Saturday, March 11, 2023

'The Gay Goucho' is one of Van Beuren's best

The Gay Goucho (1933)
Starring: Gus Wicke
Director: Hugh Harman
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Cubby Bear descends from the Argentinian highlands to spend the night with his dancer girlfriend... but when banditos intrude upon their fun, Cubby's defense of her honor places them in deadly danger.
 


Animation-wise, "The Gay Goucho" is one of the best efforts I've seen from the Van Beuren Studios; the character designs are decent, varied, and they remain stable throughout the entire run-time of the cartoon. Further there are honest-to-god detailed backgrounds and other elaborate scenery, something that's a rariety in a Van Beuren production. There is also a minimal amount of obvious looping and none of the visual gags and other sequences are stretched to the point where they stop being funny and become dull. In fact, one can even describe moments of this cartoon as thrilling. 

So why am I only giving it a rating of Six Stars? Because as funny and cute and energetic as this cartoon is, it falls completely apart and the end. The final gag is amusing, but the wrap-up is such a lazy cop-out that I knocked a full star off.

But I've embedded "The Gay Goucho" below for your viewing convenience and--hopefully--pleasure. Let me and everyone else know what YOUR thoughts are about it!

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