'THE DISCONTENTED CANARY', MGM ANIMATED CARTOON

Today, The Grandma is relaxing at home. She loves cartoons, and she has been watching some old ones. 

 

The Grandma has chosen The Discontented Canary, an MGM creation that was released to film theatres on a day like today in 1934.

 

Happy Harmonies is the name of a series of thirty-seven animated cartoons distributed by MGM.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of feature films and television programs. One of the world's oldest film studios, MGM's corporate headquarters are located in Beverly Hills, California.

MGM was formed on April 17, 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Pictures.

The new company grew and became one of the big five film studios of Hollywood. The studio built a stable of stars under contract, its motto was more stars than there are in heaven. It was the studio that produced numerous big musicals and won many Oscars. The company was a complete production house, from studios and backlots to full technical facilities.

More information: MGM

The Discontented Canary is a 1934 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Happy Harmonies short directed by Rudolf Ising.

The cartoon begins with a canary in his cage and a parrot singing. The canary wants to get out of his cage, but he is locked inside. Then, their owner arrives. But she accidentally leaves the cage open. Then, the canary flies out and goes outside. He descends into a garden, and a cat slyly sneaks up on him. The weather then gets windy as a thunderstorm arrives in. Then, the cat chases the canary around the garden. Suddenly, a lightning bolt strikes the cat's tail, and he runs away screaming in agony. Realizing the outside world isn't as safe as his cage, the canary flies back home and sings as the cartoon ends.

More information: Cinema Cats

Happy Harmonies is the name of a series of thirty-seven animated cartoons distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and produced by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising between 1934 and 1938.

Produced in Technicolor, these cartoons were very similar to Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies. They would occasionally feature Bosko, a character who starred in the first Looney Tunes shorts that the duo produced for Leon Schlesinger. After the first two releases, the design of Bosko changed from an ink blot to a realistic African American boy.

The two final titles in the series were originally produced by Harman and Ising as Silly Symphonies cartoons. Disney originally had Harman and Ising create three shorts for Disney, but when they only kept one of their three shorts, Merbabies, the copyrights to the other two (Pipe Dreams and The Little Bantamweight) were sold to MGM who released them as Happy Harmonies.

More information: Cartoons Research

 I've never stopped loving cartoons.
I loved cartoons as a kid.
I can still look at them and enjoy them.

Ed Asner