The Major Lied 'Til Dawn (1938) User Reviews

Hey, Bungalow Bill. What did you kill?

[lee_eisenberg · 6/10 · 14 December 2008]

I usually wouldn't feel so thrilled at the sight of a hunter who gallantly shoots animals. But "The Major Lied 'Til Dawn" has some really funny stuff. As was often the case with Warner Bros. cartoons of the late 1930s, there's a number of spot gags and a twist at the end. The boy is obviously a caricature of Freddie Bartholomew. The "2-to-1" scene is apparently a spoof of a cigarette ad of the era.

This cartoon had less in the way of editing and camera angle than I usually expect in a Frank Tashlin cartoon, but I still liked it. As for the racial stereotypes, they probably didn't mean any hostility to Africans; this was very likely the only image that they knew.

Anyway, you're sure to like this one.

The British get it in the neck again!

[JohnHowardReid · 5/10 · 7 March 2018]

STARS: "Freddie Bartholomew", "the major".

Director: FRANK TASHLIN. Story: Richard Hogan. Animation: Philip Monroe. Music director: Carl W. Stalling. Song: "Congo" by Jack Scholl (lyrics) and M.K. Jerome (music). Voice characterizations: Mel Blanc. Color by Technicolor. Producer: Leon Schlesinger.

Copyright 12 December 1938 by The Vitaphone Corp. A Warner Bros. "Merrie Melodies" cartoon. U.S. release: 13 August 1938 (sic. Presumably Vitaphone/Warnwr Bros. forgot to copyright the cartoon at this time. That would have made an interesting legal case if someone was made aware of this omission and decided to make and sell copies before December 12). 7 minutes.

COMMENT: Fantastic adventures of a typically choleric British major on safari in darkest Africa. Lots of par for 1938 racist gags and visuals which give the film a somewhat unpleasant air, despite the charm of Tashlin's fluid, attractively colored characters and backgrounds. Song: "Glad We're Alive".

This Warner Bros. animated short is chock full of cautions . . .

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 22 March 2017]

. . . intended to warn We Americans of the (Then) Far Future about our upcoming Calamities, Catastrophes, Cataclysms, and Apocalypti. One only need to consider its title, THE MAJOR LIED 'TIL DAWN. Until this point in our Modern 21st Century, The Truth always has been one of the charter American Virtues. Even before we broke free from the mendacious Redcoats, the youthful woodsman George Washington owned up to chopping down the missing cherry tree to a wrathful dad, saying "I cannot tell a lie." You'll never hear such words coming from "Major Trombley" here, as his spiel to the representative Youth of America is NOTHING BUT LIES. Warner's always psychic prognosticators urge their descendants NOT to vote Red Commie KGB Chief Vlad "The Mad Russian" Putin's MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE Rump, a widely known pathological liar and sociopath, into our Hallowed White House. Though most of the Looney Tuner progeny took this warning to heart, allowing the Normal People's Party to carry their California by FOUR MILLION VOTES, Putin's Oligarchical Party of the New Founding Fathers rigged the election so that America was doomed to become entrenched as a nation Of the Billionaires, By the Billionaires, and For the Billionaires--now and forever more. THE MAJOR LIED 'TIL DAWN shows how this prevaricating Plutocrat drains a swamp of menacing muck right down the Broadway of our once-great American Homeland. At least 18 major incidents of Putin's first 62 Days of Misrule are spelled out here in a clarion klaxon warning cry of misgiving, thanks to Warner Bros.' fearless prophets. But they say you cannot cram toothpaste back into the tube, and once you let Put in, it's pretty darn hard to Put him out!

Entertaining and well animated

[MarceloGilli · 7/10 · 18 November 2006]

This cartoon has excellent animation and many interesting gags. The humor is very lighthearted and harmless, with a lot of jokes based on analogies between urban or technological objects and natural or primitive ones (example: the elephant has a gear shifting handle). It's also interesting because it displays jokes that would be frowned upon today because of their ecological incorrectness (example: a bear is morphed into a coat); actually the whole subject of the cartoon would hardly be a viable choice in present days. As a final note, the copy I watched (shown on Cartoon Network) did not contain one the jokes mentioned in the "Plot Summary" section, namely the one in which a native uses his lower lip as a record player.

Hunting in the African Jungle

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 13 January 2018]

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.

'The Major Lied Til Dawn' may not be one of my favourite cartoons and doesn't see the best of Frank Tashlin, whose style would become more refined and inventive later (like as said in the editing and use of camera). Not that it doesn't have those things, just that his later output when his style became fully settled and established had more of them to stronger effect. There is not much that is wrong in 'The Major Lied Til Dawn', it just didn't quite wow me.

Story is very slight, with not much happening other than a collection of gags. Didn't care for the Native African gag, the character is unappealing design wise and a stereotype that is not the most tastefully depicted (not quite bad enough to be offensive though, and hostility was not intended most definitely) and the gag itself was not particularly funny.

However, the animation is very good. It's colourful in a sumptuous way, meticulous in background detail, crisp, beautifully drawn and fluid in movement. Carl Stalling's music is outstanding. It is as always lushly orchestrated, full of lively energy and characterful in rhythm, not only adding to the action but also enhancing it.

Much of 'The Major Lied Til Dawn' is a series of gags, but what hugely entertaining gags they are. Apart from one, all of them are rarely less than very funny and have suitably sharp timing and visual imagination to go with them. As well as some very colourful characters and ever fine voice acting. Loved the end twist.

Overall, good and worth seeing. 7/10 Bethany Cox

FANTASTIC

[steve-667-10190 · 9/10 · 13 December 2020]

I love the Wowsers who can't help but see the PC side of everything. This toon was funny, a tone capsule and Warner's at their best. The orchestra was at their best in this one. A beloved cartoon from my childhood and streets ahead of the moronic muck that kids watch now.