After Flip the Frog had proved to be less than what Iwerks (and more fatally, MGM) hoped for from a cartoon series, Iwerks turned to Willie Whopper and tried to make him a star. Trouble was, Willie is even duller and less fascinating than Flip! The basic premise was part of the problem: Willie is a little boy who tells lies-not just garden variety fibs, but big lies, or "whoppers", a slang term for outlandish falsehoods. Only Willie's lies aren't too entertaining for the most part. Visuals are beautiful in this one, for example, but the story is underwhelming, to put it mildly. To be honest, the main problem with the Iwerks stars is that they are often the least interesting parts of the cartoons. A serious and often fatal flaw in trying to establish a series focused on a primary recurring character.
This short, along with the other Willie Whoppers, is now available on a Blu-Ray/DVD combo released by Thunderbean. It looks very good on Blu-Ray and the set is highly recommended.
Worth watching for the animation. Recommended on that basis.
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