Tag: the froze nose knows

Coming Up Shorts! with… The Ant And The Aardvark

Welcome back for another full post of Coming Up Shorts!  This time around, I’m going with theatrical shorts featuring the complete run of The Ant And The Aardvark from 1969 to 1971, all of which have been put together for The Ant And The Aardvark collection.

Here’s a list and quick plot description for each of the cartoons included in this set (for my comments on the individual cartoons, click on the title to go to my previous reviews):

  1. The Ant And The Aardvark (1969) (Length: 6 minutes, 15 seconds)
    • The ant finds a nearby picnic and tries to bring home some food, but is constantly being interrupted by the aardvark.
  2. Hasty But Tasty (1969) (Length: 6 minutes, 16 seconds)
    • The aardvark tries to catch the ant, who is using a small motorcycle to get the food away from the picnic.
  3. The Ant From Uncle (1969) (Length: 6 minutes, 7 seconds)
    • The ant complains about a lack of relaxation, while the aardvark tries to hunt him down.
  4. I’ve Got Ants In My Plans (1969) (Length: 6 minutes, 17 seconds)
    • The aardvark has to contend with a green aardvark chasing after the same ant.
  5. Technology, Phooey (1970) (Length: 6 minutes, 8 seconds)
    • The aardvark consults a computer for help catching the ant.
  6. Never Bug An Ant (1969) (Length: 6 minutes, 13 seconds)
    • The aardvark tries to catch the ant using various methods (particularly using the attraction of sugar).
  7. Dune Bug (1969) (Length: 6 minutes, 34 seconds)
    • The ant is trying to vacation on the beach, but the aardvark keeps coming for him.
  8. Isle Of Caprice (1969) (Length: 6 minutes, 14 seconds)
    • A marooned aardvark tries to get to another island where the ants are, but is stopped by a hungry shark.
  9. Scratch A Tiger (1970) (Length: 6 minutes, 15 seconds)
    • When the aardvark arrives with a hungry look about him, the ant turns to a tiger he helped out for protection.
  10. Odd Ant Out (1970) (Length: 6 minutes, 7 seconds)
    • The blue aardvark competes with a green aardvark for a can of chocolate ants.
  11. Ants In The Pantry (1970) (Length: 6 minutes, 7 seconds)
    • The aardvark tries to act as pest control to get rid of the ant in a house.
  12. Science Friction (1970) (Length: 6 minutes, 16 seconds)
    • The ant has been captured by a scientist, and the aardvark tries to get him away for a snack.
  13. Mumbo Jumbo (1970) (Length: 6 minutes, 10 seconds)
    • The aardvark is chasing after the ant, but the ant is being helped by other animals in his forest lodge.
  14. The Froze Nose Knows (1970) (Length: 6 minutes, 12 seconds)
    • With an unexpected snowfall, the aardvark goes hunting for the ant.
  15. Don’t Hustle An Ant With Muscle (1970) (Length: 6 minutes, 9 seconds)
    • The ant tries taking some vitamins, which gives him super strength against the aardvark.
  16. Rough Brunch (1971) (Length: 6 minutes, 18 seconds)
    • The ant gets help from a termite to avoid the aardvark.
  17. From Bed To Worse (1971) (Length: 6 minutes, 13 seconds)
    • After getting hit in the road, the ant and the aardvark end up in an animal hospital.

In 1963, Friz Freleng and David H. DePatie, both of whom had worked at Warner Brothers Cartoons, formed DePatie-Freleng Enterprises when Warners closed their animation division. With the success of The Pink Panther theatrical shorts (which I’ll be commenting on later), they started branching out with some other series. The Ant And The Aardvark features a blue aardvark (who was never really given a name beyond “Aardvark”) and Charlie Ant. Both characters were voiced by John Byner. The theatrical shorts later became a part of the package show The New Pink Panther Show on TV starting in 1971, and the series proved to be quite popular (although no new shorts were produced for it). The series was revived twice, the first time for The Pink Panther TV series in 1993-1995 (with John Byner returning to voice both Charlie Ant and the Aardvark again) and the second time in 2010 for the show Pink Panther And Pals (with Kel Mitchell voicing the Ant, and the Aardvark mainly being voiced by Eddie Garvar, with John Over also doing some voice work for the character).

Besides the Pink Panther cartoons, The Ant And The Aardvark shorts are the only ones of the DePatie-Freleng group of cartoons that I have any fondness for. I enjoy John Byner’s portrayal of both characters, with the Aardvark’s voice sounding like comedian Jackie Mason and Charlie Ant being based on Dean Martin. The shorts may all be formulaic, in the category of “predator vs. prey” like much of the Sylvester and Tweety or Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons. They’re not *quite* as good as some of those earlier types (not helped by one or two feeling like remakes of some of those earlier cartoons), but they are still well-done and manage to be quite hilarious. The supporting cast also generally makes things better (with the green aardvark being the main recurring character that I can think of), and they keep the formula from getting too stale. These shorts haven’t necessarily been given a full-fledged restoration for the Blu-ray and DVD release, but they still look good enough to keep me happy. The out-of-sync audio on the “Technology, Phooey” cartoon is the only real complaint I have with the set. As I said, I enjoy these shorts, and I have no trouble whatsoever in recommending them for a fun time!

The Ant And The Aardvark Collection is available on Blu-ray and DVD from Kino Lorber. The whole set has a runtime of one hour, forty-seven minutes.

What’s Old Is A New Release Again (2020) with… Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939)

We’re back for another movie featuring actress and singer Deanna Durbin! This time, it’s her 1939 film Three Smart Girls Grow Up, which also stars Charles Winninger, Nan Grey and Helen Parrish! As always, we’ve got a theatrical short to start things off with!

Coming Up Shorts! with… The Froze Nose Knows (1970)

(available on Blu-ray and DVD as part of The Ant And The Aardvark from Kino Lorber)

(Length: 6 minutes, 12 seconds)

With an unexpected snowfall, the aardvark goes hunting for the ant. This was another fun cartoon, making use of the weather for some of its jokes. The “predator vs. prey” aspects of the series are still very much in evidence here, but that’s not a bad thing! And, of course, we have a bear that decides to hibernate in the aardvark’s cave, which adds a little bit of fun. Certainly a cartoon I enjoy watching!

And Now For The Main Feature…

Sisters Penelope “Penny” (Deanna Durbin), Joan (Nan Grey) and Katherine “Kay” Craig (Helen Parrish) are looking forward to a party being given by their mother (Nella Walker). At the party, Joan becomes engaged to Richard Watkins (William Lundigan), which saddens Kay, as she was in love with Richard, too (but she can’t bring herself to mention this to anyone). Penny sees Kay’s sadness and tries to alert everyone, but nobody listens to her. After talking with their butler, Binns (Ernest Cossart), Penny gets an idea. The next day, when she goes in for her singing lesson, she looks around at the men there, and when she spies musician Harry Loren (Robert Cummings) (a bachelor), she invites him over for dinner that night, hoping he will catch Kay’s eye. However, when he comes over, he and Joan start flirting with each other, which angers Penny, and she throws him out. Her family assumes her behavior is because she’s fallen in love with him, and so they conspire to have her father, Judson Craig (Charles Winninger), tell her that her voice is no good and that she will have to stop taking singing lessons. Not to be dissuaded, Penny decides to take up a different course of action. She still goes to see Harry and apologize (all the while trying to talk up her sister Joan). The problem is that Joan (who had come looking for Penny) overhears the conversation and is a little flustered as she tries to bring Penny home. They find Richard there, and he offers to take them all someplace, in the hope of helping Penny forget about her “love.” So, being sneaky, Penny asks to go to Club 33 (the nightclub where Harry plays piano). Everybody else is surprised to see Harry there, and while Harry dances with Joan (to learn why everybody is so somber and to tell her he had just accepted a new job in Australia), Penny tries to tell Richard about Kay’s feelings for him. However, Kay slaps Penny to get her to stop. Penny leaves (when nobody is looking), and everyone assumes that she is just being selfish. With no one else willing to listen to her, can Penny appeal to her distracted father, or will the wedding happen (with everyone miserable as a result)?

Three Smart Girls Grow Up is the second Deanna Durbin film that I have seen, and like One Hundred Men And A Girl (which I reviewed last week), I really enjoyed it! Of course, with that information, it’s easy to say that I haven’t seen the original Three Smart Girls. In spite of that, I was able to follow along with this one fairly well (but I can definitely tell you that I hope to see the first film at some point to see what, if anything, I missed). I enjoyed all the performances, especially Deanna Durbin again. Watching her antics as she tried to arrange things for her sisters was rather hilarious. I know I got quite a few good laughs out of it! But she was good during the more dramatic moments, too, helping you to feel for her and her sisters. And while the actress playing Kay had apparently changed between the first and second film (as supposedly actress Barbara Read was considered too grown up for this film), all three actresses feel like they could be sisters, so good are their performances! And that’s not even including Charles Winninger as their absent-minded father, who constantly forgets what’s going on (and accidentally switches coat and hat with Robert Cummings’ Harry)! The music itself may not be that memorable, but, for me, this movie is! Whether I’ll still feel the same way about it if and when I manage to see the original film, who knows, but right now, I like this film very much, and would certainly recommend it quite highly!

This movie is available on Blu-ray as part of Deanna Durbin Collection: Volume 1 from Kino Lorber. This one sported an HD scan, which looked pretty good. Sure, there was the occasional speck or dirt or tear, but certainly nothing that would seriously take away from the enjoyment of this wonderful movie.

Film Length: 1 hour, 28 minutes

My Rating: 10/10

List Of Actor/Actress Filmographies/Collections

That Certain Age (1938) – Deanna Durbin – Nice Girl? (1941)

Show Boat (1936) – Charles Winninger – Little Nellie Kelly (1940)

Robert Cummings – One Night In The Tropics (1940)

One Hundred Men And A Girl (1937) – Deanna Durbin Collection: Volume 1 – It Started With Eve (1941)

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