Release Date:

November 4, 1939

Main Character(s):

None

Summary:

While Professor Mackerel Fishface attempts to catch the “whim-wham whistling shark”, we are shown spot gags on various fish.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. When it was restored for HBO Max in 2020, the original titles were put back in, along with a line said during the credits that was cut from the reissue: “Fresh Fish: An epic of the briny deep”.

Ned Sparks is caricatured as a crab and Katharine Hepburn is caricatured as a starfish.

“The Merry Go Round Broke Down” plays during the scenes with the running gag of a two-headed fish asking the narrator where they (since both ends talk at the same time) can find Mr. Ripley (of “Believe It or Not”).

What I Like About This One:

The opening title card: “Any resemblance to the poor fish in this photoplay either living or at Santa Anita is purely co-incidental”, where the music suddenly changes to the trumpet at the start of a horse race.

“Slowly, our ship approaches the island”, but it arrives at a rapid pace.

The professor sticking his tongue out at the audience before going under the sea in his diving bell.

A tuna clucking like a chicken since it’s the “chicken of the sea”. She then lays hundreds of chicken eggs!

An old crab speaking like Ned Sparks asking the narrator in an annoyed tone, “Why don’t you mind your own business?”

An old hermit crab reading “Live Alone and Like It”.

A taxi crab scurrying around and honking like a taxi.

A Polynesian dogfish barking like a dog and is frightened away by the creature he keeps barking at.

One fish having $5 bills as fins.

A monstrous octopus getting scared away by a sunfish saying “Boo” at him.

A “pickled herring” staggering across the sea floor and singing “You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby” while drunk. Upon walking into a whale’s mouth, he demands to be let out and swims out rapidly.

A “seahorse race” with the seahorses acting like horses.

The narrator getting so annoyed with the two-headed fish interrupting him that he tells them to go lay an egg. They rush offscreen, and immediately come back with both sides having one egg each!

In shark territory, we see a tiger shark meowing, a hammerhead shark repeatedly hitting himself on the head with a mallet, and a shovelnose shark digging a hole for a “WPA Project”.

The teacher of a school of fish getting hooked when showing his students what not to do when they encounter a fishing line.

When the professor has finally caught the “whim wham whistling shark”, the diving bell is pulled back up to the surface. The door is opened to reveal not the professor but the well-fed shark who is seen picking his teeth and wearing the professor’s hat! He greets the audience with, “How do you do?”

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕