TheLittleSongbird
Chilly Willy's best cartoons were perfect examples of how a potentially one-joke character and concept could end up actually being a perfect mix of the cute and the funny with a lot of colour and good comic timing to go with it.Many of the previous Chilly Willy cartoons were very good to fabulous. After being pleasantly surprised by the outings directed by Jack Hannah, which did a surprisingly good job with budget limitations and brought enough freshness to a predictable and potentially tired formula. The first Sid Marcus-directed Chilly Willy cartoon is not one of his worst, but Chilly has done much better. So has his most frequent opponent (for very good reason) Smedley. Primarily suffering from budget limitations and repetitiveness, but it is a long way from terrible.There are some major faults here in 'Salmon Loafer'. Being not the first Chilly Willy cartoon to revolve around fish hunting and preventing them from being stolen and eaten, 'Salmon Loafer' (even for an early 60s Chilly Willy cartoon) is very predictable. The fish hunting and fighting formula had freshness before but now feels tired and at times dull.Some of the action is very heavy in repetition despite evoking some chuckles, making the outcomes easily foreseen and if you've seen one earlier Chilly Willy and Smedley cartoon (apart from the refreshing changes of pace ones) in terms of formula and action you've seen them all. Pacing need more sharpness in places, and while colourful a lot of the animation looks rushed and betrays low budget and time constraints.On the other hand, there are a good number of good things. While Clarence Wheeler's music had more bounce and more appealing orchestration, Walter Greene's scoring has a liveliness and fits well.Some of the gags are hurt by the lack of variety but most are amusing and are timed well. The chemistry between Chilly and Smedley sparkles, and it is always remarkable at what Chilly has up his sleeve and how he does it. Underneath all that irresistible cuteness he is one clever, funny and at times fairly brutal penguin.Chilly is adorable and is also a lot of fun, with his actions speaking far louder than words. He may be a nuisance to his opponents but he wins the viewer over with his cuteness and timing. Daws Butler (in his distinctive Huckleberry Hound voice) delivers some solid voice acting as Smedley, the slightly funnier and more interesting character.Overall, unexceptional but watchable. 5/10 Bethany Cox
