Many thanks, first of all, for hosting this exceedingly rare film (and making it the inaugural entry in the already-marvelous Cartoon Brew Films!). I’ve been doing research on Frank Tashlin for several years, and the fact that this film is now available helps answer a number of questions.

There are many interesting thing about THE LADY SAID NO, but I’ll focus on just a few. First, it’s fascinating how Tashlin combines 2D animation with stop-motion. Notice, for instance, the “motion lines� when the main character dashes away at around 1:12; the ripples that emanate from the bodies of the waterlogged singers around 4:33; and the smoke clouds at 5:44. For a first foray into stop-motion, this is pretty creative stuff – and probably fairly difficult to conceive and achieve. Tashlin was nothing if not visually inventive.

In that stop-motion animation can depict (not just represent) three-dimensionality, it is tempting to see it as “closer� to live-action filmmaking than is 2-D animation. Much of the literature on Tashlin accounts for his career within the bounds of an uncomplicated arc: his work “evolves� and becomes more sophisticated as he moves from animation to live-action. This is too simplistic, of course; Tashlin is probably best considered a visual artist of remarkable capacity. His print cartoons of the 1930s are no more or less “sophisticated� than his feature films of the 1950s; they are all products of a restless, curious visual intelligence.

One of the continuities between THE LADY SAID NO and much of Tashlin’s other works is his reliance on tried-and-true comic forms, most plainly the gag/topper/topper-topper structure. Tashlin is a master of setting up gags, varying them, and amplifying them. One of the best in THE LADY SAID NO has to do with the long-necked singer’s Adam’s apple. The first time we see it, at 1:34, it is funny in its own right. The second time, at 4:37, Tashlin emphasizes the up-and-down movement by echoing it in the fish’s eyeballs. The third time (5:59), the character sings from inside a cactus, and the cactus’s skin (hide? bark?) bulges and moves along with the Adam’s apple behind it: the gag is intensified. The last time this gag appears (7:11), Tashlin treats it to a variation which ties in beautifully with the culmination of the film’s narrative. We have a new singer – one of the main character’s many, many babies – whose acrobatic Adam’s apple completes this gag cycle as it brings closure to the story: woo whom you want, but be prepared for the consequences. Tashlin makes his point about the dangers of romance (a theme common in his work) with, as is typical, a sight gag.

Finally, a note on staging and shot composition. The camera is remarkably mobile in THE LADY SAID NO, moving along all axes with great vigor. Tashlin often composes shots from unusual angles, but we should not take this as a sign of his becoming “more cinematic�: animation, of course, is film, too. I prefer to read these unusual compositions as fulfilling two goals. First, they are evidence of Tashlin’s interest in undermining animation’s reliance on the frontal, “proscenium�-style staging that made even some of the best Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies somewhat “flatter� than they might otherwise have been – see most of Friz Freleng’s (generally excellent) 1930s films, for instance. The rapid camera movement onto the “stage� at 7:25 is a particularly witty gesture, in this regard.

Second, and more importantly, Tashlin moves his camera and varies his compositions whenever such a gesture will clarify or intensify his film’s comedy. The several shots of the parade of waiters are fine examples of this tendency. These shots are taken from “Dutch� angles, the better to render abstract the shapes of the dishes, and the better to emphasize the enormity of the meal ordered by the Lady. Another fine example: Tashlin tracks the camera to follow our hero as he is dragged behind the wagon – what better way to emphasize the comedy of his dilemma? Comedy was Tashlin’s great muse, and he followed it throughout his varied, fascinating career.

WOW! FANTASTIC! Every fan of Warner Brothers, George Pal’s Puppetoons, stop motion and forgotten treasures of animation need to see this. I’m both in awe and saddened as I watch this film, to think that the negative is lost (as well as the other two installements) Maybe the others will turn up in time. Bravo bringing such an obscure gem back into circulation.

Great lost treasure. Always interesting to see 2D sensibilities transferred to 3D. Most work very well here. Many scenes are undeniably Frank Tashlin. The waiter in profile is pure Tashlin. I hope more of these Daffy Ditties are offered here. I hope Pal’s Puppetoons are eventually showcased here. Is it UCLA that has a beautiful print of Tulips Shall Grow?

Some people absolutely hate stop-motion but I think that’s mainly because there’s a lot of bad stop-motion out there. Give this one a try. This film, like most of the Puppetoons, is fun and lively. There’s a lot to gain by watching this one.

Wow. Such great, cartoony movements and character design. Please keep these films coming!