“Your thomashawk, sir.”
https://www.topcartoons.tv/the-oily-american/
Directed by Robert McKimson; Story by Sid Marcus; Animation by Phil DeLara, Charles McKimson, Herman Cohen, and Rod Scribner; Layouts by Robert Givens; Backgrounds by Richard H. Thomas; Voice Characterization by Mel Blanc; Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling. A Merrie Melody released on July 10, 1954.
One of the reasons I love cartoons so much, is that they are weird and can get away with it. But sometimes, they’re less “weird” and more “odd.” In other words, the cartoon is weird, but you can’t necessarily just write it off as cartoon logic. That brings us to today’s featured short.
Moe Hican is as his name suggests, a Native American. And as the title suggests, he is something of an oil baron. He has so much of the stuff, he has at least two decorative fountains on his property, spouting the black gold instead of water. So what does a multi-billionaire do to occupy his time? He hunts, but he does so in a rather “unique” way. He has animals shipped to his house, and released inside. That way he doesn’t have to… actually, it’s not said WHY he does it this way, but I suppose it means he doesn’t need to drive anywhere.
Joined by Jarvis the butler, he turns on a stream in his house and heads to the forest room. (He is rich enough to afford that, AND replace the furniture the water is going to ruin. I suppose if I had as much money as him, I’d do random dumb crap too.) Today’s game is a moose. (Which seems rather redundant, seeing as he already has a deer head on his wall. And last I checked, moose are deer!) The moose is question looks a lot like he escaped from a Disney cartoon, as he is a midget if ever a moose was one. (There isn’t really anything in the story that requires him being so small, but this way he matches Moe in height.)
Our American hero tries to lure his prey out with a moose call, but his prey has a call of his own that calls out to Native American, oil-drenched, bachelors. (You’d be surprised at how many of those things get sold on a yearly basis.) Moe follows it up a tree, whereupon the moose saws it down with his antlers. And just because he is an animal, that doesn’t mean that he is going to stay in the forest room. There is a whole mansion to tear through! (But the majority of the rest of the short takes place back in said room. Why not take advantage of it?)
Jarvis helps out as best as he can, but all of Moe’s weapons come back to hurt him. He dutifully returns them as a good butler should and gets to keep any injuries he gets for his troubles. Ultimately though, he decides that he has had enough, and resigns. Moe doesn’t care much. With as much money as he has, he can easily buy another Jarvis. (Or at least pay someone to change their name to Jarvis.) He chases his prey outside and shoots one last arrow. Somehow, it hits Jarvis’s plane and sends it to the ground. Now that he is no longer employed by the man, Jarvis has every right to spank him. So he does.
Good thing the premise is plenty… original I guess. Otherwise, this would have been a fairly basic chase cartoon.
Personal Rating: 3