Russian Rhapsody

During the early 1940s, It was pretty easy for allied nations to mock Adolph Hitler and his Nazi ways. But shortly after a year when this cartoon first appeared, footage of the concentration camps was released world-wide to stunned individuals. All of a sudden, Hitler and the Nazi party were no laughing matter.

So maybe this was why I never saw this toon air on my television during my youth years. Yet I recently caught it and *shocker* enjoyed it! Mel Blanc did an amusing job imitating Hitler plus the Gremlin theme song is pretty catchy! Along with the energetic directing by Bob Clampet (Nearly all of his toons had some anarchy in them) and the familiar faces of Warner Bros. animators & execs, put on the bodies of the gremlins,make this cartoon memorable.

It's best to watch it with an open mind,forget what Hitler stood for, and enjoy watching the "Gremlins from der Kremlin" .

This cartoon is a real classic. Hitler is made into a literal jack-ass in the film. For those who don't know, Hitler isn't an Oriental in the end..."Nutzis are da cwaziest peoples" is a Lew Lhler impression. Watch for this gag in countless other cartoons like Porky's Snooze Reel (1942) and Scaredy Cat (1948).

A very funny, energetic cartoon (but what do you expect coming from Clampett?). It starts out with a devastating caricature of Hitler ranting and raving. The level of exageration is amazing. Hitler sprays spit as he talks and has a truly manaical look in his eyes. He decides he is the only man to carry out a bombing mission to Moscow, but en route his plane is attacked by gremlins from the Kremlin. The Kremlins are mostly caricatures of the Warners staff. Leon Schlesinger is seen hitting Brother-in-law Ray Katz with a mallet in one scene. There is also a great scene of Hitler being electrocuted by the gremlins to an amazing drum solo. He twists and writhes into different shapes that show his true colors, such as a jackass. The cartoon ends with Hitler doing a Lew Lehr imitation, a reference that is lost on modern audiences. The only thing that mars this cartoon is a glaringly bad cut that was probably due to a censorship problem with the studio or the Hays office. Schlesinger would not have paid for a retake if something was cut.

That's one of the shtick jokes from this wartime jewel. I gave it an 8 out of ten for its one flaw, a screw-up in continuity.

Basically, it's a vehicle for silly slapstick at Hitler's physical expense. Some of the gremlins bear striking resemblances to the gang at Termite Terrace. And where else would you hear "Volga Boatmen" at 8-to-the-bar?

I said there was one flaw, in continuity. There was another flaw - a social one. See, there was one bit at the end I found eye-brow-raising by 1999 standards where Hitler, dazed from his plane crashing on top of him, looks Oriental - read Japanese. You can say, "yeah, it was racist, but it was the 1940s, it was WWII, everyone was like that, &c." But the casual, remorseless, didn't-think-twice-about-it attitude of the joke struck me from beyond the film-frames of this cartoon.

yes I saw this one in the Film Museum of Brussels. it was a bit silly, I thought, but it fit right in the context: a lesson about communism in Hollywood. this cartoon contains of two parts: the first one was about how the situation was in those years of war and the second one was to ridicule it with lots of satire and parodies of existing political figures. the cartoon left me a bit unsatisfied, because I wondered the whole if Hitler would have seen this (because the 'main' character is a satire on him)? they couldn't tell me in the Film Museum, what was a pity. I do realize why this cartoon was banned (or should be banned at the time): it contains too much propaganda for political systems.