by Laura Lai On the Challenge to Reviewing Cartoons A cartoon is a short animated movie of about 7-8 minutes. It has been some time since I want to complete my old movie review series by reviewing cartoons. My first attempt was during the edX course Academic and Business Writing (Berkeley 2021). There was a homework requirement of review material in 150-200 words in three distinct tones: 1) short, formal, academic, and objective; 2) informal and humorous; 3) sad and pessimistic. Here, you can read the three reviews in three distinct tones of The Three Kittens--1936 American Academy Awards Winner. Then, in December 2021, I completed a course I took to break from all previous writing courses and to indulge myself with its movie-related content: Hollywood: History, Industry, Art (please, click here to read my course review). On this occasion, I discovered the SNAFU cartoon series I enjoyed and wished to review. But how to review a cartoon? My research on this topic was with no concrete results. And I even put a note on Twitter, but nobody replied. I assumed that nobody knows. So, I will first use my movie review skill. Then, I will correlate this skill with my writing skills, in general. Last, I hope it will provide something informative and entertaining. If it already sounds a bit complicated, that was the idea—to make cartoon reviews sound like complex writing engineering. :-)
1. FLOWERS AND TREES
Producer: WALT DISNEY Flowers and Trees is the winner of the 1933 American Academy Awards. This 8-minute cartoon is a short animated movie whose story takes place in the forest and the movie is a series of outdoor scenes. It is a creative display of the way nature wakes up in the morning. It is a fabulous successful personification of nature: flowers brush their teeth, others take a shower, plants dance, and two trees fall in love. Amazingly, in the 8-minute animated movie, there is enough time to have a villain character: an old tree that is jealous of the love between the two trees and it sets the forest on fire. Furthermore, it is an animated short movie with a concrete premise: watch out for what you wish because it may come true. And the villain becomes its own victim. Because I start posting this cartoon series on St. Valentine’s Day, I let you discover if the two trees got married and the kind of diamond ring she got. Please, write to me in the ‘Comments’ how many karats you think it has. Enjoy the cartoon! 2. IT'S GOT ME AGAIN Producer: LEON SCHLESINGER (Warner Bros. Pictures) It’s Got Me Again was one of the two nominees at the 1933 Academy Awards. The story takes place inside a house. The premise of this 7-minute animated movie is: when the cat is not home, the mice will play. And they play—a true party that starts after midnight! They are many and they have lots of fun until a hungry cat self-invites to this party. But the mice succeed in sending the cat away. This animated cartoon has lots of music, and the atmosphere is joyful. The particular scene where the mice chase the cat away fascinates by the number of musical instruments and toys that the mice transformed into weapons to win over the cat. And it includes spoken words. I let you discover who says what. Enjoy the cartoon! 3. MICKEY'S ORPHANS Producer: WALT DISNEY Mickey’s Orphans is the last of the two nominees for the 1933 Awards Academy. On Christmas Eve, on a cold and windy winter evening, Mickey and Minnie were preparing for Christmas, with Pluto enjoying the warmth of the house and of the fire. But somebody leaves at Mickey’s doorstep a basket, rings the door, and leave. What they thought to be just one kitten, proves to be plenty. And naughty! The idea behind this cartoon is brilliant: to have some kitten rose by a couple of mice (with a dog!). I let you discover how they spend Christmas together and whether they had fun. Enjoy the cartoons! OTHER LINKS: The 5th Academy Awards (Oscars) 1933, https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1933
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