RyothChatty ridiculous rating

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

colbj-49411 As a young child Looney Tunes was on every day at 5pm. I rarely missed it. However, there were a few cartoons from WB that I really disliked. At the top of that short list was 'It's Hummer Time'. If it came on I'd either leave the room, or change the channel.As with most of the cartoons made from this period, it's wonderfully animated and beautifully scored. The problem is the disturbing storyline between the dog, cat and hummingbird.A dim-witted cat, pursuing a smart a** hummingbird, disturbs the rest of a large aggressive bulldog. In most cartoons the bulldog would simply belt the cat for this indignity and that would be it. Not in this case. To the tune of a rather appropriate choice of angry and aggressive music called 'Powerhouse', he drags the cat, who screams for mercy, to an elaborate torture sequence. The cat then blithely accepts his sadistic fate.Maybe this would be ok if it happened just once, but it happens several times, as the Hummingbird tries and succeeds in getting the cat in continual trouble with the dog. Eventually the bird get the best of the cat and dog and the cartoon ends. How hilarious. Like most rational people you'd be happy to see the bird, clearly a nasty sociopath with no redeeming qualities, turned into a bird pie. Unfortunately, this doesn't eventuate.I can only conclude that the main writer thought that senseless violence, no matter its form, is always funny. Well, it isn't.

slymusic Directed by Robert McKimson, with a fine music score by Carl W. Stalling, "It's Hummer Time" is a fun Warner Brothers cartoon about a griping feline's travails in attempting to catch a hummingbird. A bulldog gets into the act, and I won't reveal much more than that.My favorite highlights include the dog's hilarious "I tawt I taw a putty tat!"; the "Happy Birthday" punishment; and "The Works", in which the dog finally gets his comeuppance as he and the cat get dragged all over hell's half-acre.Among all the wonderful popular songs that I recognize in "It's Hummer Time" are "I'm Looking over a Four-Leaf Clover", "Powerhouse", "By a Waterfall", "Baby Face", "Teddy Bears' Picnic", and "Ain't We Got Fun". So you see, when you watch these classic Warner Bros. cartoons, especially those with music scores by Carl Stalling, it's really fun to be able to listen and pick out various melodies you may recognize.

phantom_tollbooth Robert McKimson's 'It's Hummer Time' is a gorgeous and extremely inventive cartoon that expands on the usual bird-cat-dog chase formula by incorporating sadistically pre-prepared punishments on the dog's part. Like many Spring/Summer based cartoons ('Swallow the Leader', 'Springtime for Thomas' to name but two), 'It's Hummer Time' is beautiful to look at, filled with uplifting bright colours. The plot pushes the whole thing into the realms of the classic as predictable spot gags are hysterically punctuated with unpredictable follow-ups in which the insistent dog drags the cat kicking and screaming to punishments that have been carried out so frequently in the past that the cat has named them all ("Oh no, not the thinker!"). There's also a pleasingly cyclical nature to the plot in which the cat begins and ends the cartoon as a bird bath. 'It's Hummer Time' was remade the following year as the infinitely inferior, over-complicated 'Early to Bet' which comes nowhere near recapturing the magic of this unique cartoon.

carryall It's Hummer Time (1950) is one of the best shorts directed by the heavily criticized Robert McKimson. It features an unnamed cat who tries to catch a little, but very clever hummingbird, and often runs into a vicious and sadistic bulldog who bullies him in various ways. The cartoon is often remembered by the popular quotes of the cat "No, not happy birthday" or "No, please, not the Thiiinker", and its reference to Tweety "I Tought I taw a Puddy Tat".Why I think this is an excellent cartoon is the great timing and the musicality which rarely can be seen in McKimson's filmography. I always thought his shorts from 1950 (along with other great ones like "A Fractured Leghorn", "Hillbilly Hare", "Boobs in the Woods", "What's Up Doc?" or "Dog Collared") are the peak of his career as a director, and it's too bad he started to slump after this year with losing Warren Foster, his story-writer.The cartoon itself seems to be a Tweety parody, and the whole thing is done in Friz Freleng's style. There are a lot of scores here: "Ain't we got fun", "I'm looking over a four leaf clover" or Raymond Scott's popular "Powerhouse" and many others. The timing is very precise, it made even the weaker gags better, and I was rather satisfied with the ending. The hummingbird itself is very much like the early clampettish Tweety, that's another strong point.I'm a bit baffled why this cartoon haven't been added to the Golden Collections yet (much better than its weak and unfunny successor "Early to Bet" which was on the 1st volume), but maybe next time. Recommended to watch it on the Looney Tunes website.10/10