{"id":84490,"date":"2024-03-27T00:01:58","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T07:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/?p=84490"},"modified":"2024-03-24T11:59:22","modified_gmt":"2024-03-24T18:59:22","slug":"in-the-center-ring-part-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/index.php\/in-the-center-ring-part-11\/","title":{"rendered":"In the Center Ring (Part 11)"},"content":{"rendered":"\"\"\n

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As the 1950’s progressed into its early years, the circus continued to maintain a position of prominence in American pop culture and in cinema, both in the animated and live-action worlds. Most notably during this time, one of the nation\u2019s most prestigious directors, no less than Cecil B. DeMille, would take home a gleaming gold statuette with Best Picture honors for 1952’s \u201cThe Greatest Show on Earth\u201d, a circus extravaganza starring Betty Hutton. This week\u2019s animated offerings range from formulaic to spectacle, including a classic Bugs Bunny, myopic Magoo madness, and a double-dose of Tom and Jerry climaxing in a delightful exercise in \u201cmind games\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"Casper Comes to Clown<\/strong> (Paramount\/Famous, Casper<\/em>, 8\/10\/51 – I. Sparber, dir.) – Typical formula Casper fare. Casper is laughed out of the haunted house for wanting to make friends. In his travels, he encounters a bear cub being pursued by a swarm of angry bees (shaped into the flying formation of a giant pair of scissors nipping at the cub\u2019s tail). The sight of Casper re-forms the swarm into the letters, \u201cA ghost\u201d, and results in their hasty exit. Casper names the cub Brownie (not exactly original, as Official Films home movies were already using the name for reissues of Van Beuren Cubby Bear cartoons). While tossing down an apple from a tree to the cub, Casper observes the bear ad-libbing the trick of balancing the apple on his nose before swallowing it. Casper retrieves a tin can full of water out of a stream and a long stick, and tries Brownie out at repeating the trick with the new props. Brownie does pretty good for a few moments in balancing the can atop the stick, but eventually gets doused in water. Casper is nevertheless convinced that Brownie has talent, and thinks he can train Brownie to be a trick bear with only a little more practice. Soon, Casper has Brownie following him, balanced atop a rolling hoop, juggling balls, and balancing the stick and can on his nose, all at the same time. Casper sings an original song, \u201cBrownie Is a Juggling Bear\u201d. Casper follows one path at a fork in the road, but Brownie, his nose high to balance the can, does not see Casper\u2019s turn, and continues straight ahead, across a highway. Brownie is spotted by a circus truck (for the Famous Circus – a direct plug of both Paramount\u2019s and the animation studio\u2019s long-standing surname), and the Ringmaster leaps out, stating, \u201cWhat an act for the circus!\u2019 Brownie is quickly picked up by the Ringmaster and deposited in the truck. Casper returns to the scene, discovering only the hoop and stick left behind. <\/p>\n

\"\"Casper wanders in search of his lost friend, and encounters a billboard advertising Brownie\u2019s act in the next town. He flies to the circus grounds, and peers in at one of the tent entrances without being noticed. Brownie\u2019s act is in progress, moving his performance onto a high wire above the arena. All eyes in the tent are upon him, including those of a small monkey, leaping with excitement atop the cage of a massive gorilla. The monkey obtains a small ball and begins tossing it around in imitation of the juggling. Then, the monkey spies a wooden peg inserted in the top of the cage door below him to secure it. Playfully, the monkey removes the peg, attempting to balance it atop his own nose. The cage door opens, and the gorilla is freed. The Ringmaster finds himself in the ape\u2019s shadow, and makes no attempt to take a stand, but instead quickly retreats. The crowd evacuates the tent rapidly, and all that are left are Casper, the Ringmaster in hiding, and Brownie high above, still oblivious to the goings-on with his head pointed high in the air. The gorilla uproots the two poles to which the high-wire is tied, shifting them up and down to tilt the wire in attempt to unbalance Brownie. Brownie continues to maintain his balance, so the gorilla pulls the two poles apart to extend the wire to full tightness, popping Brownie into the air. Brownie lands on one of the ape\u2019s giant paws, and the ape rears back with his other paw to give Brownie a smashing blow. Casper as usual flies in to defend, causing the ape\u2019s eyes to pop, and a quick retreat back to his cage. The ape reaches the cage with such speed, he smacks into the cage\u2019s rear wall, breaking himself up into the three \u201cHear no evil, see no evil\u201d monkeys. The film ends with Casper added into the act, now juggling himself while balanced on a hoop and stick atop Brownie\u2019s nose.<\/p>\n