Watching this years later, it is easy to know why this particular cartoon stands out for me- safe to say I can identify with the main character a bit more than I'm comfortable with. I remember finding this whole thing hilarious, and it still holds up for me. The slapstick section is fairly standard, but I love the reaction of the hotel clerk when Mr. Twiddle asks for the room, and the little sound signs are brilliant.
But the thing that really struck me after watching this now is just how completely odd, and very dark, this short is. It is easy as an adult to pick up on themes in cartoons that we would have missed as kids, and there are often the intentional "wink-wink" jokes in children's shows and movies that are intended only for the adults who are watching. But it is hard to tell exactly what is going on in a cartoon where we have an anxiety-ridden protagonist who ends up exploding in a fit of rage.
Weirder still is our trombone playing doctor. Why exactly is he at the Hush Hush Lodge playing trombone? Why is he playing this sad song? And why on earth is it making him and his wife laugh so hard? I suppose the point isn't to understand why, it's just supposed to be funny on its own. And it is. But I couldn't help but think that there was more going on here- was Avery making some kind of a statement with one of his final shorts?
Unfortunately some research didn't reveal too many answers about this in particular, but it did give some insight into the trombone and laughing. Turns out it is from an old novelty 78 called "The Okeh Laughing Record", recorded in 1922. It's basically three minutes of what you hear in the short- a slow, maudlin performance interrupted by uncontrolled laughing. Apparently this kind of thing was a big hit back then- you would gather the family in the parlor, crank up the victrola and put this on, and laugh, laugh, laugh. And we all wondered what we did before video games.
Anyway, here's the original recording. Kind of creepy when removed from the already strange context of the cartoon.
Boomp3.com
But the thing that really struck me after watching this now is just how completely odd, and very dark, this short is. It is easy as an adult to pick up on themes in cartoons that we would have missed as kids, and there are often the intentional "wink-wink" jokes in children's shows and movies that are intended only for the adults who are watching. But it is hard to tell exactly what is going on in a cartoon where we have an anxiety-ridden protagonist who ends up exploding in a fit of rage.
Weirder still is our trombone playing doctor. Why exactly is he at the Hush Hush Lodge playing trombone? Why is he playing this sad song? And why on earth is it making him and his wife laugh so hard? I suppose the point isn't to understand why, it's just supposed to be funny on its own. And it is. But I couldn't help but think that there was more going on here- was Avery making some kind of a statement with one of his final shorts?
Unfortunately some research didn't reveal too many answers about this in particular, but it did give some insight into the trombone and laughing. Turns out it is from an old novelty 78 called "The Okeh Laughing Record", recorded in 1922. It's basically three minutes of what you hear in the short- a slow, maudlin performance interrupted by uncontrolled laughing. Apparently this kind of thing was a big hit back then- you would gather the family in the parlor, crank up the victrola and put this on, and laugh, laugh, laugh. And we all wondered what we did before video games.
Anyway, here's the original recording. Kind of creepy when removed from the already strange context of the cartoon.
Boomp3.com
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