Crazy Cruise

OK, so Bob Clampett's "Crazy Cruise" contains some politically incorrect scenes. But I still wish to assert that it's at least worth seeing. A parody of travelogues - like "The Isle of Pingo Pongo" a few years earlier - it focuses on a couple of different places, with a joke each time, and a surprise appearance by Bugs Bunny supporting the war effort.

Granted, the gags are pretty hokey (although what else can you say at the sight of Veronica Lake?). In my opinion, Tex Avery was the best at sight gags; had he stayed at Warner Bros., he probably could have brought this cartoon to its fullest. But I still think that this cartoon does provide its fair share of humor for the few minutes that it runs. After all, it comes from Bob Clampett. Like I said, it contains some racist scenes, but I assume that these were not intended as hostility towards the people portrayed; the guys behind the cartoon probably had no idea that the images would offend anyone. So check it out (it just recently came out on DVD on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 5).

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes, Hanna Barbera and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons. Actually appreciate it more as a young adult, with a broader knowledge of individual directors, studios and animation styles and a broader taste with films from Studio Ghibli, Pixar and some of the dark animated films becoming favourites.

Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best ever made by anybody. 'Crazy Cruise' is decent, but Avery has definitely done far better. It is always interesting to see an Avery cartoon before his prime period (all the cartoons he made before his 1942-1950s period at MGM are worth watching though few masterpieces), if more primarily for interest to see how Avery fared early on when he was still evolving and his distinctive style was not as strong or yet to be found.

Actually though, Bob Clampett also played a large hand, completing it when Avery left the studio during production. There are signs at the end of Clampett's distinctively wild style and it is the funniest, most imaginative and most inspired 'Crazy Cruise' gets.

'Crazy Cruise' (another example of Avery's travelogue spot gags cartoons), as said, is a decent interesting watch, but Avery has done far better than decent interesting cartoons. He has done funnier and more imaginative cartoons, and 'Crazy Cruise' was also made during a time where his cartoons by Avery standards were pretty tame. Oh and the story is best forgotten, all it is is a series of travelogue spot gags with variable execution.

Not much risk-taking or boundary-breaking here, let alone his typical wacky wildness, and for me that was a huge part of his appeal as well as his visual and humour uniqueness.

There are inconsistencies with the portrayal of the places visited, there was a sense in some of the the narration that 'Crazy Cruise' was trying hard not to offend but it came over clumsily, and some of it agreed did feel thrown together.

However, it is no surprise that, as with a vast majority of Avery's cartoons regardless of the period, the animation is excellent. Beautifully drawn, very detailed and the colours are vibrant.

Carl Stalling's music score is typically lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms, it's also beautifully synchronised with the action and gestures/expressions and even enhances the impact.

Some amusing moments, particularly at the end, and some educational ones. Some is well-timed, if not inventively so, the characters engage and the voice acting from the ever versatile Mel Blanc (bringing an unmatched ability to make multiple characters individual) and Robert C. Bruce, who does entertaining and educational narrations better than anyone, is reliably great.

Overall, decent but uneven. 6/10 Bethany Cox

This reminded me of several cartoons where the writers would go back and have one scene each about different fairy tales and then use a joke for each. In here, instead of old fables, we get a travelogue where the narrator explains where we are, and then you get one (usually very corny) joke for each location. At the end, Bugs Bunny makes a cameo appearance, with a plug for the World War II effort, but this is not a Bugs cartoon.

We begin in the Old South at a tobacco farm where we learn the dangers of the boll weevil and that bug is the joke. Oddly, they show a map to their next destination and we see line going from Florida (around where Naples is located) to Havana. A tobacco area in Florida? Talks about "goofs."

Most of the jokes in here are really stupid, not funny, to be honest. I doubt many people today would laugh at this stuff. I did enjoy one bit of narration in which narrator Robert Bruce comments, "Continuing our journey, we push into the Congo, past the Samwabi swamplands, over the Gondoogi mountains, across the Rag-a-nack River.....and then we visited Veronica Lake (whistle)."

(Well, if that's the best of the jokes, you get an idea how bad most of this is!)

A warning to black readers: there is a racist gag near the end then they travel in a jungle area. At least Mel Blanc enters the cartoon with some voices.

Overall, as mentioned, this was like the "fairy tale" vignettes cartoons which means they kept it interesting by changing subjects quickly but the jokes are too lame. I can't believe audiences even laughed at this 45 years ago. Not recommended.