http://www.kidswb.com/video/#/797dc83d-df94-4bf9-afdd-380214eb7427
This cartoon was directed and produced by two legends in the business, Leon Schlesinger and Chuck Jones. Both of these men made some of the most classic cartoons and characters that we know of today and this short film, Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur is an excellent example of the early work of Schlesinger Studios (which later became Warner Bros. Studios). This film, released in 1939, shows how animators were still working out some of the kinks in animation. If you look carefully a tiny bit of registration can still be noticed, especially during the opening dialogue. The movements of the caveman also seem a bit strange and not up to the standards of later animation. The caveman’s mouth seems to randomly move around as opposed to matching the words in which he is saying. His body movements are also to fluid to look life-like. He kind of looks like a snake at some points. The caveman’s attitude is also something that interested me, because he certainly has an Elmer the Fudd feel going on. However, he is a little bit to mean and nasty which takes away from the humor a bit. Elmer the Fudd is mean and nasty and trying to kill Bugs, however he is very goofy as well. This caveman lacks some of that goofyness.
I like that the rock that the caveman sling-shots has some personality. You can tell that these animators passed the “potato sack” test of giving a potato sack a personality. In this film the background does not move. It seems that they made one long desert background and put everything else in front of that. A few more interesting points about this cartoon is the dinosaur itself. The dino seems to have a lot of traits similar to a dog and has a very silly personality. This is much like Winsor McKays dinosaur “Gertie” and I think the dino in this film is a shout out to Winsor. Also something that you see in this cartoon that you do not see in many others is the looney toon die! I do not remember seeing a trick that a looney does actually kill himself. If this was aired today, would people may think that this is a political cartoon attacking suicide bombers? Who knows.
