Category: Looney Tunes

Cartoons that were labeled as “Looney Tunes.”

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Hop and Go

“I’m an ath-a-lete all right.”

Supervision by Norman McCabe; Animation by Cal Dalton; Story by Melvin Millar; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. A Looney Tune released on March 27, 1943.

Our short of the week stars a kangaroo voiced by Pinto Colvig of Goofy fame. His name is Claude Hopper. (Which is probably the greatest name ever.) He may sound a little slow, but he’s a good guy and he has reason to brag: he IS the world’s greatest jumper. (And even though he is a male, they felt the need to give him a pouch.) But his boasting is overheard by a couple of rabbits named Andy and Sandy. (They’re easy enough to tell apart. Andy wears a tam o’ shanter and Sandy wears a hat that looks just like it but a different color. Simple.) Don’t know if their pride is hurt, or if they’re just dicks, but they decide to bring the marsupial down a bit. And they plan to do so by challenging him to a long distance hop.

Now, as any zoologist can tell you (and yes, I am “any zoologist”) kangaroo’s outclass rabbits by leaps and bound in leaps and bounds. The two are aware of this, and jump on Claude’s tail. Before he lands, they leap off in front of him, besting his distance by a couple of inches. He empties his non-existent pouch of all extra weight. (Material objects that is. I would have been angered if he had a joey in there) As he prepares to jump, one of the lagomorphs sticks some gum on his tail and cause him to land back on the scrapyard. What’s more, they have the nerve to laugh at his misfortune. Overcome with stress, Claude tries to show his strength by hopping all over the landscape. He ends up in a lake.

The rabbits are kind enough to rescue him and nicer still, offer to help him train to become as skilled as they are. Their method involves launching him from a giant lever with a crate in his…grr… pouch as ballast. Upon dropping a boulder on the other end, Claude is airborne! And boy does he fly! He reaches the kind of altitudes that airplanes fly at. Hours later, he’s still going. He decides to light a match to see where he is, as it is now night. This in turn gets him fired at. Only now does he realize that the crate he has, has dynamite in it. He drops it below just as he lands. Surround by rubble, he feels assured that he is the “champeen” now. His reasoning? He just bombed Tokyo. (Ah, World War II. If you had never happened, this might be considered the most evil punchline of all time.)

Personal Rating: 3

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Heir Conditioned

“You, doll!”

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6z2bzo

Directed by Friz Freleng; Story by Warren Foster; Animation by Art Davis, Gerry Chiniquy, and Virgil Ross; Layouts by Hawley Pratt; Backgrounds by Irv Wyner; Voice Characterization by Mel Blanc; Music by Milt Franklyn. A Looney Tune released on November 26, 1955.

The second of the shorts designed to teach economics. Figured I might as well get them all taken care of. This one has a bit more comedy over education I feel. It starts off with a cat in an alley. (Quite the dapper one too. He’s got a little vest and hat.) Glancing at a newspaper, he finds out that a friend of his has just inherited some money. He tells friends who tell friends, and the story gets exaggerated. (Considering the total goes from “a fortune” to one million to three million.) Such news even convinces a cat in a cage to put Tweety back in one piece. There are sure to be much tastier things in the future. Sylvester is said friend and it looks like he’s all for spending the money frivolously. But I guess his late owner foresaw that as he is stuck with the company of Elmer as his financial advisor. It’s probably a good thing he’s around. There’s a whole army of moochers (cats) outside coming to help spend the loot. Elmer throws them out, but they stick around. Watching and waiting for a chance to snag their prey. Elmer notices the saw going around the bag and switches it with a firecracker holding one instead. He tells Sylvester they are going to invest the money. (Really now, can’t you let him have some of it to have fun with? I’m not surprised the putty tat tries to make a run for it) His pals are still trying to help too. Dressing as a phony mother, with a phony kitten, in a phony snowstorm asking for pho- I mean real cash. Elmer buys this and is all set to hand over at least a few dollars, but the “baby” ruins it for asking for 5,000. His “mother” beats him for speaking. Why not send in their smartest cat, Charlie? Posing as a salesman, he at least gets in the house and demonstrates a cleaner for metal. He succeeds in dissolving Elmer’s watch. Even if it worked, I guess all that would happen is Elmer would buy some. Either way, he shows himself out. Elmer locks the door so he can finally get the lesson going. Starting up a slideshow, (again, don’t try and learn this stuff from me.) He explains how life used to be much harder. Specifically, the work world. People would work long hours for little pay. But thanks to investing, new products were made. Which led to more jobs to make said products, and higher wages. With more people working, shorter hours could also be allowed. The cats (most of whom I think are voiced by Stan Freberg) saw all this, and wouldn’t you know it, they reform. Sylvester is not so easily swayed, and while Elmer’s back is turned, he runs the money over to his pals. In turn, they scold him and demand he puts it back. The economic structure depends on it! Sylvester finally agrees to invest it. Bitter that his owner didn’t take the money with her, saving him the headache. (Seriously though. That’s three million dollars. During the fifties, yes, but still a goodly amount. Like I said, I’m not an investor, but you really can’t let him have maybe 10,000? At least let him have one party.)

Personal Rating: 2

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By Word of Mouse

Is good, yes!

Directed by I. Freleng; Story by Warren Foster; Animation by Gerry Chiniquy, Art Davis, Ben Washam, and Ted Bonnicksen; Layouts by Hawley Pratt; Backgrounds by Irv Wyner; Voice Characterization by Mel Blanc; Musical Direction by Milt Franklyn. A Looney Tune released on October 2, 1954.

During the 50’s there was a time where Mr. Freleng directed some shorts teaching about America’s economic systems. Sponsored by the Sloanne Foundation, all three of them had Sylvester in them to keep them relatively humorous. This is the first of them.

In a German town called Knokwurst-on-der-Rye, (I hear they have good taste) a mouse named Hans has returned from America. His family eager to hear about his trip. It started off simply enough, he greeted his cousin, Willie and they set off to see the sights. Hans is amazed by all the technological advancements this new land has compared to what he’s familiar with. Surely, these are all very rich people to be able to afford all these wonderful things. Actually, no. But Willie isn’t exactly the best one to explain how the system works and so they visit a mouse at a university to explain things. Basically, the people who make these products, sell them for cheaper than it costs to make them. In such a competitive market, you have to cut prices to give the customer reason to take your product over theirs. Seeing as a cat is stalking them, the professor (who doesn’t really have a name, so I’m just going to call him that) slams Sylvester’s head in a book before continuing the discussion in a drawer. When the cat peeks in, he burns his whisker on the lighter they were using as a light source and as he goes to put it out, they relocate to a filing cabinet. To continue the discussion, selling things without making a profit, can work to the producers favor. If enough people want to buy his product, then in the end he will still make a good amount of money. Sylvester is able to find them easily, because they foolishly hid in the folder about mice. Luckily for them, it was also clearly about mallets. They hide in a water cooler. Can’t have a meal without a drink right? I like how Sylvester actually bothers to drink all the water he’s emptying to get them out. (No sense in wasting it.) But now he’s too waterlogged to catch up to his prey, and the professor is able to lure him into an open manhole. Hans finishes up his story. (Because I guess he came home after that.) His family now knows the ways of mass production. Correction: they always were quite aware of it. Mice have many offspring, after all.

Hope you aren’t trying to actually learn economics from me. I’m an animation historian/zoologist. I’m just summarizing what I got from this short. If you really want to know more, visit your local library. So you can use their computers to study. In today’s day and age, is there really any point in doing it the old way?

Personal Rating: 2

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Meet John Doughboy

“Our Open Door Policy is responsible for the Draft”

Supervision by Robert Clampett; Story by Warren Foster; Animation by Vive Risto; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. A Looney Tune released on July 5, 1941.

Want to learn some military secrets? Secrets that are over seventy years old? Porky has got what you want to know! (Sadly, he disappears from the short after his introduction.) Well, what have we got? We see our factories that pour molten metal into tank shapes. (Without those pesky molds. Here in America, we just pour it out, and it takes the shape.) Planes are an essential part of are army. And they can do some pretty spectacular things. A spitfire plane can actually spit fire A couple of guys aren’t worried about being drafted. The bigger one tells the smaller one, that he especially doesn’t have to worry. He’s too short. Unfortunately for him, stilts WERE around by the forties. There are some pretty quick gags too. A machine gun nest is actually a nest for the gun, and we see some of The Draft Horses that actually were picked. (Seeing as they all came from South America, the general is probably just racist.) Considering their ethnicity, It’s no surprise they start a conga line. An anti-tank gun is being tested, but the idiots who are in charge are too busy having a cigarette measuring contest to fire the weapon. So, it’s a good thing that we have other tools to fight with. A land destroyer so fast, that all one can see is a blur. (Slow it down, and you’ll see it’s just Jack Benny and Rochester in their car. Whatever works.) Okay, so maybe we aren’t as prepared as we could be in the event of a war. At least, if all we want to do is fight back. We’ve got a lovely defense system. Should enemy planes ever fly by, Miss Liberty will give them a dose of pesticide. Takes care of those annoying pests.

Personal Rating: 2

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The Ducktators

“Tutti frutti and all-a kind of whips cream and a wall-a nuts!”

Supervision by Norman McCabe; Story by Melvin Millar; Animation by John Carey; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. A Looney Tune released in 1942.

Just want to remind everyone that this comes from a time where the country was at war. So naturally, we Americans made fun of our enemies. (Instead of today where we casually make fun of everyone)

Why do all the poultry in the barnyard have cigars? Seems that a pair of ducks are expecting! Wait, why is their egg black? Unless you’re a fish, I don’t think that’s a healthy color for your egg to have. Well, it may not be dead, but it IS rotten. Out hatches a duckling with a familiar looking mustache. Welcome to the world little Hitler Duck. He grows up quickly enough and seems he hasn’t got quite the right mindset. He gives some speeches to other birds about his ideas for the future. (They sound nice on paper… actually they don’t. He’s evil.) Sadly, some poor souls were taken in by his words. Especially one goose in particular. (He’s not given a name, but he is Italian, so it’s safe to assume we all have given him the same name. You were thinking “Goosalini,” right?) I would also like to note, that this cartoon is not so single minded as to think all “ducks” and “geese” are like this, and it offers an apology to those whose countries names are being tainted by these a-holes. They begin amassing a good number of soldiers. (One of whom, is a black duck from south Germany. Unlike the depictions of Nazis, this guy is still pretty offensive today. I give it a pass due to its time period, but it is still sad it was once considered perfectly acceptable) Not all the birds are agreeing to the way things are going. A dove (naturally) wants things to go in a more peaceful direction. The two leaders agree to a peace conference, but then go and shred the treaty. (Not cool guys. And after you even bothered to hand a banner saying “Peace iss vonderful”) But aren’t we missing someone? Wasn’t there one other enemy we had? And here he is now, Tojo the duck. He tries to label an island as Japanese mandated, but the island was really a turtle and he isn’t quite pleased. He chases the bird to beat him. The duck tries to get out of it by showing off his “I am Chinese” button, but the subtitle saying it was made in Japan doesn’t convince anyone. The gang’s all here, and they begin marching. (By this cartoon’s logic, they’re Italian stepping) The dove tries once more to get them to stop, but they just walk over him. Having enough, the dove begins to fight back. Others join his side, including “Hare-y Colona” and a sign advertising war bonds. They are victorious! Later, the dove, (who has two children named Peace and Quiet) admits that he still hates fighting, but he had to so something to stop those fowl types. And he really gave it to them, he mounted their heads on his wall.

Personal Rating: 3

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Wacky Blackout

“Okay! Lights out!”

Supervision by Robert Clampett; Story by Warren Foster; Animtaion by Sid Sutherland; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. A Looney Tune released in 1942.

In today’s short we will see how animals react to the war. For example a farmer has trained his dog to put out fires. (He’s a Spitz) And milk is and essential part of a soldiers diet, so it is a good thing that this cow gives out 5,000 quarts a day. (or rather we take it from her.) Old Tom is a cat. He has lived through at least three wars so he knows that this one will turn out okay. And next to him is a woodpecker. He knows that it might result in bad things, but he can’t resist giving the cat a peck. Now, when it comes to American holidays, (by that I mean, ones we invented) my favorite is Thanksgiving. Luckily for me, a turkey is busily “gobbling” down food as fast as he can. Unluckily for me, once he learns of my dinner plans, he begins a weight loss program. Next, some turtle eggs are just about to hatch. (But first, that woodpecker pecks Tom again. Remember kids, never peck a pussy.) Yes, well, as I was saying, the eggs begin to hatch. The first two are normal enough, but the last one is convinced he is a jeep. A dog wants some attention from… well, technically speaking, a bitch. (Don’t look at me! That’s the correct term!) But the poor guy is shy. He has to resort to initiating his own blackouts in order to score some make outs. And speaking of blackouts, (wacky and non-wacky) the fireflies are performing a practice one. A turtle that is much older than what we’ve seen thus far is hesitant to go into his shell. He’s afraid of the dark. (Because that’s when dogs get it on. What is wrong with me today?) A mother bird is trying to teach her chick to fly. Does that bird look familiar? It’s Tweety! Or at least a proto-Tweety. He’s got a different voice and a slightly different design, but this is the bird that would become the world’s favorite canary. What’s his gag? He doesn’t want to fly normally, he’d rather be a dive bomber. Speaking of birds, the swallows won’t be returning to Capistrano anytime soon. They are blocked by the fourth interceptor command. But some birds are more loved during the war time. Pigeons for example. One pair in particular produced many offspring during the last war. And though they are quite a bit older this time, they are still as patriotic as a “Draft Horse” (And as for that woodpecker? He pecked Old Tom one time too many and is no longer with us. But he still  is with Tom for at least… 24 hours? How long does it take for a cat to digest a bird?)

Personal Rating: 3

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Bosko the Doughboy

“I’ll get you!”

Animation by Rollin Hamilton and Max Maxwell. A Looney Tune released in 1931.

Heh, no one even uses the term “doughboy” anymore. Regardless, after the title is blown up, we see a war at hand. Not quite on time to be part of WWI, and still too early to be part of WWII. It’s just a nondescript battle with no clear answers. Even we in the audience aren’t safe, as we get shot in the face! A cannon goes through rigor mortis after being shot, and a bird has to take a long clear look at his gaping wound that cuts right through him, before realizing he’s dead. And where’s our main character? In his foxhole eating beans. (Close your mouth when you chew, Bosko. We don’t need to see that. Sometimes, it’s good that animation was not yet in color) His lunch is also shot and he has to make do with stealing cheese from a mousetrap. But he’s not going to let that get him down, he has a woman waiting for him after all! He happily kisses his picture of Honey, before that is shot too. A horse on his side tries to cheer him up with some harmonica playing. While they dance, a dog is in agony because of a flea (I think. It might be a tick) attacking him. Bosko solves this problem by getting the dog’s helmet riddled with bullet holes. This leaves a nice and jagged scratching device. (That would tear through a human’s skin. Isn’t being a toon wonderful?) Then, a fresh wave of firing comes down upon them. Bosko is attacked by a bomb dropping pelican. He fights back by sticking a bomb in the dog’s mouth, pulling on his hindquarters whilst he hangs from a tree, and firing at the bird and its mouse pilot. (The victory is short lived as the dog’s body is torn apart by the enemies fire, leaving him much shorter than before.) Bosko charges forward, ducking into another hole with a hippo to avoid the shots. (Which are primarily coming from some birds in their nest.) The hippo tries to fight back, but a cannon launches a ball down his throat. Bosko sets up a surrender flag made of some long underwear, but the cannon fires anyway. Upon noticing it now has a cannonball inside it, the underwear runs to the cannon and returns it. Thus, destroying the thing. With his path now cleared, Bosko runs over to help his ally. He’s no doctor, but he knows how to save the brave hippo’s life: just unzip him and pull the ball out. They laugh, but the cannonball explodes. (They don’t do that right? I’m no expert.) This sadly leaves Bosko in blackface.

Personal Rating: 3

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Daffy-The Commando

“Teh bin fertig mit der feleton, herr von limberger?”

Supervision by I. Freleng; Story by Michael Maltese; Animation by Ken Champin; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. A Looney Tune released in 1943.

A Nazi general by the name of Von Vulture is not in the best of moods. He has just been told that he is through should he let one more commando get through. He doesn’t have much to back him up either. Just a small, constantly goosestepping,constantly heil-ing, silent bird named Schultz who Von constantly smacks on the head. Hearing a plane, they rush outside with a spotlight and spot a commando. Daffy the commando to be precise. And he immediately makes his mark by making shadow puppets in the light. (His chorus line gets much approval from Schultz.) Upon his landing, Von runs back to the safety of the bunker. Daffy knocks on his door and asks for the time, so he can set his time bomb correctly. (It’s a going away gift for the vulture) Von hands it to his little pal and he is blown into the sky. When he lands, Daffy pops out of his helmet and gives Von a smack on the head this time. Chasing Daffy, (and confusing a skunk with Hitler. An easy mistake) He finds him in a phone booth. And no matter how much he knocks, Daffy isn’t letting him in until he’s done. When Daffy is done, Von makes a phone call before remembering his mission. Daffy takes off in a plane, but is surrounded. He dives down, and the Nazi’s fire upon each other. But Daffy’s plane is taken down by Von. With nowhere else to hide, Daffy ducks into a cannon. Von fires him and wouldn’t you know it, it blasts Daffy all the way to Hitler. (Rotoscoped, of course) He gives the fuhrer a much deserved smack on the head.

Personal Rating: 3

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Rabbit Rampage

“All right, you’ve made your point. You’re the boss.”

Bugs’s Bonnet

Directed by Charles M. Jones; Story by Michael Maltese; Animation by Ben Washam; Layouts by Ernest Nordli; Backgrounds by Philip DeGuard; Voice Characterization by Mel Blanc; Music by Milt Franklyn. A Looney Tune released in 1955.

Do you remember “Duck Amuck?” It was a pretty near perfect short. When someone creates something that the world loves, they can either leave it alone, satisfied that they made something wonderful and let fans cry for more, or they can try to capture lightning in a bottle twice and risk the chance of failing. I wouldn’t say this was a failure, but it really doens’t work with Bugs. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The script tells us we are to start in a classic woodland scene. The animator paints one, but adds Bugs’s hole in the sky. When Bugs sees just who is at the controls for this picture, he refuses to play along. (Don’t blink! When Bugs hits the ground, his leg disappears for a fraction of a second.) The artist stars putting picket signs in his hands. Bugs agrees to work with the artist, but now they are painting various hats on Bugs. (Making the top hat too big is quite clever.)

Well, Bugs tried to be nice. Now to leave. But his hole is now upside down in the sky and he can’t get into it, as an anvil is tied to his tail. While he grumbles, his head is replaced with a jack o’ lantern. (A jack rabbit!) He requests a rabbit head. It’s tiny. Once it’s back to normal size though, it is without ears. Asking for some gets him human ears. He is given a horse’s tail next. When asking for it to be fixed, he is drawn as a horse. His contract states he is to be a rabbit. So the artist draws him as some fan’s Looney Tune OC. (Though to be fair, he looks better than anything I could draw.)

Then he is given some clones. His originality challenged, he puts his foot down. He refuses to move until the boss is notified of the artists shenanigans. Said artist calls his bluff, by drawing a train. With no other alternative, Bugs pulls out the “The End” card. Luckily the artist wasn’t Daffy. (That would have made this short bad.) It was Elmer, pleased to have finally gotten even.

Personal Rating: 3

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Often an Orphan

“Everybody wants a dog!”

Your acting is awful, orphan.

Directed by Charles M. Jones; Story by Michael Maltese; Animation by Lloyd Vaughan, Ken Harris, Phil Monroe, and Ben Washam; Layouts by Robert Gribbroek; Backgrounds by Peter Alvarado. A Looney Tune released in 1949.

A man is going on a picnic with his dog, Charlie. Starting a game of fetch, the man drives off as soon as the dog runs, leaving Charlie behind. Seems like the norm. Charlie is a little annoyed that he let himself fall for the ole’ “Let’s go on a picnic.” ploy. But doesn’t dwell on it long and begins searching for a new master. Despite his cute eyes, and charming tricks, none seems interested. He then overhears farmer Porky. A farm is a great place for a dog, and Charlie offers himself up.

Porky is not interested. But Charlie is a dream come true of mixed breeds! He’s 50% of pointer, boxer, setter, spitz, and pincher. (With accompanying gags for each.) And he’s also 100% Labrador Retriever. When Porky calls his bluff, he offers to prove it by retrieving Porky’s Lab. Since Porky doesn’t have one, they got nothing more to say to each other. And so, Porky kicks the dog back to the street. Upon reaching home, he finds Charlie requesting ham and eggs. (Porky? Why are you raising pigs on your farm? This disturbs me greatly.)

He once more makes to throw him out, but there is a man from the Humane Society out there watching him. (Probably got some calls about a farmer selling his own kind as a food source. No, I’m not dropping that. That was a strange joke, Chuck.) Porky shifts his tone until the man is gone, then once more orders Charlie to leave. Charlie delivers a sob story about how he always wanted to live in the country. He is weak and needs wholesome food to regain his strength. And his observations of city life sound pretty legit. (I’ve yet to see one person smile in one of those.) Porky agrees to let him stay. He even has a sleeping bag for Charlie. (Looks a little like a mail sack to me, but who cares? Charlie looks so cute with just his head poking out!)

Turns out it was a mail sack, and Porky mails the dog to Scotland. He finds the Scottish Terr-…Mixed breed back at home. Admitting defeat, he concedes to being Charlie’s owner, and suggests they go on a picnic. Charlie apparently didn’t learn his lesson the first time, and happily agrees. As soon as they arrive, Porky throws a stick for the dog to fetch. Charlie in turn, takes the car and leaves Porky stranded. Guess he did learn his lesson after all. You can’t trick an old dog new teach. (Wait…) Porky snaps, and begins acting like a dog. He does the cute eye routine, and is apparently better at it than Charlie, as someone does indeed pick him up: A dog catcher.

Personal Rating: 3