I don’t know why we’ve *never* put this cartoon up in the run of Thunderbean Thursdays…I was honestly surprised to not see it up!

First, a little Thunderbean news:

I feel like I’m getting back on track after some weeks working on finishing touches on a project I’ve been working on for some time. The Rainbow Parades 2 set should be going to replication within a few weeks, finally,and we’re preparing and dubbing a bunch of special sets to go out this month as well. We have a new special Christmas set that was listed last week at the Thunderbean Shop as well, and we’re starting to ship those this Friday. The Bunin Alice set is moving forward as well, and so many others.

Willougby’s Magic Hat (1943) is one of the stranger Columbia cartoons in several ways, but also one of the best. Directed by Bob Wickersham, with layout by Zack Schwartz, the film shares a kinship with the WW2-Produced UPA films as well as Hell Bent for Election (1944), where Schwartz would land a few years later.

The film stars a little character named Willoughby who tries on a hat that shows up in modern times, but is made from Samson’s hair. Just after discovering his newfound strength when the hat is on his head, he bumps into a damsel in distress, being shaken and choked by a giant human robot of some sort.

While the story is just survivable, the film probably has the most stunning layout in any Columbia cartoon, often framed tightly for extreme angles, drawn simply without much rendering. One wonders if Frank Tashlin short stint at the studio (in 1941 and 42) had some influence on the artists that made this production, even though by the time it was made he had left for Warner’s again. It certainly has a lot of Tashlin-esque exuberance.

The animation throughout the film is just fine, although not outstanding. The first minute and a half or so is done in a UPA-esque style timing-wise, with strong poses and very limited animation. The soundtrack is also a little strange in its editing and effects. It’s a really fun watch and fees oddly familiar in it’s timing sensibilities.

I imagine many of you are familiar with this cartoon, but for those that are not, it’s essential viewing for classic cartoon fans.

Here’s my old 16mm print, scanned some years back. If you’ve never seen this one I hope you like it!