Meet John Doughboy (1941)

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes, Hanna and Barbera and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons. Actually appreciate it even more now through young adult eyes, thanks to broader knowledge and taste and more interest in animation styles and various studios and directors.Have a lot of appreciation and admiration for Bob Clampett, with a visual and humour style so distinctive and easily recognisable. His early work was very variable but when on top form and in his prime the best of his work was great and even more. 'Meet John Doughboy' is not one of Clampett's best. It is a very good cartoon though, even if there are funnier, wittier and fresher cartoons from him, and saw Clampett's unique style all over it and being at ease with the material. Admittedly, 'Meet John Doughboy' may be slight and while Porky's more substantial role is appreciated he is not always as interesting as the supporting characters and caricatures.While most of the cartoon is very amusing and well done, not all the gags work, either because the timing is not as sharp or because some of the material goes over the head due to unfamiliarity. 'Meet John Doughboy's' caricatures are far from forgettable and provide a lot of fun, familiarity with those being caricatured is in order though. Mel Blanc as always does a fantastic job with the voice work, showing an unparalleled ability to bring individuality to multiple characters. The animation is as always high in atmosphere, with lots of smooth movement, imaginative detail in the gags and rich and meticulous detail in the backgrounds. Carl Stalling's music score is as ever high in energy, liveliness, character, lushness and whimsy, and not only is dynamic and fits effortlessly with the action but enhances everything.What's more, 'Meet John Doughboy' is entertaining, with some amusing wildness, wit and bite starting to show at this point in the dialogue. Plus there are some beautifully timed and animated and imaginative sight gags, that contain some surprises and a lively pace.In conclusion, well done and entertaining if not perfect. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Meet John Doughboy (1941) *** (out of 4) This is a rather interesting Merrie Melodies short and starts off in a theater as Porky Pig introduces the "film" that's about to play. The film is basically showing what all happens in the Army and other services and you have to give it credit that nothing like this would be attempted today. We see countless jokes aimed at a variety of topics including a British "spitfire" plane that actually spits fire. Another joke deals with the draft where a man thinks he's too small to get in the service and then we get the payoff. There's even jokes about "Citizen Sugar Kane" and we are asked what would happen if America ever got invaded. That last joke certainly looks a lot different when viewed today. This B&W short runs just 7-minutes but there's not a slow moment to be found. Not all of the jokes work but when viewed today you can't help but get a surreal feel from it and especially when you consider what was coming up just a few months after this thing would have originally been seen. The animation is the usual high standards.

This comes on the 2-Disc Special Edition DVD of The Maltese Falcon, as part of its Warner Night at the Movies portion. I'm not sure seeing this before an escapist film(an excellent one, don't get me wrong) was a great thing... I would think being reminded of the situation right right before the opening credits of the picture would keep you from enjoying it. Anyway, this has Looney Tunes' Porky Pig(who looks almost like we know him to) presenting updates and such on the war, apparently not very long before the US entered it. How to deal with something that serious and unpleasant? Turn it into a bunch of gags, most of them visual. I gotta admit, however, that they are very funny. There's a bit of black comedy among it, and not everyone would find this entire thing to be in good taste. This has a spoof of a commercial from back then. Honestly, I was surprised they used a Napoleon quote, I wouldn't think they'd follow anything of his. There is some recognizable music used. The animation is well-done, with effective use of lighting and angles. This is entirely worth the 7 minute investment of time. There is disturbing content and a little racism in this. I recommend this to anyone who can imagine laughing at this. 7/10

Bob Clampett's "Meet John Doughboy" came out a few months before the United States entered World War II. I don't know whether or not there was a sense throughout the country that we might soon enter. Whether or not there was such a sense, this cartoon offers some possible insight. Porky Pig hosts a newsreel showing the latest weaponry as a series of gags.Tex Avery, as Termite Terrace's top director in the late '30s, had frequently used many spot gags in his cartoons (he left in 1941 following a dispute with producer Leon Schlesinger). In some of Clampett's early cartoons that I've seen, it looks as though he tried out these tricks. But clearly his forte laid in contortion and phantasmagoria. Each of the animation directors in Warner Bros. had his own style. It was really over the next few years that Clampett released his masterpieces, but this one is worth seeing.