During the Napoleonic Wars (you can tell because Napoleon has a big 'N' on his tricorn hat), the battle cannot proceed because infantryman Sam's musket is on the ground, and despite the kindly urging of his sergeant and captain, he refuses to pick it up.
This cartoon turned up on today's CARTOON RESEARCH site and I urge you to take a look at it. The copy certainly had some issues. It was originally issued in one of the color processes that tried to compete with Technicolor in the 1930s, but now is just this blah sort of watery color-around-the-lines effect. Also Stanley Holloway's narration (it's based on a poem he used to recite in his stage act) is almost inaudible.
I like it a lot, though, mostly for the visuals. I liked it for it looking like Punch magazine from the 1840s, with its recognizable caricatures of the Duke of Wellington. I like for the tiny soldiers streaming across the screen like doodles. I like it for the absurd ineffectiveness of military discipline. Give it a try and I think you'll like it too.
This cartoon turned up on today's CARTOON RESEARCH site and I urge you to take a look at it. The copy certainly had some issues. It was originally issued in one of the color processes that tried to compete with Technicolor in the 1930s, but now is just this blah sort of watery color-around-the-lines effect. Also Stanley Holloway's narration (it's based on a poem he used to recite in his stage act) is almost inaudible.
I like it a lot, though, mostly for the visuals. I liked it for it looking like Punch magazine from the 1840s, with its recognizable caricatures of the Duke of Wellington. I like for the tiny soldiers streaming across the screen like doodles. I like it for the absurd ineffectiveness of military discipline. Give it a try and I think you'll like it too.
