ragtime bear

Ragtime bear is from UPA and was created in 1949. It was the first appearance of character Mr. Magoo, a nearly blind old man who enjoys peace and quiet. From the first scene Magoo’s personality is already introduced as we see him crash into the tree, which is soon explained by his poor eyesight as he tries to read the road sign in front of him. To show that his glasses magnify what he sees, Mr. Magoo’s eyes also grow larger when he wears them. He is stubborn and fully believes that he has everything under control although he decides to ask for help with reading the blurry sign. He believes that his nephew and everyone else are scatter-brained and don’t pay attention, which is ironic since Mr. Magoo is the one who is utterly confused.

The bear is shown as being oblivious to what is important to the people and only cares about Waldo’s banjo. When Waldo falls into the abyss, the bear reaches for the banjo instead of Waldo, letting him fall. Similarly, when Mr. Magoo falls off the stairs at Hodge Podge Lodge, the bear saves the banjo before it hits the ground but doesn’t catch Magoo.

Magoo is later fooled by his own weakness in believing that he has just shot his nephew. Upon realizing Waldo is alive, Magoo returns the banjo to him but still threatens to use the gun again, showing that his character has not developed much, as he’s still stubborn. Also, the bear hasn’t changed either, as he continues to play notes on the banjo, despite Magoo’s threatening to shoot at the next sound the instrument made.

Both the bear and Mr. Magoo are stubborn characters who want everything to go their way. They both face difficulty because of each other and neither change by the end of the story, which is not the norm with the character development I’ve seen in today’s animations.

Sydney McPherson