MOTHER GOOSE GOES HOLLYWOOD (1938)

 IT'S BEEN ALMOST A YEAR SINCE I'VE DONE ONE OF THESE "WHO'S THAT OLD CELEBRITY IN THAT CARTOON" POSTS. 

Almost a year, in fact, when I did the Columbia cartoon "MOTHER GOOSE IN SWINGTIME" from 1939.  This Disney Silly Symphony cartoon arises from outta the previous year but is much in the same vein.  I see my pal Cheekies gave this 4 stars when he watched it a while ago.  And that's without me even explaining it to him.  Well, here I am explaining it in case he wants to watch it again! And at the end, I'll post 4 pages about the cartoon that appeared in a 1939 issue of PHOTOPLAY magazine which I borrowed from "Andreas Deja View" blog (and I hope they don't mind). 

So, the cartoon opens with Mother Goose mimicking the MGM lion (with Ars Gratia Artis replaced by Ertznay to Ouyay!).  Next we go to Little Bo Peep who has lost her sheep.  Bo Peep is, of course, Katharine Hepburn. 

Next we have Old King Cole calling for his fiddlers three.  Old King Cole is another familiar face from these types of cartoons:  Hugh Herbert. 

And his fiddlers are, of course, the Marx Brothers.  And another familiar face from these cartoons is grumpy Ned Sparks as the Jester.  The Marx Brothers tune up on their violins, stomp out the time with their feet and smash the fiddles over their knees.  King Cole calls for his bowl which is delivered by 1930's comedian Joe Penner; whose catchphrase was "You wanna buy a duck?" 

And this being a Disney cartoon, up pops Donald Duck out of the bowl!  Next we have "Rub a dub dub three men in a tub" and they are Charles Laughton as Captain Bligh from MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY and Spencer Tracy & Freddie Bartholomew from CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS. 

Interestingly, Katharine Hepburn putt-putts by still looking for her sheep.  This is a few years before she and Spencer would meet on screen in WOMAN OF THE YEAR!  Humpty Dumpty is next and he is, predictably, W.C. Fields who disturbs a nest looking for his "little chickadee" and out pops Edgar Bergen's ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy. 

Fields & McCarthy had a long time "feud" on THE EDGAR BERGEN & CHARLIE MCCARTHY SHOW at the time.  Next Simple Simon met a pieman -- or rather Stan Laurel met Oliver Hardy. 

"See Saw Margery Daw" find Edward G. Robinson and Greta Garbo on the see saw. 

Little Jack Horner is Eddie Cantor.  Unfortunately, what comes out of his pie is Cab Calloway & His Orchestra in a simply racist stereotype no matter how you look at it.  Joining them are jazz great Fats Waller and Stepin Fetchit (unfortunately).

Then Little Boy Blue blows his horn:  actor Wallace Beery. 

The we go to "The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe" with all of the cast milling around like maniacs.  Edna Mae Oliver, Mae West and (I think) Claudette Colbert appear as a trio

and then we see Clark Gable and George Arliss (famous for playing Disraeli)

followed by Laurel & Hardy again.  Fats Waller is tormented by the Marx Brothers while trying to play his piano. 

Fred Astaire appears to give us a little dance

and (sadly) Stepin Fetchit appears again.  Damn.  Cab Calloway & His Orchestra come back, as well as W.C. Fields & Charlie McCarthy on the stand-up bass. The two "big mouths" of Hollywood - that's how they were known then -- comic actor Joe E. Brown ("Well . . . nobody's perfect") and Martha Raye make an appearance skatting. 

And to wrap everything up, Katharine Hepburn is still looking for her lost sheep.

           

Here's a link to the blog post on Deja View which talks about this same cartoon.