The Lone Star State (1948) User Reviews

The Jokes Are Bigger In Texas

[boblipton · 5/10 · 11 April 2024]

When Famous Studios revived the Fleischers' SCREEN SONGS series in the late 1940s, they decided to do one for every state they could figure a song and some jokes for. The jokes are easy in this short: some visual puns, and others about how everything is bigger and better in Texas. For a song, they chose "Deep in the Heart of Texas."

"Deep in the Heart of Texas" dates from 1941. It was recorded by Ted Weems and his orchestra for a release date of December 9, 1941. In 1942, five different recordings were on the charts, and three were in the top ten. Western swing, which had been gaining in popularity, exploded. By the end of the War, it was the single most popular genre of music by number of records sold.

Everything's bigger in (hat off, hand on heart) Texas!

[llltdesq · 7/10 · 3 November 2006]

I have a soft spot in my heart for what is a very average short in an average series because I'm from Texas originally. There are a few memorable bits and I will be mentioning a little detail, so there will be minor spoilers:

The typical puns as sight gags which are part and parcel of the Sing-a-Long series are here, ranging from the size of Texas to lots of jokes about cowboys and oil. The jokes are mostly visual, but there is some narration which is funny and there's a bit with Little Bo Peep (who sounds like an uncredited Mae Questal) with a Texas drawl.

There's a rodeo, of course, and jokes about the Cotton Bowl. The obvious gags are most of them up front and center.

The song is "Deep In the Heart of Texas" (complete with the obligatory cues for the four rhythmic hand claps where called for). The song portion features reasonably decent backgrounds.

As I said, this is an average short, but it's worth watching. Recommended.

Fun in Texas

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 26 March 2021]

Have found a lot to admire about much of Famous Studios' earlier work and while the Noveltoons series is an uneven one it is worthwhile with some very good and even great cartoons when the studio was at its peak. Their best decade being easily the 40s, then by the mid-late-50s it started to feel like a different studio and not for the better. That is not to say that every 40s Noveltoons cartoon was good, there were lacklustre ones. The studio did a number of Screen Song cartoons.

'The Lone Star State' is somewhere around high middle as far as the Screen Song series goes, which was as has been said in a couple of other reviews for other Screen Song cartoons a hit and miss one. 'The Lone Star State' may not be a great cartoon, but it is a more than worthwhile one that may have a less than special story (true for pretty much all the Famous Studios' Screen Song cartoons) but the animation and music are still good and there are some good gags at least.

It's not a perfect cartoon sure, with the story and characterisation being paper thin (common problems with the Sing Song series).

A few of the gags are on the stale side from being quite old even at the time, a couple of the cowboy jokes are somewhat groan-worthy.

On the other hand, the animation is good. Especially the vibrant colours and equally loved the background detail where a lot of care went into it, Texas looks handsome and nostalgic. The music is even better, very lushly orchestrated and full of character rhythmically. The song "Deep in the Heart of Texas" is very catchy without being repetitive.

Gag count is quite high and enough of them work and are amusing, if lacking in variety. The story is nothing exceptional, but there is some nice energy throughout thankfully, especially in the rodeo. The characters may be thin but are nicely done.

Concluding, not great but nicely done. 7/10.