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Buddy’s Beer Garden

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looney-tunes
Yesterday Ken Weaver tweeted out he was watching Buddy’s Beer Garden. An inveterate animation lover, I wanted to see it, too. Buddy’s Beer Garden is part of the Looney Tunes series from Warner Brothers, and features Buddy, in the second of the 23 cartoons he starred in.

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Buddy’s Beer Garden’s is a fun cartoon celebrating the end of Prohibition in 1933. The humor is typical of animation of the time, with lots of sight gags and animated transitions (a common technique in the 1930s). In this one, “Buddy dons a variety of costumes and hawks his ‘beer that brings good cheer.'”

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“Watch what you’re doin’ ya mug! “Don’t call me a mug, you mug!”

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I’m sure this would drive the prohibitionists today into a mad rage. “But what about the kiddies,” they’d cry (as they always do). But this was made in 1933, when cartoons, believe it or not, were made for adults, and were shown, along with a newsreel, before feature films at a movie theatre. That’s why there’s so much adult humor. It’s also why the hold up so well today, because they don’t pander or talk down to the audience. They’re not trying to be educational, kid-friendly or have a moral. Even when I was a kid, when they were heavily edited for television, they were still better than most cartoons made for TV.

See for yourself, here’s the cartoon, Buddy’s Beer Garden, below:


Buddy Buddie's Beer Garden 1933 Looney… by andythebeagle

Film History: Old Man Drinking A Beer

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film
Here’s a curious piece of film (and beer) history. I don’t know if it’s the first time someone was filmed drinking a beer, but I imagine it has to be one of the first. The film is from 1898 (or 1897), and is known as Old Man Drinking a Glass of Beer, though it’s also sometimes known as Comic Face. Frankly, he doesn’t look that old to me.

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It was made by legendary British filmmaker George Albert Smith and features a close-up of comedian Tom Green drinking a beer and making faces. Green was a local Brighton comedian and was known for his “pantomime harlequinades at the Brighton Aquarium.” He went on to appear in many subsequent films made by Smith.

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This was apparently a groundbreaking development in film, showing the actor close up making changing facial expressions and this type of film became known as a “facial,” defined as “a work showing a variety of facial expressions to the audience.” According to one source, “the ability to get close up to the star was a great advantage that film had over the stage and early filmmakers were keen to exploit it,” and in this one Green is shown in a single shot “drinking a glass of beer whose face and hands become increasingly lively as a result.”

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Here you watch the entire 38-second silent film:

Beer In Film #100: Schlafly Beerd Bowl 2014

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brookston-film
Today’s beer film is a fun little video created by the St. Louis Brewing Co. — a.k.a. Schlafly — as an alternative to this year’s Super Bowl halftime, what they called “the ultimate Super Bowl Halftime extravaganza,” or Beerd Bowl! “It’s the Brewers’s beards from Schlafly Bottleworks versus the beards from the Schlafly Tap Room in a smack down, drag out, no holds barred competition for both bragging rights and the Limbeardy Trophy.”

Beer In Film #99: Beoir, A Tale of Ireland’s Craft Ale

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brookston-film
Today’s beer film is trailer for Beoir: A Tale of Irelands Craft Ale which looks like it could be a very interesting, cool film about Ireland’s growing craft beer scene. Here’s the description of the film:

Beoir, (the Irish word for beer), is a short film about the emerging Irish craft brewery scene, showcasing The Donegal brewing company, Innishmacsaint brewing company, Mescan brewing company, Kinnegar brewing company and Poker Tree brewing company. These new mainly farmhouse breweries are based on the wonderful green island of Ireland. This film showcases not only the breweries but the Island of Ireland itself. Listen to the brewers tell their story in their own words and follow them on their journey at the very start of this emerging craft brewing scene in Ireland. From under Ireland’s holy mountain Croagh Patrick to the lakes of Fermanagh, Beoir is a fascinating and beautifully shot film.