Fruity Cowboy

Porky Pig, after getting clobbered by a fruit basket in "Porky Chops" (Warner Bros., Arthur Davis, 1949).

Wile E. Coyote and Road Rash

Ouch! This frame goes by in the blink of an eye...you feel it, but you don't see the wonderful, wincing expression. That's some killer road rash. Wile E. Coyote on a pair of out-of-control rocket skates, from "Beep Beep!" (Warner Bros., Chuck Jones, 1952).

Geriatric Strangulation

From "The Old Grey Hare" (Warner Bros., Bob Clampett, 1944). Awesome expression, most likely animated by the insane Rod Scribner.

Don't Touch That Dial

This image is funny in and of itself. But the story behind it is even funnier. Director Bob Clampett recalled a part of this joke that was cut by censors. When the baby gator moves in to suckle, the mama pig stops him and it cuts to the next gag. Before the censors removed it, the pig uttered the line: "Don't touch that dial!" From "Baby Bottleneck" (Warner Bros., Bob Clampett, 1945).

Sylvester Misses the Bus

Sylvester chases a bus and doesn't look where he's going. Result? Ouch! From "Red Riding Hoodwinked" (Warner Bros., Friz Freleng, 1955.)

Introduction

 Hi, I'm Matt Hunter. If you've known me for more than five minutes, you know I love cartoons. If you've seen my DVD collection, you know I REALLY love cartoons. My interest is mainly in the classic cartoons from the 1930's to the 1960's, but I like a lot of modern stuff too. I have enjoyed reading a few blogs that have popped up lately showing still-frames from cartoons, and make no mistake about it, this blog is not an original idea. It's just an idea I want to participate in.

The gifted artists behind the art of 2-D animated film making put so much into a single frame that when it's animated, we sometimes miss something. Sometimes it's a hidden joke, sometimes it's funnier as a still frame taken out of context, sometimes it's something beautiful to look at. But whether it's a classic Looney Tune, a low-budget Saturday morning kid's show, a movie, an "animated sitcom", or whatever, good or bad, a single image from it can be worth a thousand words.

Sure, it's funny when Jerry kicks Tom in the butt, or when Daffy Duck throws a tantrum, or when Bullwinkle goes cross-eyed. We laugh when Beavis says something stupid and Butt-Head slaps him. We laugh when we see something naughty in "Rocko's Modern Life" or "Ren and Stimpy" that we were too young to appreciate when we saw it. We marvel at just how terrible some Hanna-Barbera cartoons are. We respect the lush attention to detail in Disney movies. But we never take the time to press the "pause" button and admire one or two frames at a time.

Join me in doing just that.

Let's start off with a frame from "Duck Amuck" (Warner Bros., Chuck Jones, 1953). "Not me, you slop artist!"