A Bear for Punishment

“I hate breakfast in bed!”

I know. I should have talked about a Mother’s day cartoon, but i couldn’t find one. Father’s day works fine. This cartoon was based on Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese’s fathers days they experienced. (That’s harsh)

One morning, Henry Bear wakes up to many alarm clocks. He learns that its fathers day and his family wants to treat him right. Junyer spills breakfast on him, and tries to shave him with a broken razor. He can’t even fill his dad’s pipe without an injury. (“g-u-n-p-o-w-d-e-r, deh, tobacco”)

Finally, they perform a show. Junyer recites a poem about how he loves his father, Ma does a dance, and as a finale they dress up Henry as the stature of liberty and launch fireworks. He is too shocked to protest. (And thus the 3 bears cartoons ended)

Personal Rating: 3

Mouse Wreckers

“What’d I do? What’d I do?”

Hubie and Bertie are happy to find a new place to call home, but there’s one problem with it: Claude. According to all those trophies, he’s a champion mouser and the mice are going to have to get rid of him if they are to live there. They hide on the roof, and Hubie lowers Bertie down the chimney to the cat, to torment him and get away quickly. They use sticks, bellows, and even a dog to drive Claude crazy. They even tie a rock to his tail and throw it off the roof, dragging him along with it.

Claude is shaken to say the least, but he convinces himself it was all a dream. While he sleeps the mice try their coupe-de-gracie. They nail all the furniture to the ceiling, somehow get the celing lamp to point upward and put it on the floor, and wake up Claude. He is scared to find himself on the ceiling but freaks out even more when he climbs into the next room, and finds its right side up, but the windows show upside down horizons and underwater scenery. He runs screaming from the house as the mice get comfortable

Personal Rating: 3

The Dover Boys at Pimento University or the rivals of roquefort hall

“Hark! The Dover Boys.”

I used to think this one was underrated and unknown by extension, but apparently I was (happily) mistaken. The title characters did appear in “Space Jam”, and “Wakkos Wish”. Dan’s hilarious outbursts make wonderful memes (Better than that “chungus” crap That scene was already funny. It didn’t need any help.)

At good old P.U. (Pimento University) the most popular boys are the Dover boys (based on the “Rover Boys” series of books) As we pan over to them, we see a sailor guy. Pay attention to him, we’ll see him again. The boys are going to play hide and seek with THEIR finance Dora Stanpipe. (I guess they are polygamous? I suppose if it’s good enough for them…)

On their way to the park they pass a bar where inside their nemesis Dan Backslide, lurks. He loves Dora…s father’s money and despises the Dover boys. He watches them (and the sailor) walk by, and seethes. During their game, the boys decide to hide in a place where they won’t be found… the bar!

Realizing that Dora is alone, Dan kidnaps her, but Dora (and the sailor) are spotted by the boys and they rush (freeze) to her rescue. While she screams for help, she pummels Dan and soon he is yelling for help too! The boys finally arrive, and only end up knocking themselves out, Dora leaves with the sailor.

P.S. the narrator in this short, is the same narrator who was with Goofy in those “How to” cartoons Disney made

Personal Rating: 4 (But don’t be too surprised if you don’t enjoy it as much as you should be on your first viewing. Like many a work of art, it takes time to be appreciated)

Cheese Chasers

“There’s nothing left to live for!”

It’s Hubie and Bertie’s last cartoon! To commemorate, they decide to eat and eat and eat and eat and eat and eat all the cheese they can! After eating (possibly literally) tons of the stuff, they feel they can never stomach it again. (I hate when this happens to me) Figuring that suicide is the only answer, they climb into Claude’s mouth.

Claude is suspicious as to why natural prey of his would want to die. He tries to bribe them into leaving him be with cheese but he just freaks out more when they refuse to eat it. With the rodents acting so strange, Claude figures he can never enjoy mice again. He decides to end it all at the hands of a bulldog. (Marc Antony making his FIRST appearance) The dog wonders why Claude wants to die, and freaks out even more when the mice want the same thing. In the end, the dog chases a dog catcher’s van… with Claude and the mice in hot pursuit.

Personal Rating: 3

Whoa, be-gone!

“one (1) giant rubber band (for tripping road-runners)”

For once, the coyote is not chasing the bird on foot during the opening credits. Instead, he is riding a rocket after the mouth watering morsel. Coming up to a tunnel, he hits his head as the rocket keeps chasing the bird. It turns around and comes back, and the coyote just barely dodges it. (He gets hit by a truck, instead.)

In the following gags, he falls off a cliff not once but thrice! He decides to erect a trampoline to catch him just in case it happens again. (He falls right through it) One more gag deserves mention, he tries to roll down a wire using a wheeled helmet, but the wire snaps and he falls. The ends of the wire land on him and a telephone wire. He purchases some tornado seeds but the squirt gun he is using leaks and a tornado carries him away into an abandoned mine field.

Personal Rating: 3

Stop! Look! and Hasten!

“Coyote (Eatibus Anythingus)”

365 days of this blog! One more until the first anniversary!

Food is scarce in the desert, so the coyote has to make do with flies and old cans. Then his dream lunch runs by and new ideas swarm in his head. A boulder just falls on him and a snare trap gets him a truck. A tiger trap only catches a tiger (obviously) and when he tries a steel wall that will pop out of the ground, the stupid thing gets stuck.

The chase continues onto the railroad where he gets creamed by a train, and when he decides to use a detonator, he blows himself up. (Watch the handle, it changes color.) Getting the bird to stop for some free bird seed, he tries the classic saw around prey, and whole bridge falls gag. (Good thing roadrunners can fly.)

As a last resort, he chugs down some leg vitamins and now he can catch up to the bird, but of course just as he is about to catch it, the wall from earlier pops up. The Roadrunner spells out “That’s all Folks” in his dust.

Personal Rating: 4

Zipping Along

“Yeooooow!”

We all know the Roadrunner is fast, but did you know he can outrun a speeding train? He may just be minding his own business, but there are hungry eyes watching. This time the coyote tries to throw a grenade, but only throws the pin. He tries the old classic: mousetraps, but they just end up on him. He tries to drop a bomb from a kite, but kites were not exactly designed to carry that much weight, now were they?

Since there are no cops around he can get away with chopping a telephone pole. (It falls on him.) He learns hypnotism, but the bird has a mirror and he gets himself to walk off a cliff. He tries making a booby trapped doorway but he gets hit by a car before it can be used for its intended purpose.

Personal Rating: 3

Going! Going! Gosh!

‘Road runner (acceleratti incrediblus)’

After the Roadrunner runs by, the coyote jumps from his hiding place to pounce…and misses. Time to use the old noggin! When launching a TNT arrow, only the bow gets fired. Using a large slingshot ends up with the coyote pinned against… err… some plant, and his cement just ends up covering himself.

He tries a grenade while under a manhole but the bird takes a different route and ends up pinning a rock on the manhole cover. BOOM! He dresses up as a female hitchhiker (the bird already has a date) and paints a fake road (only to have a real truck drive out of it.) After some more gags (including a genius hot air balloon) the coyote decides to jump and harpoon the bird. However he gets hit by another truck. This one driven by the bird himself.

Personal Rating: 3

Beep Beep

“Last water for 300 miles”

After the title cards, the coyote notes that his prey is just too dang fast, and he will not be able to catch it on foot. This calls for stradegy. He rigs a boxing glove up to a boulder, but when he releases it, the boulder crashes into him. (So does the glove.) He tries dropping an anvil on the bird from a tightrope but the weight drags him down. (If you’re watching “Space Jam” this is where the short would end) He is not worried because he has a parachute…or not.

He tries a clever booby trapped glass of water, which the bird ignores and a chase through the mines ensures. (This breaks one of Chuck’s rules: “The Roadrunner must stay on the road”) The coyote later tries some rocket skates but he can’t control them. Battered and bruised he tries to get a drink, only to be blown up by his device. As a last resort he makes a fake railroad but gets clobbered by a real train. Need I say who is riding in it?

Personal Rating: 4

Baby Buggy Bunny

“Dada.”

A stick up at a local bank is taking place and the thief is a tall, shadowy figure. Or so it would seem. In reality, it’s a pint-sized burglar known as Ant Hill Harry, alias: Baby Faced Finster. That comes from the fact that he is able to disguise himself as a baby so he will not get noticed. (Because babies left alone in alleys are not suspicious.) After the cops go past, his buggy with the loot inside rolls away. The money lands in Bugs’ rabbit hole and he laughs at his fortune.

Thinking it over, Finster decides to play orphan so he can get in, and the guise fools the rabbit. Once inside the crook makes it clear he wants the money and holds his breath so Bugs will comply. Once he gets it though, he tries to escape. The rabbit never gets wise. Later at bedtime, every time Bugs turns out the light he gets clobbered. He pretends to turn out the light and sure enough Finster is the one responsible. He plays innocent and Bugs is still deceived… that is until he turns on the tube and sees a news report about the robbery that took place earlier. Bugs gets his revenge and Finster is sent to prison.

Personal Rating: 3