| Buddy in Africa | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ben Hardaway |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
| Starring | Jackie Morrow The Four Blackbirds[1] |
| Music by | Norman Spencer |
| Animation by | Don Williams, Jack Carr |
| Color process | Black-and-white |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 6 minutes |
| Language | English |
Buddy in Africa is an American animatedshort film, released byWarner Bros. under theLooney Tunes series on July 6, 1935.[2] It starsBuddy, the second star of the series.[3]Ben Hardaway supervised the short; musical direction was byNorman Spencer. Notably,Jack Carr, who provided Buddy's voice, is a creditedanimator on this cartoon. The shortBuddy in Africa was first shown at the Whittier Theatre inWhittier, California on its release day.
The film opens toAfrica, where the native people do a series of strange things. One mows the grass forming the roof of his hut; another twists the bone in his companion's hair, then his mouth clamps down on and crushes a native fruit; still another throws his companions in sport, as though they werehorseshoes. Agorilla attempts to hail an approaching car, driven by none other than Buddy, who does not stop, but rides on, with his trailer marked "Buddy's Variety Store," whilst whistling "Marchin' Towards Ya, Georgia." He rolls on into a native village, where the excited people quickly gather round. The trailer opens, the Africans take what wares they desire from the shelves, with Buddy's obliging help. In this way, Somusical instruments,frying pans, andRoman candles get distributed.
The scene briefly flashes to the same gorilla from before, then back to the natives, who fool around with their Roman candles. Buddy now markets his famous junglebitters to the people, the consumption of which compels the natives to perform a musical number ("Marchin' Towards Ya Georgia," again.) Our Hero then pursues a naughtymonkey that has taken a bottle of Buddy's bitters. After searching around and under his car, Buddy finally apprehends the wayward primate, takes the bottle, and spanks the creature.
Running off into the jungle, the monkey encounters thehitch-hiker gorilla from before, and tells of its abuse by Buddy. Walking proudly, the gorilla and the monkey enter the village after pummeling the native guarding the gate. The gorilla approaches Buddy as he inflates atire; Buddy obviously fears the beast. After a brief scuffle near the tire and air pump, Buddy flees to a nearbyguard tower, to which the gorilla chases him, with the tire and pump as a flail. The tire, upon being flung, bounces back, striking the gorilla and knocking the adversary into a tree. The tree bends backward under the gorilla's weight and sends the creature flying into the guard tower. The tower breaks, trapping Buddy and his rival under the rubble. The little monkey comes over to squawk in complaint. In response, the gorilla strikes the tire from before, which is still attached to the air pump. The pump's lever extends such and sends the monkey flying far into the distance. Buddy and the beast shake hands in a sort of triumph.
This is the second Buddy cartoon after whichBeans the Cat delivers the traditionalLooney Tunes valediction, "that's all, folks!" For more on this, see the relevant section of the article onBuddy's Bug Hunt.
