Bacall to Arms

Bob Clampett's cartoons often were high in energy and fun and displayed a uniquely wacky visual style that one can recognise immediately.

Caricature cartoons very much vary in quality, a lot of them are clever, funny and ones where the references are recognisable, easy to spot and are a lot of fun, while there are others that don't work as well as they should due to some of the humour not holding up and some caricatures due to unfamiliarity with the person in question go over people's heads. 'Bacall in Arms' is one of the better examples, it's silly and it's corny but very clever and just so much fun.

The animation is excellent. The blacks, whites and greys look absolutely beautiful, even nearly 80 years on, while also rich in detail and high in imagination. Clampett's style is all over the cartoon and is immediately distinctive, while the use of Technicolor is equally striking if slightly less imaginative. Carl Stalling's energetically high-voltage, luscious, rousing, dynamic and action-enhancing music score and inspired arrangements of pre-existing music shows off his genius.

It is an exceptionally funny cartoon as well, with some wonderfully cornball lines and names. Plus 'Bacall in Arms' was an example of a caricature cartoon where none of the caricatures got lost on me due to being familiar with the celebrity. The spoof on 'To Have and Have Not' was very inspired as well.

All the characters are colourful, and while Robert C. Bruce and June Foray are excellent it is Mel Blanc that once again shows the second-to-none ability to bring different personalities and voices to several characters.

On the whole, great caricature cartoon and spoof and a near-classic for Clampett. 9/10 Bethany Cox