Krazy Kat in motion

Krazy Kat Goes A Wooing (1916)

Starring: N/A

Director: Leon Searl

Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Krazy Kat goes to serenade Ignatz Mouse. 

If there ever was a cartoon that needed a better musical score, it's "Krazy Kat Goes A-Wooing". I would love to hear what Krazy Kat is playing on his banjo or even hear what it sounds like when he or she (I have no idea what sex Krazy is, even after all these years) sings. I know this was originally a silent film, but it really needs someone to put together a score that more accurately reflects what's happening on the screen. (All versions I've come across feature piano music, and, with the exception of the one hosted by the Library of Congress--which I've embedded below via YouTube--they all seem to be randomly selected pieces. A score using a banjo, a mouth harp, or maybe just a person humming through an electric fan would be far better, especially if created specifically for this.)

If you've read and enjoyed any of George Herriman's "Krazy Kat" comic strips, I think you'll like this animated trip to the "heppy land that is fur, fur away". Unlike later Krazy Kat animated entries--of which there were well over 250 between the years of 1915 and 1947--this one is close to Herriman's strips in feel and look and overall execution. The odd, yet very cool (or maybe kool) flying car that Krazy Kat travels around in not something I remember seeing before. It's the perfect addition to the animated version, however.

Welcome to 2021!

A new year has arrived. We here at Shades of Gray hope that all our readers and visitors are happy and healthy, and we hope to continue to bring you lots of old stuff that may be new to you.

And while we are expecting there to be a full year ahead of us, Janet Leigh is not so optimistic. She's excited a new year is here... but she's going to take it one day (two at most) at a time...

It's me birfday...

... and on this day in 1922, decades before I was born, this great Krazy Kat cartoon by George Herriman saw print. (Click on the image for a larger, more legible version.)

Out with the Old, and In With the New (or visa-versa?)

It's a new year in Krazy Kat's "heppy land, furfur away"! (Click on the cartoon for a larger, more legible version.)

This is your brain on drugs....

... or something very close to it. This 1931 cartoon is about as trippy as they come!