Mike Maltese Movies

Another classic cartoon from director Chuck Jones, this hilarious Merrie Melodies short introduces the singing, dancing amphibian Michigan J. Frog (later to become the official symbol of the Warner Brothers television network.) The frog is initially discovered by a fairly average man, who finds a mysterious box in the remnants of a demolished building. Inside the box is the frog, who immediately begins a rousing performance of "Hello My Ragtime Gal," complete with kick-step, top hat and cane. The man is thrilled at this discovery, realizing such a rare frog could be quite valuable. He decides to stage a public performance by the frog, and ends up sinking his life savings into the show. Things go awry, however, when the frog refuses to perform -- it turns out the frog will only sing and dance when the man is alone. If anyone else is around, it just sits there and ribbits. Michigan J. Frog's songs are the only dialogue in this film, which also features performances of "'I'm Just Wild About Harry," a Rossini aria, and an original number, "The Michigan Rag," penned by Jones and writer Michael Maltese. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Porky Pig decides to go camping in the Great Outdoors, bringing his neurotic cat Sylvester along for the ride. While sleeping under the stars, Porky and Sylvester are abducted by a giant, green-skinned alien buzzard, who whisks the two earthlings away to the planet Jupiter. Upon awakening, Porky is blissfully unaware that anything has happened, except to comment that "Things sure look different after a good night's sleep." But nervous Sylvester knows the awful truth, and goes to great lengths to protect himself and his master from the surly alien--who turns out to have a lot of lookalike friends. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Much Ado About Nutting is a wordless film from master cartoonist Chuck Jones. As Nutting opens, a squirrel spies an unguarded nut stand across the street from him and hurries toward it. He is delighted to find a stand full of peanuts, and even more so to find another with walnuts next to that. His delight increases when he then sees a pistachio nut stand and reaches heights of ecstasy upon the discovery of a coconut stand. The squirrel manages to shove one of the heavy coconuts to the ground and roles it back into the park -- but then encounters difficulty when he bites it and nearly breaks his teeth. The resourceful rodent tries a number of tactics -- dropping it from a tree, using a saw and a jackhammer, even pushing it up all the stairs of the Empire State Building and dropping it from the observation deck -- but to no avail. Tired and frustrated, he returns it to the coconut stand from whence it came. As he walks away, the coconut falls from the stand -- and wonder of wonders, it cracks. Hurrying over, the squirrel pushes away the husks -- only to find ANOTHER coconut inside! ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Daffy Duck faces a rather bizarre adversary in the classic Merrie Melodies short Duck Amuck, which pits Daffy against a mischievous off-screen animator, who is constantly altering and even sabotaging the cartoon. The trouble begins when, during a Three Musketeers parody, Daffy suddenly notices the background has disappeared, leaving only empty space. He complains to the animator, who then puts him through an ever-changing series of locations, from a barnyard, to snow-covered fields to a tropical island. Daffy tries to adapt, apologizing to the audience for the trouble, but grows increasingly flustered as the changes continue. Soon he and the silent, faceless animator -- Daffy can only see a brush and a white glove -- are arguing over other aspects of the production, from the background colors to the definition of a close-up. Director Chuck Jones and writer Michael Maltese have a great deal of fun with this reflexive premise, gleefully poking fun at the process of animation itself while building towards a superb final punchline. Highlights include the transformation of Daffy's voice into strange sound effects and an improperly adjusted frame line that allows Daffy to get into an argument with himself. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi