The Ugly Dino (1940) [N/A]
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Featuring:
Margie Hines, Jack Mercer
Written by:
George Manuell
Directed by:
Dave Fleischer, William Nolan
Release Date:
June 14, 1940
Original Title:
The Ugly Dino
Genres:
Animation
Production Companies:
Fleischer Studios
Production Countries:
United States of America
Ratings / Certifications:
N/A
Runtime: 6
A mother dinosaur hatches three little cuties, but the fourth is "ugly." He gets an inferiority complex because his brothers won't play with him, and they treat him meanly. When a big sabertooth tiger comes along, the baby dinosaur begs the predator to eat him. The little dino says, "Eat me, eat me....I have a face that even a mother couldn't love." The "ugly dino" ends up saving the day, and his mother showers him with kisses and hugs.
During the Late Thirties, with the Production Code bowdlerizing Betty Boop, the Fleischers kept trying to expand their regular series beyond Popeye and Screen Songs. They tried with Wiffle-Piffle, a relative of Termite Terrace's Egghead, but he didn't go anywhere. In 1940 they tried to do a bunch of Prehistoric-themed cartoons, perhaps influenced by reports of Disney's Fantasia. Running to dinosaur-and caveman gags, it was called the 'Stone Age' series. This is the sixth.It is, as you might guess, a variation of the Ugly Duckling Story. It is rather sentimental for Fleischer, but the gags are numerous and well-constructed, as you might expect for a cartoon directed by Dave Fleischer. The result is a watchable, if not great cartoon.
