Mother Goose on the Loose

. . . for MOTHER GOOSE ON THE LOOSE is listed simply as "Frank Morgan narrator." As a tribute to the most notable WIZARD OF OZ--a 1939 picture during which Morgan also played the roles of Professor Marvel, the Emerald City Gatekeeper, the Emerald City Coachman, the Emerald City palace guard and the Wizard's scary smoke cloud projection, for a total of six parts--Morgan impersonator Dick Nelson goes Frank one better, playing SEVEN roles, including a Dwarf, Jack, Peter Piper, A. Wolf, Simple Simon and Old King Cole. However, the REAL Frank Morgan had about 101 film credits, compared to roughly 67 for the fake Frank Morgan.

This is a wonderful short cartoon movie contains a collection of traditional Eurepean and American folklore tales and children songs like: 3 blind mice, Mary has a little lamb, King Kul, ... mixed up in a totally fast and funny interactive way .. Oh m'god when I remember these cartoons from my childhood .. this funny collection was produced from the creation of the genius Walter Lantz - The creator of Woody the Woodpecker and Chilly Willy. Really it feels strange to see all the folklore tales from your childhood mixed up in a mania but this was a pioneer and genius idea from Walt who has beaten his time and all the times *** Lo'ay

'Mother Goose on the Loose' (1942)

Opening thoughts: A vast majority of Walter Lantz's work ranges between well worth seeing and must watches, even if some theatrical series are better than others (not unexpected as that is true of pretty much every animation director). He was responsible for some misses, especially in his later work which saw lower budgets, tighter time constraints and old premises repeating themselves, but on the whole he hit more than he missed. With some of his best work being excellent.

1942's 'Mother Goose on the Loose' is to me up there with his best and his most fun. It is a lot more inventive than what can usually be seen with this premise and is a good deal less cutesy than it sounds. The Mother Goose and nursery rhymes being satirised premise is a familiar one and was already very popular well before 'Mother Goose on the Loose' was produced and released, but the premise is so colourfully and energetically done here that it didn't feel old.

Bad things: 'Mother Goose on the Loose' is admittedly a very slight cartoon plot wise and quite predictable, basically a series of gags and nursery rhyme characters strung along.

Good things: Luckily, the gags and characters are done really well so that criticism didn't feel that major. 'Mother Goose on the Loose' is beautifully animated, with lush vibrant colours and richly detailed backgrounds. Transitions in movements are also smooth and there is nothing wonky or static with the character designs, even in the more kinetic scenes. Even better is the lively and characterful music that is also beautifully and cleverly orchestrated.

While not creative, the gags are crisply timed and clever as well as very funny. The more satirical moments sharp and witty with nothing distasteful. Even if the story is not much, the cartoon is still filled to the brim with sunny energy and never feels dull. Was worried that it would be too cute considering the kind of story it was, but there was nothing too sugary or over-cutesy.

The characters are fun in personality, not used in a not too blink and you miss them way and spotting the different nursery rhyme characters was so much fun and very nostalgic. Mel Blanc, who to me is the greatest and most versatile voice actor to exist, voices exuberantly, as do Sara Berner and Grace Stafford. Really enjoyed the Frank Morgan influence to the narration as well, and the narration isn't used too much.

Concluding thoughts: Concluding, very well done.

8/10.