Speaking of the Weather (1937)

It's midnight at the bookstore and all the book and magazine characters are coming to life. When a bulldog from an adventure book uses a Boswell Sisters-like performance by girls in a ... See full summary »

Director:

Frank Tashlin

Stars:

Mel Blanc, Billy Bletcher

Cast

Uncredited cast:
Mel Blanc	...	Conductor / Cholly Jam / Walter Snitchall (voice) (uncredited)
Billy Bletcher	...	Public Enemy #1 / Judge (voice) (uncredited)

Storyline

It's midnight at the bookstore and all the book and magazine characters are coming to life. When a bulldog from an adventure book uses a Boswell Sisters-like performance by girls in a travel magazine as a distraction to rob a bank, he is chased, caught, and sentenced to, of course "Life" (the magazine). But there's also a conveniently placed "Escape" magazine....

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Plot Keywords:

magazine | book | bookstore | drugstore | william tell overture | 

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family | Music

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 September 1937 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Leon Schlesinger Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

7 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film short is available as a bonus on the Warner DVD of Gold Diggers of 1937.

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Connections

References Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)

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Soundtracks

"Summer Night"
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Played during the opening sequence

User Reviews

Plays like a dry run for 'Have You Got Any Castles?'

Frank Tashlin's 'Speaking of the Weather' is another in the series of cartoons in which books come to life. In this case it is magazines which suddenly leap off the page. Although it has an attractive look to it, 'Speaking of the Weather' suffers from a lack of decent gags. Although these cartoons can sometimes rely on outdated references a little too heavily, they often make up for this with sheer energy or by providing enough information for audiences of any era to understand the joke. 'Speaking of the Weather' features a few more celebrity cameos than usual in these type of cartoons and the jokes that are self-explanatory are mostly just not that good. The obvious high point of this loose series is Bob Clampett's classic 'Book Revue' but Tashlin himself would go on to direct the excellent 'Have You Got Any Castles' a year after 'Speaking of the Weather'. That cartoon was both lush and amusing and 'Speaking of the Weather' feels like just a dry run for 'Have You Got Any Castles'. They're certainly stylistically similar but the latter is by far the superior cartoon and renders 'Speaking of the Weather' virtually unnecessary.