Sheep Shape deals with the Wolf's "woman hunger craze" and money search in order to enter the local nightclub in which you must spend a minimum of $100! Blackie, of course, is his foil. The voice actor for the Wolf goes for a Bert "Cowardly Lion" Lahr style. The nightclub, by the way, has an outside sign which features real photographs of the women stars and claims there are "30". Three years later the same studio would out do itself with the cartoon short Gobs of Fun with the character "Herman" & have not "30" but "50" beautiful girls for the nightclub and instead of just photographs they have an actual live action scene inserted! Anyway, a highlight of Sheep Shape is the song, I'm in the Mood for Love, which was written 10 years earlier. The toon moves along at a fast pace, but is in need of restoration, as the color has faded to red.
5 Reviews
At the nightclub
TheLittleSongbird27 November 2020
Over 25 years, Famous Studios were responsible for a large body of work, of which the Noveltoons series was the most prolific of their theatrical series (which also included the Popeye, Casper, Little Lulu and Herman and Katnip cartoons). Some were better than others, with the 40s output generally being better than the late-50s and 60s cartoons, with lower budgets, fatigue and tighter deadlines contributing towards a decline in quality, but on the most part it was a watchable series of cartoons.
'Sheep Shape' is the third of four Famous Studios cartoons to star Blackie the Lamb and Wolfie the Wolf, the first being 1943's 'No Mutton for Nuttin' and the last being 1947's 'Much Ado About Mutton'. Of the four, it gets my vote as the second worst with the worst being the still quite decent 'Lamb in a Jam' from 1945. 'Sheep Shape' may not be a great cartoon and Famous Studios definitely did a lot better before and since, but they did worse and the cartoon is still worth watching.
Despite the setting being different for this very brief series, there is not an awful lot of variety when it comes to the story. Which is very thin and formulaic and sometimes this does hurt the gags. Most of which amused but some felt on the stale side from over-familiarity.
The characterisation is also on the thin side, actually do like both Blackie and Wolfie as characters and they have nice chemistry together, at the same time there's not much that's distinct or fully fleshed.
However, the lush and lively music score, that not only doesn't jar but enhances, more than compensates. As does the animation, some of the backgrounds are just gorgeous and the colours practically pop out at you. Despite the flimsiness, that doesn't stop 'Sheep Shape' from never being dull.
It is good too that there are more rib-tickling moments than stale ones, with the ending being one of the better parts. The energy is there throughout and is suitably sharp. The chemistry between Blackie and Wolfie really drives 'Sheep Shape' and has a lot of energy and tension. The two characters are not ones that blow the mind but they carry the cartoon more than amiably. They are well voiced too, with Arnold Stang being typically sharp.
Overall, decent if not great. 7/10
'Sheep Shape' is the third of four Famous Studios cartoons to star Blackie the Lamb and Wolfie the Wolf, the first being 1943's 'No Mutton for Nuttin' and the last being 1947's 'Much Ado About Mutton'. Of the four, it gets my vote as the second worst with the worst being the still quite decent 'Lamb in a Jam' from 1945. 'Sheep Shape' may not be a great cartoon and Famous Studios definitely did a lot better before and since, but they did worse and the cartoon is still worth watching.
Despite the setting being different for this very brief series, there is not an awful lot of variety when it comes to the story. Which is very thin and formulaic and sometimes this does hurt the gags. Most of which amused but some felt on the stale side from over-familiarity.
The characterisation is also on the thin side, actually do like both Blackie and Wolfie as characters and they have nice chemistry together, at the same time there's not much that's distinct or fully fleshed.
However, the lush and lively music score, that not only doesn't jar but enhances, more than compensates. As does the animation, some of the backgrounds are just gorgeous and the colours practically pop out at you. Despite the flimsiness, that doesn't stop 'Sheep Shape' from never being dull.
It is good too that there are more rib-tickling moments than stale ones, with the ending being one of the better parts. The energy is there throughout and is suitably sharp. The chemistry between Blackie and Wolfie really drives 'Sheep Shape' and has a lot of energy and tension. The two characters are not ones that blow the mind but they carry the cartoon more than amiably. They are well voiced too, with Arnold Stang being typically sharp.
Overall, decent if not great. 7/10
Thirty Beautiful Girls -- No Cover
boblipton9 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Wolfie wants money so he can get into a night club. Blackie the Sheep has it. Then Wolfie has it and Blackie wants it back in this funny if derivative Famous Studios Noveltoon.
I call it derivative because of the way Izzy Sparber has his staff animate Blackie: straight out of Tex Avery's "Red" cartoons from MGM, and Blackie dressing up as a beautiful senorita a la Bugs Bunny. While the effect is very funny, there's little in the way of characterization: Sid Raymond voices Wolfie as Bert Lahr, and Arnold Stang uses the same voice for Blackie that he later would for Herman the Mouse. Still, the effect is very mature for Famous; their later works would all be G rated by today's standards. This would qualify as PG-13.
I call it derivative because of the way Izzy Sparber has his staff animate Blackie: straight out of Tex Avery's "Red" cartoons from MGM, and Blackie dressing up as a beautiful senorita a la Bugs Bunny. While the effect is very funny, there's little in the way of characterization: Sid Raymond voices Wolfie as Bert Lahr, and Arnold Stang uses the same voice for Blackie that he later would for Herman the Mouse. Still, the effect is very mature for Famous; their later works would all be G rated by today's standards. This would qualify as PG-13.
You can't have everything!
JohnHowardReid8 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Director: I. SPARBER. Story: Joe Stultz. Animators: Dave Tendlar, John Gentilella. Music director: Winston Sharples. Song, "I'm in the Mood for Love". Color by Technicolor. A Noveltoon. A Famous Studios Production. Paramount.
Copyright 28 June 1946 by Paramount Pictures, Inc. 1 reel.
COMMENT: Showing the distinctive influence of Tex Avery, this is a pleasing offering about a penniless wolf seeking to raise money (by stealing it from Blackie) to visit a nightclub featuring no less than thirty (count them!) beautiful girls.
Alas, we don't encounter even a single one of these beauties on screen.
Instead, Blackie offers viewers a somewhat half-hearted Marlene Dietrich impersonation.
But I guess you can't have everything, not even in a cartoon!
Copyright 28 June 1946 by Paramount Pictures, Inc. 1 reel.
COMMENT: Showing the distinctive influence of Tex Avery, this is a pleasing offering about a penniless wolf seeking to raise money (by stealing it from Blackie) to visit a nightclub featuring no less than thirty (count them!) beautiful girls.
Alas, we don't encounter even a single one of these beauties on screen.
Instead, Blackie offers viewers a somewhat half-hearted Marlene Dietrich impersonation.
But I guess you can't have everything, not even in a cartoon!
Sometimes clouds are shaped like sheep . . .
pixrox16 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
. . . but there do not seem to be many clouds in SHEEP SHAPE. This brief cartoon shapes up more like a fable about insatiable greed, lust for the golden fleece and self-condemning perfidy. By the end of this animated short, the wolf discovers that all that glitters is not gold. Of course, if there WERE any clouds here, this marauding carnivore might have enjoyed some showers to lessen his pain.
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