The Dover Boys (1942) *****

The "Citizen Kane" of animation, this landmark cartoon broke all the rules of the medium and invented a few new ones. It's an experiment in stylized, limited movement, as the characters switch from one pose to another, with very little frames of action in-between. Essentially a witty spoof of the "Gay 90's" melodramas, the film has a very WASP-ish, Ivy League, New England flavor. The plot concerns the kidnapping of a certain Dainty Dora Standpipe and the amusing complications involved in her rescue. Bizarre individuals walk in and out of the frame (including a weird old-timer in a bathing suit), while a loony narrator explains the pecularities of various characters: "Tom, the big blond fun-loving member of the trio; Dick, a serious long-nosed lad of eighteen summers; and Larry, the roly-poly youngest of the three jerks". It's one of Chuck Jones' greatest masterpieces, a watershed film in his career.