Chilly's Ice Folly (1970)
G 08 Jun 1970 • Family, Animation, Short • 0h 6m
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.Very like Chilly and Maxie themselves and their chemistry, 'Chilly's Ice Folly' is very much a watchable cartoon and not half bad for a late Chilly Willy cartoon, of which none were outstanding and most being between average and mixed, with some mediocre at best ones. 'Chilly's Ice Folly' is not among Chilly's best, Tex Avery's two contributions (especially 'The Legend of Rockabye Point') are the high points. It is better than the likes of 'Sleepy Time Bear'. It is a good representation of both Chilly and Maxie on the whole, though they have been represented better, and it is amusing and cute.Starting with 'Chilly's Ice Folly's' strengths, Chilly is adorable, despite not being silent and having a voice that sounds wrong, and is also a lot of fun, with his actions speaking far louder than words. He's less anarchic than usual, pretty toned down actually, but he brings a lot of charm and intent to the cartoon. Maxie is amusing, well used and likable and the two have a sweet chemistry and their attempts at baby care are both funny and cute.The gags are mostly fun, if never hilarious, and decently timed, revolving mainly around Chilly and Maxie's attempts caring for the baby mammoth and the various stages with less than successful results. Walter Greene's music is lively and rousingly, cleverly and beautifully orchestrated and fits very well. Love the opening title credits music.Some of the backgrounds are nice and Chilly is not too badly drawn. There is some lively comic timing, some humorous lines and Daws Butler does a great job with the voices.Not without its flaws however. The animation generally isn't great, like a lot of Chilly Willy cartoons and Walter Lantz-studios cartoons from the late-50s onward. The colours have had more vibrancy before and more problematic is how most of the cartoon is drawn, very scrappy and rushed-looking.Was very much mixed on the character of the baby mammoth. Adorable at first but then got annoying and bratty. Chilly's voice is too much of a mismatch, though Daws Butler does fare much better with Maxie. The ending was abrupt and what happens in it comes out of nowhere.Overall, cute and amusing but unexceptional. 6/10 Bethany Cox
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English
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United States
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