Count Me Out (1938) User Reviews

It's pretty easy to see why Egghead never really caught on.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 26 December 2021]

In the late 1930s, Tex Avery developed a recurring cartoon character, Egghead. However, he never really caught on and he disappeared after about a half dozen appearances. This is an early version of him and the later Egghead looked quite different.

Egghead, inexplicably, wants to be a boxer and takes a correspondence course on boxing. Soon, he graduates and his first match is against the champ! Can he stand a chance? And, more importantly, does anyone even care?

Although the cartoon looks good and is in Technicolor, it's really not especially funny or enjoyable. Not a terrible cartoon but a disappointing one.

Obvoiusly, Michael Vick and Michael Tyson watched this growing up . . .

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 15 March 2015]

. . . and Michael Jordan did not. COUNT ME OUT features dogs sand-bagging and humiliating a human, "Charlie Egghead" (no doubt prompting Mr. Vick's animosity toward canines, at least subliminally). Charlie has risen directly from a few minutes of "Acme Correspondence School of Boxing" instruction to a world championship heavyweight title bout (even though Master Egghead weighs just "6 7/8s pounds," according to the increasingly hysterical ring announcer). Charlie's opponent, reigning champ "Biff Stew," looks to tip the scales at about 300 pounds. Biff's Big Time all the way. His warm-up robe features a scrolling message ribbon, just like the signs in Times Square. After a couple rounds, Charlie decides that he's already taken enough punishment. Biff disagrees. Charlie then takes a bite out of the champ, no doubt inspiring Tyson's cannibalistic assault on Evander Holyfield (as the human-belittling ring-side dog commentators may have further inflamed Vick into becoming a serial strangler of "man's best friends"). Where does Michael Jordan come in? During his first boxing lesson, Charlie becomes winded and grabs his knees panting, his tongue sagging halfway to the floor. The instructor commands, "Stick in your tongue--there's people looking at you!!" Anyone who saw Michael Jordan play basketball knows that MJ could NOT have seen COUNT ME OUT during his impressionable years!

An Egghead short with an dream sequence

[stephen0684 · 8/10 · 3 November 2005]

Egghead wants to fight so he gets some free pointers from the ACME School of Boxing. (First time that ACME's been used in an Warner Brothers cartoon.) Soon he's ready to fight the champ, Beef Stew. As the fight begins, Egghead tries everything that the record tells him. The plan backfires and eventually destroys the record and the record player as well. After that, Egghead's had enough and tries to leave the ring. But he still gets clobbered. Finally, he wakes up as apparently the fight was an dream sequence. Yet, he gets clobbered one last time as the film ends. Besides Hare-Um Scare-Um, this was Hardaway's and Dalton's best film. They overall stunk expect these two films. Still, I enjoy it and I recommend it for the Egghead fans because it was one of Egghead's best films as well. (Dafy Duck and Egghead being the other.) I give it an 8 out of 10.

Boxing Egghead

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 23 May 2019]

Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton in my mind are hardly a legendary animation director duo. Am not saying this with malice or anything, have made me clear frequently about loving animation. Their cartoons were competently made but tended to be bland when it came to comic timing and on the too cute side. Am not saying that all their output is like that, that's not the case (again personal opinion).

One of their best efforts, along with 'Hare-Um Scare-Um' and their other Egghead cartoon 'A-Lad in Baghdad', is 'Count Me Out'. Not a mind-blowing cartoon but a very entertaining one and reminded me slightly of early Tex Avery (a compliment just to say). It is more than competent in how it is made, it's one of their funnier cartoons and is another one of their least bland. It is far from being too cute as well. Those who like Egghead will like 'Count Me Out' too, as it is one of his best as well.

While occasionally a touch on the corny side and the story a little flimsy, 'Count Me Out' has a lot of strengths that outweigh those relative nit-picks.

Animation is excellent. It's fluid in movement, vibrant in colour and very meticulous in detail. The pace has a good deal of energy and there are more gags than the usual Hardaway/Dalton cartoon, all amusing and more and also more imaginative than their usual stuff.

When it came to scoring animation/cartoons, Carl Stalling was one of the masters. The music here is It is as always lushly orchestrated, full of lively energy and characterful in rhythm, not only adding to the action but also enhancing it.

Egghead is an entertaining and endearing character, while the voice acting is good as one expects. Cliff Nazarro really makes Egghead his own, but it's Mel Blanc that has the most to do and he brings his usual exuberance.

In summary, well done and one of Hardaway/Dalton's best. 8/10