Buddy's Day Out

Buddy, in case you don't know him, was the second Looney Tunes star. First there was Bosko, but his creators moved to MGM, so Leon Schlesinger rehired some of the animators and they created this rather boring character. Over about two years, the Termite Terrace crowd sent Buddy through a series of random adventures, apparently never giving him much of a personality. "Buddy's Day Out" has Buddy and Cookie, plus their baby Elmer (an early Fudd, perhaps?), going on a picnic.

It's no surprise that Buddy didn't last very long. With "I Haven't Got a Hat" in 1935, Leon Schlesinger Productions debuted Porky Pig and thus began the Looney Tunes as we know them today. During the Buddy period, the Merrie Melodies - featuring miscellaneous characters - were apparently much more memorable than the Looney Tunes. This one is good as a historical reference.

Now a fairly obscure character, Buddy was the second Warner Brothers Looney Tunes character, after Bosko and followed by Beans the Cat. Buddy didn't last long, being retired in 1935 after 23 cartoons starting in 1933.

'Buddy's Day Out' is notable, after a troubled start for the character in production, for being Buddy's debut cartoon. It is interesting for historical interest but as an overall cartoon there isn't that much to it, and historical interest is pretty much the main, and only, reason to see it. Not terrible but not a cartoon that would persuade me to watch it over and over. Part of the trouble is the character of Buddy himself, one can see why he didn't last long. Not annoying as such and less of a stereotype than Bosko, but he isn't the most interesting or compelling of characters. Pretty bland to me actually and rarely funny.

It's pretty much the same for 'Buddy's Day Out' as a cartoon too. A few amusing, but never hilarious, moments, but doesn't have enough to sustain consistent interest due to most of it being lacking in laughs, being far too cutesy and with dialogue enough to make one cringe. Likewise with most of the supporting characters. It's very thin on plot and the pacing is the opposite of lively.

However, there are good elements. The animation is nicely drawn and detailed. Music played a big part in the Buddy cartoons and it was essential for it to work. Luckily it has the liveliness and energy, as well as the lush and vibrant orchestration, that was lacking elsewhere.

As aforementioned there are a few amusing moments, especially with the car, train and ladder gags. Cookie is pretty charming and a more likable personality than Buddy, though like him she is not the most interesting of characters either.

In conclusion, a less than compelling day out and a fairly average debut cartoon for a historically significant but not particularly interesting character. 5/10 Bethany Cox

I just watched on DailyMotion this cartoon short from Leon Schlesinger Productions whose product was distributed by Warner Bros. It marked the first appearance of a character named Buddy. Who? You ask. Well, when Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising left to go to M-G-M, they took Bosko with them. So Schlesinger raided the Walt Disney studio for animators and the character they created to replace Bosko was Buddy who was basically Bosko in whiteface with girlfriend Cookie, pet dog Happy, and little brother Elmer. With that all said, this cartoon has some amusing sight gags like a car going back through a fence and crashing into various animals before landing in Cookie's yard or a train that seems on its way into crashing into a car with Elmer and Happy inside when Buddy and Cookie use a ladder to derail the locomotive in another direction. Otherwise, there is some cringe-worthy spots of some little animals and insects saying, "Woogie, woogie, woogie" or variations thereof that makes the cuteness factor here really annoying. So on that note, I'd recommend Buddy's Day Out only for those really curious of what the Looney Tunes gang had to go through to eventually get to the greatness of Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, etc.