Ghost Wanted (1940) User Reviews

Who ya gonna call? Ghost ads!

[lee_eisenberg · 5/10 · 30 July 2019]

Chuck Jones is best known for the wacky but intellectual cartoons that he directed in the '40s and '50s. Many people will be surprised to learn that his early efforts were more like Disney cartoons in their softness, often to the point of having little to no comedy. An early example of his ideas for humor was 1940's "Ghost Wanted", wherein a junior apparition is trying to get a job as a house-haunter, but his interviewer (a large, silly ghost voiced by Tex Avery), keeps tormenting him. Looks like it's the only instance when an actual spirit needs the Ghostbusters! And because this is a Warner Bros. cartoon, dynamite comes into play.

What really caught my eye was the setting. The house - located at the appropriately named 1313 Dracula Drive - rests atop a narrow, eerie crag surrounded by equally ominous crags amid a dreary background. Background animator Paul Julian really went all out with this. Of course, Chuck Jones's best work (notably "Duck Amuck" and "What's Opera, Doc?") was still a ways off. Enjoyable nonetheless.

In conclusion, we're ready to believe you!

The Spirit of Casper

[boblipton · 6/10 · 1 November 2007]

This early Chuck Jones cartoon shows the usual sarcastic edge of Termite Terrace cartoons in this era, between the self-aware humor of Carl Stallings' music and the voice work -- provided by fellow director Tex Avery. However it also clearly shows what in this period is Jones' weakness -- his lead character is a child of sorts, like Sniffles --but there is little in the way of appeal to adults except for the academic one of seeing the early works of one of the great cartoon directors of all time.

Jones would return to his juvenile characters later in his career, bolstered by better scriptwriters and a surer command of the essential psychology of people -- his rarely seen 'Ralphie Phillips' cartoons like FROM A TO ZZZZ can be considered glosses on this work .... but their value will arise out of their understanding, rather than an overwhelming sense of cuteness.

Warner Bros. warns America of its Perishing Unions . . .

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 21 June 2017]

. . . during this brief cartoon, GHOST WANTED. At the time (1940) Warner's Animated Shorts Seers division (aka, the Looney Tuners) released their vision of the USA's Grim Future for the Labor Movement, most Union Locals had 10 members for every worker left standing in the shadows of Yesteryear's giants Today. Warner's prognosticators always were spot-on in forecasting the upcoming Calamities, Catastrophes, Cataclysms, and Apocalypti facing We 99 Per Center Americans of (the Then) Far Future. This Extreme Early Warning system uses a Big Bully Ghost to symbolize the Corrupt Union Bosses such as Teamster Leader Jimmy Hoffa in cahoots with Job-Killing Corrupt Management. Multiple scenes of GHOST WANTED emphasize a sign labeling the Big Bully Ghost as head of "Local 13" (in the "National Spooks Ass" Sic). Warner's prophets show how these Boss Buffoons will accept Automation and Robotics (symbolized here as fireworks) to eliminate the Goose Laying Their Golden Eggs (that is, we, the Workers, represented by the Caspar-like Spectre). Unfortunately, Warner's nightmare all came True--and then some.

A C.J. short for Halloween

[ja_kitty_71 · 10/10 · 16 October 2010]

I remember watching this short online once, and I thought it was good; I love these early Chuck Jones shorts. And also, I thought it was a great short for Halloween or anytime.

This spooky short is about a little boy ghost (bearing a resemblance to Casper the Friendly Ghost, only with bangs) who is inexperienced at haunting houses and whose "suit/sheets" resemble the typical footy pyjamas with the "trap door" that were popular in the 1940s. The little mute ghost then goes on a haunting job interview at a haunted house on a high hill and gets terrorized by a bigger ghost, voiced by fellow cartoon director Tex Avery.

Overall, I loved this short. I do not see why no one likes Chuck Jones' early cartoons; I do.

A spooky and fun house haunting

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 7 November 2017]

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.

'Ghost Wanted' is an early effort for legendary animator/animation director Chuck Jones, and while he went on to much better things later it is still a very well done cartoon. His style would become wittier and more refined later, the pacing later on became livelier and the characters had more interesting personalities. For early on though, he still acquits himself very well, saying that he did better later is not a knock against him but more stating a preference. 'Ghost Wanted' is slight and the little ghost character may be a little too cutesy for some, to me he just about managed to avoid being overly-so.

The atmosphere however has a real spookiness and while there is never anything hilarious the cartoon is fun. The other ghost character is the more interesting one and marvellously voiced by none other than another legendary animation genius Tex Avery.

It is no surprise that the animation is very good, being rich in colour and detail and the character design are 24-carat Jones. Carl Stalling's music is lush and characterful, with clever orchestration and a mastery of not just adding to the action but enhancing it as well (Stalling was a near-unequalled master at this, though Scott Bradley gave him a run for his money).

On the whole, spooky and fun if not one of Jones' best. 8/10 Bethany Cox