Category: Ralph Phillips

A very imaginative little boy. (Is there any other kind?) Once he grew up, he helped recruit other young men for the army.

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Boyhood Daze

“Dr. Living-son, I presume.”

Directed by Chuck Jones; Story by Michael Maltese; Animation by Abe Levitow, Richard Thompson, and Ken Harris; Effects by Maurice Noble; Backgrounds by Philip DeGuard; Film Editor; Treg Brown; Direction by Milt Franklyn. A Merrie Melody released in 1957. Directed by Chuck Jones; Story by Michael Maltese; Animation by Abe Levitow, Richard Thompson, and Ken Harris; Effects by Maurice Noble; Backgrounds by Philip DeGuard; Film Editor; Treg Brown; Direction by Milt Franklyn. A Merrie Melody released in 1957.

Tomorrow is Christmas, the epitome of childlike wonder. So which short to discuss better than one with Ralph Phillips? The little lad has just broken a window and is sent to his room to await what his father will say about things. Left alone, he begins daydreaming. Like most kids in trouble, he daydreams about his parents getting into a situation. Specifically, with them captured by cannibals. Ralph comes to the rescue. (Love that goatee) The natives are clearly afraid of him, but still try to fight him off as best as they can. Ralph has no choice but to kill them all. (Off screen naturally.) Coming back, he scolds his father for being out in the jungle in the first place. His dad walks off sulking as Ralph returns to reality. He figures besides saving their lives, another way he’d never be punished is if he did something fantastic with his life. Like being part of the Air Forse. (sic) He flies a ship that looks a bit like a paper airplane, through a sea of areas that look like his bedroom. He best be on the look out for Martians. Not only do they hate Earthlings, but they all got A’s in arithmetic. They shoot him down, but Ralph is a skilled pilot and manages to come back at them with his secret weapon, a lasso. He catches them all, (and his ship can hold all of them? Of course! It’s imaginary!) And he is honored by the President himself, as his parents watch in awe. (His dad’s hair is now red. Why was it black earlier? Imagination still needs consistency, Ralph.) Speaking of, his father has just gotten home and is making his way towards him. Ralph imagines himself in prison awaiting his sentence. But he needn’t have worried, his father is a fair man who has a fair punishment. Ralph will have to pay for the window out of his allowance, but as long as he is more careful with his play, he’s free to go. Ralph happily rushes outside. But his imagination starts to run away again. He sees a young tree, and an axe that is just a little too tempting…

Personal Rating: 3

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90 Day Wondering

“I’m a civilian!”

Directed by Chuck Jones. Released in 1956.

Two posts in a day? It’s an October Miracle! (Or the idiot who runs this place didn’t plan ahead in advance very well, and realized he needed to have two in one.) Well anyways… At a location named “Fort Itude” (Which let’s be honest, is one of the best names of any place in history.) A tornado seems to leave. Taz was in the army? Nah, it’s just Ralph Phillips who is beyond happy to be “normal” again. His family welcome him back, but soon the excitement wears down and they settle back to their daily routine.

Ralph decides to go out for some fun. (Of course, not until after he’s had a few beers and smokes. The kid of “From A to Z-z-z-z”, people. ) He heads to the malt shop he used to go to, but nobody he used to hang with is there. They’ve been replaced with younger teens who make Ralph feel like an old man. But he has his address book! He calls up the girls he used to know. Which leads to an expected, but still hilarious joke: “Mommy? A man wants to talk to you.” He goes through them all; none of them are interested. If you weren’t there to engage them every day, you deserve to die alone.

As Ralph mopes in the park, a tiny little character shows up. This is Pete, the civilians friend. He’s here to tell Ralph the benefits of being out of the army. Another character shows up named Re-Pete. He looks cool, so naturally he is my new friend. Both begin trying to persuade Ralph to stay on/come back to their side. The army may pay less, but it gives so much more. There are over 400 jobs available, it can finance one’s education, give you a paid vacation, and if you play your cards right, you can retire at age 38. (Dang. Is that still possible? I’d look it up, but I don’t want to.) Pete is losing the battle and none of the ideas he’s pitching are working. (Like inventing dehydrated water and inheriting Fort Knox. Both of which I’ve already done multiple times.)

Ralph re-enlists. A nice short, but it seems to be saying that you can’t be happy unless you’re in the army. Say good-bye to free will kids. Your choice has been made.

Personal rating: 2

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Looney Tunes: Back in Action! (Deleted Scenes and Final Thoughts)

At least, these are the deleted scenes on my DVD copy of the movie.

Scene #1: An alternate opening. A Batman parody with Daffy as Batman and Elmer as some evil music composer type character. He plays a pipe-organ robot that destroys the city. The citizens running include: Ralph Phillips, Hercules, and Giovanni Jones. Porky and Speedy play the cops. Daffy easily stops Elmer, but the Warner Bros. stop this script reading there, stating that Daffy can’t kill Elmer. Daffy mentions that he comes back from the dead, and Elmer runs off crying in fear.

Scene #2: A bunch of romance scenes involving Kate and D.J., the funniest being Bugs and Daffy pointing out their obvious attractions. (Daffy: “He likes long walks on the beach…” D.J.: “You just made that up.” Bugs: “And she has a weakness for unemployed guys.” Daffy: “And he has a weakness for being unemployed.”)

Scene #3: A bunch of gags at Area 52. Including: Bug’s dressing up as a boxing referee, and getting two Daleks to fight each other, and D.J. feeding one of the fiends without a face to a triffid.

Scene #4: When Bob is holding Kate hostage on the Eiffel Tower, D.J. is constantly buying paperweights from a gift shop and throwing them at Bob’s head

Scene # 5: Kate having more of a sense of humor. Telling the “impatient cow knock-knock joke” and playing hairdresser with Gossamer. (Wait why wasn’t he in this movie?)

Scene # 6: A scene showing what happens at ACME when you don’t push your buzzer. Mr. Chairman has you wrapped up in plastic wrap.

Scene #7: Final scene. In this draft, the Blue Monkey apparently reverts something to an earlier state. At the temple, D.J. has turned his dad into a monkey so he can get away. Mr. Chairman rants about wanting to throw people into the lava, and Bugs getting zapped and turns into Proto-Bugs. (Great gag.) Daffy gets a hold of the diamond and accidentally turns Bugs and Kate into neanderthals. (Bug’s from “Mad as a Mars Hare”) Daffy accidentally aims at himself and becomes an egg. A whistle blows, and Bob leaves his shift and actually talks. Mr. Chairman pulls Taz out of a bag to frighten our heroes. D.J. aims at Mr. Chairman who claims it will only make him smarter, because of him being descended from geniuses. D.J. instead shoots Tweety who has been around this whole time. Mr. Chairman gets the diamond before realizing birds are descended from dinosaurs. The Tweetysaurus flies up and eats him, and Taz crumbles to bits.

Scene #8: Various Daffy gags. Naming restaurants he’s banned at, saying he has special needs, becoming part fly at Area 52, (thanks to Bugs) and various bits of him getting hurt at the temple.

These deleted scenes are very fun to watch as Bugs and Daffy provide the commentary.

Final thoughts: I love this movie! It has action, heart, comedy, cartoons, an entertaining villain, and I can watch it time and time again and not get bored. To me it is the best movie I ever saw.  Are there any problems I have? Well, yes. I still question Shaggy and Scooby being there, and I still hate the part where Taz farts. And I have a very personal problem of there not being enough Porky. But those are small complaints.

It’s a shame that this movie was a flop. But it might have been avoided if the W.B. had advertised it better.  If you’ve never seen this movie, then I think you really ought to. I don’t care who you are or what your preferences are, watch this film!

A fun little side note, you may or may not know this, but on the special features menu, you can highlight the water tower and find a scene of Sam blowing up. Eater egg!

Personal rating: Well, I hate to do this, but I’d probably have to give this film a 3 for the majority of people. It’s good, but I can’ see it converting anyone. Then again, if you are already a full-fledged Looney-tic, then all the cameos, in-jokes, and beautiful blending of live action and animation, earns this a 4. (If you’re me or my clone, then it’s a 5. And well deserved of that number.)

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The Adventures of the Road Runner

Yeah, I know I said I’d take a break from these types of cartoons, but I’m a liar, pure and simple.

Besides, this is not just a regular short… this is a TV pilot! That never got a show afterwards. (Friggin’ stupid thing if you ask me) I have no idea why no one thought this would not be a good show, but at least the pilot is still awesome.

After a few gags, the coyote starts talking and telling us that he films everything he does, so he can analyze them, and figure out his mistakes. We also see that this pilot is also being watched by Ralph Phillips and his unknown friend. Ralph says that he feels like sometimes hes a roadrunner, and tells his friend of other things he imagines himself as, as “From A to ZZZZZ” plays.(So, was this going to be a sampling of ALL of Chuck’s best work?)

After that, they also get an answer as to why the coyote wants the Roadrunner so much. (After such an explanation, I think I really want to eat one too) Its funny, the bridging sequences are original, and its a Looney Tune. What’s not to love?

Personal Rating: 3

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Drafty, isn’t it?

“Have I got your attention?”

This is an army recruitment short. We see Ralph Phillips (who starred in “From A to ZZZZZ” and “Boyhood Daze”) now around 19 years old. His dreams are being haunted by an ominous shadow. While he sleeps, a little imp like creature named Willie comes and starts to talk to the young man. He tells him that he should join the army no matter what. It will help him throughout life and the horrible conditions are pretty much exaggerated in the cartoons, anyway. Ralph’s dog chases the creature, waking Ralph. They see the shadow again outside the window and now realize it is a join the army poster.

Personal Rating: 2