Buddy the Gob (1934) User Reviews

Freleng Takes Over

[boblipton · 7/10 · 8 January 2010]

Friz Freleng directs his first credited Merrie Melody -- he had directed a few late silents for Mintz and seems to have already directed two or three MMs uncredited -- and, despite the rubber-tube-style animation -- which Termite Terrace would not shake off for another three years -- and the use of Buddy, the most pointless cartoon lead in the history of animation, manages to produce a fine little cartoon.

The whole value of this piece is due to the same strengths he would show for the rest of his career: a fine sense of pacing for his gags, and his unerring ability to pace a purely musical short, which was his forte through such works as SKYSCRAPER SYMPHONY and THE THREE LITTLE BOPS.

Merrie Melodies were made to showcase songs from Warner Brothers' musical library, and here the major theme is "Shanghai Lil", originally used in the Jimmy Cagney feature, FOOTLIGHT PARADE. The plot is standard and pointless: Buddy is a US sailor on shore leave in China, where he rescues a girl who is about to be sacrificed to a dragon. But notice, in the parade sequence, the constant beat of gags that punctuate the parade. Many of them have aged badly, but they match the tempo of Bernard Brown's fast and jazzy arrangement of the song.

While not the best cartoon he would ever direct by a long stretch, this one is well worth your time.

Buddy in China

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 3 September 2017]

Now a fairly obscure character, Buddy was the second Warner Brothers Looney Tunes character, after Bosko and followed by Beans the Cat. Buddy didn't last long, being retired in 1935 after 23 cartoons starting in 1933.

While still not a "great" cartoon, let alone one of the best there is, 'Buddy the Gob' is one of the better Buddy cartoons. Being somebody who was not that enamoured with the previous three cartoons, well 'Buddy's Beer Garden' was decent but, particularly 'Buddy's Show Boat', the other two were average or less, 'Buddy the Gob' was a nice surprise. Fritz Freleng's (very early on in his career) involvement helps quite a bit in this cartoon though, what wasn't so good before comes over better here.

It has to be said that there is more plot certainly here than there was in the previous three cartoons. Especially when the conflict is introduced. There is also much more energy, especially in the second half. It also has to be said that the story doesn't get going straight away with the first half being basically set-up, and that it's pretty predictable and not that much different from most "save a character from dastardly villains" cartoons.

'Buddy the Gob' has more gags than before and it is funnier, thanks to great timing and some visual invention. It is never hilarious though and some of the gags have aged better than others, the procession, the Jimmy Durante caricature, the steps made of the spear and the fun and tense climax stand out but some are not that memorable or funny (there is not much imaginative about the attempts to escape) and the very end was fairly pointless.

However, there are a lot of good things. The animation is nicely drawn and detailed. Music played a big part in the Buddy cartoons and it was essential for it to work. Luckily it has the liveliness and energy, as well as the lush and vibrant orchestration.

As said, some of the gags are fun and the story's conflict is entertaining and has some good tension. There is much more energy here, no issues really with pacing here, and the timing of the gags more adept.

While not an interesting character, Buddy is much more compelling than before and his heroic side here is endearing. The other characters fare well in a competent sort of way. The voice work is solid.

In summary, very much a decent Buddy cartoon and one of the better ones. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Besides inspiring Matthew Wilder's 1983 pop hit "Break My Stride" . . .

[oscaralbert · 8/10 · 29 January 2017]

. . . BUDDY THE GOB predicts the (then) upcoming "Rape of Nanking," in which the Japanese Imperial Army tortured to death 325,000 Chinese civilians between Dec. 13, 1937 and Jan. 24, 1938 in the Most Sadistic Bloodbath by Demons in Human Form documented in World History, and also forecasts the urgent necessity for Leader Trump to salvage some use out of each of America's currently past-their-shelf-life Hydrogen Bomb Warheads by putting the old ones to use in Japan as each is replaced by a new and improved nuke, something our Current Zeitgeist demands (just watch this week's live action feature films SILENCE--which witnesses to ANOTHER Japanese Massacre of 300,000 Christians in its Nagasaki District, or RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER, the latter featuring how Washington, DC, will be reduced to rubble IF Leader Trump fails to address the Japanese Threat). BUDDY THE GOB begins by urging We Americans of the (then) Far Future to prod Leader Trump for a fleet of New & Improved U.S. Battleships (such as the one Buddy rides to China on, or the ones Japan Sneak-Attacked at Pearl Harbor, only the new ones must be invisible to radar and fire Nuclear Shells). Buddy then rows his slow boat to China in order to save his girl Cookie from a Fate Worse Than Death, the part which inspired Mr. Wilder's 1983 ditty. As the strains of Warner Bros.' earlier hit tune "Shanghai Lil" play in the background, Buddy must rescue Cookie from the hands of the Asiatic Horde, out to get their jollies by seeing this Occidental Beauty paraded down Main Street IN A CAGE stripped of most of her clothing, and then EATEN ALIVE by a dragon as part of a "religious ritual" (it's High Time that America's United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley forces that financially troubled bunch to OUTLAW the other "religions" besides Christianity for the masquerading Death Cults they actually are IF the U.N. wishes to continue sucking up American taxpayer dough for most of its funding!). So, Leader Trump, use BUDDY THE GOB as your guide in putting Americans back to work building battleships and Super-Nukes, while giving Japan an excuse to expand its Cry-me-a-River Atomic Boo-Hoo museums. Then the 300,000 Christian martyrs of Nagasaki and the 325,000 rape-slaying victims of Nanking FINALLY will be able to rest easy in their graves!