#*turns into a rocket and explodes like daffy duck*

[ducktracy]

115. hollywood capers (1935)

release date: october 19th, 1935

series: looney tunes

director: jack king

starring: tommy bond (beans), bernice hansen (kitty), billy bletcher (guard, frankenstein’s monster)

originally titled beans in hollywood (i suppose it’s good they changed it, not that repeating titles matter but you’ll have daffy duck in hollywood, too), hollywood capers centers around beans’ infatuation with the movie industry, dropping in on a recording sessions. however, things quickly run amuck once he accidentally powers on a ferocious frankenstein robot.

activity is high as ever at warmer bros studios (a pun frequented in many a cartoon). actors bustle to and fro, including a humorous caricature of w.c. fields, sauntering along with a rolling cane, cigar propped in his mouth and showing off some gaudy checkered pants. the guard and fields (pinned as “mr. seal”) exchange “good morning”s. suddenly, fields places his hat atop the guard’s head and pops his cigar in the guard’s mouth. he positions his cane like a cue stick, shooting off any ash. very amusing and creative. he regains his cigar and hat, matching into the studio as the guard scratches his head.

next comes our favorite hollywood star, beans. he putters along in his car, the engine shorting out and making for a bumpy ride, animation fun and flexible. screeching to a halt at the gate, beans allows the guard to interrogate him, the guard growling “who do you think YOU are?” beans jumps up and puffs out his chest proudly. “beans is the name, one of the boston beans!” (not a solid reference to anything in particular as far as i know, except for boston baked beans. still fun and downright stupid.) a nice touch as he tilts his hat forward and holds out his overall straps smugly.

the guard is having none of it. he grabs the car and pushes it backwards, and beans is sent riding up into a tree, the car exploding. rubbery, smooth animation as beans dangles on the safety of a tire, bouncing up and down, his butt honking the car horn.

other celebrities have better luck than beans. a charlie chaplin caricature enters with ease, his car wheels moving along like actual feet. oliver hardy also saunters into the studio, greeted by the guard. hardy briefly acknowledges the guard’s “good morning, mr. hardy!” as he strolls inside the studio. once far enough in, a familiar hand unbuttons the jacket’s buttons, and beans steps out of the disguise as his hardy getup, nothing more than a bundle of balloons and clothes, rise into the sky. this could also be paralleled with porky’s attempts to disguise himself as hardy in order to enter the warner bros lot as well in friz freleng’s you ought to be in pictures, freleng’s approach much more amusing and rewarding. still a nice gag here, though.

giddy at the fact that he’s in, beans wanders the lot and enters one of the studios, a sign posted on the door indicating that they’re filming.

i was wondering if oliver owl would ever make an appearance again! granted, i haven’t seen many of jack king’s beans cartoons, maybe a little more than half. but it seemed like all of the gang from i haven’t got a hat was reused except for oliver. here, he’s an adult, a crotchety, anxious director pacing around, accompanied by a dog assistant who matches his pace. the dog bumps into oliver, who isn’t pleased. he orders the dog to go back to his post at the camera.

oliver loops himself down in his director’s chair and barks “quiet!” a tanned porky makes a cameo as he shushes the bystanders in the studio. a shot of a man asleep on the rafters, blowing out a candle that also aligns with a chorus of hushes. beans’ shadow also shushes him, as does an anthropomorphized microphone.

the cameras are now rolling. lovely animation as the camera man runs over to film the scene, his camera running like stilts. little kitty is the star of the film, singing “sweet flossie farmer” as a turtle (the one used during porky’s performance in i haven’t got a hat) accompanies her on piano. a barbershop trio lend their voices, as does the piano playing turtle. beans observes in awe as he stands on the rafters.

a brief interlude as a man plays “chopsticks” on a cash register, reused from those were wonderful days. it’s been awhile since we’ve seen any recycled animation, or at least to my knowledge. the piano playing turtle tickles the ivory as he lies on his shell playing dueling pianos. animation is also reused from buddy’s beer garden as a bartender fills up various mugs with some beer to the beat of the music.

back to beans, who’s still ogling in awe at the scene below—the stuttering dog from into your dance attempting to woo an indignant kitty. disaster strikes when a nearby workman passes by, carrying a long piece of board. as he turns the corner, the board smacks beans and sends him flying. he attempts to grab onto a rope for support, yet the rope is tied to nothing. despite his best efforts, beans is sent tumbling down, right into the arms of the dog.

rightfully so, everyone is shocked, especially oliver and his anthropomorphic director’s chair (king’s disney roots seeping in once more). he marches over to beans, who dutifully introduces himself, once more repeating his “beans is the name, one of the boston beans!” greeting. it didn’t work before, and it doesn’t work now. oliver grabs beans and throws him out (another future parallel to you ought to be in pictures).

beans rockets through the studio, landing right onto the set of frankenstein. granted, a robotic adaptation, but still. he discovers a bench obscured by a white sheet. pulling back the sheet, beans is met with the grotesque face of frankenstein’s monster. in the midst of his shock, beans stumbles backwards and trips over a power switch, which brings the robotic monster to life. beans runs for his little life as frankenstein’s monster limbers up, stretching before barreling right through a wall leading to the prop department.

the dog camera man is rolling, just in time to catch the metal menace marching towards his camera. the sound effects are a bit misplaced as the monster literally swallows the camera (a jack king trademark), the sound of crunching already playing as his mouth is still gaping open. the sound effects are a little off in this one. sometimes it isn’t noticeable, sometimes it is—nothing against bernard brown, there’s only so much you can do. treg brown’s ingenuity and creativity in his sounds is sorely missed. nevertheless, the monster devours the camera whole, wincing as he chomps on a bolt. he spits out a plethora of camera parts, including a film strip—accompanied by a jarringly funny machine gun sound effect.

kitty spots the monster, a fun take as her bonnet spins above her in shock. she darts away as the monster stumbles across a mirror, sticking out his tongue and mocking himself. it’s a useless and arbitrary gag for sure, but also funny for that reason alone. like a baby or an animal discovering its reflection for the first time. he gets closer to the mirror, mocking himself once more. his reflection leans back and punches his actual self hard, a gag that would be reused in porky’s double trouble to the same degree.

the monster is sent flying right into a tub of water, where he squeezes his head to pour out the water from his ears and scalp (his hair rising like a toupée as a geyser of water spurts out from his head). the animation is fun and amusing, always entertaining to see particularly hard substances turned to rubber. though this IS the rubber hose era of animation, so that’s a given.

beans spots a metal rod propped up to a spotlight, which he can use to his advantage. he sneaks up behind the robot, who’s still drying himself off. his plan is sent into action as beans wraps the rod around the monster, constricting him into place. of course, a simple puff of the chest and the binds are broken free by the monster. a fun indicator of personality as beans flashes a guilty, sly smile (one thinks of the many guilty grins conjured up by daffy as he gets himself into trouble), bashfully dragging his feet.

cue a triumphant chase sequence as beans runs from the monster, who snags him by the overalls. a slightly incoherent cut as beans is seen flying through the air, crashing into many doors that pile up beneath him like dominos, one by one. the animation is very smooth and tantalizing as the doors collapse to the ground, beans skidding across the floor like butter.

he slides straight into a giant fan (or in this case, labeled as a wind machine). an idea hatches as he disregards any instructions to turn off the fan. he turns the switch, and a harsh breeze blows against the approaching monster. beans slides the fan closer to the monster, and eventually the monster is chopped to pieces as he walks right through it. his remains splay out on the form, forming a makeshift engine of a car. robotic arms smack the monster repeatedly in the face as we iris out.

not bad at all—i found a cartoonist’s nightmare to be more entertaining and smooth sailing, but this was more enjoyable than any buddy cartoon by king. the biggest downfall to this cartoon was slight lapses in coherence, often gags falling short of their intentions and jarring animation cuts. the sound effects also felt occasionally out of place. nevertheless, high energy and decent. a neat way to reprise the cast of i haven’t got a hat. ham and ex, the two curious pups, were missing from this cartoon, but they’d make prominent sidekicks for beans in his cartoons as troublemaking tricksters. this cartoon felt very similar to you ought to be in pictures (one of my favorite cartoons). protagonist has trouble entering a studio, and once he manages to get in, trouble is never ending. ultimately, a bit soupy at times, but a decent, entertaining short that makes for an amusing watch.

our next review is our most important yet—tex avery makes his debut with gold diggers of ‘49, which could be debated as to why looney tunes is the phenomenon that it is today.

[jkfortunekookies]

Jeon Jungkook : A SUMMARY PART 2

Part 1

“ I don’t want to get married. No... I mean, I’m not ready for marriage. It’s something that is still very far away in my mind.” -JJK 2k14 (AHL behind the scene)

 Fan ask Jungkook when he wants to get married : Jungkook writes * in 100 years* on the post it

Every member pointed at him when they were asked who was the most likely to get married early : “ WHY ME *scandalized tone* ??!!!” - JJK 2k17 (amas red carpet)

“Go to sleep hyung” @jimin, when it really means “ Stop bothering me” (Bangtan bomb)

Puts a plastic wrapper inside his mouth and slowly spits it back like a 4 years old kid as the Stylist takes it away from his mouth as if she is one of his parents.

*rolls on the desert’s sand and lands perfectly like a ninja* (Dubai)

“ These noonas really know how to pose for the cameras.They could be idols just like us!” (Bon voyage s2 ,Hawaii)

“ It felt so weird to travel without the staff” 

* Dances to girl groups songs and does it better than them*

Impersonates Jessie : “ BIG BOOTAY!” (YamanTV)

*Stares at the result board rather competitively during ISAC 2015*

*touches the wrong exit door by accident and the alarm starts running* : “ Oh no *wide eyes* I-I thought we could use that exit door . Guess I was wrong...”  

 “ Let me introduce you to my new friend. *zooms his camera on the lizard on the wall* Hi there, my friend *giggles* +  *Finds another lizard * : “ Oh Oh Oh! There’s another friend right there!!” 

*sleeps in pikachu onesies and daffy duck pajamas (isn’t he PRECIOUS?!)*

*wrestles down every other male idol* (ISAC 2015)

*sticks close like a puppy to his new friends from seventeen* (ISAC 2017)

*runs faster than a rocket*

*Picks up jimin in his arms as if it was a feather he picked up from the ground*

* jams to Blackpink and knows all the lyrics to Whistle,Playing with fire and Boombayah*

“ I’m an expensive man *smirk*” -JJK 2k16

*eats banana kick during almost every fansign*

*Eyes widen when fans bring him food during the fansigns*

When a fan brought him an endless supply of gifts and every time she handed him one , he bowed and thanked her (for every gift) : “ Thank you *bows*, Thank you *bows*, Thank you *bows*, Thank you *bows + giggles*” (Fansign 2013)

“ I wish we could turn the salt water in the ocean into beer. It would be much better” 

“ I forgot my earphones in the room so I can’t listen to music, I’m not legal so I can’t drink...*sighs as he lays down in the boat* aren’t I really pitiful right now? *fakes a cry* ” (Bon Voyage s2)

*takes pictures with his classmates and writes them a few cheerful messages to encourage them during finals* 

* Arrived late in class during a final exam and took the test in 10 minutes after exiting the room* + *His teacher caught up with him*: “ Jungkook, seems like you chose randomly...”

*picks up three chairs at the same time*

  “ The game is called : Let’s try beating jungkook” his hyungs said and he scoffed in disbelief  “ Why would you call that game like that? What am I, a monster or something *offended laugh* ?” (BTS Countdown Live “Burning Live”)

*drank chocolate milk instead of alcohol because he still wasn’t legal at the time*

*When yoongi forbid Jungkook to drink in the states at their after party in their hotel, and Jungkook still took a sip of the champagne while turning off the vlive*

“*reads comments*  Jungkook hyung is so freaking handsome? *Gasps+ perverted face activated* Thank you~~~” - JJK 2k17

“ Then I arrived,the one and only ‘miracle boy’ who saved this group. Seven agencies fought to recruit me. You could say that without me, BTS wouldn’t be BTS *smirk*” (BTS Countdown 2017)

“ It’s hella trophies and it’s hella thick!”

“ I’m just really sensitive to smells, so I like collecting candles, perfumes and other stuff *awkward face*” (YamanTV)

When a fan asked him to draw her friend because she(the friend) couldn’t be there and he drew a girl with bangs and the fan asked him why he drew her with bangs : “ I don’t know... aren’t girls cuter with bangs ? Cute girls always have bangs, don’t they? *pauses in confusion* I don’t even know *existential crisis* What do YOU think? *blinks*”

 That time when a young army showed up and asked him to draw her and he said : “ Won’t oppa ruin your cute face ?” 

How every time a fan ask him to draw them , he ends up adding bunny ears somewhere in his drawing : “ You look like a bunny!”

His pick up line that never fails : “ Want to grab a cup of milk with me?” (Japan)

*attaches key chains with pictures of his face on his earrings*

When BTS talked about a picture of jimin in their kitchen and Jungkook went like  : “ I get scared every time I get myself a drink at night because of that picture.”

“ Microwaves are scary! What if they explode?!” 

His little crush on IU and how he always claps whenever he sees her

Set of clothes with cute army patterns : “ I love sets. Especially when there’s a jacket included”

*impersonates Jimin’s hairflips to annoy him, but the latter loves it*

*that time he cringed his face and sighed because he was on a diet and the donuts looked too yummy*

*How he kept eating food nonstop while saying ; “ I’m full”*

*The way he puckers his lips as if he’s about to kiss any living thing next to him*

*when he accidentally boops his adorable round nose against every existing camera and looks slightly startled*

*the way he scrunches his nose and claps like a seal when he’s laughing*

*His high pitched laugh when he’s dying of laughter*

*opens his eye wide enough to be jungshook during the Flinch challenge with james corden*

*jaw drops while reacting to Jin’s kiss with the statue in their blood sweat and tears mv*

His self love is something admirable : “ Whoahhh Jungkookie, you look good!” - Jungkook @jungkook in mic drop mv 

“ I watched our mv 6 times because I looked so good in it *smirks*”-  JJK 2k17 @spring day mv

How impenetrable he is :  *What if a pretty girl approached you at school, what would you do?* and he answered : “ I’d walk away”

*His movie suggestions are all romantic stories : Kimi no nawa, Love Rosie, etc*

*He literally jumps like a bunny when he’s excited*

* How he impersonates his members and often get hit for being a little brat, but we all know he does it because he wants to get their attention*

*how he’s an agyeo bomb when you don’t expect it. He’s a natural*

Part 3? Maybe ....? :D

[ducktracy]

122. boom boom (1936)

release date: february 29th, 1936

series: looney tunes

director: jack king

starring: tommy bond (beans), joe dougherty (porky), billy bletcher (soldiers, enemy, general hardtack)

something you don’t see everyday—a cartoon released on february 29th. jack king’s first official cartoon prominently featuring porky (he made a very small cameo in hollywood capers). jack king would only direct a handful of porky cartoons, but they’re effectively disconcerting, strange, and downright offputting. at the same time, they’re fascinating because of that. we don’t really get any of that offbeat mood here. instead, beans and porky are soldiers in the midst of the great war. they’re sent to rescue their hostage general, but the obviously unsafe environment makes that task quite a challenge.

if the title isn’t an obvious indication as to what the cartoon entails, the opening shot of bombs exploding amuck solidifies our understanding immediately. i already love the lighting of the explosions reflecting off the fence, very moody. while king isn’t as cinematographic as, say, frank tashlin, he certainly is more ambitious with his camera angles and staging than friz freleng or even tex avery. a closeup of a bomb exploding in the dirt transitions to a shot of silhouettes charging forward. elsewhere, a dog blows his bugle, interrupted by a bomb. the bomb explodes and he now lies on the ground, injured, weakly blaring out “taps”. great, snappy timing.

some more explosions and violence just for the hell of it. a cannon is extended, targeting a dog perched inside a chimney and shooting below. the perspective on the cannon is great, a lovely curved shot as a dog pops out and conks the other dog on the head with a mallet, who slumps over. fatal cartoon violence!

elsewhere, a horse is desperately attempting to weave in and out of a barrage of bullets. a particularly threatening bullet follows him closely, tearing his backpack and clothes to shreds and attempting to do the same ritual to his metal helmet. the bullet weasels its way under and propels the helmet upwards, shredding a hole right in the middle of it. animation is quick, fast, and exhilarating. the hat snaps back down to its rightful owner with such force that the horse gets himself stuck inside the helmet, the helmet acting like body-fitting handcuffs.

nevertheless, the horse manages to seek refuge in a crumbling building, shutting the door with his foot. no matter-the bullet shoots right through the door and explodes almost everything in sight. lovely, rubbery, smooth animation as the bullet thins out and turns into a snake-like saw, tearing the helmet restraint off of the horse, who’s ducking. the bullet zips away, and buys the horse enough time to gallop over to a shelf full of bullets. now, the horse drags over part of a broken piano (not unlike the harman-ising days), the mallets hitting the bullets and firing them off. unfortunately for the horse, a spare bullet crashes right behind him and explodes. a looney tunes staple as we see the angel of the horse floating carelessly in heaven, strumming yankee doodle dandy on a lyre. death, always a good punchline! (see daffy going to hell and coming to terms with it in draftee daffy. it’s hilarious!)

another collection of gags as the soldiers engage in the fight. a particularly dopey dog with a prominent overbite fires a pop gun, the cork flying back and smacking him right between the eyes. meanwhile, a dog shooting a machine gun trembles from the impact as he slowly walks away. back to the overbite dog, shooting again and this time pulling his helmet over his face for protection. just as he believes he’s outsmarted himself, he pulls the helmet back up, just in time to be pinged once more (a gag parallel to porky’s trouble with a rubber horseshoe in the village smithy).

the stuttering dog from into your dance and hollywood capers pulls the pin out of a hand grenade and mistakenly tosses the pin instead. the impact of the explosion sends the dog flying into the air. conveniently, a first aid truck happens to be trucking on by. the driver scoops up the dog in a net and dumps him carelessly into the back of the truck.

porky’s turn for the spotlight. he whistles as a signal to his soldier buddies, and they all dive into the war zone. smart of his buddies to jump back into the trench, leaving porky alone to his oblivious self. he crawls forward on his hands and knees, visibly wary. a famous jack king hat take as his helmet flies into the air in surprise at the sound of a distant explosion. he tugs at his collar, sweat beading his face. he tiptoes forward...

and immediately flies back into the trench, right inside of their base (a great transition between the scenes as his body hurtling forward wipes the screen). he attempts to dive under a bunk bed for shelter (occupied by beans), but instead breaks the bed thanks to his weight.

beans wakes up and scratches his head in befuddlement. he shrugs it off, jumping out of bed and dragging the cowardly porcine by the feet. porky rises to his feet as beans pats him on the shoulder reassuringly—“take it easy, porky ol’ boy! take it easy!” porky’s not one for the war life as he stutters “phooey! i wish i’d-a stayed on the farm!” a fellow soldier, a snarky hippo, pops his head up from his bunk and chides “is mama’s little man afraid?”

just as porky’s about to assert that no, mama’s little man is NOT afraid, the sound of a nearby explosion interrupts his confident façade. he cowers under a table while the surrounding soldiers mock him, all singing “you’re in the army now” (including vocals provided by a random duck). porky shudders audibly at the thought. beans orders porky to snap out of it, and helps himself to spoonfuls of (heh :)) beans, porky cautiously peering out from beneath the table.

elsewhere, a bird flies amongst the fire, inevitably getting shot and spiraling towards the ground, right into the trench. it drags itself inside, where porky and beans are having a hearty meal of baked beans. exhausted, the bird collapses right in front of the duo. beans notices a scroll lodged in the bird’s helmet and pulls it out. it reads: AM BEING HELD PRISONER BY ENEMY IN OLD FARMHOUSE. SEND HELP — GEN. HARDTACK”.

right away, beans drags porky along as they race out of the trench. beans wastes no time boarding a motorcycle, leaving porky in the dust. speedy, quick animation as beans practically runs porky over, tossing him into the sidecar. the speed is to be commended—it actually conveys a sense of urgency and exhilaration. it seems tex’s knack for speed as demonstrated in gold diggers of ‘49 is finally rubbing off. porky struggles to keep his hat from flying away in the wind.

an anthropomorphized bullet (the original bullet bill!) has its sights set on beans and porky. a lovely overhead shot as it watches them speed by, hurtling straight after. the sense of speed is heightened even more, a tame parallel to tex’s speed in gold diggers. lovely, dynamic shots as they fly past curves and weave through trees, even running right into a tree that separates the motorcycle and the sidecar.

regardless, beans and porky reunite as they fly over the battlefield, their transportation falling beneath them. the bullet still whizzes after them, and the two dive into a hole for cover. the bullet explodes, yet porky and beans pop out unscathed like whack-a-moles in the distance. a lovely visual and great use of cartoon physics as the two physically lift up their hole and carry it a few feet, transplanting it back into the ground and ducking once more as another explosion endangers them.

seemingly alone, bullet nowhere in sight, beans and porky dash to a crumbling building, both peering inside. general hardtack is being tortured by his captors, bound up by ropes. one of the captors lights a candle under his feet and gives him the hot foot, forcing him to talk. beans comments “that’s general hardtack!”, and with some quick thinking he ties a spool of barbed wire to a nearby rocket.

with the strike of a match, the rockets are ignited and propel straight inside. the rocket wraps up one of the enemies with barbed wire, and then the other. beans and porky save the day as they push both captors over, beans cutting the rope off of the general, much to his gratitude.

now free, all three of them rush outside and spot a parked plane. they board and prepare to fly home. of course, no one is safe in war, not even the heroes of the cartoon. the plane is almost immediately shot to pieces, nosediving straight to the ground. fade transition as our heroes are now all in a hospital bed, bandaged up tight. the general awards beans a ribbon, who rips it in half and pins the other shred to porky. iris out as they all have a good laugh about it. such is war!

certainly one of king’s best entries by far. this is one of the rare cartoons i have actually seen before, but seldom remembered. while i’ve repeatedly mentioned how offputting his porky cartoons are (this is more of a beans cartoon honestly), it is interesting to see how he characterizes porky for the first time—as a bumbling coward. the energy was very high and upbeat in this one, and it actually conveyed a sense of urgency and exhilaration, which i welcome with open arms. the gags weren’t too side-splittingly funnt, but they aren’t exactly dull either. the horse dying and going to heaven is always a plus. beans and porky had a nice dynamic going, and this cartoon does have a lot of personality. the animation was stellar, very fluid, smooth, rubbery, malleable, and fun. while this isn’t the most fantastic cartoon out there, it’s certainly one of the better ones we’ve seen thus far, and potentially worth a watch just for the hell of it.

link!