Nat King Cole sang it best: “Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer!” That’s exactly what we will do over the next several days, as Memorial Day Weekend unofficially kicks off the summer season.
With this easygoing season comes summer vacation. In 2021, 2024, and 2025, summer was celebrated with classic cartoons centering on summer vacations.
From these articles came suggestions from Cartoon Research readers for more classic cartoons on summer vacation, and here are just three of them:
“The Land of Fun” (1941), Columbia – suggested by Paul Groh
This “Columbia Favorite,” directed by Sid Marcus, features a number of gags that take satirical jabs at vacationers. The short parodies a travelogue, opening with a book that previews activities on vacation. The narrator (Frank Bingham) tells us we’re going to see “charm, beauty and good taste everywhere.” At this point, we cut away from two women sunbathing to a man sitting on his luggage with a toe that pops out of his sock.
From here, it’s a parade of jokes, including a lovely waterfall that seems to go on forever, then ends with a vacationer catching a tiny drop in a cup, a sheep herder (Mel Blanc) on the highland passage, who is asked how’s it’s going and answers “Not Baaa-ad,” snow capped mountains that acknowledge each other with such greetings as “Hi Sierra,” a beach goer who must walk across the heads of sunbathers, as the beach is so jam-packed and fisherman who wait while a fish down below shaves with their electric razor that’s plugged into an electric eel.
There’s also the recurring gag of “Joe Tourist,” who continually attempts to pass the car in front of him on a dangerous mountain road, until finally giving up, leaves his car behind and rides away on a bicycle.
The short ends with the sun literally sinking into the horizon, boiling the water and burning the rear end of a duck floating by.
The Land of Fun features a number of well-timed gags, set against lush, beautiful backgrounds, both of which remind us that while vacations can be picturesque, they can also come with a lot of work and provide a lot of laughs.
“Bee at the Beach” (1950), Disney – suggested by Tony Ginorio
This Jack Hannah-directed Donald Duck short brings the Disney star together with Spike the Bee, an entertaining supporting player from this era of Disney shorts.
As the short opens, Spike flies over a lovely background of the beach. He finds an open spot and is about to take it, when Donald (Clarence Nash) stakes his claim and puts up his umbrella, but Spike (James Mac Donald) still sets up his umbrella, (a flower), and a clam shell.
What then follows is Donald tormenting poor little Spike by stepping on him, and rinsing his towel off on him, while Spike gets revenge by using his stinger to poke holes in the straw of Donald’s soda bottle.
When Donald takes his raft out on the water, Spike deflates it. Donald manages to reinflate it but is surrounded by sharks. Spike seizes upon this situation and begins stinging holes in the raft, while Donald attempts to plug up the holes with his hands and webbed feet.
Spike cuts a hole in the bottom, causing Donald’s rear end to fall into the water, and the bee taunts the shark with the scent of one of Donald’s feathers, with the shark then pursuing Donald. This results in some good moments between Donald and the shark, including one with the shark’s tongue beckoning Donald to come forward.
It all ends with Donald being chased into the horizon by the shark, while Spike “buzzes” a laugh.
With animation from Bill Justice, Bob Carlson, Judge Whitaker, and Volus Jones, there is plenty of well-choreographed comedy here and solid animation of the two rivals. This Disney short also includes an opening shot of wall-to-wall beach umbrellas that will ring true with anyone who has ventured to the seaside during summer.
“It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown” (1969) – suggested by Doug
In one of the opening scenes of this Peanuts special, Charlie Brown asks Linus if he knows why English teachers go to college for four years. When Linus replies, “No,” Charlie Brown answers furiously, “So they can learn how to make stupid little kids write stupid essays about what they did all stupid summer!”
So begins this Peanuts adventure, which actually opens on the first day of school and “flashes back” to summer vacation, as Charlie Brown (Peter Robbins), Linus (Glen Gilger), Lucy (Pamelyn Ferdin), and the gang write their essays about summer vacation when they were all together at camp.
While at camp, the boys and girls compete in various events, including swimming and softball. The boys are defeated in each. Looking for a win, the boys challenge the girls to an arm-wrestling contest, with Snoopy disguised as the mighty wrestler “The Masked Marvel.”
During the arm-wrestling competition, Snoopy kisses Lucy, and pins her arm, but Lucy declares the kiss a foul.
When we return to the first day of school, Charlie Brown receives a “C-“ on his essay. “Oh well,” says Linus, “it was a short summer, Charlie Brown.” To this, Charlie Brown responds, “And it looks like it’s going to be a long winter.”
Directed by Bill Melendez, It Was a Short Summer Charlie Brown brings the usual on-point humor from Charles M. Schulz, (evidenced by such lines as when Charlie Brown says “I feel like I’ve been drafted!,” when he finds out that Lucy has signed everyone up for Camp). And all of this is combined with nostalgia and memories that those who have ever attended summer camp will no doubt feel.
Here’s the first three minutes…
And, as we enter these longer days and endless nights, feel free to drop more of your favorite cartoons that celebrate summer vacation in the comments below. Wishing all a safe and happy summer.
Michael Lyons is a freelance writer, specializing in film, television, and pop culture. He is the author of the book, Drawn to Greatness: Disney’s Animation Renaissance, which chronicles the amazing growth at the Disney animation studio in the 1990s. In addition to Animation Scoop and Cartoon Research, he has contributed to Remind Magazine, Cinefantastique, Animation World Network and Disney Magazine. He also writes a blog, Screen Saver: A Retro Review of TV Shows and Movies of Yesteryear and his interviews with a number of animation legends have been featured in several volumes of the books, Walt’s People. You can visit Michael’s web site Words From Lyons at: 
Thanks for taking my suggestion, Michael!
I recall seeing a TV special about Charles Schulz in the 1970s, in which he singled out the arm-wrestling scene in “It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown” as the finest piece of animation — or should I call it “graphic blandishment”? — in any of his television productions. It’s certainly a great scene; one can really feel the strain of the combatants as they battle it out.
As a Terrytoons fan, I’d like to recommend “Swiss Cheese Family Robinson” (1947). Mighty Mouse spends most of this cartoon vacationing on Miami Beach, using his cape as a beach towel, while the unfortunate Robinsons are marooned on a cannibal island. Responding to their message in a bottle, our hero rushes to the rescue and saves the day in the nick of time. Once the cannibals are defeated, the island is developed into a popular summer resort, where Mighty Mouse receives the grateful kisses of comely Miss Robinson on the boardwalk. What’s a summer vacation without a summer romance?
Mickey and the gang hit the beach in “Hawaiian Holiday”. It served as the final segment of the Disneyland episode “On Vacation”, with new animation of Jiminy Cricket linking shorts about various recreations. The setup is that Walt’s on vacation, and Jiminy is charged with rounding up everybody for that week’s episode.
Tom and Jerry and Herman and Katnip took their acts to the beach, where both cats were distracted by beach kittens. Bugs Bunny, tunneling to the seashore, twice found himself in the desert (once accompanied by Daffy Duck). Goofy goes to Hawaii solo in “Hello Aloha”. And Zagreb’s “Ersatz” likewise appears to be set by the sea.
While there were plenty of beach cartoons, there were possibly even more about camping, especially if you include scouting-themed toons. Most of Yogi Bear’s adventures appear to take place during the tourist season, although he’s technically not vacationing himself.
Goofy had two memorable road trips: a short where he ends up relaxing in jail, and a movie where he drags son Max all over the country.
Does Popeye on shore leave count? Or for that matter, any character casually wandering around an exotic setting? One can debate whether “Mickey’s Trailer” is a vacation vehicle or the gang’s actual home (it was the Depression).
I may have listed some of these before, but here are a few of my favorites anyway.
The first handful are compilations of several cartoons, crafted during the heyday of the Disneyland and Walt Disney Presents TV show. These include “On Vacation with Mickey Mouse and Friends” in which Jimmy Cricket plays host to Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, and Goofy as they try to create or re-create a vacation special for television. Also, “Highway to Trouble,” in which Donald Duck takes his nephews on a cross country trip to study geography firsthand with new animation blending with pre-existing shorts and culminating in a delightful sepia-toned piece which blends live action and animation as Donald and the nephews visit Disneyland. Another one is “Duck Flies Coop” where Donald temporarily escapes from the Disney Studio to experience life on the outside, and then of course ends up going back to work for Walt. Then there is the ultimate vacation package in “The Ranger of Brownstone” which presents the kind of bear vs. ranger hijinks that would later play out in the Yogi Bear cartoons.
Several of the Magoo cartoons involve a vacation. My favorites include “Magoo Goes West,” “Rock Hound Magoo,” and “Scoutmaster Magoo” Jumping ahead a couple of decades from the series “What’s New Mr. Magoo” I also enjoy “Choo Choo Magoo” and “Magoo’s Pizza” the latter of which involves a trip to Italy with Magoo as oblivious as always.
The Flintstones episode “Fred El Terrifico” shows the Stone Age family on a trip to their version of Mexico, which contains many delights as well as jewel thieves. I also enjoy “The Rock Vegas Story” which underscores Fred’s chronic gambling problem and also provides a delightful musical number performed by Barney and Betty. The feature film “The Man Called Flintstone” includes a trip to Paris and Rome. The Jetsons get in the vacation act with “Las Venus” and “Dude Planet.” And the feature film “Hey There It’s Yogi Bear” provides a detailed look at Jellystone Park as well as other points of interest as Yogi and company make their way to the Big Apple. Other vacation type antics are found in the later films “Yogi’s Great Escape,” “Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose,” and “Yogi and the Invasion of the Space Bears.”
Taking a vacation with cartoon favorites can enhance any cartoon fan’s summer, for sure!
One of my favorite toons with Heckle & Jeckle is “Hula Hula Land”. It’s a good beach chase film.