The Ash Creek Papers

A recent trip to the canon of Disney-animated classics took me to Sword in the Stone. Although it had not been in my previous Disney related lists that I have created over the years: My Favorites (done twice); Disney Villains; and Disney music – nevertheless, I took it down from the shelf because I wanted to see the very funny exchange between Merlin and Madam Mim.

The scene is hysterical, with each wizard repeatedly changing appearance to engage in a battle of wits.

But once I got into the film I realized that this film is loaded with very funny, funny scenes! Perhaps even funnier than the Merlin/Mim scene is the sequence when Merlin and Wart are transformed into squirrels, and each in turn is pursued by a female squirrel.

And there are more funny scenes when Merlin and Wart are fish, and then birds. Or when Archimedes the Owl at various times gets sucked into the mayhem.

So I got to thinking… with all these funny bits, is Sword in the Stone the funniest of Disney’s animated films? And what constitutes “funny’? Is it the drawings? The script? The voices? A combination thereof? I started to comb thru my Disney collection looking for other examples.

My next stop was Alice in Wonderland. The film is constructed in series of neat independent vignettes, each with their own unique characters, music and settings. My favorite involves the hookah smoking caterpillar. Hysterical!

And I find the oyster loving Walrus hilarious. Drawn perfectly with top hat, vest covering his expansive girth, and white gloves and cane that complete the picture of a “down at the heel” Victorian gentleman gourmand!

And who can forget the Queen of Hearts? The Cheshire Cat? Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum? In short, Alice in Wonderland comes off as an extended Disney “vaudeville act!” Funny set pieces with great drawings and music.

But even in films where a light-hearted “drama” story line is played out, there are comic moments, and more to the point here… outright laughable scenes. One of my favorite laugh-out-loud scenes is in Tangled when Rapunzel attempts to hide Flynn Rider in the wardrobe

And in Ratatouille there is a scene that dissolves me into laughter. Remy, the mouse chef, is in Linguini’s hat, and has to direct Linguine in the preparation of a highly detailed Gusteau recipe. What follows is outright descent into classic slapstick humor.

And no mention of “funny” can ignore Robin Williams’ portrayal of the Genie in Aladdin. But maybe more funny in script, because Williams was given license to improvise, and then animators were tasked with matching the image to his dialogue. And while funny, because Williams’ delivery is so rapid fire, you don’t have time to digest the truly funny aspects of a scene

In Sword in the Stone the characters of Wart, Merlin and Mim retain elements of their appearance in their transformed states. In Aladdin, as Williams whips thru a variety of voice impressions, the animators change the Genie into a caricature of the person Williams is imitating, funny and clever… just not laugh out loud funny. Here is Williams doing Woody Allen.

Some of my favorite funny lines in Disney’s films are given to Maui in Moana. But the scene that ranks highest in my book is when he imperfectly changes shape into other forms. The associated script is pretty funny, too. But it’s the drawing here that is a pure win!

But maybe this begs the point. There are always wonderfully funny moments in virtually all the Disney animated films. But a comic interlude here and there do not make for an entire (or mostly entire) film that you’d point to and say, “Now that’s a funny movie!” And my task at the outset was to identify the funniest film (or films).

p.s. There are other funny sequences in other films that I have not included here (that would have necessitated reviewing each film for their best funny moment).

But here are the films that for me, finish in the “funny money”:

Win:     Sword in the Stone
Place:   Alice in Wonderland
Show:   Aladdin

So let’s just say that sometimes you see someone and you just can’t place where you have seen them before. You scratch your head. Perhaps you are seeing them out of context? You run thru possible connections… maybe a parent whose kid went to school with your kid? Maybe they were regulars at the breakfast place you go to? Or someone that shops for groceries at the same time you do?

I fell victim to this disorienting experience on more than one occasion at Chipp. Some cousin, typically from Dad’s side of the family (although not necessarily so) would show up at the store and when I exhibited a puzzled expression, Dad would look at me in amazement, “Jimmy! Jimmy don’t you recognize Cousin…?”

As I say, this happened to me more than once. You have to remember, being 11yrs & 9yrs younger than you both, I was at a disadvantage in “relative recognition”. Which doesn’t mean that you, too, would have known who this obscure relative was either! Meanwhile, I suffered with a minor embarrassment over this failure to recognize our Cousin so-and-so. Besides, how many times could I have seen this Cousin? Maybe once at a Wedding, or a funeral? Or maybe never?

But providence handed me a golden opportunity to flip the tables on Dad. And it wasn’t something that required an elaborate scheme. What transpired developed “organically”.

Back in the day we had customer who would send in his young daughter to be his “personal shopper” (and she was years younger than me). Her name was Nadine (this detail might be wrong) and she purchased everything for her Father. Sport coats, trousers, shirts, ties, sweaters. You name it, she bought it. Jerry Blankfort would wait on her. And she must have been very good at this stuff, because nothing was ever returned!

Nadine (I’m continuing to use her name here) looked like the quintessential nice Jewish girl. Slightly reddish hair. Pretty. But not dramatically so. Very pleasant. And this for sure, she certainly possessed a “cousin look”. A person who could have been at Alan Lebow’s Bar Mitzvah, or Susan Lebow’s Wedding.

And then my moment came delivered on a silver platter! Jerry and Nadine were on the second floor picking out jackets and trousers and Dad happened to emerge from the elevator on the second floor. He approaches us, he nods hello, and I say, “Dad? Dad! Don’t you recognize our Cousin Nadine?”

I gotta give Dad credit, he didn’t miss a beat! And with a huge welcoming smile, “Oh, my hello! Nadine? Nice to see you!” And he proceeded to give her a warm hug!

Dear Sister & Brother, I wish I could provide you with an accurate end story to this recollection. Did I let Dad in on the gag? How did I square this little theater with Nadine? Those questions must be left delightfully unanswered.

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