Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) Here we have an 8-minute cartoon by Tex Avery early in his career. He was actually not even 30 when he made this. The animal characters are owls this time, not too common in the world of animation and cartoons. Father Owl is a renowned classical musician and is delighted to see baby owls with talent for opera, violin and flute see the light of day. However, owl number 4 seems to have a talent for jazz and no teaching lessons in more traditional singing make a difference. So he chases him out of the house. Really over the top, mother Owl is right. And then everything goes as expected: the little owl shows up at a talent show and impresses the juror so much that he gets first prize. Father Owl comes to the event too with the rest of the family and everybody bonds again and the little owl is allowed back into the family. The animation is fine for almost 80 years ago, the music is okay and the story isn't bad either, but very generic. Yet there is nothing somewhat impressive or surprising in this short film and it just vanishes into the mass of cartoons made in the 1930s and 1940s. Nothing stands out here. Not recommended. Avery certainly got better with age.

MartinHafer I'll be blunt here. Aside from a few cartoons (such as Mickey Mouse), most cartoons of the 1930s were amazingly bland and sappy. Even the edgiest studio of the 1940s, Merrie Melodies, made mostly terrible films during this time. Why? Because of plot, the films were jam-packed with singing--god-awful singing. They also tried very hard to be cute. One thing about the later Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck films is that they were never cute--they were funny! So, while a 7 might seem very high for this singing cartoon, believe me, compared to most stuff of the day, it WAS pretty edgy! The film begins with the opening of all four of Momma Owl's eggs. The first three are instant classical music-performing chicks. However, the fourth comes right out of the egg singing popular music. The plot is meant to be a variation on the studio's big hit the previous decade "The Jazz Singer"--but without all the patently offensive black stereotypes. The film definitely lacks humor but the song is catchy and the film not to annoying--hence it's score of 7.

goatview I discovered this cartoon rather late in life, like at about 50. I had looked for it unsuccessfully based on a description a neighbor girl gave me when I was 23. She said it was the best cartoon in the universe and then did the "I Love to Singa" dance.Thank God for the internet! It was one of my first real search efforts and I found it! At the time, it was viewable on the Warners Brothers site but I am not sure that's still the case. I now have it on a video taped from a Tex Avery marathon years ago.There is nothing so sad in life that Owl Jolson can't make it a little better. Tex, if they have issued you a laptop in heaven, THANKS PAL! I love you!

calcynic-2 This was and is one of the hippest cartoons I've ever seen. My dad, brother and I would laugh and sing along with Owl Jolson, mimicking the body moves. I think I was about 6 or 7 when I first saw this amazing takeoff on the Jazz Singer. It got me asking questions of my old man and resulted in my being hip on Jolson and his impact on show biz. Pretty heady stuff for a first grader. Thanx Tex Avery for getting a little kid to love jazz and get a little smarter in the process. This isn't just any cartoon. This is a little piece of heaven on earth. Anyone doubting Avery's genius (a word I use very sparingly) should check out this gem and show it to your kids. They can never be too young.