NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Cortechba Overrated

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . NORMAN NORMAL is told that the "ethnic" American learned "just before the icicle broke." Warner Bros.' fading gang of animators experienced a Ghostly Final Gasp of Glory as they channeled the Spirit of Fatty Arbuckle to warn 21st Century America of its would-be P - - SY-Grabber-in-Chief, Donald J. Duck. First, Norman's boss "B.B." (an ironic reference to the self-styled Big Billionaire, as well as the size of his seed generators) browbeats ball bearing salesman Norman into internalizing his sleazy Art of the Deal: get your potential customer as drunk as a Mad Russian, and then have him sign a contract that your crooked corporation has no intention of honoring (since you've bribed the U.S. Congress and Judiciary into rigging the system!). In this case, the "ball bearings" product constitutes another sly Warner dig at Trumpenstein's under-sized equipment (Have you seen The Duck flailing his miniature hands about during his televised rants?) Norman's dad counsels him that "Success--that's the main thing; fit in--don't make waves." Pops pretty much is summarizing the syllabus for every Trump University course offering. As Norman questions B.B.'s total lack of Ethics, Conscience, and Humanity, both men are shown to regress to squabbling school boys, perfectly foreshadowing the Trump versus Rubio Debate Debacle. This cartoon ends with Norman in Voting Booth Purgatory.

TheLittleSongbird I have been a lifelong fan of the Looney Tunes/Warner Brothers cartoons, but the late-60s output(the dark age I've heard it being called) has been largely disappointing. There are a few good ones though, and Norman Normal is one of the better ones. The animation has been more fluid and detailed before Norman Normal, but it's still colourful and nice to look at, much better-looking than the Daffy/Speedy output in particular. The music is memorable, more than listenable and fits well with the humour, one of Bill Lava's- his scoring I have been mixed on- better late-60s WB efforts. The theme song is very catchy. The writing is very satirical and it is suitably witty and the best of it makes your sides split from laughing. The visual gags and sound effects are clever and imaginative too, the modern atmosphere is very nicely depicted, done in a way that never jars, and there are effective scenes like Norman refusing to laugh at the minority group joke. The characters are fun and Norman is a likable protagonist. The voice acting is solid too, though you do miss Mel Blanc. All in all, under-appreciated and highly effective cartoon, not WB at their absolute best or in their heyday but considering we're talking about their dark era here Norman Normal is one of their better ones by quite some considerable margin. 9/10 Bethany Cox

phantom_tollbooth Alex Lovy's 'Norman Normal' is an exceptional little satire on business ethics and social behaviour. Produced by the new Warner Bros. department in the late 60s (long after the dreadful Speedy and Daffy series and lacklustre new characters such as Cool Cat had made Warner cartoons seem entirely past their best) as a "Cartoon Special", 'Norman Normal' takes an entirely different approach as a hip animated think piece which ultimately takes place inside the titular character's head. The amiable Norman must fight off unethical propositions from his boss, endorsements of conformity from his father, peer pressure from his acquaintances and the desperate search for approval by a man with a lamp on his head! A whole new contemporary attitude is apparent, especially in the scene in which Norman refuses to laugh at a joke about a minority group which seems like an apology for Warner's decades of politically incorrect racial humour (although a year later Warner Bros. animation department would close down with a short called 'Injun Trouble'!). The satire is sharp and funny and the modern atmosphere is enhanced by a catchy theme tune by Peter, Paul and Mary. It may have little in common with the golden era of Warner cartoons but 'Norman Normal' is a wonderful short and one of the few latter day Warner shorts that really works.

Hotoil There are no falling rocks, speedy animals, clumsy hunters, Sinatra impersonations, mafia gags, or violent rabbits here. But this under-appreciated classic animated short came from the same studios that brought us Bugs Bunny, Road Runner & Tweety Bird.Not only that, it came out of the studio's worst era, which consisted of mostly bad Daffy Duck & Speedy Gonzalez shorts. Most of the animated pieces to come out of Warner Bros. in the sixties were predictable of Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett & Tex Avery classics, and they didn't fair well in theatres as the pre-film cartoon was just about extinct.But for some reason, an undeniably smart and subtly hilarious social satire rose from the ashes of the dying genre. I am of course speaking of "Norman Normal". I had heard decent things about it but when I saw the actual cartoon, I was on the floor laughing. The closest thing I could relate it to would not be any other WB cartoon but rather the Simpsons at their best.This may have been a nice series, but perhaps best left in it's own right as a singular sensation. Of course it didn't make much of a splash in it's time and thus will probably never see the light of TV, but hopefully the Cartoon Network will dig it from it's vaults and let a whole new audience appreciate it's short but sweet alternative comedy stylings.