Now That Summer Is Gone

While the colors are very vivid and the look of this cartoon is quite pleasing, "Now That Summer Is Gone" suffers from an overdose of cuteness and schmaltzy singing....though at least it has a somewhat edgy story. It's about Junior, a squirrel who would rather spend his time gambling instead of stocking away acorns for the winter.

To combat the schmaltziness, there are some lovely scenes where Junior's dad knocks the snot out of the wayward squirrel. But this isn't edgy enough to negate the cutesy beginning...which worked okay in 1938 but which is pretty off-putting today.

"Now that Summer Is Gone" is a delightful Warner Bros cartoon, which kids and adults will both enjoy. It has a good story, a catchy title song, and proficient animation ... climaxing in a truly impressive montage sequence and a very funny fade-out gag. On top of everything else, it has a cameo appearance by Frank McHugh, providing the laugh for a squirrel.

Beloved character actor McHugh spent most of his career as a Warners contract player, with just occasional loan-outs to other studios ... such as "I Love You Again" at MGM. He usually played befuddled simpletons or uncouth wise guys, and in the latter mode his trademark was a unique sarcastic laugh, descending in three stages: "HAAA-haa-haa!"

Like many of those great character actors from Hollywood's studio era, McHugh's presence onscreen was taken for granted, and his brilliant work was not truly recognised until after his death. Consequently, McHugh was interviewed only very occasionally.

In one of his rare interviews, McHugh recalled that the Warners production schedule kept him so busy that he was often working on two or three movies concurrently, and if there was a break in his production schedule he was supposed to report to Leon Schlesinger's animation unit on the Warners lot to provide voice-overs for cartoons! This comment intrigued me, as I've watched many Warners cartoons, yet I'd never noticed McHugh's distinctive voice on any of their soundtracks.

I've finally found one. "Now that Summer Is Gone" is a very funny Warners toon about a wiseguy little-boy squirrel who prefers to collect nuts by gambling with other squirrels, rather than working to earn them. The squirrel's voice is provided by one of Schlesinger's child actors (slightly less annoying than usual). But, at one point in the cartoon, the boy squirrel fades another squirrel in a crap game, with nuts for the stake. As the boy squirrel collects his winnings, he taunts the loser with Frank McHugh's distinctive laugh: "HAAA-haa-haa!"

The splendid montage sequence occurs at the climax of the cartoon, when the boy squirrel encounters a mysterious stranger who invites him to participate in a "little game of chance". One game leads to another, until the boy squirrel gambles away his entire year's supply of nuts. Credit animator Robert McKimson (the most underrated figure in American animation) for a rapid montage of gambling images, with a frenzied roulette wheel at the centre of the frame. Brilliant! After the little-boy squirrel loses all his acorns, the stranger departs with the swag just as the first winds of winter begin to blow ... and there won't be any nuts for the squirrel and his father this year. Has the kid learnt his lesson? This is a Warner Brothers cartoon! I shan't tell you the ending, but it's quite funny. There are some clever gags all through the toon, including one Jewish joke that isn't the least bit vicious (involving Kosher acorns).

"Now that Summer Is Gone" rates 9 out of 10. You'll enjoy it ... I'll bet you double or nothing.

Now That Summer is Gone does have a basic and quite unusual story, but it is very well and cleverly done, and if you are a fan of Frank Tashlin you will find much to enjoy. The gambling angle was a daring subject for a cartoon somewhat but it is dealt with in a fun and never too didactic way while making its point. The animation is great, how it's coloured, the detail and of course Tashlin's use of camera angles/work is to be admired. On top of that there is Carl Stalling's music score, which is not just full of energy and character but is also very attractively orchestrated. Now That Summer is Gone is written with intelligence and sensitivity and just as importantly it doesn't forget to entertain, which it does wonderfully. The final montage and fade-out gag are standouts. The squirrels are very cute characters, maybe there is some bias as I've always found squirrels cute, not to mention funny, strong ones too. And the voice acting from Mel Blanc and Billy Bletcher is terrific, Frank McHugh's one laugh contribution is quite memorable too. The pacing is neither too rushed or too slow, instead it's efficient but you are given time to take things in. All in all, odd but very well done in almost all areas. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I think of this as a beautifully animated and informative short about the evils of gambling, without being "in your face," if you know what I mean. I don't like people gambling either. Also, I can't believe that kid is gambling and at his age too! This is also one of my favorite Merrie Melodies cartoons by Frank Tashlin, along with "The Woods are Full of Cuckoos", with woodland critters doing celebrity caricatures, which were common in cartoons back then. "Have you got any Castles?" where book characters come to life. And last, "Puss n' Booty," which was the last black and white Looney Tunes/Warner Bros cartoon.

And thus, I would like to point out, since this short has squirrels in it and I'm a squirrel lover, that they are so cute! So my overall opinion is that I love this cartoon.

Frank Tashlin's 'Now That Summer is Gone' begins as a Disney-esquire (but with better gags) depiction of a large group of squirrels gathering nuts for the winter. These early sequences are the best of the cartoon and are often truly gorgeous to look at. However, a black out signifies the cartoon segueing into a truly weird anti-gambling short as we meet a young squirrel who chooses to gamble with nuts as the stakes rather than working to gather them himself. This storyline has vague echoes of Disney's terrific 'The Grasshopper and the Ants' but is nowhere near as successful. Despite an effective twist in the tale, 'Now That Summer is Gone' fails to reconcile its sweeter side with the incongruous gambling plot. Unusually, this is a case of a Warner cartoon that is at its best when imitating Disney and which would have been well advised to stick to its early direction. Nevertheless, 'Now That Summer is Gone' is a fairly nice cartoon which just about overcomes its odd shapelessness and emerges as sufficiently entertaining.