Mother Goose Goes Hollywood facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mother Goose Goes Hollywood |
|
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | Wilfred Jackson |
| Produced by | Walt Disney |
| Starring | The Blackbirds Dave Weber Clarence Nash Thelma Boardman Ann Lee Sara Berner Al Bernie |
| Music by | Edward H. Plumb |
| Studio | Walt Disney Productions |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 23, 1938 (USA) |
| Running time | 7 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Mother Goose Goes Hollywood is a fun animated short film from 1938. It was made by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. This cartoon takes famous Mother Goose nursery rhymes and mixes them with popular Hollywood movie stars from the 1930s! Imagine your favorite actors playing characters like Little Bo Peep or Humpty Dumpty. The film was directed by Wilfred Jackson. It was one of the last cartoons in Disney's Silly Symphony series.
Contents
Story of the Cartoon
The film starts with a big nursery rhyme book opening by itself. Mother Goose appears, looking like the famous MGM lion logo! The cartoon then shows a funny message. It says that any characters in the film who look like real people are just a coincidence.
Famous Stars in Nursery Rhymes
First, we meet Little Bo-Peep played by actress Katharine Hepburn. She complains that she has "lost her sheep, really I have." After some ballet dancing, she looks behind the next page of the book.
Next, we see Old King Cole, played by actor Hugh Herbert. He gets very excited when his musicians, who look like the funny Marx Brothers, arrive. The three brothers start playing their violins. But then they break them over their knees! The king loves this, but his court jester, played by Ned Sparks, does not. The king then jokes about taking their heads off.
Suddenly, actor Joe Penner brings the king a bowl. He asks, "Wanna buy a duck?" This was Penner's famous catchphrase! Out of the water in the bowl pops Donald Duck. Donald repeats the phrase and starts laughing. The king puts the lid back on the bowl, which Donald doesn't like at all!
More Nursery Rhyme Fun
On the next page, the nursery rhyme Rub-a-dub-dub comes to life. We see actors Charles Laughton, Spencer Tracy, and Freddie Bartholomew in a tub. Charles Laughton looks like his character Captain Bligh from Mutiny on the Bounty. Spencer Tracy and Freddie Bartholomew look like their characters from Captains Courageous. Just like in that movie, Freddie Bartholomew falls overboard. But Spencer Tracy quickly pulls him back in.
Then, Katharine Hepburn (as Little Bo Peep) passes by on a boat. She is still looking for her sheep. The three in the tub try to get a ride with her. But the tub flips over!
Humpty Dumpty and Simple Simon
Actor W. C. Fields plays Humpty Dumpty. He looks into a bird's nest and says, "My Little Chickadee". But instead of a chick, he finds Charlie McCarthy sitting there! Charlie insults Fields, who tries to attack him. But then Humpty Dumpty falls off the wall. He lands on a mushroom, which looks just like an egg cup!
Next, Simple Simon, played by Stan Laurel, is fishing. He has a fish on his hook, but he's catching worms instead of the other way around! The Pieman, played by Oliver Hardy, is busy with a huge stack of pies on his wagon. Laurel refuses a pie, but then he pulls one from the middle of the stack. Hardy gets worried the whole stack will fall! Nothing happens, so Hardy tries to do the same. But his stack collapses, and a pie lands right on his head! He looks angrily at Laurel. Laurel quickly eats his pie and giggles at Hardy. Hardy throws a pie at Laurel, who ducks. The pie hits Katharine Hepburn instead!
Seesaw and Musical Numbers
See Saw Margery Daw is performed by Edward G. Robinson and Greta Garbo on a seesaw. Garbo says, "I want so much to be alone." Robinson replies, "O.K., babe, you asked for it!" He leaves, and Garbo falls off the seesaw.
The cartoon then turns into a big musical show! Little Jack Horner, played by Eddie Cantor, sings Sing a Song of Sixpence. When he sings about "four and twenty black birds baked in a pie," several African-American jazz musicians pop their heads out of a giant pie! One of them is Cab Calloway, who sings "Hi-de-Ho!" He asks Little Boy Blue, played by Wallace Beery, to blow his horn. It takes a while, so Fats Waller asks, "Where's that boy?" Stepin Fetchit replies, "What boy?" Finally, Beery wakes up and blows his horn until he's out of breath.
Grand Finale
The book opens wide to show a giant shoe, like in the "Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe" rhyme. All the characters start singing, dancing, and playing instruments! The camera zooms in on three women playing trumpets: Edna May Oliver, Mae West, and ZaSu Pitts. Clark Gable plays the flute, and George Arliss plays the saxophone.
Oliver Hardy plays the trombone, and Stan Laurel plays the clarinet. Laurel's repeated notes annoy Hardy so much that he hits Laurel on the head with a hammer! Laurel's clarinet then sounds like a bass clarinet.
Fats Waller plays the piano until Groucho Marx and Chico Marx start playing with him. He sends them away, but then his piano starts playing by itself! When he looks inside, Harpo Marx is plucking the strings. Fats Waller exclaims, "The man's crazy!"
Fred Astaire tap dances and invites Stepin Fetchit to dance with him. Fetchit tries to make his feet move by saying "Git Along, Little Dogies". But he is too lazy, and his feet let out steam from the effort! Cab Calloway is much more energetic. He sings and dances with his band. W.C. Fields plays the double bass with Charlie McCarthy sitting on the instrument. Charles Laughton declares the music to be "It's mutiny, but I love it!" Martha Raye and Joe E. Brown are seen dancing and laughing loudly with their mouths wide open. When Martha Raye kisses Joe E. Brown, his mouth opens so wide that the camera goes inside! There, Katharine Hepburn is still looking for her sheep.
Voice Actors
Here are some of the talented people who lent their voices to the characters in the film:
- The Blackbirds: Cab Calloway
- Dave Weber: Eddie Cantor, Charlie McCarthy, Joe Penner, Edward G. Robinson
- Clarence Nash: Donald Duck
- Thelma Boardman: Freddie Bartholemew
- Ann Lee: Martha Raye
- Sara Berner: Greta Garbo, Katherine Hepburn
- Al Bernie: Charles Laughton, W.C. Fields, Laurel and Hardy
Where to Watch It
This short film was released on December 19, 2006, as part of the Walt Disney Treasures: More Silly Symphonies, Volume Two collection.
