The Bear's Tale (1940)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Tex Avery

Writer:

Ben Hardaway (story)

Release Date:

13 April 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Short | Comedy

Plot:

The bears go out for a bicycle ride while their porridge cools. Goldilocks comes along, but stops at grandmother's house instead...

Plot Keywords:

Wolf | Grandmother's House | Porridge | Taxi | Goldilocks And The Three Bears Spoof

Cast

Tex Avery	...	Poppa Bear (voice) (uncredited)
Bea Benaderet	...	Mama Bear (voice) (uncredited)
Sara Berner	...	Little Red Riding Hood (voice) (uncredited)
Mel Blanc	...	Wolf (voice) (uncredited)
Robert C. Bruce	...	Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Bernice Hansen	...	Baby Bear - Goldilocks (voice) (uncredited)

Runtime:

9 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor) | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #5717)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Quotes:

[to the audience]
Papa Bear: [laughing] Gwah hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo. Ain't no robbers up there; just a little girl named "Goldilocks."
[whispered]
Papa Bear: I read this story last week in Readers' Digest.
[laughing]
Papa Bear: Gwah hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo.

Soundtrack:

Rock-a-Bye Baby

Subtle Humor & Fantastic Artwork

The first thing that strikes one in this 9-minute 1940 cartoon is the beautiful artwork. The opening scene depicting a castle high on a hill, silhouetted by trees, is just magnificent. That's one thing about good animation around the time: the watercolor look of some of these - "Bambi," for instance - is something that was only done back then. By the end of World War II, this beautiful watercolor art, which also had a 3-D like affect to it, was gone from most animated shorts.

On the somewhat negative side, Looney Tunes material was very subdued until around 1945 with very few "edgy" and more humorous, wild material. Even famed animator Tex Avery was a little restrained in the beginning years, such as we see in this cartoon. Also, as fellow reviewer Robert Reynolds points out here, Tex - who was billed as "Fred Avery" in the beginning - also did some voice work and was modest enough not to want credit for it.

Bernice Hanson, voicing "Goldilocks," was funny as were the three bears, who were always seen in contrast with each other and the humor was subtlety very good with them. This cartoon had its share of laughs but was more "cute" than funny. However, that's not to hint that it wasn't worth watching. It's extremely well done in a number of areas and highly recommended. It has a lot of charm to it and humor that may not make you laugh out loud but you'll smile frequently!

Hey, there aren't too many stories with Goldilocks AND Little Red Riding Hood in on the same story. For that original thought alone, it's worth watching.