The Painter and the Pointer (Andy Panda)

The Painter and the Pointer is the 16th entry in the "Andy Panda" series of theatrical shorts. It was released on December 18, 1944.

Plot
Andy Panda is the painter and his dog, Butch, is the pointer, and Andy is trying to paint a portrait of Butch doing what a bird-dog is supposed to do...standing still and pointing to the game-bird. But Butch won't stand still. Andy's solution is to rig a gun to go off if Butch moves a muscle. Butch gamely resists all temptations to move but a couple of spiders carry him off in their web, with the gun going off repeatedly and peppering Butch's posterior.

Why It Points at Nothing

 * 1) In a way, this short has some similar moments to the 1939 Mickey Mouse short, "The Pointer", but inferior to that one.
 * 2) This short is such a far cry from not only the Andy Panda series, but of Walter Lantz cartoons from that period. Since this short has rather unfunny, sadistic, and brutal gags, slapstick, and overall tone that feels like a cartoon from Famous Studios.
 * 3) The plot is very one-note, since it involves one character (in this case, Butch) being completely immobile. They try to do some gags around it, but like said above, they aren't funny, and only serve to make you feel bad for the poor dog.
 * 4) The plot with the spiders adds nothing but to further torture Butch. It also doesn't make sense, since how would they eat something many times larger than them?
 * 5) The biggest criticism of this short is Andy Panda himself. Once a happy-go-lucky, charismatic, and charming little panda, he becomes for this short only, an abrasive, unlikable, short-tempered jerk. It's almost as if this was Andy's evil twin brother. (Which unfortunately wasn't)
 * 6) * His new design is way less cuter than before, something which the audience even back then found bad.
 * 7) ** He also seems to be a bit too perfeccionist, since he wants to make his dog have the "perfect pose" for his painting.
 * 8) *** He took it too far, putting a gun in front of him just so that he can hold still, unaware of the fact that the chance of Butch getting killed is very high.
 * 9) Bad Ending: Just when it seems that Butch is about to become spider food, the gun predictably is triggered to shot, thankfully missing him, but making him fall off a great height. Traumatized, the dog runs away, yelping with fear with the gun tied to his paw still shooting aimlessly. Andy Panda sees this, and instead of being concerned/worried for his dog, he starts to run after him, yelling at him to come back.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) The animation, voice acting, and music are still good.
 * 2) Andy Panda has gladly returned back from his original personality beginning with next short, and the one from this short was never used again.
 * 3) Butch is the only likable character in this short.