Kevin posted Fuddy Duddy Buddy, arguably the best of the Mister Magoo cartoons. I posted a clip from another great one, Spellbound Hound, a few years ago, but this is the first time I’m aware of the whole cartoon being available online. I really wish I had a better copy to share, but this is the only one I have ever seen.
Magoo was actually a really funny character in the UPA studio’s golden years (1948-53); not the lovable, bland old coot of later years, but a real grouch that has gone (at least in this short) senile. When I posted the clip, it was of my favorite scene – where Magoo mistakes the phonograph for his motor. He knows something is wrong from the start, but still goes with it anyway. Not to mention the ‘breeze’ he receives while remaining stationary, and then mistaking what he thought was the motor a few seconds earlier for the anchor. It’s a well-acted piece of animation, and I wish I knew who did it.
Two other great Magoos all should seek out are Ragtime Bear and Trouble Indemnity. Isn’t it about time that at least the really great UPA cartoons were put out on DVD?
Pluto is better with Magoo than he ever was with Mickey.
(…by George!)
You also gotta admit UPA really loved the “Frankie and Johnny” song (while “Fuddy Duddy Buddy” also showed what a Bill Lava 1960s Warner Bros. score would have sounded like, if he had done it a dozen years earlier).
John,
Lava also scored the 1952 Magoo short, “The Dog Snatcher”.
Matt —
Yea, if you add them up, Lava probably was either No. 1 or 2 in terms of number of scores done for UPA. It’s just that in FDB, I think you can better hear some of his 1962-64 WB trademarks paired with the slapstick humor of Magoo escorting the walrus to the tennis court and in the game itself. But there’s far more gloss on the sharp and sudden notes that make them less grating on the ear here then when he took over for Milt Franklyn (if he had scored the WB shorts like this, his scores probably wouldn’t have the reputation they do today).
I love the early Magoo shorts but after the first few that were released they really started softening the character. Hubley’s version is the funniest and also the best looking design. Pete Burness’ cartoons while good, at least the earlier ones, watered the character down.
The scene with the boat motor is hilarious. I was actually going to post “Spellbound” but saw it was already online but went with “Fuddy Duddy” since I hadn’t seen it out there. I have a much better version of this one that I’ll probably put up too.
When I think of Magoo I just wonder how anyone could sit through more than the first few minutes of “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol”. My friends and I get a kick out of Magoo screaming “BROADWAY!” like a deranged lunatic, but could barely stand the rest of the special. We forced ourselves to sit through it. Never again.
Excellent cartoon. I never realized how funny Mr. Magoo was until you and Kevin posted these cartoons. He did have a funny personality, but I still think the best part of him is Jim Backus’s voice. It’s just funny on his own. Great job.
Mike, you’re right about “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol”. I tried watching it this year, and about ten minutes in I turned it off and we began watching “A Muppet Christmas Carol”, a far superior movie, in my opinion. The Magoo in the cartoon posted here seems to have a lot more personality in his face and manner.