003 Robinson Crusoe Isle

Title: Robinson Crusoe Isle
Studio: Lantz
Date: 01/07/35
Credits:
Carl Laemmle presents
A Walter Lantz Cartoon (spelled properly)
Artists
Fred Avery
Jack Carr
Ray Abrams
Joe D'Igalo
Ernest Smythe
Victor McLeod
Musical Score
James Dietrich (the "die" is obscured by timecode, but I think that's it)
Series: Oswald
Running time (of viewed version): 8:44
Commercial DVD Availability:

Synopsis: Oswald lands on a non-deserted isle, interacts with Crusoe and natives, and gets a goat elected prime minister.






















Comments: Welcome to late but not final stage Oswald. Crusoe looks almost dead. The skunk's extendable nose is interesting looking. The skunk's voice is gruff and unpolished, similar to some of the secondary characters in An Elephant Never Forgets. The board of Fridays shows minimal variation in the native models, but there is still identifiable variation in them. It would have been funnier to have one of them be completely different. Oswald's color pattern is almost identical to the Fridays'. The cannibals have as standard a white American voice as Crusoe does. That's a whipcord thin cat. "Hello everybody, it's little Fanny" on the radio; I don't think that would be a reference to Fanny Brice, but maybe I've just never heard her introduce herself that way. It's possible all the old Fridays have survived; it's unclear if Oswald labeled them, or if it's actually the originals. This cartoon opens with a triple iris; I have no idea why. It's interesting, but I'm not sure it adds anything. Wait, make that a quintupple; two of the iris layers are beneath the wave cel layer (four irises in the center of each quadrant of the frame, plus one in the center of the overall frame. This is true with the original titles as well. Bob Clampett was still trying to use this style of music in 1939.