This is a cartoon in the Willie Whopper series produced by Iwerks studio. There will be spoilers ahead:
When Iwerks came up with the character of Willie Whopper, the first short was The Air Race, which MGM rejected. So far as I know, The Air Race was never theatrically released. This cartoon is a re-working of The Air Race, keeping some of the animation and some of the gags were re-done. The basic story is the same,but Willie has a more obvious motivation for being in an air race, which actually takes a bit away from the basic concept that Willie Whopper tells "whoppers"-great big fanciful lies.
This really doesn't seem like a Willie Whopper cartoon, as they changed the look of the character after this cartoon and it's played more like a melodrama than Willie telling a tall tale. The story begins with Willie looking at a poster promoting an air race, with a cash prize to the winner.
Willie's girl, Mary, is crying because her mother's house is about to be foreclosed on by the villain. Willie vows to pay the mortgage off. There are some good gags in here. Willie remembers the air race and builds an entry, only to find that the villain has entered. The bulk of the footage from The Air Race is in this part of the cartoon. They keep the designs on the planes, the hitch-hiking St. Peter, a bit with the planes and a train and some other stuff. They lose a black-face gag and keep a Jewish gag.
The ending is good, so I won't spoil it here. Though this is a decent cartoon, The Air Race was better and more in keeping with the premise of the series. This cartoon and all of the other Willie Whopper cartoons are on a Blu-Ray/DVD combo release from Thunderbean and it and the set are worth a look.
When Iwerks came up with the character of Willie Whopper, the first short was The Air Race, which MGM rejected. So far as I know, The Air Race was never theatrically released. This cartoon is a re-working of The Air Race, keeping some of the animation and some of the gags were re-done. The basic story is the same,but Willie has a more obvious motivation for being in an air race, which actually takes a bit away from the basic concept that Willie Whopper tells "whoppers"-great big fanciful lies.
This really doesn't seem like a Willie Whopper cartoon, as they changed the look of the character after this cartoon and it's played more like a melodrama than Willie telling a tall tale. The story begins with Willie looking at a poster promoting an air race, with a cash prize to the winner.
Willie's girl, Mary, is crying because her mother's house is about to be foreclosed on by the villain. Willie vows to pay the mortgage off. There are some good gags in here. Willie remembers the air race and builds an entry, only to find that the villain has entered. The bulk of the footage from The Air Race is in this part of the cartoon. They keep the designs on the planes, the hitch-hiking St. Peter, a bit with the planes and a train and some other stuff. They lose a black-face gag and keep a Jewish gag.
The ending is good, so I won't spoil it here. Though this is a decent cartoon, The Air Race was better and more in keeping with the premise of the series. This cartoon and all of the other Willie Whopper cartoons are on a Blu-Ray/DVD combo release from Thunderbean and it and the set are worth a look.