tavm Review of Woodman, Spare That Tree

Woodman, Spare That Tree (1942)

Woodsman, Spare That Tree was an almost fine second Columbia/Screen Gems Fox and Crow cartoon

[9/10 · 4 June 2009]

This was a Columbia/Screen Gems cartoon that I just saw on Daily Motion as linked from the Cartoonz for You site. It's the second one starring the Fox and Crow. In this one, the Fox is attempting to chop trees. The first one happens to house the Crow. Nothing can persuade the Fox from chopping his tree, not poetry nor singing. So the Crow tries various ways to trick him like taking the sharp axe head away, tying the saw handle to Fox's tail causing him to fly backwards, and having a toy mouse scare the Fox's elephant from knocking anymore trees (that last gag I remember seeing in a Tweety and Sylvester cartoon). Finally, the Fox builds some tracks and runs a train to attempt to smash the tree. Is this the end? Well...I'll stop there and just say what a very funny sophomoric effort for the studios' new stars this was. And the print I watched was perfect so half of me wonders if it was a restored one. One more thing, since Mel Blanc had by this time an exclusive contract with Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons), he was unavailable to return as the voice of the Fox and Crow. Instead, Frank Graham and Paul Frees, respectively, became the leading voices for the rest of the characters' lives. And what fine replacement voices they turned out to be! So on that note, I highly recommend Woodsman, Spare That Tree.