Mother Goose Goes Hollywood (1938)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Memorable, crazy movie

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Disney wasn't known for doing cartoons with Hollywood caricature nor satirizing fables or fairy tales. These were more staples in the Warner Bros. cartoons. However, based on surviving story notes, the Disney artists may have thought of the genre first, but the staff at the Schlesinger studio did it first. Artist T. Hee, designed stylized caricatures of popular celebrities that were featured in the Warner Bros. cartoons The Coo Coo Nut Grove (1936) and The Woods Are Full Of Cuckoos (1937). After those shorts were produced, he went to Disney's and designed the caricatures.The premise is a series of Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes acted out by popular Hollywood celebrities of the 1930's. Again something that seems more like the premise for a WB cartoon.This is a very unusual cartoon for Disney at this time, but they pulled off this caricature short well. Being used to seeing so many caricature shorts done at WB, I found it strange to see the same celebrities in a Disney cartoon. This was the best cartoon of this genre that Disney did.A few scenes, deemed politically incorrect by today's standards, made this short difficult to find uncensored for many years. Until it was released on the Walt Disney Treasures series.If you're familiar with the films and celebrities of this era, you will enjoy this short.

I just recently (as of today) discovered a blog devoted to Cab Calloway called The Hi-De-Ho Blog. One section showcases caricatures of the legendary entertainer in various cartoons from Max Fleischer (whose shorts Cab actually was involved in), Warner Bros., M-G-M, and this one from Walt Disney in which Mother Goose characters are depicted as Hollywood celebrities. Mr. Calloway is one of the "four blackbirds in a pie sequence" and while that may have an unfortunate stereotypical connotation (which may be true of some of the white celebrities too), seeing "Cab", "Fats", and "Louis" do their musical stuff was enjoyable. The only real negative portrayal of an African-American here was that of the lazy, shiftless, Stepin Fetchit character. Other depictions of celebrities I liked were that of W.C. Fields with Charlie McCarthy with Fields as Humpty Dumpty, The Marx Brothers sans Zeppo as the Fidlers Three (Harpo appears here as a redhead and not a blonde), and Laurel and Hardy as Simple Simon and the Pieman with welcome use of Marvin Hatley's L & H musical theme "The Cukoo Song (Dance of the Cukoos)". If there's one celebrity that may be obscure even to old movie buffs, it might be that of Joe Penner whose catchphrase "Wanna buy a duck?" anticipates a very familiar Disney character. So despite some negative stereotypical characterizations, I recommend Mother Goose Goes Hollywood for any animation buff especially those of old-time movie star caricatures.

I first got this on videotape because of the Marx Brothers caricatures in a scene with Hugh Herbert. (Just three brothers, Zeppo had left by this point.) I was pleased to see that Fred Astaire was also portrayed. He dances in a manner that suggests the animators studied his films carefully. There aren't many "appearances" of this type by Astaire. In fact this may be the only one. Katharine Hepburn gave an interview where she recalled a cartoon that contained a remarkable imitation of her. This is the cartoon she was talking about. She shows up as a running gag. The only censorship that I could detect in this cartoon was a scene where Eddie Cantor introduces "four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie." You see the pie bulge as if something is about to emerge and then there is an edit in the film. Today's corporate Disney is not about to allow "darkie" jokes in their cartoons. But the depiction of Fats Waller is mildly racist (if racism can be mild). I counted a total of thirty celebrities. When you've watched this videotape as many times as I have, you start counting celebrities.

This Disney animated short puts Hollywood stars of the 1930's into roles from Mother Goose stories. For example W.C. Fields is Humpty Dumpty and the Marx Brothers are the fidlers three. I'm sure much of this film's humor depended on a knowledge of the stars of the day. Today it's just not as amusing. Still, the animation is wonderful. Donald Duck does make a cameo appearance. The version Disney shows on TV has obviously had pieces edited.