Gabby Goes Fishing (1941)

Fresh and Exciting

An Exercise In Nonsense

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Here in "Gabby Goes Fishing", Gabby comes upon a kid fishing. Although the kid is doing extremely well on his own, Gabby insists the kid watch him do it better--at which point, Gabby completely screws up--losing the fish the kid caught as well as his bait. Then, he uses a boat and makes things even worse.Gabby was a character developed for the Fleischer Brother's first full-length film, "Gulliver's Travels". Someone must have thought it was a good idea to spin this character off to a string of shorts--though after seeing several, I don't think this was a great idea. This is because in each, Gabby plays a super-obnoxious know-it-all--a guy who invariable messes up things around him because he insists he is an expert at everything--even things he's never attempted. A little of this goes a long way--and by the time I'd seen just a few of these films, I really came to hate Gabby even though the animation quality was very, very nice.

I did like Gabby Goes Fishing in general, but I was disappointed as well.THE GOOD THINGS: The animation was pretty good. Nice backgrounds, and beautiful colours. The fish. Despite not having any dialogue, other than laughter, the main fish stole the show most definitely, especially when he jumps onto the boat and starts eating the sandwich. The music. I always look out for this in everything I watch and review, and the music was quite pleasant here. The voice acting. Jack Mercer does a great job as the fish. And while he has been much better, Pinto Colvig, the original voice of Goofy in the Silly Symphony cartoons is good as Gabby.THE NOT SO GOOD THINGS: There isn't that much of a story. Sure Gabby teaches a young boy to fish, and the boy was doing better without him, but other than that, nothing particularly interesting happens. Maybe I am being unfair, but this cartoon compared to others I have seen is rather humourless with the exception of the fish. Not that many fast running gags or puns. Gabby himself isn't the most likable protagonist ever in a cartoon. He messes things up constantly and doesn't seem that apologetic when he completely ruins the kid's day. I usually don't have a problem with characters like that, because I accept there are characters that are meant to be just that, but for some strange reasons I never exactly warmed to Gabby. All in all, reasonable cartoon, but I admit as I have said more than once already I was disappointed. Maybe I need to see this cartoon again. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Other that a big fish taunting the stupid Gabby, and then swimming away doing the backstroke, I didn't laugh at too many things here. So far, I've only seen a few Gabby cartoons and they have all been more annoying than funny. This guy is a real jerk!Gabby is a know-it-all character who always butts into other people's affairs and screws it up. Here, a little boy is fishing and catching one after the other. Gabby comes along, tells him he doesn't know what he's doing, and totally messes up, ruining the kids' day. That's funny? No.At least the main fish in here was funny. I enjoyed watching "him." How many fish do you see jump in a boat and start eating the guy's sandwich?!! The 'toon got points for that fish.