Joe Glow, the Firefly (1941) User Reviews

one-shot Looney Tune

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 28 August 2015]

"Joe Glow, the Firefly" was a first for Warner Bros cartoons. Previously all Looney Tunes had featured their stars (at that time Porky and Daffy), while the Merrie Melodies had featured one-shot characters (except for Bugs and Elmer, nascent characters at that time). This cartoon was the first Looney Tune to feature a one-shot character.

While watching the cartoon, I wondered why the man left his food so exposed. He was practically inviting anyone to walk in and steal it, or even inviting ants and bears into his tent! OK, so I shouldn't try to analyze a cartoon that much. It's a fairly interesting cartoon. It was around that time that Chuck Jones's work started to shift away from simple plots and to the clever, wacky stuff that characterized his most famous work.

Not Much Here

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 11 October 2021]

Other than anthropomorphizing a firefly as a bug with a lantern, very little happens in this short film. He explores. He tries to "bug" the sleeping man. He doesn't even seem to be all that interested in his food. I don't know if this character ever appears again.

The background details are the best part of a very good "one shot" short

[llltdesq · 8/10 · 6 September 2006]

This is a black and white short from Warner Brothers. It's a "one shot" cartoon, meaning it wasn't part of a series. I don't know if there was ever any intention to use the firefly again, though I doubt there was-it seems like this was just done to give Chuck Jones and his crew an opportunity to experiment with perspective and they did so effectively. This is a gorgeous cartoon and a very exceptional use of black and white. I intend to discuss some details, so consider this a spoiler warning:

There really isn't a "story", as such. It's basically a firefly looking around in a human-sized enclosure-a tent, complete with sleeping human. My favorite parts were a bit with a twitching eyelid and the attempts of the fly to walk across a saltine cracker, which is particularly nice. The level of detail in this short is remarkable-it's just a very visually fascinating short. The man's wristwatch, which is gigantic to the firefly, is a nice example of the extent to which they went in designing the look of this short. It's just a beautiful cartoon. The one line of dialog is right at the end and very funny.

I very much hope that this is ultimately released on a Looney Tunes Golden Collection in the near future, perhaps with a commentary. It's a marvelous piece of work. Most recommended.

I have a great deal of things to say about this little cartoon...

[Mightyzebra · 9/10 · 5 July 2008]

Firstly, "Joe Glow the Firefly" is very interesting. Unlike most of the shorts from Looney Tunes, this episode includes a one-off character and it is not all about him - the creators of the episode used this short to experiment with perspective (the character is a firefly and he explores a man's face, and other things that are normal to us but huge to an insect).

Secondly, I like this short not only for the interesting perspective part of it, but for the character of Joe Glow the firefly. He is animated in an interesting way and his personality is recognisable, even though he only says a word once, at the end. His personality is cleverly expressed through his face expressions and body language. I think he should have been used in more shorts, as I have explained already, he is a very good character and has a likable personality.

Also, the themes of the episode are interesting, including the perspective theme, the insect theme and the tent theme. All of these work well together.

And lastly, I think this short should be more widely known. It is very well worth watching, beautiful in some ways and very interesting. It is up there with the classic Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoons.

I recommend this to people who like silent Warner Bros cartoons, people who like interesting cartoons and to people who like cartoons which save humour til the last moment. Enjoy "Joe Glow the Firefly"! :-)

P.S The music in this short is worth listening to, it is very well done and makes the cartoon more exciting.