Release Date:

May 28, 1938

Main Character(s):

Egghead

Summary:

A tour of a tropical island called Pingo Pongo and its inhabitants. Egghead appears as a running gag asking “Now, boss?” (“boss” referring to the narrator).

That’s Not All, Folks:

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue but the original titles do exist. You can view them here.

This is the sixth entry in the Censored Eleven (although “Goin’ to Heaven on a Mule” is far more racist than this cartoon, that one wasn’t in the Censored Eleven because it wasn’t owned by United Artists at the time).

This is the first of Avery’s “spot gag” cartoons where the cartoon would have gags relating to a specific theme along with a running gag that has the joke revealed at the end.

Avery would use Egghead as a running gag in his last three appearances: “Hamateur Night”, “A Day at the Zoo”, and “Believe It or Else” (all released in 1939).

Fats Waller and the Mills Brothers are caricatured.

What I Like About This One:

The Statue of Liberty acting as a traffic signal for boats.

Several different islands being seen on the journey to Pingo Pongo: “Canary Islands” (inhabited by canaries in cages), “Sandwich Islands” (which has a giant sandwich taking up the space of the whole island), and the “Thousand Islands” (showing Thousand Island Dressing).

Upon arriving at Pingo Pongo, the narrator shows us the birds: a hummingbird that literally hums a tune, a mockingbird that rudely mimics the narrator (and then when the narrator says “This bird must have been crossed with a cuckoo!”, the mockingbird again repeats the phrase but then realizes he almost insulted himself), and a tiny featherless baby bird calling “MAMA!” in an un-baby like voice.

The narrator talking about the intelligent face of an elephant but then realizing the camera is facing the elephant’s rear. The camera flips around to show a dopey looking elephant saying “Oh, yeah” (animated by Irven Spence).

The narrator questioning why an Eskimo and a polar bear are on the island. They reply they’re on vacation (animated by Spence).

“The Islanders are skilled hunters” but the deer walk off with the native pursuing them as their captive.

The tribal jungle dance abruptly switching to a rendition of “She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain”.

A native being “totally ignorant of our presence” taking a photo of the audience (animated by Spence).

A live-action horse race being randomly put in the cartoon at one point.

In the end, the sun doesn’t go down when the narrator says “As the sun sinks slowly into the west”. Egghead arrives for a final time asking “Now boss?” The narrator says, “Yeah, now!” Egghead pulls out a gun and shoots the sun down (animated by Spence).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕