Book Revue (1946)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

. . . falling asleep in a public library with this Looney Tune from the Mid-1940s, BOOK REVUE. Characters from various stories blend together and interact with each other amid a constant cacophony of loud noise. I have found my local library branches to be among America's noisiest places, as about half the people there are near-deaf (constantly shouting for help from the Reference Librarians, since these hopeless geezers were born in the 1900s, before computers were invented), while the other half of library "patrons" tend to be odoriferous foreigners yelling into their cell phones because 1)they were NOT reared in American Polite Society, and 2)they think that intercontinental communication requires them to raise such a ruckus. When MY ancestors arrived in the U.S., they were content to confine themselves to log cabins and sod huts, working hard to get ahead. With BOOK REVUE, Warner is telling us that by the 1940s a public library or "Booke Shoppe" was the WORST place to seek peace and quiet (and, of course, things have gotten worse ever since).

When it strike midnight at the book shop, things go crazy. The characters in the various books of the time begin to cavort. However, what could have been a very clever cartoon becomes a study in the pop culture of post World War II. Frank Sinatra appears and all the female characters go into hysterics. When a thinly clad young Indian maid appears, there is a chorus of wolves (some are actually wolves but most are just male characters). Eventually, Daffy Duck gets on the scene. There is a lot of jazz and he doesn't respond well to it. I just didn't find this one very gratifying. Daffy howls and screams and his encounter with the Red Riding Hood wolf is lame at best.

I love both Have You Got Any Castles? and Book Revue, both are very colourful and clever literary takes, but if I had a preference I have to go with Book Revue. The animation here is wonderful, very colourful and vibrant, and the music is superb, especially liked the use of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata at the beginning. The singing is top notch, and the references are recognisable and a delight to watch. And the main reason why I prefer Book Revue is because of Daffy Duck, he is absolutely hilarious, whether this is his best cartoon overall is up for debate as there are so many exceptional ones, but this is for me one of his funnier performances. Out of the supporting characters, the rapacious Big Bad Wolf is my favourite. The cartoon moves really quickly, the humour is spot on and Sara Berner and Mel Blanc's voice work is outstanding. Overall, superb cartoon and although I loved Have You Got Any Castles, I prefer this one but only marginally, probably the fact that Daffy's in it is to do with it. 10/10 Bethany Cox

It's swoon time over Frank Sinatra in the little old book shop and all the female characters who come to life on the covers of books are shrieking and carrying on, even "Whistler's Mother."Musicians and all are not only to life but having fun with the music. All, that is, but Daffy Duck who jumps out of his comic book holding his ears, but then takes over the singing from there. That are a lot of period references here, not just to Frank, but Danny Kaye, W.C. Fields, Jimmy Durante, cigarette commercials and many, many classic books. It's really too wild and crazy to explain. Suffice to say this is wacky Daffy Duck in one of his craziest cartoons. He and director Robert Clampett made a tremendous pair with outrageous animated short films like this. Who else would have Daffy doing scat music to Little Red Riding Hood (a highlight)?As with some other Daffy Duck cartoons, this is total insanity....and a lot of us love it!