. . . these animated shorts ALWAYS must be considered in their political context--then and now. The Stew of Current Events THEN for FREDDY THE FRESHMAN, of course, may have made contemporary theater audiences think of New York outsider Franklin Delano Roosevelt, making an improbable run for a First Term in the White House when FREDDY was released. NOW, however, we have another New York outsider--White House Resident-Elect Rump, to view as Warner Bros.' Animated Shorts Seers division's protagonist in this Merrie Melody. As everyone knows, Rump "Can play the Ukulele; he can play the Saxophone," as the title song lyrics state here. He can also Rig an Election. FREDDY rigs the outcome of the college football game shown here by using a picket fence as an opponent-crushing tank track, and by utilizing an Undies-laden clothesline as his cable car to victory. This is the Warner Bros.' prophetic prognosticators' way of warning America against Rump, who used confessions of his exploits as a serial finger rapist to appeal to the prurient interest of all the hypocrites in his Basket of Deplorables (that is, those millions of mealy-mouthed folks who scream for nation-wide legions of Sex Police--for everyone but themselves!), and the propaganda skills of his Red Commie KGB Loan Shark--Vlad "Mad Dog" Putin--to accomplish the task at which Lenin and Stalin failed: that is, to bury America!

When I was a kid, I hated watching the Bugs Bunny or Porky Pig show when they showed the REAAAALLLY old Merrie Melodies cartoons from the early and mid 1930s. They had so much singing and cuteness and lacked the edge that made Warner Brothers the top animation studio for shorts in the 40s and 50s. In light of this, I was shocked when I just saw FREDDY THE FRESHMAN. Like other Harman-Ising cartoons from Merrie Melodies it had a lot of singing and a wide assortment of barnyard animals. But, it also seemed pretty interesting and fresh in many ways--with some cute gadgetry and a certain likability. While NOT as good as the later toons, it still stood on its own pretty well with an interesting story, a memorable song and very good black and white animation. Nice job.FYI--At about three and a half minutes into the toon, there's a mouse that is the spitting image of Mickey! I wonder what Disney thought of this?