Neil Doyle Whatever kids are supposed to glean from this unconventional way of saying "be yourself," it's liable to be over their heads in delivering any sort of message. The appeal seems targeted for the '60 rebels who were activists on college campuses.Nice modern animation, some bright colors, an abstract look--and an ultra-silly storyline make this one of Chuck Jones' lesser cartoons of the era.Whatever satire existed in the original work has been made senseless by this cartoon. Viewed as the way nature has been disturbed by the invasion of man's industrial society, some adults may approve of it.Not my idea of a truly entertaining cartoon for all ages.

DAW-8 Ever wonder how the psychedelic, existential mindset of the 60s transferred itself to the next generation? Well, this cartoon is your answer. Starting with the existential title "The Bear that Wasn't", kids and viewers of all ages are taken on a mind trip where self-identity conflicts with social identity, and modern-day bureaucracy and hierarchy are satirized and exposed. All of this is done through some of the most beautiful and artistic animation of Chuck Jones, with its use of autumnal colors, shapes, shadows and outlines, all set to a Sergio Mendes-esquire mid-late 60s jazzy score, with its own psychedelic overtones. Not to mention the unusual length of this 'cartoon'--10 minutes. There all other tasty little tidbits of that time period too -- the Bear has a cigarette hanging out of his mouth for most of the cartoon while he is bewildered at what is happening to him.To think that little kids might have been zoned in to this in front of the TV on Saturday morning, while eating their breakfast cereal. What could they possibly be thinking after watching this? They say the 1960s counter culture was largely influenced by the fact that college campus theaters would show European new wave films, and so here were all these college kids innocently going to the campus theater, just cause it was there, yet being exposed to these radically artsy subversive films. This helped sow the seeds of a counterculture and the era which brought the widest and most pervasive critique of the society and everything about it, its values, norms, etc.

DoctorStrangelove This is an interesting short from the WB gang, since it's message-driven. (See other comments below for plot descriptions from the fawning fans.) Frees' voice work is nice, and the characteristic Chuck Jones facial expressions on the bear are endearing, as usual... but "interesting" is about as far as I can go in praise of this 'toon.With a sledgehammer's subtlety, the message is made clear about one-quarter of the way into this short. After that it's repeated... and repeated... and repeated. And then, a full minute in the middle is spent rehashing what you just watched while the theme song (from the opening credits) plays... yet again. Some of the animation here is done beautifully, like the birds; while other parts are strange and utterly unnecessary, like the bizarre floor-arrows. There are very few characters, none of which have any real characterization; and what little conflict there is (necessary to ANY story) simply vanishes about halfway. The predictable ending comes with almost zero difficulty, plot-wise, and has me completely puzzled as to why a story so simplistic had to be ten minutes long? I'm a big big fan of classic WB and H&B animation, and I thought at first I was about to be exposed to a hidden gem; but it's pretty understandable why I've never heard of this short. I can only assume that it appeals to young children and the memories of those who saw it when they were very young. It probably deserves a 2-vote when compared to everything else Jones et al did, and a 6-vote when compared to other animation... so, on average, 4 out of 10.

zetes I had never seen this ten minute long Chuck Jones cartoon before. It's one of his very best. The colors are mindbending, as are the animation and drawings. I felt alternately robbed that I had never seen it before, and happy that I finally did get to see it! 9/10