Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Gandy Goose and Sourpuss


When I was a kid, I loved Terrytoons. I still do! There was a Saturday Morning Mighty Mouse Show that was really cool.It had bumpers with Mighty Mouse riding a rocket and talking to us in a different voice than he had in the cartoons.


Then they would show classic Terrytoons from the 40s and 50s.

These were fully animated but I knew there was something unique and strange about them. They were good but sort of slapdash at the same time.

I also had super 8 silent movies that I ran over and over for my friends. Woody Woodpecker, Zippy The Chimp, Ub Iwerk's Puss In Boots and a Gandy Goose and Sourpuss cartoon.
The cartoon was a take off on Mickey's Trailer. I must have watched that cartoon a million times.


Terrytoons made a practice of taking cartoons that were hits 10 years earlier and copying them using their own characters, now that the gags were completely out of date. It's a very ignorant yet funny practice. Joe Barbera would do something similar all through the 60s. He was always behind the times, but in a really funny way - like the episodes where Fred would sing Rock 'N' Roll.Gandy is a loveable homosexual. Sourpuss was a mean curmudgeon.
Gandy and Sourpuss had a funny relationship. They slept together and would invade each other's dreams. Sourpuss was the asshole character and Gandy loved him nonetheless. Their relationship inspired Ren and Stimpy.

Later when I teamed up with Ralph, he let me explore bizarre domestic situations in the Bakshi Adventures Of Mighty Mouse.

It was all practice for the Ren and Stimpy Show and my other cartoons. There is something inherently fascinating to me about domestic squabbles. They are a never ending supply of funny material.

Here, why don't you bone-up on Gandy and Sourpuss and I will reward your research on Friday.