#mutiny is a brewin

[libroseitm]

Buttons Valentins day card :D That's a link to buy it from me, but go ahead and use the top one for completely free however you like. I drew it for v day #wooasacrew on Twitter :) More to come!!

General buttons merch, some with the quote "Mutiny is a brewin' " Incluidng a buttons button, hehe :D

I cannot STOP being inspired to draw from this show!! The way everything looks is just so perfect and beautiful!

[you-makestedehappy]

Line deliveries that play on repeat in my brain.

Season 1, episode 1 - Pilot

🐈‍⬛❤️‍🩹🍆💦🏴‍☠️ [ep 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

[goosetooths]

mutiny's a-brewin'

[quillustrates]

MUTINY IS A BREWIN’! Aye crew, you heard Mr Buttons! Sign & share the petition and make some noise!

✍️ chng.it/WHtrcP4L

[callmekitto]

I also love Buttons because in the pilot he goes to Stede with "captain...mutiny is a-brewin'...you get a nose for it when you're an old sea-dog like myself...I feel it in my bones..." meanwhile he literally just overheard the crew being like We Are Going To Kill That Man

god I love one Mr. Nathaniel Buttons. he's so wonderful to me. man has a set of metal teeth "in case he needs to chew through some poor fucker's throat". he's got another set of teeth that are made of wood. he is canonically a cannibal, he can talk to birds, and he wants to fuck the ocean. he's also a witch. incredible.

[dor-nu-fauglith]

BRUH MUTINY IS A BREWIN

ngl but this is def fuckin fun

[glamaphonic]

One thing I find very interesting about the crew is that I get the vibe most of them are newcomers to piracy which tracks with the fact that they ended up on Stede's ship. Oluwande and Jim are just pirates right now because of Circumstances, Frenchie shares info from his past in service but doesn't talk about being on other ships (though he does imply he's seen a lot of the world), Black Pete gives Pirate Fanboy vibes with his "I should have at least 20 kills by now" and telling tall tales about being Blackbeard's right hand man. All of them have distinct New To This vibes including their extreme reluctance to engage in normal tasks of ship maintenance, with the possible exception of Roach and definite exception of Buttons.

With Roach I wonder if it's not his first rodeo because of the tidbit about him sewing up his own arm and "torturing hostages relaxes me" but that could have other context. Buttons, though? The man is so Of The Sea, so deeply a Pirate Druid with his seagull familiars and moon bathing, and he also reveals actual competence with "those black dots look about Spanish to me" etc. How did HE end up on the Revenge?

As an aside my headcanon for how they were all recruited is that Stede held open auditions for crew members or put up one of those fuckin flyers where you tear off a slip with contact information, and most of them turned up despite no previous pirating experience because they wanted to be pirates/needed to get away from where they were/wanted the salary, room and board that Stede offered. But Buttons? Was it a situation where he was kicked off his previous ship for being Too Weird? Or is it the funnier option which is that he, too, is a newbie but just dove head first into the "cap'n, mutiny is a-brewin'", the sea is my mistress, seagull familiar pirate witch life. Was Baby Buttons just always Like That despite not always being a pirate?

Anyway I Need the recruitment flackback(s) in season 2 and I sincerely hope it's a scene of Stede holding full on auditions for his pirate crew with all the tropes that entails

I'm just gonna leave this here.

I enjoy your mind.

And yes I fully believe Buttons lost his previous job because he was just so fucking weird.

[oldofmd12verse]

OFMD Decembverse 2022 Information

Hello everyone, and welcome to OFMD Decembverse! It’s time to try our hand at some poetry. Please read the entire thread before participating! Our hashtag: #ofmd12verse (alternate: #ofmddecembverse).

First, link to the ao3 collection for this event: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/ofmd12verse22/profile

Official Twitter for this event:

Information:

OFMD Decembverse is a month-long prompt-based challenge to write some poetry for your fandom. Poetry is seen as something intimidating and “not for people like us” to most people, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Poetry is for everyone.

Each day of December will have two prompts associated with it: A type of poetry (with instructions provided for how to write it) and a lesser-known quote from the show Our Flag Means Death that you can use as inspiration.

You do not have to follow either prompt if you do not want to. You can choose to focus only on the poetry type or the quote, or say screw it and write the poetry you want, how you want. If it’s a poem related to OFMD (or that uses these prompts), it qualifies for this challenge.

This challenge is taking place on Ao3, Twitter, and Tumblr.

Note: Some of these poetry styles (such as Shi) were developed to only work well in certain languages. I will be posting ways to adapt these to English for those who are interested. I don’t think poetry should have to be Euro-centric just because this is a predominantly English-speaking fandom.

Prompt List:

Day 1: Slam: “Wait until you hear about my life as an accountant.” Day 2: Ballad: “I loves me a thief.” Day 3: Sonnet (Iambic Pentameter): “The love of a pet makes a man weak.” Day 4: Pastoral: “We’re gonna have fun today, and that’s an order.” Day 5: Terza Rima: “If I can help this crew grow as people, then I’ve succeeded in being a pirate captain.” Day 6: Ottava Rima: “You should have stayed still, that’s kinda on you.” Day 7: Enclosed rhyme: “The rest was just gravity.” Day 8: Soliloquy: “So this whole time you were a woman?” Day 9: Blank Verse: “I’ve got more riches than you can shake a fucking stick at!” Day 10: Free Verse: “I never said that they floated.” Day 11: Ode: “You all look the same, you know.” Day 12: Lyric: “Is this all there is?” Day 13: Ballade (not the same as Ballad): “A widow’s life isn’t nearly as bad as it’s made out to be.” Day 14: Villanelle: “Mutiny is a-brewin’.” Day 15: Narrative Poetry: “I can’t believe you made me do this.” Day 16: Dissonance: “Since we’re on the subject of bad vibes…” Day 17: Assonance: “We love an audience.” Day 18: Satirical: “I’m a dirty, filthy murderer!” Day 19: Haiku (or Tanka): “And you cried all the time, and liked to pick flowers.” Day 20: Elegy: “Murder is a natural cause.” Day 21: Imagery: “We could’ve made magic.” Day 22: Alliteration: “Knives are knives, meat’s meat.” Day 23: Free Verse: “I heard the most insane rumor.” Day 24: Couplet: “You don’t get food if you’ve been invaded.” Day 25: Shi Poetry (see guide for English interpretation of rules): “I’m the Black Cat of Death.” Day 26: Fable: “Read it and weep, my friend! Adventure awaits!” Day 27: Ghazal: “God’s not a fan.” Day 28: Limerick: “The vengeancer and the vengeancee.” Day 29: Tercet: “You’ll sign a confession to that extent, hmm?” Day 30: Monorhyme: “Avast ye!” Day 31: Epic: “My Wondrous Journey: A Life at Sea.”

Rules: 1. Please tag properly and liberally for common/reasonable triggers. Mark explicit verse as explicit for those of us who browse social media at work.

2. No racism/homophobia/transphobia that isn’t both tagged AND used in the storytelling process (such as to express discomfort with these concepts or to show characters being victims of these concepts).

3. If your poetry is explicit, tag that shit please!

4. Don’t worry about getting it perfectly right, poetry is about expressing yourself and feeling free as fuck while doing it.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What if I've never written poetry before/am not very good? Poetry is one of the oldest art forms in the world. People used poetry to pass down wisdom, stories, and share their culture before they could write. It is truly for everyone, including you. It has a stereotype for being gatekept and that only certain people can appreciate it, but I promise that that is a lie. If you can type words, you can do this.

Do I have to participate in every day/prompt? No, and it's likely that it will be really difficult to keep up with them all. Do what speaks to you and makes you happy.

What if I don't want to make the kind of poetry in that day's prompt? Then screw it, pick another kind that speaks to you. This challenge is supposed to help you learn to express yourself in different ways, but if you can't express yourself properly through a haiku or a sonnet, do something else that speaks to you. All poetry is good poetry.

Do I have to follow the quote prompt for each day? No. Some people don't know where to begin, so I've provided quotes from the show that generally aren't used/referenced much in fandom. But if you have a better idea you are obligated to use that one instead, because again, expressing yourself through verse is the most important part.

Do my poems have to rhyme? No, not all poetry rhymes, and some kinds explicitly don't.

Can my poetry be explicit/sexy? Hell yeah. Just tag that shit, please.

Can I participate by writing for other fandoms? Yes! While this challenge was created with OFMD in mind, all fandoms could use a nice injection of verse in them. All I ask is that you use at least one of the prompts for that day (be it the poetry type or quote) so it relates to this challenge in some way. I know that many people also write for WWDITS and those fandoms are more than welcome here. I purposely chose quotes that aren't a direct reference to characters in the show so that you could branch out.

Do I have to write a poem about the exact context of the quote? No, absolutely not. It can be about anything. The quote is just there to get your juices flowing.

Where can I post my work? Ao3: This collection is the place to post it. Twitter: Use the tag #ofmd12verse OR #ofmdDecembverse (the first one is neater in my opinion). The main account will retweet works under those tags. Tumblr: Use the tag #ofmd12verse OR #ofmdDecembverse (the first one is neater in my opinion). The main account will reblog works under those tags.

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

Alright yall, let's quadruple that effort. Let's show David Zazslav not to fuck with the fans of OFMD. Mutiny's a brewin, there's a chance. Got more emails? Sign that petition. We've got the email addreses, let's keep emailing and calling. This isn't over. Remember to still be a Polite Menace, but let's be a PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE wave of hell.

PS: I know you've done a lot, don't feel obligated to do more, just know youre efforts aren't wasted luvs <3

I’m so mad I’m shaking. WE WERE SO CLOSE! Our clownery wasn’t unfounded. We really were getting an announcement. And they just let it fucking drop.

https://x.com/thecozypirate/status/1745641563403771912?s=46&t=hlyEMD5zVK_HL1eoyYeONA

[barkilphedros-hat]

“Mutiny is a-brewin’”

Quick ink painting of the best Totally-Not-A-Sea-God Nathaniel Buttons 🥰🥰

[ofmddecembverse]

OFMD Decembverse 2022 Challenge

Hello everyone, and welcome to OFMD Decembverse! It’s time to try our hand at some poetry. Please read the entire thread before participating! Our hashtag: #ofmd12verse (alternate: #ofmddecembverse).

First, link to the ao3 collection for this event: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/ofmd12verse22/profile

Official Twitter for this event:

OFMD Decembverse (@ofmd12verse) / TwitterOFMD Poetry Prompt Challenge for December 2022.TWITTER

Information:

OFMD Decembverse is a month-long prompt-based challenge to write some poetry for your fandom. Poetry is seen as something intimidating and “not for people like us” to most people, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Poetry is for everyone.

Each day of December will have two prompts associated with it: A type of poetry (with instructions provided for how to write it) and a lesser-known quote from the show Our Flag Means Death that you can use as inspiration.

You do not have to follow either prompt if you do not want to. You can choose to focus only on the poetry type or the quote, or say screw it and write the poetry you want, how you want. If it’s a poem related to OFMD (or that uses these prompts), it qualifies for this challenge.

This challenge is taking place on Ao3, Twitter, and Tumblr.

Note: Some of these poetry styles (such as Shi) were developed to only work well in certain languages. I will be posting ways to adapt these to English for those who are interested. I don’t think poetry should have to be Euro-centric just because this is a predominantly English-speaking fandom.

Prompt List:

Day 1: Slam: “Wait until you hear about my life as an accountant.” Day 2: Ballad: “I loves me a thief.” Day 3: Sonnet (Iambic Pentameter): “The love of a pet makes a man weak.” Day 4: Pastoral: “We’re gonna have fun today, and that’s an order.” Day 5: Terza Rima: “If I can help this crew grow as people, then I’ve succeeded in being a pirate captain.” Day 6: Ottava Rima: “You should have stayed still, that’s kinda on you.” Day 7: Enclosed rhyme: “The rest was just gravity.” Day 8: Soliloquy: “So this whole time you were a woman?” Day 9: Blank Verse: “I’ve got more riches than you can shake a fucking stick at!” Day 10: Free Verse: “I never said that they floated.” Day 11: Ode: “You all look the same, you know.” Day 12: Lyric: “Is this all there is?” Day 13: Ballade (not the same as Ballad): “A widow’s life isn’t nearly as bad as it’s made out to be.” Day 14: Villanelle: “Mutiny is a-brewin’.” Day 15: Narrative Poetry: “I can’t believe you made me do this.” Day 16: Dissonance: “Since we’re on the subject of bad vibes…” Day 17: Assonance: “We love an audience.” Day 18: Satirical: “I’m a dirty, filthy murderer!” Day 19: Haiku (or Tanka): “And you cried all the time, and liked to pick flowers.” Day 20: Elegy: “Murder is a natural cause.” Day 21: Imagery: “We could’ve made magic.” Day 22: Alliteration: “Knives are knives, meat’s meat.” Day 23: Free Verse: “I heard the most insane rumor.” Day 24: Couplet: “You don’t get food if you’ve been invaded.” Day 25: Shi Poetry (see guide for English interpretation of rules): “I’m the Black Cat of Death.” Day 26: Fable: “Read it and weep, my friend! Adventure awaits!” Day 27: Ghazal: “God’s not a fan.” Day 28: Limerick: “The vengeancer and the vengeancee.” Day 29: Tercet: “You’ll sign a confession to that extent, hmm?” Day 30: Monorhyme: “Avast ye!” Day 31: Epic: “My Wondrous Journey: A Life at Sea.”

Rules: 1. Please tag properly and liberally for common/reasonable triggers. Mark explicit verse as explicit for those of us who browse social media at work.

2. No racism/homophobia/transphobia that isn’t both tagged AND used in the storytelling process (such as to express discomfort with these concepts or to show characters being victims of these concepts).

3. If your poetry is explicit, tag that shit please!

4. Don’t worry about getting it perfectly right, poetry is about expressing yourself and feeling free as fuck while doing it.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What if I've never written poetry before/am not very good? Poetry is one of the oldest art forms in the world. People used poetry to pass down wisdom, stories, and share their culture before they could write. It is truly for everyone, including you. It has a stereotype for being gatekept and that only certain people can appreciate it, but I promise that that is a lie. If you can type words, you can do this.

Do I have to participate in every day/prompt? No, and it's likely that it will be really difficult to keep up with them all. Do what speaks to you and makes you happy.

What if I don't want to make the kind of poetry in that day's prompt? Then screw it, pick another kind that speaks to you. This challenge is supposed to help you learn to express yourself in different ways, but if you can't express yourself properly through a haiku or a sonnet, do something else that speaks to you. All poetry is good poetry.

Do I have to follow the quote prompt for each day? No. Some people don't know where to begin, so I've provided quotes from the show that generally aren't used/referenced much in fandom. But if you have a better idea you are obligated to use that one instead, because again, expressing yourself through verse is the most important part.

Do my poems have to rhyme? No, not all poetry rhymes, and some kinds explicitly don't.

Can my poetry be explicit/sexy? Hell yeah. Just tag that shit, please.

Can I participate by writing for other fandoms? Yes! While this challenge was created with OFMD in mind, all fandoms could use a nice injection of verse in them. All I ask is that you use at least one of the prompts for that day (be it the poetry type or quote) so it relates to this challenge in some way. I know that many people also write for WWDITS and those fandoms are more than welcome here. I purposely chose quotes that aren't a direct reference to characters in the show so that you could branch out.

Do I have to write a poem about the exact context of the quote? No, absolutely not. It can be about anything. The quote is just there to get your juices flowing.

Where can I post my work? Ao3: This collection is the place to post it. Twitter: Use the tag #ofmd12verse OR #ofmdDecembverse (the first one is neater in my opinion). The main account will retweet works under those tags. Tumblr: Use the tag #ofmd12verse OR #ofmdDecembverse (the first one is neater in my opinion). The main account will reblog works under those tags.

[dragonswithjetpacks]

YOU. GUYS.

We are taking a break from our main campaign to play a homebrew campaign one of our friends made. It gives him a chance to learn how to DM and gives our DM a chance to play. And omfg it’s so good. We’re all crew members on a ship. I mean I was the only actually part of the crew. The DM 2.0 gave us options to either be on the ship or be recruited and I was the only one who chose to be a navigator on the ship.

Our old DM is playing a harengon druid surgeon. He’s a vegetarian. And he’s also very mischievous. And when’s joking, you can’t really tell. But he has a high pitched nervous voice so it just makes it funnier.

One of our friends is playing a goblin artificer cannoneer with metal arms. He can walk like a normal person but he mostly scurries on all fours at all times. Anytime he does something cool with firearms he finger guns and goes “Boomstick” which is his name. And it’s wonderful.

Another one of our friends has a very “If the Little Mermaid was actually a terrifying rogue” character. She is a tritan rogue rigger. One of the best riggers we have. She’s also one of the divers.

One of my favorites is a water genasi bard who is the ship carpenter. But she’s not like a singing bard. Her inspiration comes from cheap magic. So all her inspirations are like terrible joke magic things like a jack in the box that squirts you in the face. She also has this amazing habit of mentioning that she’s wet in the most inappropriate times.

And me. I’m a halfling warlock (one level in rogue for extra damage) navigator. I’m a little spitfire of a thing with a love for boots. I’m also a total lightweight so any time I drink, I get even feistier.

A good majority of us are small. The genasi is the only one above 5 ft. So it’s amazing when we’re in a battle because three of us are only like 3 ft tall. And we did not plan it at all. We were talking about it last night how the genasi is the tallest one. I’m the smallest one. So guess who ended up flirting with each other... yeah, I’m gonna climb that waterslide.

At. Any. Rate. I did not plan this. I don’t know if it was planned. I don’t know how anyone feels about it. But I’ve got a good relationship with the first mate on the boat (not played by any of us). And I knew the captain had secrets but I didn’t know about what. Things were a brewin. And last night there was a mutiny. Turns out a pirate legend was disguised on the ship and had it our for our ole cap. We managed to push them back, but just barely. Lost over half the crew. Before the battle ended, the captain was stabbed with a magical sword by fancy pirate man. And the sword started to pulse. And he looked at me in his final moments. Made me captain. Shoved cannonballs in his pockets. And took a dive with the sword still in his chest. Apparently, he was gonna die no matter what and taking the sword meant taking away some of the pirate guy’s power I guess? So now I’m captain of this ship. And I don’t know how I feel about it. The first mate died (he was my bes fren and I was sad). The second mate turned out to be a werewolf indebted to the captain. He’s my first mate. So now I need a second mate... and a navigator... and uh a lot of stuff. Shit is getting crazy dude.

[thetardigrape]

I submit that Buttons would be a spy without even knowing it. He just says things like "Mutiny's a-brewin'" and he would say some absolutely crucial info that completely turned a situation around without actually having decided to be a spy.

[ducktracy]

178. i wanna be a sailor (1937)

release date: september 25th, 1937

series: merrie melodies

director: tex avery

starring: robert winkler (peter parrot), elvia allman (mother parrot), mel blanc (duck), berneice hansell (patrick parrot, patricia parrot), billy bletcher (father parrot)

though porky was established as a star by this point, his stardom was a lonely one indeed. gabby goat had come and gone as a failed experiment, petunia only had a handful of shorts left, and daffy wouldn’t be established as a sidekick until a year or two later. aside from the pig himself, warner bros. didn’t have a vast repertoire of characters to boast. but that didn’t stop them anyway.

perhaps “boast” is a bit too hyperbolic, but there’s a rather fascinating trend in the late ‘30’s of warner bros. advertising characters who ranged from minuscule to down right obscure. porky, petunia, gabby, and the early prototype of daffy are all reasonable characters to tote, but it got to the point where one-off characters such as petunia’s dog fluffnums, “sammy sparrow”, and peter parrot where toted around as well. this marks the debut of peter parrot who, despite only starring in this short, found his way onto ice cream packaging, publicity sheets, and even wall hangers.

so, what’s all the hubbub with this little parrot? the short, an unofficial sequel to i love to singa, chronicles peter’s wishes to follow in his footsteps and become a sailor, despite his mother’s pleas against him. peter sets off for shore anyhow, but quickly realizes that it isn’t a captain‘s life for him.

the short begins with mama parrot (voiced by the great elvia allman) teaching her children how to talk. specifically, how to cite the ever-appropriate “polly want a cracker.” berneice hansell voices the first two siblings, patrick and patricia, who both fumble over the sentence in cute, giggly, slow voices. avery loved to put hansell’s squeaky voice to use, specifically to test our patience to see how annoying and how long he could drag it out. both children manage to spit out the magic words, much to the approval of mama. the underscore of “we’re working our way through college” is a nice touch--one of my favorites!

in the averyverse, it’s common knowledge that the third attempt at a gag results in a mix-up, and here is no exception. mama drills our star, peter, (named patrick on his various mediums of advertisement) but to no avail. instead, he resists, robert winkler (who was one of the voices for scrappy over at the columbia studio) providing his vocals as he grovels “i don’t wanna cracker, see? i wanna be a sailor like me pop, see?”

pan over to reveal a framed portrait of dear old dad, clad in a sailor suit, bulging popeye arms and all. mama does not agree, and is quick to launch into a rant. “huh. like your pop! why, that sea-bearin’ homewrecker, that high-seas hitchhiker... a fine father he’s been, the sea-goin’ sob!” her rant segues into a flashback sequence, animated by the great irv spence. the layout and background of the newly-weds’ new abode in the canary islands is very pretty indeed, great contrast with the blues and the yellows of the moon/light from inside.

elvia allman’s deliveries are great as always--she doesn’t get nearly the same amount of buzz as the other female stars of warner bros. such as berneice hansell, sara berner, bea benaderet, and of course june foray. the fond trip down memory lane includes warm memories of the new mother feeding her infants, the atmosphere warm... and then we pan over to the father, allman’s narration now acidic and vitriolic as she hurls insults in conjunction with the animation--the “rum-soaked old seagull” is surrounded by a wall of empty bottles, pouring himself a hearty dosage of shots. 

irv spence’s animation of the father’s lumbering, drunken exit out of the house is great--i especially love the extra details such as the swirls and stars. just as allman mentions the father’s venture to hawaii (on account that he could never stay in one place), we get a moment of avery genius as pa shoves his face back in the door to interrupt the narration (voiced by billy bletcher): “no, ma, it was catalina!” allman’s bite that was so harsh earlier is completely absent as she corrects herself. “oh... oh, yes. set sail for catalina.”  

another great avery gag that would be reused in the smash hit red hot riding hood, another avery piece: ma fondly remembers how she would “burn a little light in the window.” cue a giant spotlight beaming out the window, sweeping the entire island. 

mama parrot tearfully ends her lecture, asking her son “now you don’t wanna be a sailor, do you?” wonderful comedic timing as a tearful, mournful peter wipes his eyes. after a few seconds of sniveling, he responds with a warbled “...yes!” 

“WHAAAAT!?” so taken aback by her son’s reaction, mama parrot faints, literally hanging by her toes from the bird cage as she dangles unconscious. thus provides the perfect escape for peter, who opts to take matters into his own hands. cue the similarities to i love to singa: estranged bird children leave their over-protective parents in order to pursue their dreams. 

there’s a wonderfully smooth transition between multi-plane pans here: close-up to peter haughtily stalking off, footsteps tinkering to the beat. the surroundings of his household melt away to reveal a pan of the outside, the momentum never halting, no breaks in the walk-cycle, just perfectly timed. VERY impressive! i’m always a fan of the multi-plane pans to begin with, but this in particular is very well executed. in the midst of peter’s angsty stewing, he bumps right into a spare barrel. suddenly, an idea hatches, and he lifts the barrel (cartoon physics!) as we fade out. 

fade back in to another multi-plane pan, this time of a pond. i love the lush, painterly look of the backgrounds in the late ‘30′s and early ‘40′s--daffy duck and egghead in particular has some divine color styling. this pan reminds me quite a bit of the backgrounds in that one, as we’ll explore relatively soon (8 more to go!)

peter has successfully crafted a makeshift ship out of his barrel, the perfect size for such a pint-sized parrot. cue the introduction of the archetypal annoying blabbermouth--warner bros. loved their blabbermouth characters. dizzy duck, a blabbermouth facsimile to a certain disney-owned duck, would be porky’s sidekick for a whopping two cartoons. friz freleng would play around with the trope in his little blabbermouse, and even chuck jones would refine his sweet, mellow character sniffles into a bonafide chatterbox. 

here, it’s a little yellow duck (who looks awfully similar to daffy’s next appearance in daffy duck and egghead), barraging peter with a number of questions. peter is quick to shut the duck up, closing his beak as he snarls “well, see, i’m buildin’ a boat, see!” his explanation, reused from egghead rides again, is “because, because, because... today, i am a man!”, a take of the same line used in bar mitzvahs. while there may be a disconnect between the catchphrase and audiences today, one can at least appreciate the vocal talents ingrained in the line--specifically, the squeaky, prepubescent “i am a man!” provided by mel blanc here. little duck is eager to tag along. peter agrees, but not before clamping a spare clothespin down on the duckling’s beak to shut him up. 

cue the song sequence, which is more talk-song-y than anything. irv spence provides some nice animation as the two climb onto deck, peter shoving a mop into the curious duckling’s grip (”all aboard! c’mon, by heck! your job will be to scrub the deck!”) while the song continues, peter peels a skull and crossbones off of a spare poison bottle (how safe!), using it as a flag. the up shot of the flag being raised is nice and dynamic, even if the timing is a little bloated.

the ship has set sail. after glowing at his makeshift sail (a pair of long underwear), peter directly addresses the audience, a nice reminder that tex avery is directing the short. “this picture’s kinda like mutiny on the county, [actually titled mutiny on the bounty] dont’cha think?” he pauses for a few beats before turning back to the audience, now with a glower: "or dont’cha?”

to assert his dominance and strong masculinity, peter pulls out a stick of licorice from his pocket, tearing off a bite as a makeshift glob of tobacco. the animation of him chewing (and thusly spitting) the tobacco has a nice sense of weight to it--the push and pull is strong. he hocks it up over the side of the ship, and, like all spitting gags, the piece of “tobacco” traverses through the bottom of the water and lands perfectly in a submerged spittoon.

self-satisfied, peter now opts to scale the crow’s nest, using his beak and feet to guide him along the way (woodblocks doing a nice job of synchronizing animation and music). suddenly, he does a take to something offscreen. a storm’s a-brewin’, as indicated by the lightning that literally spells out “BAM!” as it streaks past. experimenting with typography is always refreshing to see in the shorts, especially when the words themselves form works of art. 

just as quick as he was to leave the family, peter drops his tough-guy demeanor, panicking and running around his ducky first-mate, who’s still dutifully swabbing the poop deck. peter snaps the clothespin off of the duck’s mouth, ordering him to do something. cue rambling duck: “what for? i like the rain. i like the water.” as he rambles on, borderline incomprehensibly, avery strikes again to remind us of what he’s capable as the duck interjects to the audience (in an adult voice), “ain’t i the talkingest little guy?” even better is that he wastes no time launching back into his hyperactive rant about swimming in the water and splashing around.

to make matters worse, the button flap of the long underwear sail unbuttons, rendering the sail useless. the combination of the rain, music (william tell’s “the storm”, of course), and sound effects all blend together nicely. the “ocean” currents, now forming ferocious waves, look hilariously cartoonish and not at all believable, but what’s the fun if the waves were drawn with precise accuracy?

peter wrestles with the ship’s wheel, which is out of control. his efforts are futile—he ends up twirling around the wheel. elsewhere, we get another gag that would be reused time and time again: a bucket of paint spilling and pouring back into itself due to the rocking of the ship. the timing holds on just longer than it needs to for it to warrant any laughs, though i’m sure it was much more amusing to an audience in 1937 than now, especially if you’ve seen the gag over and over again like i have.

speaking of reused gags: the blabbermouth duck is just reveling in the rain, not at all bothered by the catastrophic events unfolding. this gag is taken from one of tex’s last cartoons from his previous job, making the walter lantz oswald cartoons at universal. more specifically, his 1933 picture five and dime (about the 1:33 mark.) nevertheless, back to warner bros., the little motif of “september in the rain” adds another layer to aid in appreciating the gag. 

in an attempt to haul an anchor, peter’s plan fails: instead, half of the ship is yanked off with the anchor, sending the ship down. the little duck is beside himself, willfully diving into the current to soak up those sweet white caps. peter does not share his ecstasy, nor his courage. instead, he cries for help, crying for his mother... which, miraculously, she hears. seems he wasn’t that far off from shore after all! the extra touch of peter lowering his voice to bellow “calling all cars, calling all cars!” (also used in i love to singa) is a great little humoristic touch. 

despite her previous harshness, a mother’s love prevails, and mama parrot takes off after her son. cue another great joke, one that’d probably be even more uproarious during a time when the song was popular: mama dashes through the rain, reassuring her son “I’M COMIN’! I’M COMIN’!” and, in an instant, she drops her panic to sing a few lines of "old black joe” to the audience. wonderful timing--tex’s fourth wall breaks in this one are definitely satisfying. 

peter continues to cry for help, even in the tune of “shave and a haircut” at one point, much to the disgust and contempt of the duck, who goes as far as to give him a black eye. clearly, he doesn’t think highly of his captain. maybe this is more like mutiny on the bounty than we thought! 

and, with that, the duck easily tosses peter ashore, snarling “ya big sissy!” before frolicking in the rain once more. while some of the ship scenes dragged in momentum, tex does create a strong suspension of disbelief: remember, they were in a pond, not a treacherous ocean!

mama reunites with her baby boy, swaddling him and cooing all the way. “now... you don’t want to be a sailor, do you?” if you believe we’re about to learn some sort of moral, remember what you’re watching here. peter sniffles, wiping his eyes, giving a few sobs before answering in a direct parallel to the beginning, “...yeeeeees!”

it’s two iris out gags in a row for tex. like the beginning, mama shrieks another “WHAAAAAT!?” and passes out from the shock, iris closing in on her. just then, the iris widens back up as mama pulls herself up to face the audience. she heaves a sigh, her tone surprisingly gentle as she asks “now what would you do with a child like that?” iris out for good.

thus puts an end to tex’s 1937 dry spell. tex was no stranger to the vices of burnout (been there!), and i suspect he may have suffered a bit of burnout throughout mid-1937, or, at the very least, have been at a crossroads in terms of where to go and who to please. he had some great momentum going—porky’s duck hunt would, of course, become monumental in animation significance, birthing daffy and a whole genre of characters with it (and you could argue it’s why we have bugs, too). and, despite the nastiness of the short (which is inexcusable), viewing the technicalities, uncle tom’s bungalow was rife with energy and wit as well. but, for awhile after, tex floundered: shorts like a sunbonnet blue completely lack the avery wit and charm. egghead rides again was enjoyable, porky’s garden tolerable, but none carried the momentum that these shorts once had. thankfully, this dry spell comes to an end after this short.

so, moving on: this is a short i’m neutral on. it still lacks the fervor and conviction of previous tex entries, but it isn’t dismal. it has some bits of greatness that could constitute a watch: elvia allman does a wonderful job as the mother—the “burning a light in the window” gag with the giant spotlight was great, as were the various fourth wall breaks. those in itself constitute a watch, but other than that, this short remains largely unremarkable, at least to me. some of the scenes drag in pacing, but that’s an easy verdict to make when you constantly compare to the speed of forthcoming avery cartoons (especially at mgm), where you miss an entire gag if you blink.

ultimately, i think you could go either way. watch it if you’re more devoted to animation like i am, or at least snoop around for some of the high points. however, you won’t be missing too much if you skip it for now. thankfully, better cartoons are ahead!

link! (pardon the title, it’s fake, but the print is good enough quality.)

[ecotone99]

[HM] Pelicans

"Now that we’ve polished off the wine, let’s retire to the deck for an after-dinner show. We’ve been plannin’ this for weeks, lads and lasses, modelin’ it after the funeral of the great Captain Danny.”

“To Cappin’ Danny!” The assembled pirates raised their empty goblets. “May his treasure end up in the hands of cutthroats like he would’ve wanted.”

“Har, har!”

The sloshed swashbucklers leaned heavily on the rail as they pulled themselves to the deck. A crimson sunset was splashed over the gentle open sea. Several ships, anchored along a nearby scrap of coastline, were silhouetted in the growing darkness.

“We’ve got a little demonstration prepared,” Captain Standenn shouted, “sure to amaze.” His eyes flashed in the twilight. “GRUNT!”

A short man appeared beside him. “Yes, Cappin’?”

“Open fire on those pelicans.” He gestured to a heap of rocks barely visible over the waves.

“The pelippins?”

“Those birds over there.”

“Birds, sir?”

Standenn tugged open a spyglass and shoved it toward his first mate. Grunt pushed it away. “Won’t do no good, Cappin’. Eyes have been givin’ me trouble for years. But, if you say there are pelippins over there, that’s where they are!” Grunt straightened his hat and coughed. “So, what about them pelippins, sir? Are you after some eggs? There are easier ways of—”

“Just get the gun ready,” Standenn hissed. “And, when I give the signal, you’re to shoot them!”

“Shoot them? Dem poor, defenseless pelippins, sir? One of his majesty’s ships has got to be around here somewhere, Cappin’ Stan. Why can’t we find one of dem to shoot at instead? Make it a fair fight. Dose pelippins got nothin’ to defend themselves—’cept their wings, o’course. They’ll be sleepin’ by now.” Grunt sucked in some loose phlegm. “It’s cruel.”

A pirate captain with a scar that ran from his ear to his collarbone spat out a glob of tobacco. He said, “Sounds like you’ve got a mutiny brewin’, Standenn. You’d better watch this one. I’ve seen it all before. Cooks with big ideas. Sailors hungry for plunder. First mates who contradict your every order—who talk behind your back. Some afternoon, you’ll wake up out of a stupor, your head achin’, and your hands’ll be tied. Your crew will hand you over for a bounty, but you’re smarter than that. You fake yer own death, but it doesn’t throw the navy off yer scent. So, you dig out of prison with a few molars you broke out of yer own mouth. But you’re recaptured, because the only woman you’ve loved in the whole Caribbean drugged you and turned you in herself. Years later, you still can’t drink cold water. It shoots pain through the mouth, and, no matter how hard you try to be vulnerable and open up, you know you’ll never trust a woman again as long as you live.” The old man wagged his finger at Grunt. “You’d better silence him for good. While yeh still got a few teeth in yer head.”

The pirates clapped softly. Even Standenn joined in. “I’ll consider that, Captain Reuben. Grunt, the gun. NOW.” He shoved the sniffling man toward the nearest hatch.

“Supposin’ we miss, Cappin’ Stan?”

“I have faith your aim will be true,” the captain replied, pointing to the long knife clipped to his belt.

Grunt dropped out of sight, and the circle of captains stood, gulping in the bracing sea air they’d been raised on. “Was that a splash?” a pirate in a feathered hat asked. The group leaned against the rail.

“He’s deserted!” one of them cried.

“I told you, Standenn!” Captain Reuben snapped. “I’ve seen it a thousand times. Shoot him! Shoot him now!”

Standenn watched quietly as Grunt’s frantic swimming, aided by the tide, rapidly carried him to the outcropping of rocks. Only a faded sliver of light still shone on the horizon, and the new moon was nowhere to be found. On the breeze, the group could hear Grunt’s bellowed urgings, “HEY, PELIPPINS. SHOO! GO! RUN! SAVE YOUR CHICKIES. YOU GOT TO GO, GO!”

When Captain Standenn’s hand fell to his flintlock pistol, a group of sailors approached, clubbing the preoccupied pirates while their backs were turned. Pulling one of them aside, the captain said, “Put them in the hold with the others. Send someone out to fetch Grunt. And sink the captains’ boats. I don’t want their crews suspecting anything until morning. We weigh anchor in an hour. No lanterns.” Standenn laughed. “The thrill of betrayal never gets old.”

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