AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL CARTOON REVOLUTION Volume 6

Despite the funny characters and all the wacky things they do, these cartoons are serious. So when you watch this 6th volume of Something Weird’s Industrial Cartoons series, you may laugh, but you must also take notes.

MAN ALIVE! (1952; color) has nervous Ed afraid to find out what’s wrong with his car engine until it’s too late and the car dies. That same fear prevents Ed from going to the doctor about his stomach because if it’s cancer, it needs to be treated before it spreads. Or he’ll end up like his car. From UPA.

THE TRAITOR WITHIN (1946; color) is another cancer cartoon, this time stressing misconceptions about the disease (no, it’s not contagious) while explaining how it develops, how it spreads – “The malignant horde is on its way to invade other parts of the body!” – and how it can be cured. So watch for the danger signs. Please. Something Weird’s best customers are the ones that are still alive.

THE VOICE OF YOUR BUSINESS (color) has the boss of Short & Company trying to figure out why his business isn’t as good as Long & Company. The answer, of course, is telephone etiquette! And speaking of etiquette, is it really good etiquette to have a narrator of a cartoon short speak entirely in rhyme?

THE INCREDIBLE VOYAGE OF MARK O’GULLIVER (1967; color) has the Hanna-Barbera studio showing us what happens when a congressman washes up on the shores of Animalia, an island where talking animals have a government patterned after the U.S. The animals try to help him build a steamship to get back home but everything quickly bogs down in bureaucratic red tape. The obvious solution: rewrite the laws! Let Big Business do what it wants!

WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THAT BREAD? (color) explains why bread costs so much, uh, bread. Get it? Two reporters investigate the 65¢ profit of a loaf of “Mother Miller” bread and learn the cruel reality of how profit is divided. For reasons obscure, Mother Miller herself is portrayed as a Mae West caricature.

RIGHT, AND WRONG AND WHAT'S IN BETWEEN (color) has two cartoon rabbits trying to learn the meaning of truth. What is true and what is false? Unfortunately, sarcasm is not addressed.

ALEC IN WONDERLAND (1961; color) concerns “a few fallacies about beverage alcohol.” A commuter on a train falls asleep, dreams about Wonderland, and learns that having booze in moderation is not only a good thing but actually encouraged! Yup, this is a pro-liquor short sponsored by (no surprise) “the Beverage Industries.” And remember: “A light drink permits a fellow to enjoy life and ease a troubled mind!” In fact, once he gets home, Alec’s wife immediately serves him an evening cocktail! Wow.

HOME SWEET… HEALTHIER HOME (color) is something you too can achieve if you just learn to use Lysol disinfectant everywhere! Seriously, everywhere.

YOUR FRIEND, THE WATER (color) concerns a living drop of water that comes out of the kitchen sink, shrinks a boy, takes him thru the plumbing, and shows the boy where the drop came from. Which kind of makes one wish for a drought.