The Mouse-Merized Cat

Robert Mckimson directed this 1946 cartoon. This was the third appearance of Babbit and Catstello based on the popular comedy duo Abbott and Costello. They had earlier appearances in A Tale of Two Kitties (1942) and A Tale of Two Mice (1945). The voices were performed by Mel Blanc and Ted Pierce. I personally think they did a remarkable job of imitating Abbot and Costello.

The plot centers around Babbit's desire to rid the house of the cat . He's not willing to do this himself, he is however willing to hypnotize Catstello into thinking he's a dog and telling him to chase the cat away. Catstello refuses, but fails and finds himself acting like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Durante, Rochester, and then a chicken, and a dog.

The scene where Babbit is hypnotizing Catstello to act like Rochester receiving a telephone call from Jack Benny is usually eliminated from this short. It's included here because as I have stated previously, I think it's important to show the work in it's original form.

Sunday Go To Meetin' Time

Sunday Go To Meetin' Time was released to theaters on August 8th, 1936. The plot follows the misadventures of a black man as he sneaks out of church and tries to steal a chicken. Instead, he ends up getting knocked unconscious and dreams he has gone to hell for trying to steal the chicken.

This cartoon along with 10 others was deemed to feature racist depictions of African Americans that were too integral to the films for simple cuts to make them palatable for modern audiences. Distribution of it and the 10 others has been suppressed since 1968. In October 2010 it was announced that all Censored Eleven cartoons would finally be available for release on DVD in 2011 on the Warner Archives collection of DVD sets.

Rabbit Romeo

Today I'm posting one of my all time favorite's in "Rabbit Romeo". The thing I like the most about this one is that they put a different take on the Elmer Fudd Bugs Bunny battle. Usually Elmer is trying to shoot Bugs. This time however all he wants to do is set Bugs up with a fat Slobovian female rabbit.

So what your seeing here is one of the few times Bugs isn't hunted by Elmer and one of the few times he has a romantic encounter. Like many of the other looney tunes this one was censored too. On CBS and the syndicated Merrie Melodies show, the part where Bugs uses a goldfish to shield himself from Millicent's kisses was cut to remove the part where the goldfish is put back in the fishbowl, the goldfish takes out a pistol, returns inside his toy castle, and shoots himself (implied by the bubbles surfacing and making a gunshot sound when popped). On The WB!, the part where Bugs uses an electric fan to protect himself from Millicent's kisses, but her mouth destroys the fan, and then Millicent says, "Mmm, not bad for a beginner!" was cut.

Those of you who are Rocky and Bullwinkle fans should recognize the voice of Millicent as the same voice actress who voiced Natasha. That would be June Foray who was also the voice of Rocky. I have many favorite scenes in this cartoon but the one I like the most is where Millicent says Come snuggle my little bunny boo. Elmer with a shotgun in Bugs' back says Go on bunny boo... snuggle.

The Fighting 69½th

This is the story of red ants and black ants and their inability to get along. A simple picnic is what starts all the trouble. A red ant and a black ant both spot an olive from said picnic at the same time. This leads to war between the two colonies. The black ant even steals bugs bunny's famous "Of course you know this means war" line.

I've always felt that this cartoon was under rated. I love the plot and how it pokes fun at man's seemingly endless need to make war with one another. The voices were performed by Mel Blanc and Kent Rodgers. This cartoon was written by Jack Miller. What I have posted here is the unedited version. I don't believe in posting edited versions of cartoons. I'm not trying to offend anybody, I just think it's important to show the work the way it was originally presented.  

Saps In Chaps

Saps in Chaps was released on April 11, 1942. I can honestly say I have never seen this cartoon on TV. It appears to be pretty obscure. The director was of course Friz Freleng. It was written by Dave Monahan.  Mel Blanc was the voice of  the vulture, traveler, cat, villain, and horse. Billy Bletcher was the voice of Cactus Pete. Both men were uncredited.

The plot revolves around settlers moving west and towns springing up overnight. The only bit I saw worth mentioning in this short was when the villain enters a saloon, approaches the bar and repeatedly shoots a cowboy who laughs as if being tickled and says "Stop! You're killing me!,".

Dog Gone South

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Charlie's search for a master leads him to a plantation down South where Charlie tries to force himself on the owner, a Confederate Colonel. Unfortunately, the Colonel already has a pet bulldog named,  "Belvedere".

 As far as cartoons go, "Dog Gone South" is an all time favorite of many. Here is just a sampling of the many memorable quotes from this cartoon.

Charlie Dog: Plantation? Are you from the South?


Colonel Shuffle: Ah'm not only from it, sir. Ah'm in it.

Charlie Dog: Well shut mah mouth an' stuff me full o' chitlins! Ah'm from the South, too!

Colonel Shuffle: Oh, Belvedere. Come heah, boy.

Charlie Dog: Goodbye, Belvedere. If you're ever up dat way, say hello to my aunt in Boston.

Colonel Shuffle: Boston? Why you cotton-picking Yankee...

Charlie Dog: South Boston, Alabama.

Charlie Dog: You keep out'a this! You an' your 'Southern hospitality'!... and besides, my aunt lives in NORTH Boston - Massatuchetts!

Often an Orphan

The next two cartoons I'm going to post are going to focus on one of my favorite Looney Tune characters, Charlie dog. An early version of Charlie appeared in the 1941 short "Porkys Pooch". The dog in that cartoon was named Rover and Mel Blanc provided the Brooklyn like voice and accent which would later become Charlie's standard voice.

In 1947 Chuck Jones renamed the dog Charlie and transformed him into something new. Jones first used Charlie in Little Orphan Airedale.  The film was a success, and Jones would create two more Charlie Dog/Porky Pig cartoons in 1949: Awful Orphan and Often an Orphan. Jones also starred Charlie without Porky in a couple of shorts: Dog Gone South and A Hound for Trouble which sends Charlie to Italy where he searches for a master who speaks English.

In these cartoons, Charlie Dog is defined by one desire: to find himself a master. To this end, Charlie is willing to pull out all the stops, from pulling "the big soulful eyes routine" to boasting of his pedigree ("Fifty percent Collie! Fifty percent setter, Irish Setter! Fifty Percent Boxer! Fifty percent Doberman Pincher! Fifty percent pointer—there it is! There it is! There it is! But, mostly, I'm all Labrador Retriever!") when reminded by others that he is not a Labrador retriever, his response would be, "If you'll find me a Labrador, I'll retrieve it for you." —though in reality, he is just a slick-talking mutt who rarely realizes that his own aggressive obnoxiousness is sabotaging his appeal to any potential guardian.

Often an Orphan was the last cartoon Porky Pig starred in with Charlie. The cartoon deals with Charlie trying to get Porky to adopt him after his old owner dumps him at Porky's farm on a trip disguised as a picnic. Charlie instead irritates Porky and the short deals with him trying to get rid of the dog in various ways, but failing each time.