Barney Bear has overloaded his tiny mule with all the mining equipment. They are traveling a high canyon trail when they find a cave full of gold. This is a Rudolf Ising MGM cartoon. It's generally fine but it feels a bit stationary. After the trail, this essentially becomes stuck outside this cave. It's the same gag over and over again with the dynamite. Let's be clear. Barney is an idiot with the explosives. All he really needs is a hammer and a chisel. Of course, blow-them-up is classic slapstick. In an aside, I doubt a mule would actually eat dynamite. Am I wrong? Dynamite is nitroglycerin mixed with clay or something like that. That doesn't sound tasty.
4 Reviews
Words to live by....'never give a bear dynamite....or a donkey'!
planktonrules18 September 2022
In the 1940s, MGM made some really terrific cartoons. Tex Avery's were the best, though their Tom & Jerry toons were also marvelous. Slightly below them in quality and enjoyability were the Barney Bear shorts. He was NOT a bad character...he just wasn't quite as good as the others at that time.
In "The Prospecting Bear", Barney discovers gold soon after the cartoon begins. But HOW will he excavate this gold? Well, he decides to use dynamite...and you KNOW it won't end well...especially since his donkey keeps eating it!
As you'd expect from MGM, the animation and backgrounds are truly beautiful. As for the gags, they are pretty good but not enough to make it a must-see movie.
In "The Prospecting Bear", Barney discovers gold soon after the cartoon begins. But HOW will he excavate this gold? Well, he decides to use dynamite...and you KNOW it won't end well...especially since his donkey keeps eating it!
As you'd expect from MGM, the animation and backgrounds are truly beautiful. As for the gags, they are pretty good but not enough to make it a must-see movie.
Dig We Must
boblipton17 September 2022
Barney Bear and his overloaded burro are tramping through the mountains. Barney finds rich vein of the precious metal and starts working on it, while his pack animal tries to keep out of his way and graze on the dynamite he's carrying.
Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising would still run their own studio, and would continue to do so until after the War, but you can see the shift in power between them and MGM cartoon producer Fred Quimby. Ising is credited as director, but William Hanna is an uncredited producer, and voices the donkey. Musical director Scott Bradley would produce scores for Quimby's unit, and Hanna would soon team up with Joseph Barberra for the Tom & Jerry cartoons that would regularly win Oscars.
In the meantime, this is a pleasantly amusing cartoon, all silent action accompanied by variations on "Oh, Susanna."
Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising would still run their own studio, and would continue to do so until after the War, but you can see the shift in power between them and MGM cartoon producer Fred Quimby. Ising is credited as director, but William Hanna is an uncredited producer, and voices the donkey. Musical director Scott Bradley would produce scores for Quimby's unit, and Hanna would soon team up with Joseph Barberra for the Tom & Jerry cartoons that would regularly win Oscars.
In the meantime, this is a pleasantly amusing cartoon, all silent action accompanied by variations on "Oh, Susanna."
Barney Bear hits the gold mine
TheLittleSongbird31 October 2017
While not one of my favourite cartoon characters, Barney Bear was a very funny and likable character where his sluggishness was a huge part of his charm. He was also interesting for being modelled on both his creator Rudolf Ising (who also was his first voice actor until 1941) and the mannerisms of Wallace Beery.
'The Prospecting Bear' continues the very good standard of the previous two cartoons 'The Bear That Couldn't Sleep' and 'The Fishing Bear'. Again, There is not much wrong here actually in 'The Prospecting Bear', though it is not hard to figure out where it's all going in a cartoon that is on the light side when it comes to the story. 'The Prospecting Bear' is an example of a cartoon that does everything very well, if just lacking the extra something. Barney's personality again is very well established and he proves again why he was deserving of his own series and it was sad he didn't last longer.
The animation is colourful and beautifully drawn with fluid movements and meticulous attention to detail. The amount of detail given to Barney's character design was incredibly and it was a shame that it became simplified later on and lost its special uniqueness. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed, even enhancing the impact of actions and gestures.
It's a beautifully timed and very funny cartoon too and it is easy to feel for Barney.
Barney is easy to like and one is with him every step of the way in his frustration. The mule character Benny is just as fun and endearing in his curiosity.
All in all, another very good Barney Bear cartoon. 8/10 Bethany Cox
'The Prospecting Bear' continues the very good standard of the previous two cartoons 'The Bear That Couldn't Sleep' and 'The Fishing Bear'. Again, There is not much wrong here actually in 'The Prospecting Bear', though it is not hard to figure out where it's all going in a cartoon that is on the light side when it comes to the story. 'The Prospecting Bear' is an example of a cartoon that does everything very well, if just lacking the extra something. Barney's personality again is very well established and he proves again why he was deserving of his own series and it was sad he didn't last longer.
The animation is colourful and beautifully drawn with fluid movements and meticulous attention to detail. The amount of detail given to Barney's character design was incredibly and it was a shame that it became simplified later on and lost its special uniqueness. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed, even enhancing the impact of actions and gestures.
It's a beautifully timed and very funny cartoon too and it is easy to feel for Barney.
Barney is easy to like and one is with him every step of the way in his frustration. The mule character Benny is just as fun and endearing in his curiosity.
All in all, another very good Barney Bear cartoon. 8/10 Bethany Cox
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