Winky the Watchman (1945) User Reviews

Hugh Harmon's Winky the Watchman is pretty good both educationally and entertainingly

[tavm · 7/10 · 28 May 2015]

Just discovered this on the Cartoon Research site with two versions of this cartoon linked to YouTube-one as is and one with commentary by Mark Kausler. The short begins and ends with live action wraparounds featuring Ralph Byrd (best known as Dick Tracy in some serials and a few of the feature films later on as well as the '50s TV series) as a dentist and child actress Janet Burston-who had just finished doing the last of the M-G-M Our Gang entries-as Mary along with some other kids not easily identifiable. The cartoon itself has a guard named Winky keeping a look at the shiny white gate he keeps walking over. But then he falls asleep which allows the "Bad-uns" to conquer and put holes in those teeth-like fixtures. Not to worry, though, since the "Good-uns" come to the rescue in the kind of battle you've seen in various World War II era cartoons...Producer/director Hugh Harmon really makes nice movements in the animation and maintains quite an entertaining pace throughout. Some of the live action sequence may be corny but overall, Winky the Watchman should be of great interest for animation buffs like yours truly.