'Fair Today' (1941)
Opening thoughts: Fairs are always fun when depicted in animation, which is quite a lot, and it makes for some very colourful fun when done well. It also has a good deal of nostalgic value. 'Fair Today' is good, colourful fun, though it is a cartoon that doesn't end as well as it started. It is not hysterical or a high spot in Lantz's career, but it is well crafted, amusing and nostalgic that should delight enough kids and adults alike (if perhaps more so the former). This viewer doesn't always see fairs lampooned (something that Lantz did a lot with varied but mostly good results), or at least not to this extent, and the lampooning was mostly done well if unevenly later on.
Bad things: Not everything works. It is a little rushed and over-stuffed at times, especially in the over populated final quarter where the content also became not as inspired and instead pretty corny. The gags were plentiful and very well done in most of the cartoon, but as already said those in the first quarter could have been developed more and had more breathing space.
There were occasions where the character designs weren't to my tastes, with moments of stiffness.
Good things: However, a lot is good in 'Fair Today'. The music is lush and characterful throughout and a vast majority of the animation is excellent. Loved the extremely rich attention to detail in the backgrounds and all the character designs when the fair is in action are suitably varied and with a lot of effort and care put into them.
While nothing is hilarious, most of 'Fair Today' is very amusing and the lampooning is mostly witty and sharp, it is not hard to recognise what is being lampooned too (already faring a lot better than most lampooning cartoon in this aspect). The energy is vibrant and lively, which gives an exuberance to the more action oriented parts.
Concluding thoughts: On the whole, nicely done.
7/10.