Innertube Antics (1944) User Reviews

solo effort

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 24 July 2021]

A donkey is the head of a suburban home. He puts out a small pile of rubber for wartime recycling. His pile is much smaller than his neighbors. He goes out in search for more and finds an innertube buried in the ground.

It's an MGM cartoon in Technicolor. It has an important wartime subject matter. This donkey is a lot of slapstick but not that funny. It's the same old, same old. I think he needs a sidekick. He needs a buddy for his antics. The solo effort struggles to gain traction.

Cute and enjoyable, though a tad predictable

[llltdesq · 7/10 · 25 February 2015]

This is a one shot cartoon from MGM. There will be spoilers ahead:

This short follows a hapless donkey just trying to boost his contribution to the scrap rubber drive and running into all sorts of problems. It becomes clear early on that things won't go well for him when he has problems with a shovel he literally runs into. After getting hit by the shovel a time or three, he discovers that the reason for the trouble is also the "solution" to his anemic rubber pile-a buried inner-tube.

The donkey not being the shiniest pebble in the pond, he fails to think through his plans to consider the possible physics of his ideas. There are nice bits involving a sprinkler system and the undercarriage of a car up on blocks (the payoff to this latter one is probably the best laugh in the short).

The most novel idea in the short is to make the inner-tube out to be smarter than the donkey and to appear as though it's laughing at him and taunting him. The majority of the gags are both familiar and predictable, but it's a nice little cartoon, even if it doesn't exactly pull off anything novel or special.

This can be found here and there and is worth watching.

The Innertube from Hell

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 31 July 2021]

When an anthropomorphic donkey realizes that all his neighbors have donated more rubber than he has, he is embarrassed. Then he notices part of an innertube protruding from the ground. The whole cartoon is his effort to pull the thing out. He is fried, hacked, blown up, on and on. It's one of those wartime things. No great shakes.

Animating Inanimate Objects

[boblipton · 7/10 · 24 July 2021]

There's a drive for scrap rubber on, so a donkey puts out a few items. Embarrassed by the generosity of his neighbors, he discovers am old inner tube buried in his back yard. He tries to dig it up and add it to the heap, but the inner tube has other ideas.

George Gordon was one of the first hires Fred Quimby made when he took over MGM's cartoon department, but it wasn't until 1937 that he directed his first cartoon there, an expert and funny effort. Gordon was expert in the "funny animal" style of cartooning -- he had worked for Paul Terry from 1930 through 1937 -- but what he really excelled at was making things that didn't move, move, and making them look malign and funny. That's what the old inner tube does here.

This animated short seems to have been produced by the . . .

[pixrox1 · 6/10 · 31 July 2021]

. . . Axis of Evil, against which members of its contemporary audiences were fighting during World War Two. The title character of INNERTUBE ANTICS is portrayed as a devious snake, continually "blowing raspberries" to any Patriotic American keen on doing their part on the "Homefront" to aid and abet the USA's war effort. INNERTUBE ANTICS is carefully crafted to discourage viewers from collecting the scrap metals and rubber needed to keep the Axis at bay. This cartoon probably went over really big in Berlin, Rome and Tokyo.

Tired antics

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 25 July 2022]

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons. 'Innertube Antics' popped up as a random recommendation here when reviewing one of the Rudolf Ising cartoons and was on a roll with watching lesser known cartoons from the 30s, 40s and 50s (and have been for the past four or five years or so). It didn't look or sound great from having seen stills and plot summaries but as an animation fan it was still seen anyway.

'Innertube Antics' is nothing special and actually has very little to it. It has a few good things that are done very well indeed, enough to raise it above mediocre level, but the too many flaws in the more crucial areas made it very difficult, nigh on impossible really, to rate it above average. 'Innertube Antics' isn't terrible and is slightly watchable for lesser known animation completest sake. As said, there is little that stands out and so much has been done before and much better.

There are good things. The animation is vibrantly colourful and fluid, with lovingly crafted and detail background art. Nothing looks rushed or static. Even better, and this is probably the best aspect of 'Innertube Antics', it is lushly orchestrated and very characterful in an energetic way that is not matched enough in the story and gags. Both are worth two points each of my overall rating.

Did also think that some of the violence was clever and well choreographed visually.

However, 'Innertube Antics' is let down primarily by that it is just not very funny or even amusing, the gags are too few and what there is has a recycled, tired feel. That tiredness is obvious also in the story, which is slight to the point of non existence and predictable when there is any. Pace wise, the cartoon is pretty dull due to some of the material being over-stretched to make up for the content being too little in quantity.

Personally found the lead character very unappealing and difficult to root for, not much personality and veering on annoying. The violence lacks subtlety and wit and the cleverness of some of the visuals is not consistent, too much is lazy and not always in good taste.

Overall, nothing special. 5/10.

THIS is a GEM?

[hungadunga2001 · 1/10 · 20 February 2013]

Sure, as far as the animation and score are concerned, this cartoon is on a par with other MGM cartoon shorts of the period. And of course, MGM had a release schedule to meet. But the fact that this cartoon is filled with violent, tired "gags" which were old even then, and the fact that there is NO Director/Supervisor credit, leads me to believe that whoever was responsible for this 7 minutes of wasted Technicolor film didn't want his name on it. And after seeing it yet again, I can't blame the guy or guys. The donkey character appears in at least one cartoon that's credited to William Hanna and Joseph Barbera (and it seemed like there was no low to which they wouldn't stoop at MGM). The violence is similar to that found in many of their Tom and Jerry cartoons. But if they DID direct this one, even THEY were ashamed of it. I'll guarantee you it's no Tex Avery cartoon.

An obscure gem from MGM's glory days of animation

[druid333-2 · 10/10 · 7 August 2012]

I just recently had the open window of opportunity to see this rather obscure MGM animated short which was obviously produced during World War 2 (references to donating rubber to the war effort are abundant here). A nameless donkey is dismayed to find that his neighbours have donated far more rubber than he,causes him to search out more rubber to donate. He finds an old tyre tube buried in the ground, but when he tries (over and over again)to dig it up,he finds the tube has a mind of it's own,and has a rather sadistic agenda to carry out on the hapless donkey. What follows is seven funny minutes of what MGM seemed to do best,produce a well animated (some brilliant animation,and use of Technicolor)short that must have had them rolling in the aisles,back in the day. Unfortunately,little is known of whom ever worked on this short (no animation supervisor/director,or screen writer listed...'tho Michael Lah,who worked with Tex Avery on some of his funniest work for his MGM era is listed as one of the animators). Don't let this throw you from enjoying a well produced short from an era that turned animation into an art form. Not rated by the MPAA (which,at the time was called The National Board Of Review),but perfect entertainment for the whole family (if you can find any youngsters that would have any relevant interest in the history of animation)

A minor classic--seek it out!

[nnwahler · 9/10 · 30 June 2023]

The mid-40s are rife with with wartime references, and this cartoon is no exception. Never mind that it doesn't feature a character who'd go on to become a major cartoon star, but just a one-shot:,his seven minutes of frustration more than just carry the day. A humanized donkey--complete with regular people's clothes, shoes, a hat with earholes, no tail, and white gloves to inexplicably hide his hands--wrestles with an innertube which itself is quite anthropomorphic (wicked snicker and all).

Anyway, all the poor guy/donkey wants to do is not have his scrap pile significantly smaller than his neighbors'. This is a very fine example of what one calls "MGM humor"; there WAS such a thing before Tex Avery and Hanna-Barbera stepped in. It's well worth seeking out.