Fresh and Exciting

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

. . . 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).

Of all the cartoons where books, magazines etc. come to life, Bob Clampett's 'Book Revue' is by far the finest. The problem with many of these kind of cartoons is that they rely on cultural references that have been long forgotten, inescapably dating the picture. Although there are many references to popular books of the day in 'Book Revue', it manages to sidestep the detrimental dating effect thanks to Clampett's typically engaging speedy pacing and the inclusion of Daffy Duck as a character. Daffy emerges from the cover of a Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies comic and proceeds to completely steal the cartoon away from all the witty book parodies. Ever the showman, Daffy opens with a Danny Kaye impersonation followed by the highlight of the cartoon, a phenomenal scat version of the Little Red Riding Hood Story. Mel Blanc must be given enormous credit for pulling this off so brilliantly but Clampett makes it all the better by matching this brilliant vocal performance with stunning visual, including the infamous moment in which Daffy turns into a giant eyeball. This is the sort of joke no other director would even attempt and Clampett pulls it off with grotesque glee, 'Book Revue' is so much better than all other cartoons of its kind because it doesn't get hung up on visual pun after visual pun. Instead, Clampett uses these books as the backdrop against which to stage a high speed chase. Unlike some of these reference heavy shorts, 'Book Revue' can be enjoyed whether you get the reference points or not. It's a classic cartoon bursting with energy and ideas.

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!

Part of the reason that the Looney Tunes cartoons were so great is that they exposed children to high culture. "Book Revue" is one of the many cartoons that does this. Featuring a book store where the literature does impersonations of Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, and others, they go all out here.One thing that I have to admit is that when I was six years old, I didn't get the references; I mean, how many six-year-old children can identify William Shakespeare or Dante's "Inferno"? I also didn't know that Daffy Duck was doing a skit based on Danny Kaye.But even if you don't get all the jokes, it's still a hoot just for what they show. You're sure to love it.