I'll go first. Might be interesting for the first reactions to come from someone who isn't much of a fan of Looney Tunes.
Page Miss Glory
* *
Not a strong start. I watch a lot of comedies from the 30s so it’s not something alien to me, but the frenetic pace and random acts of surrealism hide the fact that none of it is funny. (It reminded me of the 1941 film Hellzapoppin’, which is generally liked.) There’s style to some of the shots, but I quickly burned out trying to keep pace and find something truly entertaining.
I Love to Singa
* * * - Okay
The Jazz Singer done by owls. After the first one, I was glad this had a story, simple as it was. (What do you expect for 7 minutes?) I also liked the song.
Wholly Smoke
* * * - Good
Didn’t expect a message short so early, but that’s what this anti-smoking cartoon aims to do. There’s also meta humor, celebrity impersonations – I liked seeing Bing Crosby – and lots of surreal humor. Unlike Page Miss Glory, the visuals and parodies were more clever. Maybe because they were attached to something this time.
Porky in Wackyland
* * ½
I often end up on the bad side of discussions about depictions of race in the early days of cinema. If you can’t put away your modern sensibilities – we get it, it’s offensive and wrong – then you should skip this short… and I imagine many others to come. I’ve seen much worse and putting it into such surreal content and moving quickly through helps. The short doesn’t rely on racial humor, but it’s woven into the middle of this African Alice in Wonderland.
Porky in Egypt
* *
The camel was not funny. I think if you find the camel funny you will like this one. He bugged me, and this seemed to have less to it than any of the other shorts, including Page Miss Glory.