"Uh hi, I'm your hero."
Norman Normal
Uh hi, I'm your Marauder. And I'm here to review a fantastic cartoon that you've probably never heard of or have heard of but forgot about. See, that's what this review is about.
Norman Normal is a Warner Bros.-Seven Arts animated short film from 1968 that is nothing like Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies -- literally so, as it's instead credited as a "Warner Bros. Cartoon Special". The film is a collaboration between WB-7A’s animation department and musician Paul Stookey of iconic folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary (with the same-name theme song also being one of the band’s tracks from their album …Album). But that's only the start of what makes it one of a kind. The short wasn't specifically produced for kids -- rather it was made for adults, and features a middle-aged man going through the travails of grown-up life while doing what he can to make himself better -- inside and out.
Let’s get to the plot, where we’ll meet the Characters (in order of appearance) in between points.
The short begins with a colorful band performing the short’s theme song, where after the chorus, we see the title character holding a door and closing it while they’re still playing.
This is where we meet...
Norman (voiced by Dave Dixon): Norman works as a salesman for a ball-bearing company and is something of a people-pleasing doormat - he does what he is told, doesn't step on toes, keeps his nose clean and liver intact (we’ll get to that soon) and lives a sweet but hum-drum life. His father does love him - but not enough to help him well with his problems. His friends have their own interests that don’t involve him. His boss wants him to cross ethical lines to sign accounts and make company quotas. And nothing ever goes his way. And all of this drives him mad.
The short takes place in Norman’s mind, represented as a huge gray hall of doors -- with each door containing a specific memory in his life (what we saw in the short are just a few of them), and all of them framed around Norman’s point of view -- the first of which is his meeting with...
B.B., his boss: The head of the unnamed ball-bearing company, B.B. is a boss who wants to get things done. While he isn’t ruthless, he still does what he can -- no matter how questionable -- for his company to exceed the bottom line, and wants his workers to do the same (one being Norman, despite his reservations). During the meeting, B.B. wants Norman to take a representative for another company named Fanshawe to some local nightclubs to discuss and secure an account with them… while drunk. Norman tries his hardest to decline the assignment on moral grounds, but B.B. continues on. The discussion of ethics and mortals between the grown men visually and quite literally devolves into childish taunts and tantrums until B.B. realizes (in a form of reverse psychology) that Norman is wrong for the position, causing the latter to grovel for the position -- to which B.B. nonchalantly accepts.
I loved this part. We see B.B. physically turn from big old man to little bitty boy (with Norman then following suit straight to the latter) in an argument that had no reason for being done, but I’ll believe this is a satirized way of an adults argument turning into fights and insults.
After ending up with the big task to secure the Fanshawe account, Norman ponders how to go about it within his cavernous mind, and - despite his usual small talks and dismissals - he decides to go seek advice from...
His father: Norman’s dad is a typical father who talks briefly with his child(ren) before scooting them off to finish the important work.
Norman goes to see his father for advice on how to make his own way at work and not slip into dubious and sleazy methods of business like his boss and (possibly) coworkers. Instead, Dad rambles on about what old people say and do when they were a boy and girl, in a way of telling his son that dealing with his problems headon and getting ahead on the other side is a better plan in life instead of avoiding them as they grow worse in the hope they'll dissappear.
After his father flies around his home and disappears into his wall, Norman does the same by opening a door back to his mind and into a party thrown for his office where bumps into.
Leo: A drunken man wearing a lampshade repeatedly asking “Approval
Norman responds “I approve of you, Leo,” makes a face (--which I found funny) and moves on to...
His no-name redheaded friend: You know what? He has to have a name, so I'll call him Randall. He also works at the ball-bearing company. As far as we know, he likes to get tipsy.
Remember Norman’s meeting with B.B. about the Fanshawe account earlier? Well, he apparently got it, as revealed by “Randall” (it wasn’t shown, but I’m gonna assume Norman stuck to his laurels and got the account on more sensible matters. Good for him.) He then tells Norman an Eskimo joke, but Norman doesn’t like what “Randall’s” saying (drowning out "R's" joke in the process) and then walks away… but not before chuckling a bit at “Randall’s” dumb ethnic humor (I guess sarcastically).
-- I admit, I’ve tried a few times to hear all of “Randall’s” Eskimo jokes only for Norman to drown it out and take away my focus; but honestly, I’m glad I didn’t. I hate jokes like that, because of how frequent, poorly-made and casual they were against their subjects and how it makes those who created them or said them look and feel better (and I don’t give a damn if people they target found them funny). And I’m glad Norman spoke out against them… even if he still laughed at the end. I’m gonna assume he laughed to placate his friend as to not embarrass him in front of the other partygoers, and not because he genuinely found it funny.
After that strange exhibit of racial comedy, Norman goes to get a beverage from...
Hal: a bartender at a bar Norman frequents. He starts off chummy and kind when offering Norman a drink, which he declines as he’s had enough. After Norm stands his ground, Hal’s disposition turns very bitter when he mockingly accuses Norman of hating his inebriated side. Norman has enough and walks away from -- and even throws shade (geddit?) at Leo on the way out (“Go soak your head, Leo!”)
Hal is a massive hypocrite; he’s only nice to people when they want some liquor (and he wants some tips), but turns more sour than lemons when they don’t, accusing them of not enjoying getting loose and embarrassing themselves in public. While at the same time, he’s embarrassing himself getting pissed about it. Like dude, just accept some people don’t want to drink at times. Move on.
As said earlier, Norman Normal is different from Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies. The tone is more neutral (but doesn't drag on after a joke), the pacing is slower and the humor is more nuanced and subtle.
I first watched it as a kid while watching the Looney Tunes A to Z marathon on Cartoon Network and Boomerang. While watching it, I genuinely felt puzzled by it because it wasn’t wacky, hyperactive and zany. But at the same time, I still enjoyed it because it was different. I laughed at the jokes, engaged with the dialogue, enjoyed the slower, smoother pace and jazz-based music and related to Norman more than a kid my age should relate to a grown-up cartoon character.
Random Thoughts
-- I never thought Norman’s voice actor could sound so convincing as an adult and a child, but he does great. And both Kid Norman and BB are cute.
-- Why is it that one of Norman's friends -- dude wearing a lampshade on his head and repeatedly says literally one word has a name, while his other friend with an actual personality and characteristic (inebriated and racially-disparaging traits, but traits indeed) and actual lines with multiple words does not?? I had to throw in one for him for reference (not that it'll be canon, that I know).
-- I'm gonna guess Hal said all that to Normal not because he knows he'll enjoy the sauced simpleton within him, but because he didn't get paid for the drink or receive a tip. Most bartenders just accept that most guests don't get drinks but not Shallow Hal here.
-- I hope if/when I have kids, that I’ll be way more involved in their lives than Norman’s dad. I sure hope to God I don’t have a “ten miles in the snow” analogy ready. Plus, I can’t wrap around why he floated around. What does that imply?