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» » Fresh Fish (1939)

Short summary

A tour of the waters near a South Sea island, introducing us to the various kinds of marine life, including the pickled herring, the hermit crab, the starfish, a seahorse race, and many other puns. Among the running gags, a two-headed fish who keeps asking for directions to Mr. Ripley and a professor in a diving sphere looking for a rare wim-wam whistling shark.

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: Gogal
    I admit I'm biased in Tex Avery's favor and never saw an Avery cartoon I didn't like. In this one, Avery was still finding his style. There are a few more coughs and sputters here than is typical of Avery, but even with that said, his average work is as good as or better than some directors' best work. Even Rembrandt had his off days. So did Shakespeare, I like this cartoon myself, but others may not. Worth watching. Recommended for Avery fans, certainly.
  • comment
    • Author: Clonanau
    Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.

    Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best ever made by anybody. 'Fresh Fish' is decent, it's amusing and well-made, but Avery has definitely done far better. It is always interesting to see an Avery cartoon before his prime period (all the cartoons he made before his 1942-1950s period at MGM are worth watching though few masterpieces), if more primarily for interest to see how Avery fared early on when he was still evolving and his distinctive style was not as strong or yet to be found.

    This cartoon, as said, is a decent interesting watch, but Avery has done far better than decent interesting cartoons. He has done funnier and more imaginative cartoons, and 'Fresh Fish' was also made during a time where his cartoons by Avery standards were pretty tame. Oh and the story is best forgotten.

    Not much risk-taking or boundary-breaking here, let alone his typical wacky wildness, and for me that was a huge part of his appeal as well as his visual and humour uniqueness.

    However, it is no surprise that, as with a vast majority of Avery's cartoons regardless of the period, the animation is excellent. Beautifully drawn, very detailed and the colours are vibrant.

    Carl Stalling's music score is typically lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms, it's also beautifully synchronised with the action and gestures/expressions and even enhances the impact.

    While not hilarious, 'Fresh Fish' is still very amusing and well-timed. It also benefits from cute and lively underwater characters and the voice acting from the ever versatile Mel Blanc, Avery himself and Robert C. Bruce, who does entertaining and educational narrations better than anyone, is reliably great.

    In short, decent but not great. 7/10 Bethany Cox
  • comment
    • Author: GAZANIK
    . . . and not see immediately that Warner Bros.' Early Warning Looney Tuners have one person and one guy only in mind: the late USA FBI Director James Comey. While Prof. Fishsticks' 2017 Real Life counterpart, Comey, still may be kicking in a literal sense as I type, his career as a Free Man Earning an Honest Living is deader than a door nail, just as Prof. F.'s final posture in FRESH FISH is as an undigested bulge in the tummy of a "Whim Wham Whistling Shark." My personal contacts in the FBI say that Comey was canned immediately when he showed a colleague in the American Intelligence Business a photo of Russian Spy Don Juan Trump being personally awarded that Red Commie nation's "Trotsky Cross" for the second of three known times by his life-long KGB "handler," Vlad "The Mad Russian" Putin. Many would argue that White House Spokesman Sean Spicerack should acknowledge Trump's Russian decorations and move on. Better yet, Spicerack can ramp up support for his boss among the Red State Putin Base by emphasizing that NO American has won a trio of Trotsky Crosses before, and this is the ultimate prize for KGB Fifth Columnists World-Wide. Mr. Spicerack needs to watch FRESH FISH for himself, so that he can emulate a Whim Wham Whistling Putin smirk as he sings Trump's praises.
  • Uncredited cast:
    Tex Avery Tex Avery - Prof. Mackerel Fishsticks (voice) (uncredited)
    Sara Berner Sara Berner - Starfish (voice) (uncredited)
    Mel Blanc Mel Blanc - Tuna / Two-Headed Fish / Pickled Herring (voice) (uncredited)
    Robert C. Bruce Robert C. Bruce - Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
    Kent Rogers Kent Rogers - Old Crab (voice) (uncredited)
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