I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Touches You

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

. . . and on to "Darnation Milk" ("from cheerful cows") as well as hieroglyphics extolling Egyptian cigarettes, LIGHTS FANTASTIC thoroughly explicates the mindset of American advertisers--then and now. Like all the movie studios at the time, Warner Bros. had its share of run-ins with U.S. censors. For example, the first talkie version of THE MALTESE FALCON (1931) features a topless bathtub scene for the actress in the role famously inherited by Mary Astor in the second remake a decade later. But what a difference those ten years made! Well before the 1940s, America had adopted its puritanical sharia law that persists in many sectors of Society through today's 21st Century. Warner Bros. lampoons this pointless prudery by self-"censoring" this cartoon's can-can dance--performed by four dancing cans in skimpy skirts! Whenever these food tins face backstage and bend over for the "big reveal," the animators insert a black screen! That is, until the final "bottoms up" for "Face and Sunburn" Coffee (then known as Chase and Sanborn in the Live Action World) shows this message above the cans' finally revealed cans: "It's dated!" with the can bottoms all reading "Jan. 5, 1942." That coffee may be somewhat stale by today, but the idea that censorship has outlived its expiration date couldn't be fresher!

Directed by the great Friz Freleng, "Lights Fantastic" is a fine Warner Bros. cartoon that is quite unique. There are no heroes or villains. Aided by a great music score by Carl W. Stalling, this is merely a gag-oriented cartoon involving lights, signs, letters, product mascots, and (most importantly) advertisements. And that's it, folks! Just a really humorous opportunity for Friz and his animation unit to experiment. Nothing wrong with that, is there? My favorite gags from "Lights Fantastic": A chorus line of coffee cans performs a can-can dance revealing their "butts". A small group of gentlemen read Chinese on a vertical sign (thanks to the vocal talent of Mel Blanc). A clown cannot control his mounting hysterics as he sings "Laugh, Clown, Laugh" (again a credit to Mel Blanc's voice). And four neon string figures with bulbous noses sing some nice harmonies, with a fifth smaller figure adding his own little interjections (Blanc again).

This cartoon is a good example of the fact that while Friz Freling was technically excellent, he was possibly the least imaginative of the directors in the Warner's stable. Lights Fantastic is essentially a rehash of _Billboard Frolics(1935)_(qv) and showcases Freling's tendency to recycle gags in multiple films. This is not to say that Lights Fantastic isn't entertaining - it is and it gives you a chance to enjoy Freling at his technical best, but it also reveals the dichotomy inherent in the canon of his work. Another reused routine (appearing for the second time in _Show Biz Bugs (1957)_(qv)) is the trained performing pigeons that flew out the theater window instead of doing their act. _Bugs And Thugs(1954)_(qv) and _Bugsy And Mugsy (1957)_ both have material cribbed from _Racketeer Rabbit(1946)_(qv). Yosemite Sam stands out as Freling's best creation, from his introduction in _Hare Trigger (1945)_(qv) to the mid 1950's when the character ran out of steam.

A mix of real-life footage of New York and cartoon footage of the typical 1940s advertising signs coming to life, Lights Fantastic is a classic cartoon.From such great gags such as the free eye test ("if you can read this, you are Chinese"), to the Chinatown bus carried by rickshaw boys, to the Egyptian Cigarettes picture of one Egyptian giving another a hotfoot, this is pure fun. Plus, it's classic Freling.