Buddy of the Legion

Last updated
Buddy of the Legion
Directed by Ben Hardaway
Produced by Leon Schlesinger
Starring Billy Bletcher
The Guardsmen [1]
Music by Bernard Brown
Norman Spencer
Animation by Bob Clampett
Charles Jones
Color process Black-and-white
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros.
The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date
  • April 6, 1935 (1935-04-06)(USA)
Running time
7 minutes
LanguageEnglish

Buddy of the Legion is an American animated short film, released April 6, 1935. [2] It is a Looney Tunes cartoon, featuring Buddy, the second star of the series. [3] It was directed by Ben Hardaway; Bernard Brown was musical director.

Contents

Summary

Buddy whistles merrily along a sidewalk, quickly coming to a bookstore with a sign reading "Boy wanted" in the window. Taking the sign, he strolls in to find the proprietor of the shop, a matronly lady, busily invested in her work and inattentive of the young man's presence. Clearing his throat, Our Hero makes himself and his intentions known to the woman. The woman, after a brief inspection of the candidate, hires Buddy to dust the store. Getting right to work, Buddy dusts everything he sees. His boss, leaving, orders him to watch the store while she is away and to put away all of the books left on the table. No sooner has the boss lady left than Buddy is attempting to fit in his grasp about a dozen books at once! A fly causes Buddy to lose his balance, crash into a stove, and drop every volume. One of the books, now open to him, tells of life in the Foreign Legion, and Buddy becomes so engrossed in reading that he forgets the tasks assigned him and sits down at a desk, where he daydreams about Amazons, such as the book describes.

Our Hero is now the leader of a detachment of the Legion, marching through the desert, singing "Arabia." After the musical number, we come to a fortress controlled by Amazons (as the flag above the building makes clear). Within, large women force smaller, captive Legion soldiers to do chores. One pushes a quern-stone and one washes laundry with water provided by a wheel turned by the efforts of a third man, who, for his lazy walking, is prodded by a projectile emitted by the hookah of the Amazon leader. One Amazon, looking through a spy-glass, sees the legionnaires, and announces their coming to the leader. The leader calls for an attractive genie woman. The genie travels, by magic carpet, into the path of the Legion.

Dancing seductively, the genie eventually manages to turn the heads of all the soldiers, save trumpeter Buddy; all are led away to their enslavement. Buddy faces about, ordering the company to halt. Realizing that his men are gone, Buddy runs off into the distance. The soldiers, in their trance, are brought into the Amazon fortress. As each man enters, the Amazon leader knocks him aside. One legionnaire, wearing spectacles, indicates his proclivity. The Amazon simply removes his glasses, and then lands her blow.

Legionnaire Buddy, having found the fortress, steps through the same threshold, but the Amazon's fist misses him, as he is quite a bit shorter than the other soldiers. Our Hero runs about, avoiding swords, and causing the warrior-women to chase him. One Amazon finds herself trapped in what may be a laundry chute, and several others are knocked clear into the sky by a water vessel spinning atop a well. Then, another Amazon emerges from the same well, shaking Buddy from behind. Buddy awakens, and it turns that his new adversary is none other than his boss, who has returned to her shop. Dragged by the collar, Buddy is, unceremoniously but obligingly, ejected from the store: "Okey-dokey!" he calls back.

Joe Penner

This marks the second time that a Buddy cartoon sports a reference to Joe Penner. A camel, belonging to a distracted legionnaire, is pulled by the tail, to which treatment it responds: "Don't ever DO that!" A similar joke occurs in Buddy's Adventures .

Use of thorn (Þ)

Another similarity that this short bears to Buddy's Adventures is the use of the definite article "Ye," phonetically identical to "The"; the "Y" is a convenient replacement for the originally Old English glyph Þ, called "thorn." In Buddy of the Legion, the article is found in the name of the bookstore: "Ye Olde Book Shoppe."

Related Research Articles

Witch Hazel (<i>Looney Tunes</i>) Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

Witch Hazel is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons and TV shows. Witch Hazel is a fairy tale witch antagonist with green skin, a round figure, bulbous facial features, and a single tooth. The name is a pun on the witch-hazel plant and folk remedies based on it.

<i>Karate Kid</i> (character) DC Comics character

Karate Kid is a superhero appearing in the DC Comics universe, primarily as a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. He is a master of every form of martial arts to have been developed by the 31st century. The extent of his skill is so great that he can severely damage various types of hard material with a single blow and was briefly able to hold his own against Superboy through what he called "Super Karate".

Buddy the Gob is a 1934 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, the first directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on January 5, 1934, and stars Buddy, the second star of the series.

Beans (<i>Looney Tunes</i>) Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

Beans the Cat is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Cartoons series of cartoons from 1935–1936. Beans was the third Warner Bros cartoon character star after Bosko and Buddy. He was voiced by Billy Bletcher. He was created by director Friz Freleng. The character was featured in nine cartoons made in 1935 and 1936.

<i>Scaredy Cat</i> 1948 film by Chuck Jones

Scaredy Cat is a 1948 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on December 18, 1948, and stars Porky Pig and Sylvester the Cat. The cartoon is notable in that it marks the first time the name "Sylvester" is used for the popular feline character. In previous shorts, the cat is unnamed, except for in the 1947 cartoon Tweetie Pie in which he is referred to as "Thomas".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildfire (Drake Burroughs)</span> Fictional DC Comics superhero

Wildfire is a superhero appearing in DC Comics, primarily as a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th and 31st centuries. Created by Cary Bates and Dave Cockrum, the character debuted in Superboy #195.

<i>Legion of Super Heroes</i> (TV series) American animated television series

Legion of Super Heroes is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation, adapted from the DC Comics series of the same name. It debuted on September 23, 2006, and centers on a young Superman's adventures in the 31st century, fighting alongside the eponymous group of superheroes. The show was produced by one of its main character designers James Tucker, a co-producer of the Justice League Unlimited series, for the Kids' WB line-up on The CW network.

A-Lad-In His Lamp is a 1948 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon. The short stars Bugs Bunny, and features the Genie and Caliph Hassan Pfeffer, who is after Bugs and the genie in his lamp. The voices of Bugs Bunny and Caliph Hassan Pfeffer are voiced by Mel Blanc, and the voice of the genie is played by Jim Backus. The cartoon is a takeoff of the story of Aladdin's Lamp. Elements of this short would later be re-used for the Arabian era in Bugs Bunny & Taz: Time Busters.

Buddy's Show Boat is a 1933 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, directed by Earl Duvall. The short was released on December 9, 1933, and stars Buddy, the second star of the series.

Buddy's Trolley Troubles is an American animated short film. It is a Looney Tunes cartoon, featuring Buddy, the second star of the series. It was released on May 5, 1934 and is the third cartoon supervised by Friz Freleng. Musical direction was by Norman Spencer.

Buddy's Garage is a 1934 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, the last to be directed by Earl Duvall. The short was released on April 14, 1934, and stars Buddy, the second star of the series.

Buddy's Circus is a 1934 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, directed by Jack King. The short was released on November 8, 1934, and stars Buddy, the second star of the series.

Buddy the Detective is a 1934 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, directed by Jack King. The short was released on October 17, 1934, and stars Buddy, the second star of the series.

Viva Buddy is a 1934 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Jack King. The short was released on December 12, 1934, and stars Buddy, the second star of the series.

Buddy's Adventures is a 1934 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, directed by Ben Hardaway. The short was released on November 17, 1934, and stars Buddy, the second star of the series.

Buddy's Lost World is a 1935 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, directed by Jack King. The short was released on May 18, 1935, and stars Buddy, the second star of the series.

Buddy's Bug Hunt is an American animated short film, released June 22, 1935. It is a Looney Tunes cartoon, featuring Buddy, the second star of the series. It was supervised by Jack King; and musical direction was by Norman Spencer.

Buddy in Africa is an American animated short film, released by Warner Bros. under the Looney Tunes series on July 6, 1935. It stars Buddy, the second star of the series. Ben Hardaway supervised the short; musical direction was by Norman Spencer. Notably, Jack Carr, who provided Buddy's voice, is a credited animator on this cartoon. The short Buddy in Africa was first shown at the Whittier Theatre in Whittier, California on its release day.

<i>Boskos Store</i> 1932 film

Bosko's Store is a 1932 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Hugh Harman. It was released on August 13, 1932, and stars Bosko, the first star of the series. As is the case with most Looney Tunes of its time, it was directed by Hugh Harman and its music scored by Frank Marsales.

Ali-Baba Bound is a 1940 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Bob Clampett. The short was released on February 10, 1940, and stars Porky Pig.

References

  1. ↑ Scott, Keith (2022). Cartoon Voices from the Golden Age, 1930-70. BearManor Media. p. 15. ISBN   979-8-88771-010-5.
  2. ↑ Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic: a History of American Animated Cartoons. Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., 1980. p. 406
  3. ↑ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 35. ISBN   0-8050-0894-2.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.