I tried–I really tried–to find a non-Warner Brothers cartoon to post this AM. But the sad truth is that as lovingly crafted and artfully achieved any number of vintage cartoons are–and I speak of ‘Tom and Jerry’, ‘Woody Woodpecker’ and everything Disney–they simply can’t hold a candle to the Merrie Melodies/Loony Tunes cartoons of Warner Brothers. The writing is simply better in WB shorts. The pointless chases, acts of vandalism and cruel sport that inhabit all comedic cartoon worlds somehow fall flat for me in the non WB cartoons–they are more mechanical than inspired and the characters lack the personalities and neurotic nuances that the WB characters have. Having gotten that off my chest, enjoy today’s WB offering, ‘Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur’, directed by Chuck Jones in 1939. Daffy is of coursed voiced by Mel Blanc but his nemesis–Casper the Caveman, who is clearly based on Jack Benny–is voiced by Jack Lescoulie. This is mildly curious in that Blanc was already employed on Benny’s radio show and was known to be a superb mimic. For whatever reason it was decided not to have him mimic his boss. It takes an unfathomable two minutes for Daffy to appear and for the cartoon to get going but hang in and enjoy the whole ride, especially the surreal ending.