Pagan Moon

Pagan Moon
Pagan Moon
Directed by	Rudolf Ising
Produced by	Hugh Harman ; Rudolf Ising; Leon Schlesinger
Music by	Frank Marsales
Animation by	Rollin Hamilton ; Norm Blackburn (credited as "Drawn by")
Color process	Black-and-white
Production; company	Harman-Ising Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures ; The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date	January 31, 1932(U.S.A.);
Running time	7 min.
Language	English

Last updated December 18, 2024

Pagan Moon is a 1932 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Rudolf Ising.^[1] The short was released on January 31, 1932.^[2]

Summary

The iris opens to two Polynesian natives, a boy, and a girl, on a beach at dusk; the boy sings the title song and accompanies himself on a ukulele before switching to scatting; occasionally, the camera cuts to two older ukulelists. The island joins in the musical number: a monkey perched atop a palm tree plays cocoanuts, his drumsticks bones; a larger primate, angry at being disturbed by the percussion, emerges, but his scolding is cut short when the monkey knocks the reprehending ape out with one of the bones; another palm tree dances excitedly to the tune; on the branch of another tree, three little birds and their parent dance.

The boy, again at his ukulele, ends the number after jumping onto what he believes to be a safe stretch of land but is, in fact, a crocodile; astonished, the boy leaps up and away, dropping his instrument, which falls into the great reptile's maw. Unable at first for fear to attempt the beast's mouth, the clever boy offers a sturdy stick, which the animal is all too willing to swallow: the little hero places the stick upright in the crocodile's dilated jaws and, in the resulting reprieve, reaches down his throat and fetches the lute; this done, the boy taunts his foe with a few carefree plucks of the strings.

He then dances across some pond rocks, ending up on the shell-back of an unamused turtle, who carries the boy to land and curtly drops him off. The boy then skips over some more rocks to meet his sweetheart, who sits in a small boat; he fools around with his ukulele and drops it into the water. He dives down to rescue it, avoiding a rather menacing-looking fish, swimming past some smaller fish flopping melodically upon a submerged piano and using the same instrument to entertain a disgruntled octopus, all without rising for breath!

A fish-trumpeter joins in his number, as do a family of anchovies in a pair of fishing boots, a trombonist (whose instrument's slide is operated with the help of a wrecked ship's steering wheel), and another fish that may be a clarinetist. After the performance, a spontaneously gathered fish audience applauds, but the now docile cephalopod interrupts them to play a tune on the piano, scatting as he plays. The boy and the fishes clap and cheer until the great fish from a few moments ago appears again; the other sea creatures, having escaped, the boy run to a large piece of pipe suspended on the sea floor.

Blowing into the pipe, he produces a bubble large enough to carry him: now sliding through the pipe, the boy places himself within the nascent bubble. Releasing itself from the pipe, the bubble floats to and well past the surface: high in the air, a sharp-beaked bird toys with boy and bubbles for a bit, then pops it, the explosion denuding the creature of his feathers. Seeing her sweetheart falling out of the sky, the girl rows in his direction, spotting a pelican as she does so: abandoning her little ship, she boards the bird, which, having been ordered forward, catches the boy in his beak and the hero and the girl embrace, eyes rolling affectionately, as the iris shuts.

Reused animation

The dancing palm tree from the first musical number in the cartoon appears to be recycled from the Bosko short "Congo Jazz."

When underwater, the boy hides from a big fish used in the cartoon "Bosko at the Zoo," released a couple of weeks before this one.

Home media

The cartoon is on laserdisc in Volume Three of The Golden Age of Looney Tunes.

Related Research Articles

Bosko is an animated cartoon character created by animators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. Bosko was the first recurring character in Leon Schlesinger's cartoon series and was the star of thirty-nine Looney Tunes shorts released by Warner Bros. He was voiced by Carman Maxwell, Bernard B. Brown, Johnny Murray, and Philip Hurlic during the 1920s and 1930s and once by Don Messick during the 1990s.

Goopy Geer is an animated cartoon character created in 1932 for the Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros. He is a singing, dancing, piano-playing dog who is considered to be "the first Merrie Melodies star", although he only starred in three cartoons.

Sinkin' in the Bathtub is the first Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon short as well as the first of the Looney Tunes series. The short debuted in April 1930, at the Warner Bros. Theater in Hollywood. The cartoon features Bosko, and the title is a pun on the 1929 song Singin' in the Bathtub. The film was erroneously copyrighted under the same title as the 1929 song. It is now in the public domain in the United States as the copyright was not renewed.

Congo Jazz is a Looney Tunes cartoon starring Warner Bros.' first cartoon star, Bosko. The cartoon was released on August 9, 1930. It was distributed by Warner Bros. and The Vitaphone Corporation. Congo Jazz was the first cartoon to feature Bosko's falsetto voice that he would use for the bulk of the series' run. It has the earliest instance of a "trombone gobble" in animation.

Hold Anything is the third short in the Looney Tunes series from Warner Bros., released to theaters in October 1930. Featuring Bosko, it is loosely based on the lost film Hold Everything, one of whose songs, "Don't Hold Everything," features prominently in the cartoon. It was directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, and animated by Isadore "Friz" Freleng and Norman Blackburn.

The Booze Hangs High, released in December 1930, is the fourth title in the Looney Tunes series. The short features Bosko, Warner Bros.' first cartoon character.

Ride Him, Bosko! released in 1932, is a Western animated short film in Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes series. It features Bosko, Warner Bros.' first cartoon character and his sweetheart Honey in the Old West.

<i>Horton Hatches the Egg</i> (film) 1942 film

Horton Hatches the Egg is a 1942 American animated short film by Leon Schlesinger Productions, based on the 1940 book by Dr. Seuss, and released as part of Warner Bros.' Merrie Melodies series. The short was directed by Bob Clampett and was the first film adaptation based on a Seuss book.

Bosko's Holiday is a one-reel 1931 short subject animated cartoon, part of the Bosko series. It was directed by Hugh Harman, and first released on July 18, 1931 as part of the Looney Tunes series from the Leon Schlesinger animation studio and distributed by Warner Brothers. The film score was composed by Frank Marsales.

Bosko at the Zoo is an American animated short film featuring Bosko and Honey. It is a Looney Tunes cartoon, released on January 9, 1932. Like most Looney Tunes of the time, it was directed by Hugh Harman. Frank Marsales was its musical director.

Big Man from the North is an American animated short film. It is a Looney Tunes cartoon, featuring Bosko, the first star of the series. It was released in January 1931, although some sources give an unspecified date in 1930. It was, like most Looney Tunes of the time, directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising; Frank Marsales was the musical director.

The Tree's Knees is a 1931 one-reel short subject featuring Bosko, part of the Looney Tunes series. It was released in August 1931 and is directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, the last cartoon in the series to be directed by the two. Every Looney Tunes cartoon after this was directed by Hugh Harman until 1933, and every Merrie Melodies cartoon was directed by Rudolf Ising until the aforementioned year. It is also the last Bosko cartoon to not feature the main character's (Bosko's) name in the title. The short is also notable for the extensive use of footage from the earlier short Ain't Nature Grand! that it reuses, in particular a scene of Bosko happily and innocently pursuing a butterfly.

Bosko Shipwrecked! is a 1931 one-reel short subject featuring Bosko; part of the Looney Tunes series. It was released on September 19, 1931, and is directed by Hugh Harman. This is the first Looney Tunes short to only have one director. The film score was composed by Frank Marsales.

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.

Moonlight for Two is a 1932 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Rudolf Ising. The short was released on June 11, 1932, and stars Goopy Geer, one of the few recurring characters in the early Merrie Melodies series.

Bosko in Person is an American animated short film featuring Bosko. It is a Looney Tunes cartoon, featuring Bosko, the original star of the series. It was released on February 11, 1933, though one source claims the release date is April 10, 1933. Like most Looney Tunes of its day, it was directed by Hugh Harman; its score is by Frank Marsales. The film features Bosko and Honey in a vaudeville-act. This is the second cartoon directed by Friz Freleng.

Battling Bosko is an American animated short film. It is a Looney Tunes cartoon, featuring Bosko, the original star of the series. Like most Looney Tunes of its day, it was directed by Hugh Harman; Frank Marsales provided musical direction. The film was released in 1932, though one source gives an ambiguous date of 1931–1932.

Big-Hearted Bosko is a 1932 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, featuring Bosko, the original star of the series. It was released on March 5, 1932, although one source offers for it only an ambiguous release date of 1931–1932. It was, like most Looney Tunes of its time, directed by Hugh Harman; its musical direction was by Frank Marsales.

A Great Big Bunch of You is a 1932 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Rudolf Ising. The short was released on November 12, 1932. A ventriloquist's dummy in the city dump improvises a piano, from the junk there, to play and sing the title song, "A Great Big Bunch Of You", by Mort Dixon and Harry Warren. The various animals and animated junk perform in segued vignettes.

Bosko the Lumberjack is an American animated short film, released September 3, 1932, though one source gives only an ambiguous release date of 1931–1932. It is a Looney Tunes cartoon, featuring Bosko, the original star of the series. Like most Looney Tunes of its day, it was directed by Hugh Harman; its musical direction was by Frank Marsales.

References

↑ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 9. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 104–106. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved June 6, 2020.

External links

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.

[1] Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 9. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.

[2] Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 104–106. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved June 6, 2020.

[1]

[2]