So Much for So Little (1949) User Reviews

Yes, It's Dated, But It's A Good Message

[ccthemovieman-1 · 5/10 · 15 June 2007]

For folks back when this "short" was made, they weren't as aware of toxic wastes, untreated sewage water flowing in their creeks, etc., so this animated documentary was a good wakeup call. The message here is to keep babies healthy and away from diseases that were fairly prevalent apparently in this time period.

Inoculations and better sanitation are the suggestions here, and what's wrong with that? Judging by how "dated" some of these diseases are in this short, a lot of progress has been made, although we still have concerns in related areas today.

Check out the gloom-and-doom left-wing loonies here on the user-comments who hate positive messages or anything in which Americans are portrayed as good people trying to help each other. Talk about illness!

This interesting, eye-opening documentary, animated by the famous Chuck Jones, was part of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2. It's recommended except for people are obsessive-compulsive like the TV character, "Monk," who would get super-paranoid watching this 10 minutes of germ-talk.

Hide Under the Bed!!!

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 22 February 2019]

This is one of the scary little bits which is a long public service announcement. It starts with a baby and all the horrors that exist that will kill him if we are not careful. It isn't a wrong thing; it's just so heavy handed. It seems as though without big government, most of us don't have a chance. There are so many elements of society, especially the poor, who seem to be excluded from this presentation. How about minorities? Yes, the point is that it is cheap to prevent some the things portrayed--but a good deal is left out.

You can survive past infancy, can't you, John?

[slymusic · 29 July 2010]

Directed by Chuck Jones, "So Much for So Little" is a very nice Warner Bros. cartoon. Notice I wrote "nice", not "funny", as humor is not the real gist of this cartoon. It's an attempt for post-war families all over the country to increase their awareness of the quality of public health services in their communities. Specifically, this film traces the life span of one John Emerson Jones, Jr., during which time the narrator continuously addresses him and recommends that he take care of himself through periodic checkups.

Certain sequences in "So Much for So Little" put a smile on my face. The sight of little John in a suit of armor holding a lance is quite amusing as he attacks various diseases (tough customers on the path of life, as they are called) in human form. This cartoon also highly benefits from the music score of Carl W. Stalling. Among other songs that I recognize are "Strolling through the Park One Day" as John takes a walk with his wife Mary; "Singing in the Shower" as a fly washes its feet (!!); the all-too-familiar "Powerhouse" during the blood test; and Chopin's "Raindrop" Prelude in D-Flat at the sight of sewage water pouring into a clean creek.

When I first see John as an infant in this cartoon, I want to weep for him, because the narrator points out that John's chances of not seeing his first birthday are quite high. As the film progresses, however, my potential sadness is put to rest. As I wrote earlier, this is a fairly serious cartoon, as the life expectancy of infants is greatly dependent upon the quality of our public health services.

Educational cartoon on health care

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 24 September 2015]

This is a 10-minute movie from over 65 years ago and the inclusion of director Chuck Jones and voice actor Mel Blanc should tell you that it is actually a cartoon, despite the serious subject. Not only Disney made these animated educational films, but Warner Bros. as well. This one here managed the unique achievement to win an Academy Award "despite" being animated and of course I am talking about the Documentary, Short category here. However, the award did not go to the legendary Chuck Jones (he still had to wait a couple more years for his win), but to producer Edward Selzer who scored really many nominations and wins with his cartoons in the 1940s and 1950s. This one here is about health care and how it's just a really small sum everybody needs to contribute to help those who need it, also the elderly. War was over, so these educational movies moved into different directions, domestic issues again mostly, just like this one here. However, I did not think this was close to Warner Bros' best. Not recommended.

Extremely well-conceived and executed animated short on public health programs

[llltdesq · 9/10 · 17 January 2001]

Although somewhat dated in a few details, much of what this details regarding public health and safety, such as inoculation versus disease and the need for good sanitation is still of importance today. I saw this in Cartoon Network on a special ToonHeads featuring rarely seen or little-known animation. This won an Oscar for Documentary Short (actually, it tied with another short) and was well deserving of its award. The animation is superb and worth watching. It was also quite disturbing to learn that, apparently, a bare fifty years ago the infant mortality rate in the United States was as high as it was. Five of every 100 births. While we have made progress, we can still make a good deal more. Most recommended.

so much hokey for so little time; no one predicted the current state of health care

[lee_eisenberg · 4/10 · 27 January 2007]

When we watch movies and cartoons from the '40s and '50s, we can often tell that they came from that era, as they promote a happy-go-lucky, perpetually optimistic attitude. But they're usually still OK to watch. "So Much for So Little" doesn't fit in this group. It's purpose is to remind us that if we give three cents a week to health care, we'll cut down on the infant mortality rate. It displays this by showing a wholesome, all-American boy growing up through the years.

Well, we've seen the unfortunate reality. Almost 47 million Americans go each day without health care. Countless people live near toxic waste dumps to this day; New Orleans was already like a cesspool before Hurricane Katrina exacerbated the pollution. As for the boy's adult years, now that we can look back on the baby boomers' young adult life, it would have been more realistic to portray him as a hippie and then a disco pimp.

But the main point is that Chuck Jones should have known better than this. Maybe it would have come out better had he cast Bugs, Daffy, Porky or one of those other guys. You can find it in the documentary "Toonheads: The Lost Toons" on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, and its status as part of Looney Tunes history is about the only thing that makes it worth watching (in fact, I wish that the documentary's narrator had poked fun at it rather than praising it).

A great piece of propaganda which becomes more than its message

[phantom_tollbooth · 9/10 · 3 November 2008]

"2,621,392. A nice even figure. That's the number of babies who'll be born next year in the United States. Of these babies, 118,481 will die before reaching their first birthday." So begins Chuck Jones's 'So Much for So Little', an Academy Award winning cartoon. Doesn't sound like the recipe for comedy gold, does it? Well, the truth is 'So Much for So Little' is not primarily a comedy short. It is an educational picture about the importance of a good health service. Sounds dull, right? Fortunately, Chuck Jones works his magic on this public information film to create a thoroughly entertaining cartoon. Although he's basically illustrating a voice-over narration, Jones manages to draw us in to the story of Johnny Jones, one of those 2,621,392 babies who may end up being one of the 118,481 dead. Why should we care? Well, Jones makes us care by segueing into the story of Johnny's life, incorporating his school days, his falling in love, marriage and retirement. He does this so engagingly that we forget we are hearing the tale of a baby we've been told has a good chance of being amongst the percentage that will die. Jones returns to this fact right at the end of the short, abruptly reminding us of the information that we have forgotten while becoming emotionally involved in the character's potential life. 'So Much for So Little' advocates a worthy cause in a totally convincing, captivating and (crucially) entertaining way and was fully deserving of its Oscar win.

One Man's BS Propaganda is Another Man's Fact

[mightyquinninwky · 10/10 · 3 May 2008]

You have to realize what is motivating someone's comments, and anger can be one of the most blinding of motivators. If something unfortunate happens to a young one that have to blame the world and take out their short comings and mistakes on everyone else. The fact is vaccination has saved innumerable lives and all but eradicated dreaded diseases such as small pox and the German Measles. There will always be a small few that it hurts (then than 1%) and that is a small price to pay when you look at what toll these diseases took when they were allowed to run rampant. Today we have people that are irrationally blaming SIDS and autism on these vaccines, but truly no research (and there has been plenty) has found a link. People must quit being irrational and understand that there is a risk that comes with anything good and pardon the cliché "don't throw the baby out with the bath water". As far as this cartoon goes; great animation and excellent writing! All pros working on this and you can tell. No wonder it won the Oscar, a great piece of animation as is most of the stuff from Warner's during this time period. Don't take one angry persons word, watch it, check the science, then make your judgment. I can't believe they allowed his post to begin wit; anyway well worth the watch!!

Public health with Chuck Jones

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 4 January 2018]

Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.

Chuck Jones deserved his status as one of animation's most legendary, greatest and most important directors/animators. He may have lacked the outrageousness and wild wackiness of Bob Clampett and Tex Avery, but the visual imagination, wit and what he did with some of the best-known and most iconic characters ever were just as special. 'So Much for So Little' is interesting and well made, but did it deserve its Oscar Win? Not to me, while appreciating it highly of Jones' three Oscar-winning cartoons it's perhaps my least favourite.

'So Much for So Little's' portrayal of inoculations is somewhat one-sided agreed and some of the content is very of the time and would be very different now. With that being said, what we are told and how it's executed on the whole is fascinating, engaging, important and entertaining, making its points without preaching too much.

The voice acting from Mel Blanc and Frank Graham is as spot on as can be. Two multi-talented voice actors on top form. Jones' direction is solid and the cartoon is paced in a lively fashion.

Animation is excellent, it's fluid in movement, crisp in design, vibrant in colour and very meticulous in detail.

Ever the master, Carl Stalling's music is typically superb. It is as always lushly orchestrated, full of lively energy and characterful in rhythm, not only adding to the action but also enhancing it.

In summation, very interesting and well done but didn't blow me away and won't be for everybody. 8/10 Bethany Cox

When this documentary cartoon came out . . .

[oscaralbert · 8/10 · 21 April 2016]

. . . its title--SO MUCH FOR SO LITTLE--actually meant so much government health service for so little taxpayer money (three cents weekly). Nowadays, this five-word heading drips with irony, as in so much extorted taxes for so little government return. Take America's most infamous health story so far in 2016. Under Michigan's SnyderCare, the Rich People Party's governor gets to appoint dictators to rule those pockets of that state housing people of normal means, and switch their water source from Pure Michigan Great Lakes Nectar to brown sludge teeming with lead and disease-laden sewage (exactly as pictured in the beginning of SO MUCH FOR SO LITTLE). Or take inoculations. Killers such as small pox and polio were being wiped out by the health professionals depicted in this cartoon. Today, however, Zika is about to put a $10 TRILLION dent in the U.S. Budget. How? Even if a vaccine were available Tomorrow (NOT possible!), media airheads such as Jenny McCarthy and Bob De Niro would order their know-nothing Ditto-Heads to boycott it, as President Cruz and the Pope mandated that U.S. taxpayers support 1 million Microcephaly kids to the tune of $1 million each (which adds up to $10 trillion, on my calculator).