It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day (1941)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

While not personally a fan of Gabby or some of his cartoons Fleischer cartoons in general I am very fond of. It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day, he last of the eight Gabby cartoons is not a great one but it's watchable, but those who hate Gabby with a passion are likely to find that there's not much in It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day to change their minds.Sure the story is one that is not to be taken seriously, but that doesn't stop It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day from being very predictable, if you've seen the previous seven Gabby cartoons there is very little different here other than the setting. It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day did for personal tastes lack energy with the beginning taking too long to set up. When it comes to the humour, the moose gag is very funny but the rest ranges from the mildly amusing to the humourless, hurt by the story's predictability and that for my tastes they're a little repetitive. Most problematic was the title character Gabby, he was fine in Gulliver's Travels where he was a supporting character where he was much friendlier and much less of an unapologetic know-it-all. However once he went from support to title character of his own series of cartoons, his personality changed to someone less likable. He looks cute and probably means well, but in every one of his cartoons he does come across as annoyingly inept and a know-it-all, and when he does make mistakes he is very unapologetic about ruining people's day instead coming over as a jerk. He'll have his defenders who'll see him as someone who means well and as intentionally flawed, but the character traits for I and many others are a major turn-off.However as with all Fleischer cartoons the animation is wonderful, crisply drawn with luscious colours, beautifully blended textures(the light colours are sumptuous and the dark ones not jarring at all) and very fluid, detailed background art, loved the picturesque village in the opening scene. Gabby and the mayor are animated with no real problems, both very distinctive Fleischer in character design. The music is even better, rhythmically it is liveliness personified and it's richly and sumptuously orchestrated. The title song is irresistibly catchy and whistle-for-some-while-afterwards worthy. It was very easy to feel sympathy for the mayor character, looking at his frustrated, upset(just before the moose gag you could really feel the emotion when he snapped, or was close to it) and increasingly angry facial expressions and body language you just want to hug him in the same way wanting to shout at Gabby to get lost. The voice acting from both Pinto Colvig and Jack Mercer is very good. All in all, watchable but falls short with Gabby's lack of likability being the biggest problem, from the sounds of this review you'd think I'd rate it lower but the animation and music are so good here for all its faults this viewer can't be too hard on it. 5/10 Bethany Cox

In 1939, Fleischer Studios released the movie "Gulliver's Travels". In that movie, Gabby is the know-it-all town crier for the town/nation of Lulliput. Following the movie, the Fleischer brothers used the character Gabby eight more times between 1940-1941. In "It's a Hap-Hap-Happy Day", Gabby catches the Mayor of Lilliput getting ready to go camping by himself. Gabby decides to tag along and causes oh so much trouble. You see, Gabby thinks he knows best about everything, and it's the poor Mayor that is in for a rough time. Gabby pitches tent about as well as I do. Then there's this moose that Gabby runs afoul of. And a woodpecker. I think you get the idea. Max and Dave Fleischer lost their studio in 1942 and that was it for Gabby. One movie and eight cartoons later, and it was all over for the hapless town crier of Lulliput. This cartoon can be found on several public domain DVDs and VHS tapes. Some of the other Gabby cartoons are; "King for a Day", "All's Well", "Fire Cheese", "Swing Cleaning", and "Two for the Zoo". Enjoy!