Innertube Antics

There's a drive for scrap rubber on, so a donkey puts out a few items. Embarrassed by the generosity of his neighbors, he discovers am old inner tube buried in his back yard. He tries to dig it up and add it to the heap, but the inner tube has other ideas.

George Gordon was one of the first hires Fred Quimby made when he took over MGM's cartoon department, but it wasn't until 1937 that he directed his first cartoon there, an expert and funny effort. Gordon was expert in the "funny animal" style of cartooning -- he had worked for Paul Terry from 1930 through 1937 -- but what he really excelled at was making things that didn't move, move, and making them look malign and funny. That's what the old inner tube does here.

Sure, as far as the animation and score are concerned, this cartoon is on a par with other MGM cartoon shorts of the period. And of course, MGM had a release schedule to meet. But the fact that this cartoon is filled with violent, tired "gags" which were old even then, and the fact that there is NO Director/Supervisor credit, leads me to believe that whoever was responsible for this 7 minutes of wasted Technicolor film didn't want his name on it. And after seeing it yet again, I can't blame the guy or guys. The donkey character appears in at least one cartoon that's credited to William Hanna and Joseph Barbera (and it seemed like there was no low to which they wouldn't stoop at MGM). The violence is similar to that found in many of their Tom and Jerry cartoons. But if they DID direct this one, even THEY were ashamed of it. I'll guarantee you it's no Tex Avery cartoon.

A donkey is the head of a suburban home. He puts out a small pile of rubber for wartime recycling. His pile is much smaller than his neighbors. He goes out in search for more and finds an innertube buried in the ground.

It's an MGM cartoon in Technicolor. It has an important wartime subject matter. This donkey is a lot of slapstick but not that funny. It's the same old, same old. I think he needs a sidekick. He needs a buddy for his antics. The solo effort struggles to gain traction.

I just recently had the open window of opportunity to see this rather obscure MGM animated short which was obviously produced during World War 2 (references to donating rubber to the war effort are abundant here). A nameless donkey is dismayed to find that his neighbours have donated far more rubber than he,causes him to search out more rubber to donate. He finds an old tyre tube buried in the ground, but when he tries (over and over again)to dig it up,he finds the tube has a mind of it's own,and has a rather sadistic agenda to carry out on the hapless donkey. What follows is seven funny minutes of what MGM seemed to do best,produce a well animated (some brilliant animation,and use of Technicolor)short that must have had them rolling in the aisles,back in the day. Unfortunately,little is known of whom ever worked on this short (no animation supervisor/director,or screen writer listed...'tho Michael Lah,who worked with Tex Avery on some of his funniest work for his MGM era is listed as one of the animators). Don't let this throw you from enjoying a well produced short from an era that turned animation into an art form. Not rated by the MPAA (which,at the time was called The National Board Of Review),but perfect entertainment for the whole family (if you can find any youngsters that would have any relevant interest in the history of animation)

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. 'Innertube Antics' popped up as a random recommendation here when reviewing one of the Rudolf Ising cartoons and was on a roll with watching lesser known cartoons from the 30s, 40s and 50s (and have been for the past four or five years or so). It didn't look or sound great from having seen stills and plot summaries but as an animation fan it was still seen anyway.

'Innertube Antics' is nothing special and actually has very little to it. It has a few good things that are done very well indeed, enough to raise it above mediocre level, but the too many flaws in the more crucial areas made it very difficult, nigh on impossible really, to rate it above average. 'Innertube Antics' isn't terrible and is slightly watchable for lesser known animation completest sake. As said, there is little that stands out and so much has been done before and much better.

There are good things. The animation is vibrantly colourful and fluid, with lovingly crafted and detail background art. Nothing looks rushed or static. Even better, and this is probably the best aspect of 'Innertube Antics', it is lushly orchestrated and very characterful in an energetic way that is not matched enough in the story and gags. Both are worth two points each of my overall rating.

Did also think that some of the violence was clever and well choreographed visually.

However, 'Innertube Antics' is let down primarily by that it is just not very funny or even amusing, the gags are too few and what there is has a recycled, tired feel. That tiredness is obvious also in the story, which is slight to the point of non existence and predictable when there is any. Pace wise, the cartoon is pretty dull due to some of the material being over-stretched to make up for the content being too little in quantity.

Personally found the lead character very unappealing and difficult to root for, not much personality and veering on annoying. The violence lacks subtlety and wit and the cleverness of some of the visuals is not consistent, too much is lazy and not always in good taste.

Overall, nothing special. 5/10.