Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "I Love a Parade" is a Warner Bros/Schlesinger Studios production that runs for slightly under 7 minutes and was directed by the very prolific Rudolf Ising (still in his 20s then) in 1932, so almost a decade before he won his Oscar. It had its 85th anniversary last year and it is a black-and-white cartoon that does not look too much like Warner Bros. to me to be honest. Early on it seems more like a cabinet of curiosities, before eventually the action moves to a circus at the end. The story is not too good as a plot is almost non-existent and we see interesting characters on some occasions, but there is never any elaboration on them sadly. The comedy really suffers from that as a consequence and even if this is still a few years from before the Golden Age of Animation, there is better stuff out there from the 1930s. Of course it needs to be said that this one's a sound film, which was not a given for that time. And actually the music, including the title song and another really famous tune we get to hear briefly, was probably the best aspect of the entire thing. Voice acting was okay too, but the negative aspects here, or lets say the weak and forgettable aspects, are still far more dominant than the positive aspects sadly. As a consequence, I give this one a thumbs-down. Not recommended. Oh and a little addition for the (too) politically correct: Depicting a Black man with elastic arms is not racism. Thank you.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . to the rash of Kaepernicking sweeping like a Dark Cloud across the face of 21st Century America (as summarized in the Oct. 12, 2016 Sports Section of USA TODAY) with this prophetic animated short, I LOVE A PARADE. (With Kaepernicking defined as Multimillionaire Athletes doing their best to give their salary payers--including America's Veterans, Current Service Folks, and the Very Law Enforcement People they rely upon to protect them during their little "games"--by competing to see who can contort themselves in the MOST disrespectful manner during the presentation of Our Flag & Anthem, it's not hard to see why many are calling for Kaepernickers to be summarily "Nat-Turnered," as spelled out by that masterful American Documentarian Nate Parker in his latest film--Nate's vivid description involves "axle grease"--please see BIRTH OF A NATION for the complete Nat-Turnering Recipe.) However, as about 80% of America's NBA millionaires promise to start Kaepernicking any day now, Warner Bros. warns basketball-player-salary-payers (aka, "The Fans") to use a milder, gentler recipe than Nat-Turnering which doesn't involve ANY axle grease: dribbling! I LOVE A PARADE's "India Rubber Man" shows how to dribble the Kaepernicking out of anyone.

tavm I Love a Parade is a Merrie Melodies cartoon from Hugh Harmon-Rudolf Ising Productions in association with Leon Schesinger and distributed by Warner Bros. The title tune is played throughout the short with various circus acts going on. See Siamese pig twins as one takes a cigar puff with the smoke coming out of the other's mouth! See an Indian guy who looks like Gandhi (before he became known) play his clarinet! See the lion tamer put his head in lion's mouth and then vice versa! And see a mouse who looks uncannily like Mickey! (Harmon and Ising once worked for Disney on a character who resembled the Famous Mouse except for one thing: the ears. That character was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit) The way the title song plays, both vocally and instrumentally, makes this a pretty entertaining animated short though hardly anything special. Worth a look, though, for any animation buffs especially the Warner Bros. kind. So long, folks!