So Much for So Little (1949)
Little Johnny Jones, to be born in the next year, is shown growing to a ripe, healthy old age, thanks to the efforts of his local public health officers. But without them, he might be one of the 5% or so that dies in the first year. The price for the public health service: about 3 cents a week.
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Wonderful Movie
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Directed by Chuck Jones, "So Much for So Little" is a very nice Warner Bros. cartoon. Notice I wrote "nice", not "funny", as humor is not the real gist of this cartoon. It's an attempt for post-war families all over the country to increase their awareness of the quality of public health services in their communities. Specifically, this film traces the life span of one John Emerson Jones, Jr., during which time the narrator continuously addresses him and recommends that he take care of himself through periodic checkups.Certain sequences in "So Much for So Little" put a smile on my face. The sight of little John in a suit of armor holding a lance is quite amusing as he attacks various diseases (tough customers on the path of life, as they are called) in human form. This cartoon also highly benefits from the music score of Carl W. Stalling. Among other songs that I recognize are "Strolling through the Park One Day" as John takes a walk with his wife Mary; "Singing in the Shower" as a fly washes its feet (!!); the all-too-familiar "Powerhouse" during the blood test; and Chopin's "Raindrop" Prelude in D-Flat at the sight of sewage water pouring into a clean creek.When I first see John as an infant in this cartoon, I want to weep for him, because the narrator points out that John's chances of not seeing his first birthday are quite high. As the film progresses, however, my potential sadness is put to rest. As I wrote earlier, this is a fairly serious cartoon, as the life expectancy of infants is greatly dependent upon the quality of our public health services.
"2,621,392. A nice even figure. That's the number of babies who'll be born next year in the United States. Of these babies, 118,481 will die before reaching their first birthday." So begins Chuck Jones's 'So Much for So Little', an Academy Award winning cartoon. Doesn't sound like the recipe for comedy gold, does it? Well, the truth is 'So Much for So Little' is not primarily a comedy short. It is an educational picture about the importance of a good health service. Sounds dull, right? Fortunately, Chuck Jones works his magic on this public information film to create a thoroughly entertaining cartoon. Although he's basically illustrating a voice-over narration, Jones manages to draw us in to the story of Johnny Jones, one of those 2,621,392 babies who may end up being one of the 118,481 dead. Why should we care? Well, Jones makes us care by segueing into the story of Johnny's life, incorporating his school days, his falling in love, marriage and retirement. He does this so engagingly that we forget we are hearing the tale of a baby we've been told has a good chance of being amongst the percentage that will die. Jones returns to this fact right at the end of the short, abruptly reminding us of the information that we have forgotten while becoming emotionally involved in the character's potential life. 'So Much for So Little' advocates a worthy cause in a totally convincing, captivating and (crucially) entertaining way and was fully deserving of its Oscar win.
Horribly one sided, this propaganda piece spouts the supposed merits of inoculations (whill conveniently NOT telling that those same shots can in some instances be MORE harmful than what they innoculate against) I learned of THAT travesty first hand and it's a bitch. That part of the animated short made me so damn mad that it tainted everything that was said afterwords. Not only is this pure unadulterated propaganda crap, it's also EXTREMELY dated and isn't worth watching due to it's horrendous use of fear tactics. This animated short can be seen as an extra in the "From the Vaults" section on Disc 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2.My Grade: F
Although somewhat dated in a few details, much of what this details regarding public health and safety, such as inoculation versus disease and the need for good sanitation is still of importance today. I saw this in Cartoon Network on a special ToonHeads featuring rarely seen or little-known animation. This won an Oscar for Documentary Short (actually, it tied with another short) and was well deserving of its award. The animation is superb and worth watching. It was also quite disturbing to learn that, apparently, a bare fifty years ago the infant mortality rate in the United States was as high as it was. Five of every 100 births. While we have made progress, we can still make a good deal more. Most recommended.