Book Revue

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Book Revue
Title card
Directed byRobert Clampett
Story byWarren Foster
Music byCarl W. Stalling
Animation byRobert McKimson
Rod Scribner
Manny Gould
C. Melendez
Layouts byThomas McKimson
Backgrounds byCornett Wood
Color processTechnicolor
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • January 5, 1946 (1946-01-05) (original)
  • May 19, 1951 (1951-05-19) (Blue Ribbon reissue)
Running time
7:01
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Book Revue is a 1946 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Bob Clampett.[1] The cartoon was released on January 5, 1946, and features Daffy Duck.[2]

A semi-remake of Clampett's earlier short A Coy Decoy (1941), it also incorporates plot elements of Frank Tashlin's Speaking of the Weather (1937) and Have You Got Any Castles (1938)

Plot[edit]

A collection of books becomes animated after midnight, starting with the Complete Works of Shakespeare, depicted as clockwork mechanisms. The narrative transitions to various book covers, including Young Man with a Horn, where a caricature of Harry James plays jazz music. An emaciated caricature of Frank Sinatra sings amidst the revelry, captivating other book cover characters. A jam session ensues, featuring a variety of characters from different books.

Daffy Duck interrupts the festivities and commands the music to stop. He reminisces in a fake Russian accent before inadvertently teasing the Big Bad Wolf, who pursues Daffy through various book scenes. The police apprehend the Wolf, who is then sentenced by a magazine cover judge.

The celebration is short-lived as the Wolf reappears, causing chaos. Eventually, the characters dance to "Carolina in the Morning," but the Wolf emerges from Dante's Inferno, demanding an end to the dancing.

Voice cast[edit]

Influence[edit]

  • Later releases of the short had the title card replaced with Warner Brothers' "Blue Ribbon" title card on which the title was misspelled (see above). The original title card has since been located and the fully restored short can be seen on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Vol. 2 four-DVD box set, the Looney Tunes Spotlight Collection: Vol 2 two-DVD set and on the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2 Blu-ray set[4]
  • In 1994 it was voted #45 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.[5]
  • Animaniacs paid tribute to the short in an episode segment titled "Video Review" (first aired on November 23, 1993), which takes place in a video rental store and sees Yakko, Wakko, and Dot facing off against a tyrannosaurus rex who emerges from the cover of a copy of Jurassic Park, in a similar vein to Daffy squaring off against the Big Bad Wolf.
  • In 2015, the image of Daffy Duck in a zoot suit became an internet meme on 4chan. Posters will frequently post images of Daffy proclaiming that he is "literally them" or reply to images with sentiments such as "Where did you get this pic of me?". The image later became associated with the anime series Jojo's Bizarre Adventure due to Daffy's similarity to characters from the franchise.
  • In the mobile game Looney Tunes World of Mayhem, Daffy appears as Zoot Suit Daffy, with the same outfit used in the short.

Production notes[edit]

The film was reissued in 1951, as Book Review.[4] The original title is a pun, as a revue is a variety show, while a review is an evaluation of an artwork; this pun is however not retained in the title of the reissue.

Reception[edit]

Animation historian Steve Schneider writes that many of the cartoon's references are dated, "but who cares? ... Better simply to revel in Book Revue's headlong brio, overlapping settings, meticulous economy of gesture, intertwining narratives, resourceful color effects, super-efficient use of screen space—and a great, great turn by a duck called Daffy, as he dances, scat-sings, cavorts, and distorts in one of his true moments of glory... Book Revue is an encyclopedia of what can be done in the animated medium if you're brilliant enough."[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 164. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
  2. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 70–72. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  3. ^ The 100 greatest Looney tunes cartoons. Jerry Beck, Leonard Maltin, Warner Bros. Cartoons. San Rafael, Calif. 2020. ISBN 978-1-64722-137-9. OCLC 1140697186.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. ^ a b Book Revue (1946) - Trivia
  5. ^ Beck, Jerry (ed.) (1994). The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals. Atlanta: Turner Publishing.
  6. ^ Beck, Jerry, ed. (2020). The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons. Insight Editions. pp. 22–23. ISBN 978-1-64722-137-9.

External links[edit]

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