''Buddy's Adventures'' is a 1934

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

'' cartoon, directed by

Ben Hardaway Joseph Benson Hardaway (May 21, 1895 – February 5, 1957) was an American storyboard artist, animator, voice actor, gagman, writer and director for several American animation studios during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He was sometim ...

. The short was released on November 17, 1934, and stars

Buddy Buddy may refer to: People *Buddy (nickname) *Buddy (rapper), real name Simmie Sims III (1993–Present) * Buddy Cage (1946–2020), American pedal steel guitarist, member of the New Riders of the Purple Sage *Buddy Holly (1936–1959), artistic ...

, the second star of the series. It is a

dystopian film This is a list of dystopian films. Dystopian societies appear in many speculative fiction works and are often found within the science fiction and fantasy genres. ''Dystopias'' are often characterized by dehumanization, authoritarian governments ...

. In this film, Buddy and his girlfriend Cookie are traveling by

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carri ...

. A

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...

causes them to land in Sourtown, a town which specifically prohibits laughing,

singing Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

dancing Dance is an art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements or ...

, and

jazz music Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, hymns, m ...

. When Buddy and Cookie try to entertain the locals with a singing and dancing performance, they get arrested and are led to the town's crabby king. Buddy attempts to introduce the joy of music to the

royal court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word ''court'' may also be app ...

Synopsis

Buddy and

Cookie A cookie is a sweet biscuit with high sugar and fat content. Cookie dough is softer than that used for other types of biscuit, and they are cooked longer at lower temperatures. The dough typically contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of ...

float through a terrible thunderstorm in a

of Buddy's design. "In a few minutes, we'll be on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

," promises Buddy. Cookie is afraid; when a bolt of lightning streaks by, Buddy nonchalantly dismisses it as probable flatulence on his part. But the next bolt sends Cookie into Buddy's arms, and both are sorely afraid. The balloon knocks into a storm cloud that resembles a human face: the cloud blows the delicate vessel into another, which instead of winds lends blows, like those of a boxer, to the balloon. The couple spins round and round until they encounter a cloud resembling a rattlesnake which spits such lightning that two of the balloon's tethers split; another bolt severs the basket entirely & the two fall, in a winding path, to the earth. The basket glides along, the balloon's anchor trailing behind, and Buddy and Cookie pass a signpost pointing in the direction whither they are headed: "To Lemonia, the Sour Domain". A large bird, thinking it has dodged the oncoming cart, is caught by the trailing anchor and let off on a log. A gate opens at the sight of the basket, which continues to roll until it is dismantled by a crash. "Well, here we are!" Buddy announces, happily enough. "Alright, smarty, where are we?" replies Cookie. Both look up at the structure into which the basket crashed: "This is Sourtown." And the sign continues to enumerate the rules of the domain: laughing, singing, dancing, and

are expressly forbidden; but Buddy can not but be tickled by the absurdity of this, and laughs heartily at the very thought. He stops only when Cookie points out to him caricatures of

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...

in the

stocks Stocks are feet and hand restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law de ...

for smiling and laughing, along with a tiny bird (another

Laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

) similarly imprisoned for singing. Quietly, Buddy and Cookie spy three men, the smallest of them carrying a

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

, drinking from a butt of vinegar and rhyming about their grim outlook on life, at " Ye Pessimist's Club". Optimis] Buddy seeks no further restraint, and gladly intervenes on the meeting; picking up the mandolin, he plays and sings "Hey, Sailor!" as Cookie dances. Birds and flowers join in the song. A policeman hears the merriment, and sets off to catch the perpetrators; on hearing his approach, the three grouches sneak away, and Our Hero and his sweetheart are apprehended. Sourpan, king of Sourland, juices lemons with the crown atop his head, pours the liquid into a bowl, and drinks of it, further souring his countenance. The officer brings Buddy and Cookie before the crabby monarch, who sentences the guilty two to the punishment of

spanking Spanking is a form of corporal punishment involving the act of striking, with either the palm of the hand or an implement, the buttocks of a person to cause physical pain. The term spanking broadly encompasses the use of either the hand or implem ...

: for that purpose, a hand-cranked machine is freshly oiled. Duly scared, Cookie whispers to Buddy, "What'll we do?" "Leave it to me!" he responds. With that, Our Hero begins a rousing harmonica solo, to the terror of the king. Cookie dances, candles melt, the king's

retinue A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble, royal personage, or dignitary; a ''suite'' (French "what follows") of retainers. Etymology The word, recorded in English since circa 1375, stems from Old French ''retenue'', ...

begin to sway with the tune. Finally captivated, the king announces his pleasure with Buddy's music. The court sings; the king merrily dances on a rug, but loses his balance and falls into the spanking machine, chortling lustily as one of his men spanks him continually. Buddy, in triumph, sits, crowned, upon the king's throne; Cookie, beside him, now wears Buddy's hat; the two embrace.

References

External links

* {{Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies 1934 films 1934 animated short films 1930s Warner Bros. animated short films 1930s dystopian films Animated films about aviation American dystopian films Films scored by Bernard B. Brown Films scored by Norman Spencer (composer) Films about freedom of expression Films directed by Ben Hardaway Buddy (Looney Tunes) films Films set in fictional countries Looney Tunes shorts Works about censorship American animated black-and-white films Cultural depictions of Laurel & Hardy Films produced by Leon Schlesinger Animated films about kings 1934 science fiction films