The Little Match Girl (1954)
Article 5913 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-29-2020
Director unknown
Featuring the voice of John Nesbitt
Country: USA
What it is: A non-merry Christmas

A starving, freezing little girl sees visions in the matches she has failed to sell on the street.

Here we have another version of the single most depressing Christmas story of them all; I suspect Hans Christian Andersen wasn’t in a very happy state of mind when he conjured this one up. The credits above only apply to the Castle Films release of the short; I have strong reason to suspect that this is actually either a silent or foreign movie with the soundtrack removed and narration added. It’s probably a 1952 French version called LE JEUNE FILLE AUX ALLUMETTES; I see the cast lists a ballerina in the credits, which would match up with the dance sequence. I suppose I can’t blame all of these versions for trying to find some way to make this Christmas sourball of a story joyous; how else would you handle it? For those who like a good Christmas cry with their Christmas cheer.

Little Johnny Jet (1953)
Article 5912 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-29-2020
Directed by Tex Avery
Featuring the voices of June Foray and Daws Butler
Country: USA
What it is: Tex Avery cartoon

A B-29 can’t find employment because all the airports are hiring only jets. He discovers he’s going to be a father, but junior turns out to be a jet. Can the father learn to accept the son?

The presence of anthropomorphic animals alone is no longer sufficient criteria for me to review a cartoon, but anthropomorphic airplanes are a slightly different matter, especially when the gags are as outrageous as they are here. This one is pretty good and Avery milks as much humor as he can out of the premise. My favorite touch is the existence of a mechanical stork to deliver airplane babies. This is another memorable cartoon from the cartooniest of the animators.

Leprechauns Gold (1949)
Article 5908 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-23-2020
Directed by Bill Tytla and George Germanetti
Featuring the voice of Jackson Beck
Country: USA
What it is: Noveltoon

When they run out of potatoes for their stew, a gang of leprechauns send out the youngest of the bunch to get some. But will this soft-hearted youngster be the cause of them losing all their gold?

Here’s an okay little leprechaun fantasy from Famous Pictures, and though the quality of the studio’s work did drop after the Fleischers were gone, they still did passable work. Apparently, leprechauns make shoes in their spare time and wash their gold on a regular basis (two facts I was not aware of, but then, I’m no authority on leprechauns). Part of the plot revolves around the hoariest of old cliches; the villain is a landlord demanding payment from a woman and her daughter. It’s more whimsical than funny, but I’m used to that by now. All in all, a passable timekiller.

A Lecture on Camouflage (1944)
Article 5907 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-20-2020
Directed by Chuck Jones
Featuring the voices of Mel Blanc and Robert C. Bruce
Country: USA
What it is: Private Snafu short

Technical Fairy First Class illustrates camouflage techniques using Private Snafu as an example.

The only reason most of the Private Snafu cartoons get included in this series is the presence of mystical character Technical Fairy First Class, who here takes place front and center to illustrate the theme. However, I was tempted to pass this one by because, outside of a couple of minor moments, he doesn’t really use his powers much. However, since the short ends with him consorting with mermaids, I gave in and reviewed it. There’s not really a whole lot to review here; all in all, it’s not one of the more interesting Snafu cartoons, with the best moment being one in which Snafu has to contend with a tree that keeps moving its shadow. This is a minor entry in the series.

The Last Straw (1934)
Article 5905 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-18-2020
Directed by Frank Moser and Paul Terry
Voice cast unknown
Country: USA
What it is: Terrytoons

When a crabby patriarch refuses to accept a baby delivered by the stork, the baby has to find a way to win the patriarch’s good graces.

It’s beginning to occur to me just how weird a lot of the Terrytoon cartoons were. There’s an occasional clever idea; I like in this one that the coming of the storks is not considered a happy event, but rather a disaster to be avoided. However, the execution is not up to the ideas, and the story arcs are pretty contrived; the cartoon tosses in the LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD story about half way through in order to find a way for the baby to get hold of a roasted turkey. In the end, my response to the cartoon as a whole is a confused shrug. It’s another Terrytoon that doesn’t really work.

Land of the Lost Jewels (1950)
Article 5904 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 12-16-2020
Directed by Izzy Sparber and Myron Waldman
Featuring the voices of Jackson Beck, Mae Questal, Cecil Roy
Country: USA
What it is: So-so fantasy adventure

Two children encounter a talking fish who takes them to the underwater Land of the Lost so the girl can discover what happened to her missing lucky pin.

This Famous Studios cartoon has a few cute moments in it. It’s mostly about the aforementioned pin who objects to being stuck in a museum when he’d rather be in Toyland, and he has to pass a test to see where he belongs. Oddly enough, the two children and the talking fish play no part in the story; they show up and watch the story play out, and they leave when it’s over. It made me wonder if the movie was a recycling of an earlier cartoon, but I wasn’t able to find any proof of that. Still, all in all, this one isn’t very memorable.