"A Laugh-o-Gram Short"

Release Date August 1, 1922

Running Time 7:21

Credits

Director : Walt Disney

Animation

Walt Disney

Rudolph Ising

Videos

Disney's Beginnings (1920-1927) (Non-Disney video - Video Dimensions)

DVD

The Legendary Laugh-O-Gram Fairy Tales (Non-Disney : Inkwell Images)

Disney's Laugh-O-Grams (Non-Disney : Tom's Vintage Film)

Toon Factory : Daffy Duckaroo (Non-Disney : Digiwiew Entertainment)

Technical Specifications

Color Type : Black and White

Animation type : Standard

Sound mix : Silent

Aspect ration : 1.37 : 1

Negative format : 35mm

Print format : 35mm

Cinematographic process : Spherical

Original language : English

Released by The Laugh-o-Gram Company

Distributed by Leslie B. Mace

Gallery

Click on the thumbnail for the full-sized picture

Comments

From Jerry Edwards : I've always felt this short deserved more attention than it gets. Maybe few copies are out there. The short starts with a poem:

One bright day four musicians
   Set out to search for fame.
When anybody's nerves went wrong,
   These four got the blame.

They went in state to every town,
   In haste did they disperse.
All tho' they did their very best,
   They couldn't have done worse.

A donkey, rooster, dog, and cat flee a town with townspeople throwing bricks and such at them. The cat looks and acts much like Julius - the cat in the Alice Comedies. At a river, they play music to tempt the fish out with the cat attempting the clobber the fish with a board. The cat jumps in after the fish and is chased by a swordfish. The swordfish chases the gang on land, finally sawing the tree the gang have climbed. The gang falls into a house at the bottom of the cliff, chasing a group of robbers out of the house. The robbers return with cannon and fire on the house. Some fun gags are the chimney of the house knocking the cannons back and the cat using his tail as a bat to swat the cannons back. The cat takes a ride on one of the cannonballs and swats the robbers as they chase him. Using an umbrella, the cat jumps off the cannonball. The rest of the gang hold a blanket for him to land on. The umbrella breaks and the cat falls through the blanket. His 9 lives depart as angels, but the dog throws the 9th life back into the cat. The short ends with "They lived happily ever after."

From Rich Drezen : This is my favorite Laugh-O-Gram. The story is solid and fluid, loaded with clever gags that aren't very repetitive. The characters are nicely developed, although the black cat is the one that steals the show (possibly a prototype Julius according to some historians). Walt's animation is improving, his backgrounds now utilize greytones, shadows, and some texture. One of the best scenes in the picture are when the musicians are fleeing from the angry swordfish, who chases them into a tree on a cliff, and cuts it down bearing the musicians in it's branches. My next favorite scene is when the musicians are battling the soldiers and where the cat uses his tail as a baseball bat to deflect their cannonballs. Not bad for Disney's second full-length short, and other than "Puss in Boots" (1922), this is the best I've seen in the Laugh-O-Gram series.

Referenced Comments

Alice Gets in Dutch (1924)