Have You Got Any Castles? (1938)

Another entry in the "books come alive" subgenre, with possibly more books coming alive than any other. We begin with some musical numbers, notably the various pages of Green Pastures all ... See full summary »

Director:

Frank Tashlin

Writer:

Jack Miller (story)

Stars:

Mel Blanc, The Four Blackbirds, Delos Jewkes

Cast

Uncredited cast:
Mel Blanc	...	Town Crier / Praying Baby / Rip Van Winkle / Emily Host / Alladin (voice) (uncredited)
The Four Blackbirds	...	Vocal Group (archive sound) (uncredited)
Delos Jewkes	...	Old King Cole (voice) (uncredited)
Tedd Pierce	...	W. C. Fields (voice) (uncredited)
Georgia Stark	...	Whistler's Mother / Heidi (voice) (uncredited)

Storyline

Another entry in the "books come alive" subgenre, with possibly more books coming alive than any other. We begin with some musical numbers, notably the various pages of Green Pastures all joining in on a song, The Thin Man entering The White House Cookbook and exiting much fatter, and The House of Seven (Clark) Gables singing backup to Old King Cole. The Three Musketeers break loose, become Three Men on a Horse, grab the Seven Keys to Baldpate, and set the Prisoner of Zenda free. They are soon chased by horsemen from The Charge of the Light Brigade and Under Two Flags and beset by the cannons of All Quiet on the Western Front. All this disturbs the sleep of Rip Van Winkle, who opens Hurricane so that everyone is (all together now) Gone with the Wind.

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Plot Keywords:

horse | musketeer | singing | book comes to life | jail break | 

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Genres:

Family | Musical | Animation | Short | Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 June 1938 (USA)

Also Known As:

Have You Got Any Castles

Company Credits

Production Co:

Leon Schlesinger Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

7 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The globe on the cover of Pearl Buck's book "The Good Earth" requests blessings for people in his family, including "Papa Leon and Uncle Ray." This is in reference to Leon Schlesinger, who was the executive producer of the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons up until 1944, and Raymond Katz, Schlesinger's brother-in-law, who also worked in the cartoon studio.

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Quotes

Rip Van Winkle: Old King Cole is a noisy old soul.

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Connections

References Bulldog Drummond (1929)

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Soundtracks

"Old King Cole"
(uncredited)
Music by Richard A. Whiting
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer
Sung during the Little Women and Old King Cole sequence

User Reviews

Very clever and colourful take on the literary classics

I absolutely love this cartoon. It is engaging, it is colourful and it is extremely clever. It is enormous fun spotting all the literary references such as Heidi (who does sing like Cab Calloway), The Three Musketeers and The Thin Man, references to Frankenstein, Fu Manchu, Mr Hyde and Phantom of the Opera(the beginning was hilarious, it isn't everyday when you see monsters such as Fu Manchu dancing to Gossec's Gavotte) and the caricatures of Charles Laughton, William Powell, Greta Garbo and Paul Muni. The animation is spotless, the music is fabulous and the voice work is top notch. The gags and puns come fast and the cartoon is loaded to the brim with them. Who cares whether it is plot less, it is amazing to look at, it is entertaining and very clever. 10/10 Bethany Cox