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Here's a 'books come alive' cartoon directed by Frank Tashlin, it takes place in a library after it has closed for the night...
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The town crier sets up this music laced story, it's all about book titles coming to life to entertain us with popular songs from that era.
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Firstly, we get to meet our favorite monsters, Mr. Hyde, Fu Manchu, Phantom Of The Opera and The Frankenstein Monster, and they don't seem all that friendly, as always!
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But they cut a rug instead, to the applause of an avid audience comprised of characters from the many books in the library.
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The Invisible Man does a great little tap dance for us.
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Books on Africa come to life with some hot dancing girls, and lots more.
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Cab Calloway steps in and sets the mood with some Jive!
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You gots yer Little Women...
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And then you gots yer Little Men!
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Seven Clark Gables sing backup for Old King Cole!
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And the audience goes wild!
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Then the title song "Have You Got Any Castles" is front and center.
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Emily Host's (Post) book is next to Henry The Eighth's, she points her finger and chides him for eating like a pig, but finally starts wolfing down the eats herself!
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The Three Musketeers turn bad and become Three Men On A Horse, they steal the keys that let The Prisoner Of Zenda out of prison, they all escape on their horse, guns blazing...
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The books fight back, it's not quiet on the western front now!
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All the good guys start chasing the four criminals, even Tarzan gets into the act.
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Rip Van Winkle gets woken up yet again (his beard got clipped earlier in the toon) and he's not in a good mood! What's with all the commotion, anyway?!
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Rip opens the cover of "Hurricane" and the wind starts blowing like crazy!
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The gale force gusts of wind blow all the characters back to their books...
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And, they're all Gone With The Wind!! Rip gets back to sleep after he gags the coo-coo clock bird. So, what a ride, love those Tashlin productions!
Oh, THIS cartoon is just AMAZING! My dad had a great collection of old 78 rpm records, including some vintage Cab Calloway!* Thanks for the memories!
ReplyDelete*Too bad my mom threw them all away so fast that I didn't get the chance to grab them! Dad worked at a record store when he was in college, before Uncle Sam grabbed him and made him an aircraft mechanic in the WWII Army Air Corps!
Incredible homage to the literary works of the day & prior.
ReplyDeleteYou'll see more great titles
in 7min than some people see in their lifetime.
Also: terrific detail in the artwork CGI can't replace.
What does the "House of Seven Gables" have?
Seven Clark Gables, of course! Love it.
A popular theme for cartoons at the time. They also made a couple about department stores with the products coming to life.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the post.