Beau Ties

When Lulu pays a sick call on Fatso, she finds him two-timing her with a blonde and forces him to carve "Fatso Will Marry Lulu" at the top of a redwood tree.

This very strong entry in Famous Studio's Little Lulu series is sustained in the first half by the way that the animators manage to run a full set of emotions on Lulu's two-dots-and-a-couple-of-squiggles face. The second half is held up by the series of gags offered as the unconscious Fatso dreams of the humiliations in store for him as Lulu's husband. It looks like the staff at Famous had a good time dreaming up this one and shared that pleasure with the audience.

The 26 Little Lulu cartoons made during 1944-1948 (and the two made in the early 60s) were uneven (individually and the series as a general overview) but watchable.

'Beau Ties' up to this point of the Little Lulu series gets my vote as the best and is one of the best Little Lulu cartoons in general. On a side note, this is evidenced by that it is one of the highest rated Little Lulu cartoons on IMDb whereas a lot of the previous cartoons are rated very low. There are similarities to 'Porky's Romance' by Frank Tashlin but that is not in any way criticising the cartoon because it does so much so well.

My only real complaint really is the too long, somewhat out of place and clichéd dream sequence, that also wasn't that imaginative or illuminating and really doesn't do anything at all for Little Lulu and Fatso's relationship.

However, 'Beau Ties' contains smoother in movement and richer in colour animation than most of the previous cartoons, some of which were pretty rough around the edges. The theme song is infectious and Winston Sharples provides his usual dynamic, luscious, energetic and characterful orchestral scoring.

Little Lulu is an engaging protagonist, and Fatso is up to this point in the series her best supporting character. Their chemistry is just great, crucial in making the story (which is slight but better paced than most of the previous cartoons and kept afloat by the nice material and the chemistry of the leading characters) and both characters are well voiced. 'Beau Ties' has a very funny and charming first half, which is why it is a little frustrating that the second half wasn't as interesting.

Overall, one of Little Lulu's best. 8/10 Bethany Cox