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"Madhattan Island" (1947 NYC spoof cartoon)

 
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2021 10:56 pm    Post subject: "Madhattan Island" (1947 NYC spoof cartoon) Reply with quote

Fellows:

I've a lifelong passion for vintage cartoons, and I have several hundred on various dvds; one of my all-time faves, "MADHATTAN ISLAND", for whatever reason, is not on any of them. Sad

HOWEVER, I took a chance to see if this classic cartoon is on Youtube; YUP, this 1947-vintage bouncing ball "Noveltoon" (Paramount Famous Studios) is there, and has to be the BEST spoof of "Noo Yawk" ever to be on the screen in animated form! Very Happy

The long-gone SINGER BUILDING (STILL my favorite "Noo Yawk" skyscraper!) actually SINGS (the top cupola of the old building DID, in fact, resemble a face!); the towers of Radio City are all blasting out different radio shows!

The subway is also spoofed, featuring a VERY realistic-looking BMT "Standard" (any subway buff is sure to recognized it!); the train literally "ROARS" beneath the streets of Manhattan! (well, the prewar subway trains DID indeed roar, growl, and snarl!)

There is also another scene that clearly shows the realistic interior of an IRT Lo-V (Hi-V?)!

Also, there's a scene that CLEARLY depicts cartoon-y straphangers trying to board a REALISTIC-looking IRT train at the old City Hall loop! (in 1947, when this cartoon debuted, that loop station had been closed for two years)

The spoof of the Lincoln Tunnel includes inbound buses exiting the mouth of the tube! (Narrarator: "....why not let the Lincoln Tunnel speak for itself?")

Remember, too, as the narrarator informs us, that the Lincoln Tunnel had two tubes, at the time this cartoon was shown on the big screen in 1947 (the third tube was not opened until around 1957)

I have not seen this animated gem in well over 50 years (these Paramount Famous Studio "Noveltoons" were made in New York (as were the earlier Max Fleischer cartoons) and were shown almost daily on ABC-7, particularly in the mornings, back in the 60's.

As most of the animators lived in or near New York, back then, it is no wonder this cartoon really hits the mark! Wink

Here's hoping you'll go to Youtube and check out this classic animated "Noo Yawk" spoof for yourself! Wink

"NYO"


Last edited by NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 on Sat Aug 28, 2021 12:47 pm; edited 4 times in total
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



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PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2021 11:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

.....another circa-1950 "Noveltoon", "SING OR SWIM", spoofs the then-sprawling,bustling, colorful, honky-tonk Coney Island amusement area; a subway train is seen speeding into the Coney Island station (Stillwell Avenue), then lurches to a screeching, jerking halt (VERY "Noo Yawk"!)

The sides of all the cars then roll back (like sardine cans!) and mobs of Coney-bound SARDINES stream out of the train, flooding the station platforms! Shocked (this spoof was also used in the 1939 Max Fleischer cartoon, "ALL'S FAIR AT THE FAIR", depicting mobs of 1939 fairgoers arriving via subway!) Wink

"NYO"


Last edited by NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629 on Fri Aug 27, 2021 9:17 am; edited 2 times in total
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2021 11:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In a 1948 (Paramount Studios) Popeye cartoon, "OLIVE OYL FOR PRESIDENT", Miss Oyl, while singing about the great improvements she'll make in the country, if elected, sings:

"If I were President!

If I were President!

Each bus would have a smoother run with lots of seats for everyone......"

Here, we see mobs of rush-hour commuters jamming aboard a city bus; when the doors close, the camera pulls back, revealing a bus with so many upper levels, it more resembles a mobile skyscraper! Shocked Shocked

Several years back, Hillary Clinton looked to be the first woman president; as the newly elected President Oyl enters the White House, her dress is replaced with a man's suit! (Hillary would NOT, then, have been the first female president wearing pants!) Razz

This cartoon was clearly geared to adults, and still make for a quite humorous presidential spoof today! Laughing

And, President Oyl FINALLY establishes peace and harmony between the "elephants" and the "donkeys" in the Senate Chambers! Shocked

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2021 10:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

.....in an early 1940's Warner Brothers cartoon, "LIGHTS FANTASTIC", we are treated to spoofs of the then-current, monumental, electric spectaculars that made Times Square so brilliant, back in the day.

The cartoon opens and closes with (live) night footage of Time Square (the closing footage is set to a conga beat!)

The one bus scene in this cartoon (which would be politically incorrect today) features what appears to be, at first glance, a "typical" New York City bus in Chinatown; when the driver closes the doors to begin his run, we see the bus being carried off, a la rickshaw! Rolling Eyes

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 31, 2021 1:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

For IRT buffs, the 1938 Betty Boop short, "RIDING THE RAILS" (on Youtube) is a must-see, without a doubt! Wink

It's pretty obvious that the Max Fleischer artists and animators were VERY familiar with the IRT (the high-pitched, hollow-sounding air whistles, used on the prewar stock, are right on the mark!)

IMHO, this is the BEST vintage "subway" cartoon ever made!

The company operating the subway trains was the "TRAMPLE 'EM RR" (a QUITE appropriate name!) Rolling Eyes

In the aforementioned "MADHATTAN ISLAND" cartoon (1947), the part showing straphangers jamming aboard an IRT train obviously depicts the then-closed City Hall loop station (even the lighting fixtures in the ceiling are correct!) Shocked

Near the end of a circa-1945 "Tom & Jerry" cartoon, "A MOUSE IN MANHATTAN", (MGM Studios) "Jerry" dashes into a BMT station, and is pursued by a train that clearly is BMT-inspired (you even see a BMT sign at the station entrance!)

NICE artwork, too, depicting the vaulted main concourse of Grand Central! Very Happy

"NYO"
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NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2021 12:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That "wascally wabbit", Bugs Bunny (81 years young!) once had a cameo as an IRT "pusher"/"sardine packer"* in the 1948 Warner Brothers' short, "HURDY GURDY HARE" Shocked Shocked Shocked (in an aside to the audience: "I used to woik on the shuttle from Times Square to Grand Central!: Wink

You also get to (briefly) hear a distinctive, hollow-sounding air whistle, typical of the prewar trains!

In a 1940's Daffy Duck cartoon, "Daffy Doodles", Daffy is seen briefly acting as an IRT "pusher", after entering the subway via a classic IRT kiosk, trying to outwit Porky Pig Shocked

In both cartoons, the subway sequences are (what else?) introduced with the strains of "Forty-Second Street"! Wink

"NYO"

*See also:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_pusher (scroll down page to read about ol' Bugs' brief fling as an IRT "pusher"! Laughing
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