Hunky and Spunky


Hunky and Spunky are fictional characters, appearing in the series of animated short subjects produced by Fleischer Studios for Paramount Pictures from 1938 to 1941. Filmed in Technicolor, the series revolves around a mother burro and her son.

History

Hunky is a mother burro and Spunky is her young son. The initial film, titled Hunky and Spunky, takes place in the Old West, where a prospector attempts to make Spunky into his pack animal. Hunky and Spunky was nominated for the 1938 Academy Award for Best Short Subject.
Fleischer Studios went on to produce six more cartoons featuring Hunky and Spunky: Always Kickin', The Barnyard Brat, A Kick in Time, Snubbed by a Snob, You Can't Shoe a Horsefly, and Vitamin Hay. The series ended in 1941 with Vitamin Hay.
After Famous Studios succeeded Fleischer Studios in 1942, they revived the Spunky character alone for three cartoons in their Noveltoons series, Yankee Doodle Donkey, Boo Kind To Animals and Okey Dokey Donkey, with the latter featuring a simplified drawing style.
A positive contemporary review of Hunky and Spunky in Film Daily praised the short for introducing "funny new characters", and stated that the short's device of having the animals speak in "donkey talk" "will amuse the kids".

Filmography

Preservation

The first film in the series, Hunky and Spunky, was preserved by the Academy Film Archive, in conjunction with the UCLA Film and Television, in 2013.