When Magoo Flew

This rant isn't new for me, but as this film earned the Oscar for Best Animated Short, I feel it wouldn't hurt to do it once again. In the 40s and much of the 50s, Hollywood was producing some of the greatest animated shorts in history. Amazing characters like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tom & Jerry, Droopy and the like were coming into their own and the quality of the toons were amazing...simply amazing. However, starting in the very early 50s, some cynical cheapskates decided that cartoons were mostly watched by children and that children were stupid, so they wouldn't notice or care when cheap animation was substituted. Low frame-rates, lousy backgrounds and poor animation quality was in and one of the worst perpetrators of this catastrophe (Columbia Pictures) was actually rewarded for making wretched and cheap cartoons. Believe it or not, cartoons like Gerald McBoing-Boing and Mr. Magoo were getting Oscars while great products like those of respected studios were being overlooked. Had crack been popular then, I might be able to explain the Academy's decisions--but I can't.

This is one of many Mr. Magoo cartoons. And while some hate them for their political correctness, I cringed at WHEN MAGOO FLEW's horrid animation--third-rate throughout and an offense against humanity. The story was dumb but the animation made my skin crawl. And to think it got an Oscar!!!!