Ups an' Downs Derby
About Ups an' Downs Derby
Lightning is billed as the sure thing in the Ups and Downs steeplechase. When the race is about to start he is asleep. His jockey tries one wake-up after another, then finds a way to enter the race with the horse still sleeping.
Cast & crew
More about Ups an' Downs Derby
Seymour Kneitel directed, Dave Tendlar directed the animation, and Carl Meyer and Jack Mercer wrote the story. Paramount released the Technicolor Noveltoon on June 9, 1950.
Themes
Making
Winston Sharples composed the score. Lightning is a one-shot horse, not a continuing Noveltoons character.
Music
Winston Sharples wrote the music for the steeplechase and the attempts to wake Lightning.
Preservation
A 35mm Technicolor print is timed at 6 minutes 31 seconds by the Internet Animation Database. The short has been in the U.S. public domain since 1977.
Notes
- The title plays on "ups and downs.
- Jack Mercer, Popeye's voice, co-wrote the story and speaks the jockey. Sid Raymond is the track announcer.
- The Internet Animation Database times a print at 6 minutes 31 seconds and lists MPAA certificate 4691.
- That listing gives the picture as 35mm Technicolor, 1.37:1, with RCA mono sound.
- National Telefilm Associates let the copyright lapse, and the short entered the U.S. public domain in 1977.
Scenes
- The announcer sells Lightning as a sure bet, then the horse goes back to sleep.
- The jockey tries one method after another to wake him before post time.
- He takes the sleeping horse into the race anyway.
Also available
- DVD and Blu-ray Noveltoons Original Classics (Thunderbean Animation, 2012 and 2019)
- DVD 300 Cartoon Classics (Image Entertainment, 2011)
- DVD Cartoon Craze: Felix the Cat — Futuritzy (Digiview, 2005)
