The Ski's the Limit (1949) Online

This is yet another of the Famous Studios' Screen Song cartoons, this one showcasing the song "I Miss My Swiss, My Swiss Miss Misses Me". Before that song's lyrics is shown on screen with the Bounding Ball jumping on the words, however, narrator Jackson Beck-best known as Bluto in the studio's Popeye cartoons-tells of the sights of Switzerland with many gags reflecting the culture. Actually, one of those gags has a little fun with a caricature of Jimmy Durante. Anyway, this was a pretty humorous cartoon so on that note, I recommend The Ski's the Limit.

This Famous Studios Screen Song is a rather poor effort from the usually reliable Izzy Sparber. Part of it is the structure of the piece, which is a series of black-out gags narrated by Jackson Beck. The other is an experiment in the sing-along section. Instead of it being an animated sequence, it is a series of still shots of "typically Swiss" items, including chocolates, watches and so forth.

It is a bit more interesting aurally, given Mr. Beck's competent narration -- he is best remembered for voicing Bluto in the Popeye cartoons, but worked regularly for the Fleischers and Famous Studios -- and the orchestration of the short's song, "I Miss My Swiss". It is a two-part chorale work, with some of the singers voicing the words and the other doing a yodeling back-up. However, that is not enough to overcome the shortcomings of the cartoon.