TheLittleSongbird
Chilly Willy's best cartoons were perfect examples of how a potentially one-joke character and concept could end up actually being a perfect mix of the cute and the funny with a lot of colour and good comic timing to go with it.It is very easy to see why 'Fractured Friendship' is one of the higher rated Sid Marcus-directed Chilly Willy cartoons here. Not all of them work, but 'Fractured Friendship' does and is one of his best efforts. There are some elements here that are so well executed that the cartoon came very close to being one of my favourite Chilly Willy cartoons. The premise does get repetitive and the repeated "it didn't work" line got annoying after the second or so time, it's the repetition and some rushed-looking animation in spots are the only things that keep 'Fractured Friendship' from being a favourite.However, the colours are bright and colourful and the backgrounds very simple but handsome enough. One just wishes that the drawing was better. Walter Greene's music is lively and rousingly, cleverly and beautifully orchestrated and fits very well, if not quite enhancing the action, the Hawaiian music use was a very nice touch. Have forgotten to mention how great the opening title credits music scoring is.All the gags are rarely less than amusing and beautifully timed, all revolving around Chilly's numerous sabotage attempts and the consequences, getting more imaginative actually as the cartoon goes on. Oddly enough, the more repetitive the premise itself gets, the more inventive and funnier Chilly's sabotaging gets. The chemistry between Chilly and Smedley sparkles, and it is always remarkable at what Chilly has up his sleeve and how he does it. Underneath all that irresistible cuteness he is one clever, funny and at times fairly brutal penguin.Chilly is adorable and is also a lot of fun, with his actions speaking far louder than words. He may be a nuisance to his opponents but he wins the viewer over with his cuteness and timing. Smedley shows perfectly why he and Chilly Willy work so well together, their friendship here is adorable and touching. He is the slightly funnier and more interesting of the two usually but Chilly gets the slight edge as the upper hand in this regard, he has some humorous dialogue here and an air of sympathy towards Chilly.It was truly lovely to see Chilly and Smedley as friends rather than opponents. One can totally relate to Smedley in wanting to go to a warmer climate (have been feeling like that for the past two or so weeks now), while one really wants to hug Chilly when he's upset and can relate to him not dealing with Smedley wanting to leave well (being somebody who suffered as a child with separation issues). His little hula dance was incredibly cute and the ending was a major "aww" moment.Daws Butler (in his characteristic and distinctive Huckleberry Hound southern drawl) does a marvellous job as ever.In summary, very well done. 8/10 Bethany Cox
