| Director: | Robert Clampett |
| Story: | Warren Foster |
| Animator: | Robert McKimson Rod Scribner Manny Gould C. Melendez |
| Layout Artist: | Thomas McKimson |
| Background Artist: | Cornett Wood |
| Music: | Carl W. Stalling |
| Studio: | Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. |
| Distributor: | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Color Process: | Technicolor |
| Runtime: | 7:01 |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Book Revue is a 1946 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Bob Clampett.[1] The cartoon was released on January 5, 1946, and features Daffy Duck.[2]
A semi-remake of Clampett's earlier short A Coy Decoy (1941), it also incorporates plot elements of Frank Tashlin's Speaking of the Weather (1937) and Have You Got Any Castles (1938)
A collection of books becomes animated after midnight, starting with the Complete Works of Shakespeare, depicted as clockwork mechanisms. The narrative transitions to various book covers, including Young Man with a Horn, where a caricature of Harry James plays jazz music. An emaciated caricature of Frank Sinatra sings amidst the revelry, captivating other book cover characters. A jam session ensues, featuring a variety of characters from different books.
Daffy Duck interrupts the festivities and commands the music to stop. He reminisces in a fake Russian accent before inadvertently teasing the Big Bad Wolf, who pursues Daffy through various book scenes. The police apprehend the Wolf, who is then sentenced by a magazine cover judge.
The celebration is short-lived as the Wolf reappears, causing chaos. Eventually, the characters dance to "Carolina in the Morning," but the Wolf emerges from Dante's Inferno, demanding an end to the dancing.
The film was reissued in 1951, as Book Review.[5] The original title is a pun, as a revue is a variety show, while a review is an evaluation of an artwork; this pun is however not retained in the title of the reissue.
Animation historian Steve Schneider writes that many of the cartoon's references are dated, "but who cares? ... Better simply to revel in Book Revues headlong brio, overlapping settings, meticulous economy of gesture, intertwining narratives, resourceful color effects, super-efficient use of screen space—and a great, great turn by a duck called Daffy, as he dances, scat-sings, cavorts, and distorts in one of his true moments of glory... Book Revue is an encyclopedia of what can be done in the animated medium if you're brilliant enough."[6]