Jitterbug Follies (1939)

Count Screwloose and J.R. the Wonder Dog are promoting a $10,000 swing contest. They plan to skip town with the entry fees, but a menacing thug from the "Citizens for Fair Play" convinces ... See full summary »

Director:

Milt Gross

Stars:

Mel Blanc

Cast

Uncredited cast:
Mel Blanc	...	Count Screwloose (voice) (uncredited)

Storyline

Count Screwloose and J.R. the Wonder Dog are promoting a $10,000 swing contest. They plan to skip town with the entry fees, but a menacing thug from the "Citizens for Fair Play" convinces them otherwise. The contestants: A singing hippo, "Mother Goose" who starts out as an old woman, then sheds her disguise to reveal a pretty girl, and a fan-dancing ostrich. Throughout, a couple of penguins are heckling. The ostrich proves wildly popular, and Screwloose fears he'll have to give the prize to her, when he gets an idea. He dresses J.R. up as the ostrich and sends him out, but the penguins use a box of sausages to expose the dog. The crowd runs Screwloose and J.R. out, and they grab a ride on a train where the penguins are waiting for them.

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Plot Keywords:

ostrich | dog | hippo | contest | count screwloose and j.r. | 

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Family | Short

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 February 1939 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

9 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film short is available as an extra in the Warner DVD of At the Circus.

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Soundtracks

"Gavotte"
(uncredited)
Music by François-Joseph Gossec

User Reviews

Jitterbug Follies is another funny Milt Gross cartoon from MGM

Jitterbug Follies is one of only two MGM cartoons to star comic strip characters Count Screwloose and J.R. the Wonder Dog as directed by their creator, Milt Gross. The other one was Wanted: No Master. In this one Screwloose and J.R. try to bilk some money out of a bogus talent contest but are forced by a couple of thugs for "Citizens for Fair Play" to put one on. So we see a hippo singing opera, Mother Goose singing big band as she strips to reveal a young woman with a short-skirted dress, an ostrich "fan dancing", and a couple of penguins who keep going on stage attempting to sing despite constantly getting thrown out. Those gags make this one of the most creative cartoons for MGM before Tex Avery and Tom and Jerry put the studio on the animation map. Too bad Gross didn't make any more films after this one. You can see both this and Wanted: No Master on YouTube.