Bernice Hansen

Hugh Harman's brilliant 1939 Oscar-Nominated parable Peace On Earth, highlights MGM/UA Home Video's animated shorts Christmas Package. Also included is Hugh Harman-Rudolph Ising's Alias St. Nick, a comedic tale about a young cynical mouse who believes there "ain't no Santa Claus." The Pups' Christmas follows two adorable puppies as they tangle with cornucopia of gifts, some of which turn out to be quite menacing! The Peachy Cobbler is a heartwarming retelling of the sweet Shoemaker and the Elves, directed by Tex Avery. A sickly old shoemaker feeds his last piece of bread to some birds who then decide to do him a favor and fix all the shoes in his shop!

The Three Bears meets Little Red Riding Hood, told in the style of Tex Avery.

A series of typical Avery spot gags set around wild animals. A dainty deer drinks very loudly and rudely from a lake. A pack rat swaps an egg and an acorn, then back again ("monotonous, isn't it?"). A flock of ducks lands; a hunter fires; all fly away, except one with an American flag on its side. A termite fells a huge tree. A cowboy rides across the plains well, no; his horse is just slapping itself with the front hooves. A coyote calls to its mate: "Hey, Mabel, come on out!" A camel contradicts the narrator, saying he's really thirsty. A wild dog: because of the lumbermen.

Woody's friends warn him that the groundhog has predicted a blizzard. Unconcerned, Woody decides not to go South with his pals. Soon enough, the blizzard sweeps in and destroys the loony woodpecker's stash of food. Facing starvation, a glimmer of hope arrives in the form of a cat. The cat is also starving and it turns into a match of brawn and wits to see who eats who.

A series of gags based on Mother Goose fairy tales and stories.

Andy Panda and his dog Balmer plant a victory garden, while a pesky rooster eats their plants. Andy wants to plant a new garden with the help of his dog. Unfortunately, everything goes wrong for both of them. Andy finds that the ground is hard as rocks and he can't dig; he has to use a drill. The dog chases a worm and gets stuck in a rake. The worm whacks him and leads him on a merry chase through a garden hose, turning it into a snake which blasts the poor dog in the face with water. Meanwhile, Andy's seeds are vacuumed up by a rooster, which he attacks with a sickle. The rooster lands on the dog. The battle rages with everything in a heap. The garden is ruined... or is it? The super-grow fertilizer is working wonders.

Three kittens are cruel and mean to an orphan kitty. Their mother adopts the little orphan.

Little Elmer Elephant has a crush on Tillie Tiger and his affection is reciprocated. Trouble is, the pint-sized pachyderm is beset by bullies who ridicule his trunk and make his life miserable. Then a conflagration breaks out at Tillie's tree house.

It's St. Valentine's Day. Cupid is having fun arranging, while a young devil is making mischief sabotaging, love affairs.

A series of gags at a dog show, including a stage revue. A dog gets into a trunk of roller skates and crashes through the stage show.

Warner Bros. cartoon parody of Uncle Tom's Cabin. One of the “Censored 11” banned from TV syndication by United Artists in 1968 for racist stereotyping.

Public Rat Number One takes along Baby-Face Rat to steal the cheese out of the kitchen icebox. The dishes in the kitchen become animated and chase the marauders, capturing the youngster while the gangster rat escapes. Baby-Face is brought before Policeman Sugar Bowl and given the third degree. He escapes, is chased by the frankfurter-bloodhounds but manages to get away. Arriving back in the rat-hole, he beats up the big rat for leading him astray into a life of crime. He turns the big rat over to the police, and then broadcasts over the radio that crime does not pay.

A mouse fakes blindness and plays his fiddle; he returns home, where it becomes apparent he's rich. The tax collector arrives, and he pulls various levers and presses buttons to make his home look like a shack. The tax collector can't catch him. A cat sees this and tries baiting a trap with a gold coin; that fails, but a gold crown on his tooth lures the mouse in. Or does it? The mouse telling this story to his grandchildren looks oddly familiar...

A hungry little pig eats a couple of pies off the windowsill. When it's time for dinner, he ties together the spaghetti of all the other little pigs and eats it all. That night, he has a nightmare where he is force-fed by a mad scientist.

Porky Pig runs a game refuge. Despite the abundant signs to the contrary, Jean-Baptiste the trapper sets numerous traps, ensnaring many animals.

A visit to a Hollywood nightclub, featuring caricatures of, among others, Walter Winchell, Hugh Herbert, W.C. Fields, Katharine Hepburn, Ned Sparks, Johnny Weissmuller, Lupe Velez, John Barrymore, Harpo Marx, George Arliss, Mae West, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Clark Gable, Edna May Oliver, Gary Cooper, The Dionne Quintuplets, Groucho Marx, Helen Morgan, Wallace Beery, Edward G. Robinson and George Raft.

Wildcat Willie, one of Walter Lantz's lesser known characters, is the protagonist here, a mean widdle kid who runs away from home and masquerades as an orphan. Trouble ensues when Wildcat's new family suspects Wildcat is a rat - er, wildcat. Lots of fast action and violence (Wildcat wields a mean axe).

A fox captures two young squirrels while they're playing "Robin Hood". Their small younger friend uses his ingenuity to try to rescue them.

Two bear cubs, one black, one brown, frolic near their sleeping father.

Porky and Pinky go to the beach. As Porky tries to nap, Pinky keeps whacking him with his little shovel. Then he fakes drowning in a shallow puddle. Porky enters a swim race, and Pinky sets a fake shark to follow him.

A rat comes between two mice in love.

A mouse is trying to free himself from a trap when a cat arrives. The mouse, desperate, asks if the cat has heard the story of the lion and the mouse.

A hen adopts an abandoned egg which hatches into a turtle. The baby turtle becomes the butt of all the real chicks' jokes until danger threatens.

Old King Cole marries the Woman in the Shoe. As soon as they get home, the babies show up from every drawer and closet, much to the king's chagrin.

Porky and Beans are prospectors during the Gold Rush. When a villain steals Porky's bag of loot, Beans races to get it back so he can marry Porky's daughter Little Kitty.

Mama cat is teaching her kittens to catch mice. Meanwhile, across the basement, mama mouse is teaching her little ones how to avoid cats.

While the rural town of Hicksville anticipates the arrival of one Miss Glory, the bellhop at her modest hotel falls asleep and dreams of paging her at a luxurious metropolitan high rise hotel.

Johnny Smith enters an America where the Indians behave like 1930s average Americans. When he is arrested, the girl Poker Huntas rescues and elopes with him.

A stern classical music teacher becomes a father of four musically-inclined sons, but when one of them demonstrates a preference for jazz music, his father kicks him out of the house.

Momma parrot is teaching her young-uns to say "Polly want a cracker" but little Peter doesn't want a cracker, he wants to be a sailor like dad. Mom tells him what a no-account his dad really was, setting sail for Hawaii ("no, Maw, it was Catalina") right after the kids were born. Peter is unswayed, and takes off. He turns a barrel into a boat, and crews it with an annoyingly talkative duckling, then sets sail on a lake. They get caught in a thunderstorm (the duck loves it). Peter calls for help and momma comes running, but the duck has already saved him. But he still wants to be a sailor.

A baseball team full of anthropomorphic animals play on.

An old man is reading a book by the fire. The clock strikes 8, and he heads off to bed. From his book, Alice in Wonderland, out crawls Alice, who turns the radio to the title tune. This wakes up Rip Van Winkle; Alice then rouses the Three Musketeers, who sing a bit. Next tune: Nero fiddles, Rome burns, and Cleopatra sizzles in a slinky dance. Uncle Tom sings a spiritual as Mr. Hyde sneaks up and abducts Alice. Tarzan to the rescue, along with several other characters who mount a spirited attack using such office supplies as pen points, matches, and a fountain pen. They box him up and carry him off.

The mice are on the loose after hours in a doctor's office, playing with the various pieces of medical apparatus. Susie Mouse is caged for research until her lover Johnnie frees her. A mouse orchestra plays a swinging wedding song. But throughout, a cat is stalking...

Porky and another contractor are competing to submit the lower bid for a new city hall. When they submit identical bids, the city has them compete, whichever finishes first gets the job.

Sniffles the mouse has to get an owl's egg for a scavenger hunt, but once he's gotten it, the egg hatches and draws the attention of the mouse-eating father owl.

Egghead obtains a magic lamp and proceeds to entertain the Sultan in order to win the hand of his beautiful daughter.

A little mouse runs away from home and goes to sea. Aboard the ship, a rat starts to educate the mouse on the ways of sea-farin' mice by sending him to the galley to steal cheese from the Captain's table. But the Captain's parrot, a sea-goin' snitch, spots the thievery and squawks loud and long about it. That brings the whole crew down after the mouse, who gets away and learns that there is no place like home.

Cinderella goes to the ball, where she meets Prince Charming (Egghead).

Petunia Pig and Porky Pig, each from two families, declare peace between their respective families, the Martins and the McCoys, who have been violently feuding all this time. The happy disposition doesn't last long, and soon the Martins and McCoys are fighting again.

Emily the chicken lives in Hickville but dreams of Hollywood. Her chance comes when director J. Megga-Phone happens to drive past and gives her his card.

A child would rather listen to the radio than go to bed, but mother insists. He sleeps, but at midnight, his toys come alive and put on a show for him (much of it recycled, though often with different backgrounds, from earlier cartoons).

When Mama hen takes her chicks out to get breakfast, little Wilbur is soaked in a sudden rainstorm and comes down with a head cold. Mama puts him to bed, then goes back out to get the doctor. A conniving weasel, seeing Mama leave, disguises himself as a doctor and comes calling on the unattended chicks.

It's recital day at the schoolhouse. First up: Porky, who recites The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. A nervous kitten recites Mary Had a Little Lamb. The puppies Ham and Ex sing the title song. Oliver Owl plays the piano; Beans the cat puts a cat and dog inside, and they play a tune as well.

Two baby squirrels ask grandpa to explain what "men" are when he comes in singing "peace on earth, goodwill to men". Grandpa tells the story of man's last war. This classic animation short was an Academy Award Best Short Subject, Cartoons nominee.

Porky Pig goes on a picnic.

A young worm is chased by the Early Bird, but then a snake and two crows join the chase.

2 puppets are left to their uncle's attention who works at the Fire house.

A dark and stormy night in a drugstore. The druggist mixes a potion and falls asleep. The skull-and-crossbones on the bottle comes to life and drips the potion on the druggist.

Uncle Beans and the kids are off to visit haunted ship 'The Phantom' trapped in the ice, hoping to find pirate treasure. They encounter all manner of ghosts and goblins, but eventually find what they've been looking for. When Beans tries to warm up by throwing some chairs in a stove and lighting it, he thaws out a pair of pirates that chase the trio around. The treasure-seekers are eventually forced back into their plane and they fly away.

Mrs. Mouse is reading "A Visit from St. Nicholas" to her brood when a cat tries to break in. The cat overhears them arguing about the existence of Santa, so he dresses up accordingly.

Mother rabbit sends her charges off to school. Peter needs a bit more attention; he's hiding with the chickens, using a feather duster to stand in for a tail. On his way to school, Peter starts to sneak into a farmer's field, but is caught by three schoolmates. They threaten to tell the teacher, and Peter heads off to school.

The introduction of Lantz's little black-boy character, L'il Eight Ball, finds him going to bed in his small cabin and being visited by a baby ghost. He avers he is not afraid, and his isn't, so the little ghost transports him to a haunted mill where the adult ghosts hang out. They run the little hero through all the standard ghost tests and, while he is shaken, he still will not admit to being scared.

The introduction cartoon for Petunia Pig deals with Porky Pig's courtship with her. Once he's won her hand in marriage, he fantasizes about his future with her, which doesn't seem very appealing.

A radio crooner spirits a girl away to the big city only to drop her like a hot potato.

W.C.Fields enters the Warmer Bros. Studio. Beans tries to drive in, but the guard throws him and his car against a tree. Charlie Chaplin drives in, followed by Oliver Hardy on foot - but we see that it's really Beans in disguise. Oliver Owl is directing a picture; Beans sneaks onto the stage. He's watching from a catwalk when someone knocks him off, into the middle of the scene. Beans is thrown off the set, right into the set of a Frankenstein movie. He accidentally brings the robotic monster to life, and it crashes into the original studio, eating the camera. Beans tries to stop the monster, but is sent flying. He lands against a wind machine. which chops up the monster.

A Walter Lantz Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon released November 21, 1932.

In a world wherein cars act like humans, Junior wants to be a taxi, but his mother wants him to grow up to be a nice touring car like his father. Mom doesn't know that Junior sometimes skips school and ventures into the city to ride in traffic, drink hi-test gas, and race trains.

Prologue: various animals enjoy winter sports. Beans sees a notice of a ski race, and decides to enter. But so does a bad guy (who looks more than a little like Disney's Pete). The bad guy sabotages the other contestants in various ways, takes short cuts, etc. But Beans manages to tie up the bad guy in his own trip line. A duck riding a dachshund knocks the bad guy out for a while; he and Beans trade places a few more times before Beans wins the race, just barely.

Blackie, a tough little kitten, dreams he runs away from home and falls afoul of Fagin and his school of gangsters.

A Walter Lantz Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon released April 21, 1932.