Toyland Broadcast

This is an early cartoon by High Harman and Rudy Ising under their contract with MGM. They were given immense budgets for the cartoons, and they spent the money to increase value. Not only did they hire some big acts, including Jack Carr and the Brox Sisters, but they produced it in Technicolor -- the two-strip variety, since Walt Disney had a contractual monopoly on three-strip Technicolor until the next year. That's why the color pallet is limited to combinations of blue and orange.

There are a goodly number of gags, including celebrity caricatures like Paul Whiteman, Bing Crosby and Rudy Vallee. Some cartoons o the era made these caricatures the entire point of the film. In this one, they're just part of the show.

Despite the good points of this cartoon, I didn't care for it. I like some snap and vinegar in my cartoons, and this is very sweet. Ising would take a few years until he began to direct cartoons that appeal to me. Harman would never do so. You, of course, may enjoy these, but I find them puerile.