Abdul the Bulbul Ameer

Robert Allen and Hugh Harman direct this cartoon, based on a musical version of the poem about Ivan Sklavinsky Sklavar and Abdul the Bulbul Emir duking it out.

It was one of the comic songs my father sang to us when I were a lad, although he was fonder of "The Walloping Wind o' Blind". This one had a more risque version about the sultan's harem, but I didn't find out about that until I googled it in preparation for this review. Live and learn.

Harman & Ising had lost a lot of their status at MGM, which now had an active cartoon division, under the supervision of Fred Quimby; soon he would hire Tex Avery, and make it a powerhouse in the animation field. For the moment, here's a rare funny Hugh Harman cartoon, thanks, no doubt, to Mr. Allen.

Abdul the Bulbul Ameer is the bravest in the ranks of the Shah. Ivan Skavinsky Scavar is the bravest of the troops led by the Czar. Abdul is blocking the path and Ivan steps on his toe. The two men quickly challenge to a fight.

This is an MGM cartoon. I don't know anything about the song. I'm not sure if this is better or worst. I can only judge it on its own merit. It's a lot of cartoon fighting, but I could imagine some wackier ideas. This needs a small guy who comes out on top when both men go down. This is mildly humorous. It doesn't have much bite other than it uses other cultures. It's fine.

Watching this 1941 MGM cartoon is pretty pointless unless you're familiar with the Percy French-Frank Crumit song, "Abdul Abulbul Amir." And if you know the song, then what's the point of seeing this cartoon? I suppose the intent was to provide a comical illustration of what's described in the lyrics, but we only get fragments of the original text. Perhaps the animators would have done better to have done a more faithful visual accompaniment, one that stuck more closely to the song.

Said to have been a favorite of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's, the French-Crumit song "Abdul Abulbul Amir" is a very humorous if (by today's standards) politically incorrect ballad that tells the tale of two mighty warriors: Ivan from Russia, and Abdul, who is either an Arab, a Persian or a Turk. They get into the fight of their lives, and don't know when to quit (or how). My introduction to it was a tuneful rendition by country singer Hank Thompson. It made me chuckle a few times, and I actually laughed aloud the first time I heard the closing line, which provided a perfect ending.

Nothing about this cartoon (titled "Abdul the Bulbul-Ameer") made me chuckle; not the way the main characters are portrayed, not the standard animated slapstick, and certainly not the three-man American newsreel crew thrown in for added comic relief (one of them, a Groucho Marx lookalike, keeps pointlessly shouting, "What a fight!"). The whole thing makes for a Technicolorful, pointless mess. You'd do better to listen to the Thompson recording, which actually tells you a story.

(I saw an excellent quality copy of this cartoon uploaded onto YouTube - who knows how long it will remain there.)