Snow Foolin'

This is a good deal of fun. It's December 21 and winter has struck. First, animals must go to the furriers to get their winter coats. Once done, the fun begins and especially the skating. From alligators to centipedes, everyone seems to have some kind of skate or skating device. The use is colorful and clever. I never really cared for the bouncing ball stuff. I actually remember going to a couple movies where these were done, but even in the Fifties the audiences were a little harsh. We really wanted the Road Runner.

Snow Foolin' (1949)

*** (out of 4)

Entertaining animated short has a rabbit turning the calender to the first day of winter, which brings a ton of snow. The animals all gather around and play in the snow, skate and do other winter events until we get a sing-along for Jingle Bells. SNOW FOOLIN' is one of the better sing-along shorts that I've seen as we're given more than just the bouncing ball to follow as we sing. This one here actually has some pretty funny stuff going on before we get to the singing and I really enjoyed the majority of the characters here. This includes a very funny skating sequence where we see someone get "eight the hard way" and later we see an alligator crash into a tree and become luggage. I thought the film did a very good job at showing how much fun one can have in the snow and while watching this you'll be wishing it would start snowing so that you could go out into it. The version of Jingle Bells here was a pretty good one and it's such a powerful version that I'm sure people in 1949 had no problem getting charged up to join in and sing.

. . . low-effort, lazy, static, one-slide, unimaginative, indolent, cheap, tawdry, embarrassing, shameless, patronizing, abusive, demeaning, out-of-touch, clueless, misdirected, controversial travesties from the self-proclaimed "Famous Studios." As Einstein famously observed, "Not everything that flutters is famous." If famous is as famous does, SNOW FOOLING's day of infamy may well last six or seven Eternities. If the producers had exercised an ounce of imagination, they might have come up with some humorous original lyrics along the lines of "Grandma got run over by a reindeer." Instead they curse us with 18 more banal verses of "Jingle Bells."

What I appreciated in here were the innovative sight gags, things I hadn't seen in the hundreds and hundreds of other animated shorts from the 1930s, '40s and '50s. Some were subtle and clever, others as subtle as the fox turning his calendar, observing "Hey, it's the first day of winter" and immediately having a ton of snow dropped on his head!

The "clever" material including a skating ostrich who did eight "the hard way" with his skates, little mice finding a way to use an elephant as a cannon in a snowball fight, and more. . Kudos to Isadore Klein for the story.

The sight gags come fast and furious in here as we see how animals all have fun with the winter. However, this is one of those "Screen Song" sing-a-long cartoons, so once the jokes end, you have the spend the last two minutes singing "Jingle Bells," which lowers the rating of the cartoon.

However, it is still recommended.

BEWARE OF FALSE REVIEWS & REVIEWERS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW TO THEIR NAME. NOW WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE MOVIE. IF ITS A NEGATIVE REVIEW THEN THEY MIGHT HAVE A GRUDGE AGAINST THE FILM . NOW I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 200 HOLIDAY FILMS. I HAVE NO AGENDA. I AM HONEST ABOUT THESE FILMS

In this cartoon short Various animals prepare for winter and enjoy a variety of winter sports. A hen invites ..... SNOW FOOLIN' is one of the better sing-along shorts that I've seen as we're given more than just the bouncing ball to follow as we sing.

Nothing really special but it is worth watching. There is some clever sight gags. This Animated Short will entertain almost everyone.