfort for him to continue on for very long. Rumors persist that Foxy left Warner Brothers and struck it rich wildcatting in the Texas oil fields, but this has not been confirmed. It is hoped that his life was a happy one once retired from the screen. Worth watching. Recommended for fans of black and white cartoons.

Even though I thought that "One More Time" ended on a very uncomfortable note (that could've easily been directed otherwise), I still found this 1931 "Warner Bros.'" cartoon to be fairly entertaining (for the most part).

"One More Time's" story revolves around the persistent activities of Foxy (the beat cop) who does what he can to crack down on traffic violators during the Prohibition era in the big-big city.

All-in-all - I'd say that this vintage cartoon was well-worth a view.

One of the few cartoons starring Foxy - Warner Bros. soon decided that Merrie Melodies wouldn't feature any of the stars* - casts the vulpine character as a cop. But I ask you: what cop in his right mind sticks his pistol in the front of his pants?! There are plenty of things that a guy can stick in that area, but a gun could easily deprive him of his manhood.

So, this is an OK cartoon, despite the limited plot. In case you're wondering what's up with the song, for about the first six or seven years, Merrie Melodies cartoons would always take the name of a song and have the characters sing the song in one scene (hence titles like "One More Time" and "I Haven't Got a Hat"). WB ended this by the end of the '30s.

*In the late '30s Elmer Fudd's prototype Egghead began appearing regularly in Merrie Melodies, followed by Sniffles, Inki, and finally Bugs Bunny.

The third Foxy cartoon after 'Lady, Play Your Mandolin!' and 'Smile, Darn Ya Smile', 'One More Time' like those two is not great but still pretty good, and perhaps the best of the three.

Once again, 'One More Time's' story is limited, with a thin structure, little sense and is somewhat derivative. Some of the sound is slightly rough and not as crisp as it could have been even for an early cartoon.

Animation is uneven, the black and white is crisp and there are some lovely details, good flexibility and perspective visuals, but other parts are on the crude side like with the character designs.

However, much of the animation is not bad and generally it's the best-looking of the three Foxy cartoons. The music is suitably peppy and devilish, while there is a nice mix of amusing and dark moments. The most note-worthy example of the latter being a pretty ballsy ending, the one thing surprising about the story. Foxy is the most compelling and expressive of all three of his cartoons.

In summary, Foxy's last cartoon is a decent one. 7/10 Bethany Cox