Aloha Hooey

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.

Tex Avery was one of the greatest and most influential animation directors there ever was, with a unique visual and humour style and his best work saw some ahead of its time content. 'Aloha Hooey' is not one of his best efforts, it's worth watching, it's well made and it's far from bad, but it is not demonstrative of what made him so great and influential. His work here is competent but it is pretty tame by Avery standards, and one does agreed question how much involvement he had. If Bob Clampett did indeed finish it, 'Aloha Hooey' is likewise competent but tame by his standards as well.

'Aloha Hooey's' story is predictable and has nothing special and not quite enough to make it consistently fun and emotionally investable. The cartoon is amusing enough, but there is little hilarious or imaginative.

However, the animation ranges from good to excellent. It's fluid in movement, vibrant in colour and very meticulous in detail. Most of the pace is lively and the content is charming, amusing and well-timed if with not quite enough to go the extra mile.

Carl Stalling's music is typically superb. It is as always lushly orchestrated, full of lively energy and characterful in rhythm, not only adding to the action but also enhancing it. The two lead characters are likeable and their personalities contrast well. Mel Blanc and Pinto Colvig provide typically expertly vocal contributions.

In conclusion, worth watching but not great. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Middling bit of business about a slow-witted crow (voice by Pinto Colvig of Goofy fame) and a rough-around-the-edges seagull (voiced by Mel Blanc) that stow away on a ship together. When they come within flying distance of a tropical island with a hula dancing bird, they both try to impress her with their aerial prowess and other tricks. Not a bad cartoon but nothing special. This is one of the shorts Tex Avery had started work on before being leaving Schlesinger Studios over a disagreement with Leon Schlesinger over the ending to The Heckling Hare short. How much work Avery put into this I don't know (Bob Clampett finished it). It's far from the best work of either man that's for sure. Still, it's enjoyable for what it is.

Although "Aloha Hooey" doesn't carry a directorial credit, the director is Tex Avery, who had left Leon Schlesinger Productions following an argument with the producer. The plot has unctuous but cool Sammy Seagull and witless, clumsy Cecil Crow stowing away together and then vying for the affection of a hula dancing bird.

If Cecil's voice sound's familiar, it's because his voice artist is Pinto Colvig, better known as Goofy in the Disney cartoons; apparently, he only provided the voices of brain-dead characters (others in Warner Bros. cartoons include the title character in Chuck Jones's "Conrad the Sailor" and the canine in Friz Freleng's "Ding Dog Daddy"). Sammy, meanwhile, sounds like Bugs Bunny, as Mel Blanc provides his voice.

Anyway, bad things happen to Cecil until his moment of truth arrives. This cartoon seems mostly like a placeholder in between the really great cartoons, but it's still worth seeing.