Speaking of the Weather (1937) User Reviews

somehow, I can't help but wonder whether or not these cartoons might have some link to Stephen King's novels

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 30 September 2007]

One of the many Warner Bros. cartoons portraying inanimate objects coming to life (others include "Little Dutch Plate", "Have You Got Any Castles?" and "Book Revue"), "Speaking of the Weather" focuses on magazines putting on a most splendiferous show. But when a shady character starts committing crimes, everyone has to take charge.

This genre reminds me just a little bit of Stephen King's novels (note: this is a VERY loose connection). As we see azoic objects coming to life and taking on their own personalities, Stephen King's novels often portrayed lifeless objects coming to life; think "The Shining" and "Christine".

OK, so it's probably pretty ridiculous to suggest that a series of zany cartoons could have any true relationship to a series of horrific novels. I look for connections just about anywhere. Overall, I liked this cartoon both as a 1930s time capsule, and as entertainment. I recommend it.

not so good

[mrdonleone · 5/10 · 30 April 2009]

for some reason, this cartoon is special and unique, but I can't really say why (although my conscience knows it). actually, it's quite stupid. we see a lot of magazines coming to life in some art form that already is cliché. yes, I remember it from long ago when I was a kid, but way back then I didn't like it either. I guess it's just because it was as an extra on the DVD of 'Gold Diggers of 1937' that I saw it again, because it simply isn't interesting enough to watch otherwise. the title is the same as one of the songs used in that Gold Diggers movie, but it shows very little resemblance with how it was used in the film. in this cartoon, there are very little animations that have to do with the title. I guess the song was a success in the Thirties and that should be the reason for it's title. I won't forget it, but I certainly will not watch it again in a long time.

Plays like a dry run for 'Have You Got Any Castles?'

[phantom_tollbooth · 4/10 · 3 November 2008]

Frank Tashlin's 'Speaking of the Weather' is another in the series of cartoons in which books come to life. In this case it is magazines which suddenly leap off the page. Although it has an attractive look to it, 'Speaking of the Weather' suffers from a lack of decent gags. Although these cartoons can sometimes rely on outdated references a little too heavily, they often make up for this with sheer energy or by providing enough information for audiences of any era to understand the joke. 'Speaking of the Weather' features a few more celebrity cameos than usual in these type of cartoons and the jokes that are self-explanatory are mostly just not that good. The obvious high point of this loose series is Bob Clampett's classic 'Book Revue' but Tashlin himself would go on to direct the excellent 'Have You Got Any Castles' a year after 'Speaking of the Weather'. That cartoon was both lush and amusing and 'Speaking of the Weather' feels like just a dry run for 'Have You Got Any Castles'. They're certainly stylistically similar but the latter is by far the superior cartoon and renders 'Speaking of the Weather' virtually unnecessary.

Excellent use of caricatures in a "magazines come to life" short

[llltdesq · 8/10 · 8 August 2006]

A gimmick that Warner Brothers animators used quite often was the idea that characters/images come to life after business hours off of magazine covers, books or even grocery store labels and boxes. Quite often, they used caricatures of celebrities who would have been well-known to audiences in those days and they did so here, though not every character in this one is a caricature. I can't swear to it, but I suspect that all of the magazine titles featured in this one actually existed. I recognized most of them as having been magazines available on newsstands and elsewhere. The rest of my comments may contain spoilers, so you have been warned: The plot is pretty basic and predictable. What makes this cartoon interesting is the juxtaposition of titles to make up gags, like a crook coming out of "The Gang" and passing "Popular Mechanics" to grab a torch and having "Wall Street" close by, with a safe on the cover to crack. Charlie Chan captures him, he's tried by the "Judge" and sentenced to "Life", but manages to sneak over to "Liberty" in order to make his escape. Things like that come together frequently.

A lot of the standard caricatures are here (including Ned Sparks-it must have been a requirement to have Ned Sparks appear somewhere in one of these, as he's in most of the ones I've seen) and you'll be treated to the likes of Leopold Stowkowski, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Hugh Herbert and others. William Powell is here as Nick Charles from "The Thin Man", along with his dog Asta. Everyone from the Boy Scouts to Santa Claus joins in on the chase when the villain escapes. How he is caught is hilarious and I won't spoil that gag. There's a cute ending involving Hugh Herbert as well.

This short is on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Vol. 3 and is well worth getting. The Collections themselves are extremely well done and worth every penny. Recommended.

Magnificentl-Looking Cartoon That Puts You Right Back Into The '30s

[ccthemovieman-1 · 10/10 · 30 May 2007]

I love the retro look of the drugstore right in the opening scene. It looked like an Edward Hopper painting. Once inside, the camera pans to the magazine rack, and we get a glimpse of some of the famous "rags" of the day.

The cartoon story is two-fold: characters in these magazines "coming to life" and a story ensuing about a thief as he hops from one magazine cover to another. Another reviewer here, Robert Reynolds, explains that part well. Myself, I especially enjoyed the parody of William Powell and his "Thin Man."

I was stunned at the bright colors in here, especially for a cartoon 70 years old. It was stunning to observe. The people responsible for these Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVDs should be lauded for their efforts. That, and the wonderful nostalgia of seeing all of these old magazine covers with their distinctive styles is just wonderful.

Magazines coming to life with Frank Tashlin

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 22 September 2016]

It is agreed that 'Speaking of the Weather' is not as good as 'Have You Got any Castles' and especially 'Book Revue', cartoons that execute their concept more cleverly and with slightly more energy and surprises.

However, 'Speaking of the Weather' is still a very good cartoon. What immediately stands out is how visually stunning it is, the lush and vibrant colours do positively leap out as you, the backgrounds are handsomely and imaginatively detailed and while not quite as smooth as 'Have You Got any Castle' and 'Book Revue' the drawings are fluid and appealing.

Carl Stalling's music is always a highlight in every cartoon he scored for, even if the cartoon itself is not quite so great. His scoring elevates everything to a greater level, with everything beautifully orchestrated with clever use of instruments and energetic rhythms that never loses character or momentum, it's not only dynamic to what's happening, it enhances it and Stalling was a master at this.

What's also great about 'Speaking of the Weather' is that it is very funny. The titles are truly inspired and the caricatures are so much fun to spot and easily recognisable if familiar with them, admittedly though the caricatures/references in 'Have You Got any Castles' and 'Book Revue' are more easy to recognise and is less likely to go over people's heads if familiar with the literary classics. The William Powell and Hugh Herbert caricatures are especially noteworthy.

Do agree that the story is basic and very easy to figure out what will happen next, especially if you are familiar with cartoons that explore the same, or a similar, concept, which is the case with me, having grown up with the two cartoons being compared with and pretty much only got acquainted with this. It is still paced nicely and all the gags are timed well. The voice acting is spot on from Mel Blanc and Billy Bletcher, both with multiple characters.

In summary, very good cartoon and lots of fun, even if there are other cartoons with the same, or similar, concept and did it with more energy and imagination. 9/10 Bethany Cox

The 68 (mainly real, but mostly now defunct) magazines of 1937 . . .

[oscaralbert · 8/10 · 21 July 2016]

. . . (though their cover dates range from Oct. 1916 to Oct. 1946) shown during the Looney Tune SPEAKING OF THE WEATHER are (in order): 1)True Story, 2)McCall's, 3)Liberty, 4)Dreez, 5)West, 6)Dog World, 7)Asian, 8)Collier's Weekly (later misspelled "Collyer's"), 9)Reader's Digest, 10)Police Gazette, 11)Radio Stars, 12)Movie Magazine, 13)Music, 14)Outdoor Life, 15)The Dance, 16)The Ring, 17)House & Garden, 18)Childlife, 19)Screen Magazine, 20)Better Homes & Gardens, 21)The Etude Music Magazine, 22)Cowboy Ballads, 23)Good Housekeeping, 24)Woman's Home Companion, 25)Best Foods Magazine, 26)Home & Fireside, 27)Photoplay, 28)The Gang Magazine, 29)Popular Mechanics, 30)Magazine of Wall Street, 31)Scotland Yard, 32)Detective, 33)True Confessions, 34)Judge, 35)Life, 36)Science & Invention, 37)Radio Mirror, 38)Look, 39)Radio Guide, 40)American Astrology, 41)The Open Road, 42)American Boy, 43)Boy's Life, 44)Homecrafts & Hobbies, 45)Jungle Stories, 46)Africa, 47)Nature Magazine, 48)Sea Stories, 49)Our Navy, 50)Sweet & Smiff's Wild West Weekly, 51)Operator 5, 52)Secret Agant, 53)Crime, 54)Spider, 55)Mystery Magazine, 56)Better Babies, 57)The Saturday Evening Post (later presented as The Thursday Evening Post), 58)Country Life, 59)Polo, 60)Western Story Magazine, 61)Film Fun, 62)American Golfer, 63)Vanity Fair, 64)Hunting & Fishing, 65)Camping, 66)Saint Nicholas, 67)Field & Stream, and 68)World Almanac, ranging in cover price from a nickel (Secret Agent) to four bits (Country Life). The Thin Man and 20,000 Years in Sing Sing are the two books shown here.

Speaking of the weather, it's hot as hell in Tucson!

[slymusic · 3 August 2009]

"Speaking of the Weather" is a very good Warner Bros. cartoon directed by Frank Tashlin. Inside a closed-up drug store, all of the various characters pictured on the magazine covers come to life as they sing, dance, play instruments, etc. There actually is a plot, involving the apprehension of a criminal on the loose (well voiced by Billy Bletcher).

My favorite scenes: In the beginning, a Will Rogers-type character plays a slide whistle, a Ned Sparks caricature claims (as always) that he's not having any fun, bandleader Ted Lewis plays clarinet while performing some gymnastic dance stunts, and a beaver plunks away at a double bass with his tail. A trio of girls sitting at a backwards piano sings the title song, aided by a few "tongue sandwiches". A garden hose behaves like a snake under the spell of a charmer's flute.

Look for quite a few 1930s celebrity caricatures in "Speaking of the Weather". One in particular I find interesting is Hugh Herbert, the big-nosed, stocky guy who claps his hands with a high-pitched giggle. It was once written that Curly Howard of the Three Stooges adapted his famous "woo woo woo" from Hugh Herbert's high-pitched "hoo hoo hoo".