In this very abstract cartoon, a hard-of-hearing old Britisher finds a red horn and uses it as a megaphone, unaware that it is really a lost horn from the Devil's forehead. The Britisher fin... Read allIn this very abstract cartoon, a hard-of-hearing old Britisher finds a red horn and uses it as a megaphone, unaware that it is really a lost horn from the Devil's forehead. The Britisher finds that the horn has the effect of amplifying every sound psychedelically and causing him ... Read allIn this very abstract cartoon, a hard-of-hearing old Britisher finds a red horn and uses it as a megaphone, unaware that it is really a lost horn from the Devil's forehead. The Britisher finds that the horn has the effect of amplifying every sound psychedelically and causing him serious bodily harm.
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- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 nomination total
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Did you know
- TriviaThis was the first Warner Bros cartoon to use the "modern" Looney Tunes opening and closing sequence featuring stylized animation, an abstract WB logo, zooming "OO" in the word "Cartoon", swirling zooming lines (in place of the zooming shield), and slick lettering, on a black background, all to a "modern" rendition of the Looney Tunes theme ("The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down"). This title will also be used on four 1964 shorts ("Bartholomew Vs. The Wheel," "Senorella and the Glass Huarache," "Pancho's Hideaway" and "Road to Andalay,) and then every WB cartoon from 1965 to 1969.
- Quotes
[the only spoken line]
Voice: QUIET!
As other reviewers have described this, it involves three characters: the Devil, an elderly, British man in green, and a shorter man in purple and wearing a pointy hat. The Devil loses one of his horns and goes searching for it, the British man finds the horn which he mistakes for a megaphone or hearing aid, and the shorter man shows up again, and again randomly. Every time the Brit uses the horn, some thing happens that he wasn't expecting, not just with the various sounds that come out of it, but also with the various things that happen to him. Following all of those mishaps he suffers thanks to the extraordinary object, he's had enough as it caused him an abundance of trouble and disposes it. Since it's been nothing about a nuisance to him, he prefers to use his green, horn-shaped hearing aid instead, he gets that back, and as he does so, the British national anthem is played, and he's pleased with this. The Devil would eventually find his horn and put it back in place.
This is among the LT and MM shorts I remember well watching in my childhood. It genuinely is one of the oddest by Warners or otherwise ever made. One of the most different too, but it's good. It's one of the better LT and MM of the '60s, especially from the former half of that decade, when the old studio's cartoons were still considered to be high and at their best. This peculiar 'toon may not be for everyone, but I'm one of those who can handle it. All the characters in this are still interesting in the way of carrying out their actions rather than relying on and using dialogue. The actions clearly are what say it all and that's all we need, despite the plot being seemingly thin and senseless. The background scenes are mostly white, with the colors being on only the characters and the objects. Both sound effects and music are played well. The animation may be limited, but somehow it, like UPA, actually outdoes that of the Hanna-Barbera and Filmation studios' cartoons of the late '50s, '60s and '70s. I haven't gotten all that much into avant-garde music, although I've been more specifically into the avant-rock of bands like Tin Huey and one of its influences, Roxy Music. But for me it all depends, some of that I can take, others not so much. As especially some certain avant-garde music can be bad, especially if any of y'all who may be reading this fall asleep to it, it may cause nightmares. This is another grasping, experimental short directed by the late Chuck Jones, but I think I like his other directed WB cartoon short, High Note, even more, out of the two if I were to chose. Nonetheless, recommended, for those who are looking to step out of the normal zone and into the abnormal. Abnormal and abstract are just exactly what they are about it.
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- Runtime6 minutes
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- 1.37 : 1