This short is about the trials and tribulations of a star-crossed couple, one of whom is (you guessed it) a frozen logger. This is a good little cartoon, but it isn't a terribly novel idea and variations on theme have been done earlier and/or better by other studios before and since. Entertaining enough and mostly it works well, but Rembrandt Films did much better work. This is on the compilation, Rembrandt's Greatest Hits, which is still available. The compilation is marvelous and this is most enjoyable, if not earthshaking. Worth watching even if it could have been better. Recommended.
2 Reviews
WARNING: Very catchy song!
F Gwynplaine MacIntyre9 September 2005
The American animator Gene Deitch really deserves to be better known: his toons are funny and accessible, with a physical appearance and character movements that are uniquely Deitch's work. His cartoons don't remind me of anyone else's. Due to the labour-intensive cost of cel animation, much of Deitch's work has been done in eastern Europe, where non-union animators could do the tedious in-between work more cheaply than it would have been done Stateside. Regrettably, this cheapness sometimes brings an overall shoddiness to Deitch's toons.
'The Frozen Logger' is a delight. There's no dialogue; we hear folksinger Lee Hayes singing a tune in 3/4 time that narrates the action. This song's waltz-time melody is *extremely* catchy, and the simple lyric is quite funny. WARNING: After you view this cartoon, the song will be stuck in your head for days afterward.
Basically, this is the story of a hardy lumberjack up in the Klondike, who's minding his business one day in the local saloon and stirring his coffee with his thumb (don't ask) when an attractive woman comes up to him, relating her tale of woe. (Male singer Hayes incorporates the woman's narration into his lyric.) As in all of Deitch's best work, the character animation is a delight. Much of the action takes place outdoors during a snowfall, and the snow is well-animated. Throughout the toon, there are two macho guys slugging it out in the street like a couple of rejects from Rex Beach's 'The Spoilers'. It's amusing how their punches rock each other: one guy oscillates vertically, the other horizontally. The main character of the logger is animated differently from these two lumber-jerks, so when all three of them appear in the same set-up it looks very funny.
And the payoff to the story is good, too. I'll rate this toon 10 out of 10. Now, if I could just get that song out of my head...
'The Frozen Logger' is a delight. There's no dialogue; we hear folksinger Lee Hayes singing a tune in 3/4 time that narrates the action. This song's waltz-time melody is *extremely* catchy, and the simple lyric is quite funny. WARNING: After you view this cartoon, the song will be stuck in your head for days afterward.
Basically, this is the story of a hardy lumberjack up in the Klondike, who's minding his business one day in the local saloon and stirring his coffee with his thumb (don't ask) when an attractive woman comes up to him, relating her tale of woe. (Male singer Hayes incorporates the woman's narration into his lyric.) As in all of Deitch's best work, the character animation is a delight. Much of the action takes place outdoors during a snowfall, and the snow is well-animated. Throughout the toon, there are two macho guys slugging it out in the street like a couple of rejects from Rex Beach's 'The Spoilers'. It's amusing how their punches rock each other: one guy oscillates vertically, the other horizontally. The main character of the logger is animated differently from these two lumber-jerks, so when all three of them appear in the same set-up it looks very funny.
And the payoff to the story is good, too. I'll rate this toon 10 out of 10. Now, if I could just get that song out of my head...
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