'A Haunting We Will Go' (1939)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Burt Gillett

Writers:

Burt Gillett (story) and
Kin Platt (story)

Release Date:

28 August 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short

Plot:

The introduction of Lantz's little black-boy character, L'il Eight Ball, finds him going to bed in his small cabin and being visited by a baby ghost...

Plot Keywords:

Ghost | Baby Ghost | Mill | Test | Cabin

Cast

Mel Blanc

...

Lil' Eightball (voice)

Runtime:

USA:10 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Walter Lantz Productions

'A Haunting We Will Go' was a highly amusing Walter Lantz "cartune" that featured the not-so-offensive-stereotyped character Lil' Eightball

Directed by former Disney animator Burt Gillett (he helmed The Three Little Pigs), 'A Haunting We Will Go' was a Walter Lantz Cartune that featured Lil' Eightball, a young caricatured black boy (with the standard white lips). As voiced by Mel Blanc, this character doesn't seem so stereotyped-at least not in the offensive way-as he talks with big words like "phantasmagoria" and initially isn't scared of a boy ghost who tries to haunt him while in bed. So this child apparition takes Eightball to a haunted house where his father and his friends try to REALLY give him "the works". They do and while the little imp keeps putting up a brave front, it's obvious how frightened he really is. Still, except for a brief craps sequence, there's hardly anything remotely offensive here and this cartoon has some very amusing gags like having a scared owl appear naked outside of his fur or having the father ghost dry clean a fellow worker! On that note, I do recommend for the Halloween holiday 'A Haunting We Will Go'.