Sorry, this movie sucks

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

. . . it's FAKE English Comedy. Warner Bros. hoists itself on its own Piccard, leaving Looney Tunes fans dangling from the Tree of Life like so much Strange Fruit. The animators of the short NOW HEAR THIS contend that Satan's Left Horn translates Trump, when you use it as an ear trumpet. Though there are few if any lines of dialog in this relic from America's CAMELOT Days, you can practically hear The Donald yelling out his catch-phrase, "Get 'Em Out, Get 'Em Out!!" every time Bernie Sanders rides into the scene on his purple tricycle. If Monte Python took LSD as teenagers, their trip would pretty much follow in the footsteps of NOW HEAR THIS. Benny Hill must have paid lots of royalties to NOW director Chuck Jones. Ditto LAUGH-IN, HEE-HAW, HOOTENANNY, and THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS. But being King in the Land of the Blind doesn't change the fact that you've only got One Eye. No one wins a trophy for putting their trash out first, either. Chuck's ancestor John Paul may have been better served if HE had NEVER begun to write!

It's hard to deny that Chuck Jones was truly one of the geniuses of animation. His short "Now Hear This" seems a little bit like a precursor to the psychedelic era - which would hold sway within a few years - as a slightly deaf Brit picks up what he thinks is a hearing aid (actually one of Satan's horns) and it amplifies every sound into total wackiness.What's the point of the cartoon? Why ask? This cartoon has as its purpose total abstraction, and it achieves that. "Now Hear This" certainly deserved its Oscar nomination (too bad that Chuck didn't win more during his lifetime). As the cartoon's not readily available on video or DVD, you can watch it on YouTube.

This cartoon can easily be told as a Warner Bros. cartoon directed by Chuck Jones in two ways: 1. It is drawn in his artistic style and abstract design. 2. It features all the famous trademark Warner Bros. cartoon sound effects, as well as some vocal effects by Mel Blanc. Although this cartoon is almost silent, the only line of real dialogue is during the beginning, when a guy yells "QUIET!!!" The unique combination of Treg Brown and the Warner Bros. Animation sound effects department, as well as William Lava's music, makes for a great cartoon. The animation is simple at times, and is slightly similar to UPA, but this wasn't really done because of low budgets, but to make it really artistic. This film is also hard to describe, but some highlights include an egg coming out of the old man's "hearing horn," and then Morse code writing appears around, followed by the sound of a saw. Then legs pop out from the bottom of the egg (wearing Marvin the Martian-style tennis shoes), and then the front of the egg cracks open and a giant trombone begins playing "Yankee Doodle" as the background flashes red, white and blue! Quite odd for a cartoon that takes place in England. I can understand that this cartoon could easily be mistaken for a post-1964 Warner Bros. animated film because of how it opens and closes with the really weird, stylized and "modern" Looney Tunes title sequences (with swirling lines coming toward you and a large, purple abstract "WB," all to a bizarre rendition of the Looney Tunes theme song), seen on all mid-to-late 60s WB cartoons. However, this film was actually the first use of these Looney Tune logos. I bet Chuck Jones never dreamed that his logo creation would wind up becoming the official Warner Bros. Animation opening and closing titles! (This happened when DePatie-Freleng took over production for the Looney Tunes.) However, this cartoon is so good (it even got nominated for an Oscar,) it DEFINITELY belongs on one of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD sets! Overall, a great cartoon and you should check it out!UPDATE: Well, Warner Home Video must've read this comment. They have now released "Now Hear This" on the sixth and final Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set. They did an EXCELLENT job restoring this cartoon to its original brilliance! If you ever get a chance to see this cartoon, try to see it on DVD for a pure pristine-quality Chuck Jones work of art!

This cartoon, which was nominated for an Oscar (losing out to the remarkable short, The Hole), is an exceptional use of limited animation. In order to compensate for the drawbacks inherent in limited animation, something else isneeded to counterbalance the lack of motion. Through very creative use of color and sound (as well as a fascinating and thought-provoking idea), Chuck Jones manages to turn a weakness into a strength and the result is truly inspired. This runs relatively often on Cartoon Network on the weekends and doubtless will run on the Chuck Jones Show eventually, if it hasn't already. Most highly recommended.