Boring

Best movie ever!

As Good As It Gets

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Chuck Jones was, and still is considered to be, one of the geniuses in animation with many classics under his belt. There is much to like about his barely talked about "Three Bears" series, and 'A Bear for Punishment' is one of the strongest.It is also one of those cartoons that this reviewer appreciates and loves even more as a young adult. It is true that it is essentially plot-less but with everything being so well done this is a case of that not mattering.The animation has Jones' distinctive animation style all over it, especially in the character designs. Everything is vibrantly coloured, the backgrounds are rich and meticulous in detail and it's all beautifully drawn. The music from Carl Stalling, though an uncredited Milt Franklyn also had a hand in orchestration, is typically outstanding, there is so much energy and life to the rhythms, orchestration is cleverly matched and lush and it fits so well with the action and adds to the impact.What is especially good about 'A Bear for Punishment' is the humour. At its best, like the uproariously funny gag with the pipe and the riot that is the deliciously bizarre climax, 'A Bear for Punishment' is hilarious, and is unusually dark (but wonderfully so) and the satirical edge bites. The dialogue has plenty of wit and bite and the gags all work, starting very strongly and getting even better all the time.Lack of story, as said already, is not an issue, it's still engaging and has not a single dull stretch and there's enough heart and charm too. The brilliant execution of the humour helps here too. All three characters are very well written, with Junyor coming off best. With the voice acting, sure you do miss Mel Blanc but Billy Bletcher, Bea Benaderet and Stan Freberg (three of the better and most prolific voice actors of the time) voice with every bit the same amount of enthusiasm and energy, if just lacking that special touch that Blanc had which was his ability to bring distinction and individuality to multiple characters (which in all fairness that opportunity is not necessarily given to them here).Overall, hilarious and brilliantly executed cartoon. 10/10 Bethany Cox

. . . a live-action release playing in theaters during Spring, 2016, but Papa Henry Bear gets top billing as the title character of this Warner Bros.' animated short, A BEAR FOR PUNISHMENT, perhaps the best Father's Day film ever made. About 3 minutes, 40 seconds into BEAR, Henry dons a Shriners' hat, giving away the fact that this Ode to Dads also is intended to expose all the Masonic Secrets to normal Americans. In the 1900s, most affluent (or Fat Cat) male White U.S. adults either belonged to the Masons or the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK were prevalent in the American South, while the Masons ruled the North. For instance, when I was looking for a parking spot in downtown Detroit the night the Orioles eliminated the Tigers from the 2014 MLB Playoffs, I remember that the towering but semi-abandoned Masonic Temple was the biggest building there. As Henry's wife (that is, Mama bear) trots out past her stripper's pole and bumps and grinds out her Happy Father's Day Promises around five and a half minutes into BEAR, viewers will realize that Warner is warning America that the Masons are a perversely wild sex club out to contaminate U.S. Culture with decadent Eurotrash notions. Average Americans took this caution to heart, and Today the Masons as a cult are about where the Shakers were in the late 1900s (that is, their youngest members have been drawing Social Security for two or three decades).

The lesser discussed by largely hilarious Three Bears series directed by Chuck Jones drew to a close in monumentally funny style with 'A Bear for Punishment'. A very simple premise makes for an hysterical cartoon. It's Father's Day and a reluctant Papa Bear must sit through his family's attempts to honour him in more and more violent or humiliating ways. This culminates in a ridiculous variety show which climaxes with a bizarre tableau in which the Three Bears assume the roles of Washington, Lincoln and the Statue of Liberty. As well as the ample laughs, 'A Bear for Punishment' also offers a slightly tragic angle as we witness the Baby Bear's unconditional love for his Pop contrasting with Papa Bear's genuine violent contempt for his son. As well as being a triumph of timing and an ability to draw riotous comedy out of an essentially plot less cartoon, 'A Bear for Punishment' is especially notable as a performance piece, with voice artists Billy Bletcher, Bea Benederet and Stan Freberg giving the most remarkable performances they ever gave as these characters. 'A Bear for Punishment' is a fittingly uproarious finale to an under appreciated series.

The three bears' cartoons from the Looney Tunes crowd aren't in my vocabulary as much as Bugs Bunny and his ilk are, but the two that I've seen ("Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears" and this one) I really like. "A Bear for Punishment" portrays Father's Day, and so Ma and Junyer try to make Pa happy...all the while irking him due to arch-incompetence and excessive affection. They should have just left the guy in peace! So, Chuck Jones had every reason to be proud of this cartoon. One can imagine how much fun voice artist Stan Freberg must have had turning Junyer into his dopey self. Really funny.I wonder why Junyer is twice his father's size.