291. Circus Today (1940)

Warner cartoon no. 290.
Release date: June 22, 1940.
Series: Looney Tunes.
Supervision: Tex Avery.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Don Brodie (Narrator), Mel Blanc (Most voices in act). (Thanks Keith Scott!)
Story: Jack Miller.
Animation: Sid Sutherland.
Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: Spot-gag parody which is set during a day in the life at the circus of particular circus events which tend to backfire.

Taking place outside the circus; a carnival barker is gathering a crowd outside the circus of Jingling Bros. Circus; as the barker gathers around: 'Hurry, come out to the greatest, most sensational show on earth!'.

The opening quote from the barker is what was quoted at every circus gathering; where they'd exaggerate it being 'the greatest show on earth. The barker continues to shout out, 'Hurry, hurry, hurry!'.

Meanwhile, still outside the circus, another barker is seen carrying balloons for sale to appeal towards the youngsters. 'Balloons! Get a big, red gas-filled balloon for the kiddies! Only ten cents, one-tenth of a dollar!'.

Just as the balloon barker continues to call out towards members of the public; to his surprise he finds he is high up in the air sand on cloud level. Completely high up from buildings, and afraid of falling to his death, he shouts out 'HELP!' with desperateness. As the shows and the circus events begin; the first act to be introduced in this spot-gag is: Gamer the Glutton; who has the skill to eat everything and anything. As Gamer begins his act; he eats everything which is shown on the table: knives, forks, boots, nails, etc. He moves the remaining items into his mouth in one go. The glutton has finished his act and takes a bow to the audience. Just as he bows; his belly then flows over to the top; which is animated rather amusingly. As he walks off the stage, his belly becomes so huge it jingles and rattles due to what he has eaten.

Moving on to another act; the aunt performer is Hot-Foot Hogan; which the name is a loose parody of Schlesinger story writer Rich Hogan. Hoot-Foot Hogan's stunt specialises in fire walking; where he will bravely walk through the hot coal through the bed of embers with his bare feet. The narrator even makes a reminder to the audience; he will walk in bare feet..to create more amazement.

As soon as the fire walker places his bare feet on the hot stone; he immediately jumps and yelps through the bed in pain. The execution and timing of the sequence is rather amusing; particularly when the fire walker jerks around the hot bed as he yelps in pain.

Its delivery is very typical of what Tex would approach. What's most amusing is when the fire walker stops yelping in pain, once he's at the other side and bows towards the audience before he proceeds sitting down. The following act; a very typical act seen in a circus; and is also of popular use today--the human cannonball!

To add a lot of appeal and persuasion; the narrator adds how the human cannonball will be exploded out of the cannon at '500 miles per second'. The speed, of course is a joke itself since it is physically impossible but the measurement is very exaggerated and funny. The human cannonball slides inside the cannon, the match is lit for the cannon to fire, and blast! the human cannonball fires from another part of the Earth. On the other side of the planet; the human cannonball arrives back: travelling the globe. On his return, the gag is he has numerous holiday stamps on his rear end. Of course, very corny and funny gag since holiday stickers were very cultural in its time.

Meanwhile in another part of the circus; the animals are a very popular section of circus activities. Concentrating on a circus monkey; this becomes an advantage for Tex to re-use a particular gag which he used in two previous spot-gag shorts: A Day at the Zoo and Cross Country Detours...except the delivery is different.

A local man walks towards a monkey inside a cage where a sign shows restriction on feeding the monkeys--'under penalty of the LAW'. The man, thoughtless, then grabs out a bag of peanuts for the monkey; but instead the monkey grabs the man and frantically screams 'LAWBREAKER'.

He also whacks the man with his umbrella which is hilarious watching the man being attacked by a monkey. Instead of the 'Listen, stupid, can't ya read' quote which was used in the two previous shorts...this is far much broader and expressed comically.

At the bird section, the stork is being the main focus on the bird sanctuary. The telephone rings, and the stork walks over to answer it: 'Hello?'; the stork then breaks down into fillers: 'Yes but--' and keeps getting interrupted by a protesting caller. After many moments of being interrupted the stork concludes: 'Ahh, try again!' and he hangs up on the phone. As though an audience should've known in a very humorous way, the stork reveals what the phone call was: 'That's Eddie Cantor still pestering me for a boy'...if you don't get the joke; read the Slap Happy Pappy review.

Moving onto another animal in the animal section of the zoo; a fierce looking gorilla is inside his cage and is approaching towards the camera in a fierce looking matter. The narrator comments on particular unique and effective name of the specie: 'the assassin of the jungle'. He describes how the gorilla was captured from the Darkest Africa; and is without doubt, a dangerous killer.

The gorilla walks towards the camera still acting very grizzly and, in the narrator's words 'gains two thousand pounds of hate and fury'.

Just as the gorilla is holding onto the bars, and at the breaking point of outbursting, he breaks down in a funny voice, quoting the Mad Russian, 'How DO you do?'. Watching these deliberate build-up gags so many times in Tex's spot-gag cartoons, you would expect to see a silly, corny punchline such as this to conclude the gag.

Moving away from the animals; the narrator as well as the spot-gag takes us all the way to the big top section of the circus; easily the most popular culture part of the circus. The narrator announces the first act to be introduced, and with such acclaim: The Flying Cadenzas.

As how Tex had interpreted the gag to be, the cadenzas end up flapping their wings like birds and fly. They fly around the big top; and also grab hold of the trapezes where they also are to perform their trapeze act.

Just as the act is being performed, one acrobat tosses one stunt towards another acrobat on a different trapeze; and it would be what you would expect in every trapeze gag. Tex turns into a gag, in what could actually happen in reality as accidental. One of the trapeze artists misses the other one's hands; and so falls to the ground, and crashes off-screen. Just there, the trapeze artist grabs out a sign from under his chest which reads: PARTNER WANTED. A very dark gag but the payoff itself is very funnily executed.

The following act in the big top is a rather daring and exciting act for the audience to watch. Miss Dixie Dare is the main attraction currently, as she is dressed in a Western outfit with her noble steed. The narrator remarks she will attempt to 'pick up a handkerchief with her teeth'. A man's hand places the handkerchief in the middle of the ring.


She jumps onto her horse as she rides around the arena, Cheyenne is played during the underscore...considering its a Western song, and fits well in the sequence.

Just as the handkerchief appears in close-up; she grabs the handkerchief with her teeth, but it turns out she has false teeth which fall out of her mouth. Tex's timing was precise in order for laughs, and it is definitely satire which works very well. The next act; a ringleader named Madame Trixie is to conduct certain tricks with her horse, Prancer. Just as the spotlight appears at the scene; the 'trick' displayed shows the ringleader and the horse dancing together to the music of Sweet Georgia Brown. Very corny gag, as I keep saying, but it's really all you can say about many of Tex's spot-gag shorts, but the music cue from Stalling from the popular song was a great touch.

Another popular section of the big top is: the lion tamer. Inside the lion's cage, the tamer is whipping the lion and using a stool to tame the lion. The narrator explains about the captain's next actions: '..will demonstrate man's best (?) force...by forcing his will and his desires upon the flashing fangs and sweeping claws of this snarling king of the jungle!'.

The act begins, where the tamer opens the lion's house and puts his head inside the lion's mouth for a moment, which is the typical act you see in many circus shows. The audience applaud as he has managed to place his head inside without having his head in damage.

Now to make the act more amusing and interesting to Tex and his gagmen; the lion does the exact same actions as the tamer. The lion opens up the tamer's mouth, and repeats the actions of a tamer. The lion sticks his huge head inside the tamer's stretched mouth. And so, the audience then cheer on the lion's act as the lion proudly accepts his cheers.

Another very popular mammal in the big top arena are the pachyderms. A line of elephants walk into the arena holding onto its tail. To make the line of the elephants a lot less boring and more messed up; a small elephant is seeing holding onto another short but isn't touching the ground due to his height.

At the end of the line; we find a particular stuntman who is holding onto an elephant's tail with his mouth, and is walking with his arms, as well as legs--like an elephant.

'The professor will attempt one of his most dangerous and daring achievements', the narrator mentions, 'allowing this huge mastodon to place its entire 13,876 tonnes of crushing weight upon his head. Just at that moment, an atmosphere of suspense is laid upon the audience as well the drumroll for when the elephant is about to sit on the professor's head. Just as the elephant almost sits on the professor's head, he breaks down sobbing: 'I can't do it, I can't go through it! I can't do it!'. No question this was another Tex gag which was reused previously, and also what Tex had acted out before; where the elephant's actions are identical to the bobcat's reaction from Cross Country Detours as well as live-action reference from Tex...its the same acting and reference.

For the grand finale of this spot-gag cartoon as well as the events running in the circus: a dangerous daredevil is to perform a deadly high-diving act. For the finale; Tex makes the most of what he can do gag-wise; such as making the daredevil look silly where he has too much bathrobes around him before we see his costume.

The daredevil proceeds towards the ladder where he attempts to jump off at such an exaggerated height of 5,462 feet into the air. The layout staging for the shot of the height of the high-diving board; as well as the ground floor has been perfectly well-achieved in terms of layout; and it shows suspense on how very deep the ground level is.

It would've been a very difficult scene for a layout man to achieve...but Tex would have to use a difficult method to make the sequence work; he'd get his results the hard way! Just as the high-diving man reaches the top; the band play. The bandleader watches the man jump down from the diving-board.

At this point, the bandleader only uses the drummer for the drumroll part. After a few moments, the drumroll then stops; the bandleader turns towards one of his band members: 'Okay Joe, take it'. The trumpeter then picks up a trumpet and plays the Siegfried Funeral March. Another very dark gag; but quite possibly the funniest gag in the whole cartoon. Its execution, its pacing as well as its delivery--its just pure gold and darkly amusing.

Overall comments: Almost the entire cartoon itself is a huge time capsule. Back in the 1940s; and even prior that...the circus was very popular of the decade and it had played a huge part in American culture. It provided a great sense of escapism for the public, to escape from hard times such as the Depression as well as World War II. However, the circus isn't very regularly attended these days or even regularly shown, it's become sort of a more annually or few events a year, type. Today's circuses are far different towards circuses which we all come to know about: sure, circuses are still shown but have lasers in circus acts, instead of tactical acts. Okay, enough about circuses; about this cartoon: it's just another spot-gag cartoon where you can really only consider this cartoon an abundance of corny, and cheesy gags that it all sort of runs together. Many of the gags have very little surprises, they're all paced evenly and comparably.

However, the short itself does have some touching and wonderful surprises: particularly the stork sequence who grumbles 'Eddie Cantor is still pestering me for a boy' which is generally very dated, but very funny towards historians and intelligent enthusiasts. Quite a bit of dark, death gags used in the cartoon; particularly with the trapeze sequence as well as the ending finale. Such dark elements, that you can't help but smile and laugh at the whole setup. Despite being a mediocre short for Tex, especially as a spotgag; the dramatic camera angles as well as background staging are terrific achievements; particularly the high-diving sequence which has a lot of realism. Tex has also reused particular gags which were already popular gags from previous shorts; except with the monkey gag, I feel he made the delivery and change of dialogue a lot more broader, convincing as well as more outrageous.

290. Tom Thumb in Trouble (1940)

Warner cartoon no. 289.
Release date: June 8, 1940.
Series: Merrie Melodies.
Supervision: Chuck Jones.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Shepperd Strudwick (Father/Narrator ), Marjorie Tarlton (Tom Thumb).
Story: Rich Hogan.
Animation: Robert Cannon.
Muscical Direction: Carl W. Stalling.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: When Tom Thumb is home alone cleaning the kitchen, he almost drowns and ends up being saved by a little bird; but his father however, takes it at the wrong foot.

Similar to what Chuck's approach was in Old Glory; Jones tackles another cartoon where it is almost virtually gag-free. It is arguably the most Disney-ish looking cartoon that Chuck has ever directed, as well as one of his most well-crafted shorts from his early years. With Old Glory; Leon had wanted Chuck to work on a patriotic short, whereas here it is a much different contrast. The short relies on drama, in terms of the characters, the atmosphere and the angles.

Taking place in the woodland areas; the narrator narrates the opening line rather softly and as to how a fairy tale would usually open: 'Once upon a time, there was a kindly old wood-chopper who lived in a warm little hut on the edge of a great dark forest'. The background of the exterior part of the hut has sort of a European feel in terms of its illustration and texture; which is what I believe Chuck was wanting.

The interior of the hut has a very 17th-18th century feel towards it; as well as how it would be pictured in fairy tales where there would be a teapot hanging from a hook, a mandolin sitting by the fireplace, as well as old pots. The camera pans towards the father of Tom Thumb; and the narrator continues:

'Now, this old man had a son whom he loved very much and who was so very, very tiny that his father called him Tom Thumb. The staging of the father and Tom Thumb's size looks rather accurate as they're viewed asleep, where Tom has a tiny blanket to sleep with, on top of his father's bed.

 Just as the alarm clock is about to hit six o'clock; you watch the build up of the clock, which is such an obvious contrast to the short's very realistic and serious animation, as the clock building up to be rung has a exaggerated feel towards it, as well the clock dancing around as it rings. Tom Thumb wakes up from the alarm; and gets a vibrated feel from the noise. He jumps out of his bed, where he jumps on the table of the bedside to turn off the alarm clock. Just as its stopped and walks off; the alarm clock rings and this calls for Tom to rush over and make a attempt to stop the alarm ringing. Quite possibly the only gag used in this cartoon (if you're willing to call it a gag) where Tom Thumb is holding onto the alarm clock, as it continues to ring.

The father then helps out poor Tom as he helps turn off the alarm clock. The father, looking very perked up then sends his morning regards to Tom, and Tom does so back. Also another pinnacle for animator Bob McKimson where he contributes to the animation of the very realistic father; and without any live-action guidance.

The father is so realistically drawn well in terms of proportions, his broad figure has very realistic movement, as well as a lot of weight--which is generally a technique which many animators struggle with. The father walks over towards his water bowl as he grabs some water between his hands for Tom Thumb to bathe in.

Tom Thumb strips from his pyjamas as he jumps from his father's thumb like a diving board and soaks himself clean. After a few moments, the father's thumb holds onto Tom Thumb as he slides down his arm safely to clean himself from his father's short sleeve. The thumb movement from the father really adds warmth to the father's personality; and shows a bonding father & son communication. Tom Thumb finishes off putting on his clothes and puts on his hat for the finishing touch. Proud of his new clothes; he declares to his father: 'Gee, pa, I feel like a new man!'.

Meanwhile over at breakfast; the father and the little boy are enjoying their morning meal. Chuck also shows some appeal with size; whereas the father's food is portrayed as huge for Tom, as well as the mug; whilst the smaller things is content enough for Tom Thumb. Appealing measurements, but it would have been very difficult to stage.

The father holds his mug as he takes a drink of, probably tea or coffee, as he then takes a sip with enjoyment: 'Man, that's good'. Tom Thumb then picks up his drink from a thimble. After taking a guzzle form his tea; he signs with greatness: 'Boy, that's good'.

Just as breakfast has finished, the father gets ready to leave for work: 'Well, Son, I'm afraid I got to go to work now. Do up last night's dishes like a good boy, will you?'. With pleasure; Tom Thumb responds: 'I sure will, pop, spic and span!'. Just as the father leaves the house; they say 'Goodbye' to one another. The entire opening of this cartoon was really just exposition. We are introduced by the characters; we know their relationship as well as their morning routine; which is a rather settling introduction before the story kicks into gear.

Whilst the father is away at work; Tom Thumb proceeds with the housecleaning as he uses a spoon as a spade to scoop soap suds into a bowl, and to use a tiny mop to clean the plates with. Looking like rather hard work for a boy his size; his song proves how he enjoys cleaning the kitchen, and using creative methods in cleaning it.

The song he is singing was taken from a popular song: In a Little Dutch Kindergarten; but of course the lyrics are an altered version in this sequence. A very Disney-esque sequence that one would wonder whether it would be influenced from the cleaning sequence in Snow White.

The atmosphere, and the happy song are a possible influence, but I'd just take it as a very cutesy Jones sequence where we're supposed to admire him. The lyrics itself are very Disney-ish where it contains advice and messages; where Tom Thumb sings about how to not feel bad when you work; and to sing a song to make you feel happy, and to get on with the work. With those lyrics being heard; there is no doubt Chuck saw influence from the Whistle While You Work song. Meanwhile; there is a yellow bird which is sitting on a branch outside the window of the hut who tweets merrily to Tom Thumb's song.

Just after Tom Thumb finishes his song; he then endures one last errand; where he has to hang a cup up in a hook of a shelf. To do this, he accomplishes it in a rather cutesy and cartoony effect. Being a cartoony effect; it was accomplished to make it look realistic. The timing of the cup springing up towards the shell feels a little slow; but having to make it move realistically would've been a hard challenge.

Just as Tom Thumb walks away from finishing his chores; he then proceeds to walk away from the kitchen, but the climax kicks in as he steps onto a bar of soap by mistake.

The soap slides him through a long ride on the table but he ends up tripping and lands into the tub of soap water; which was seen earlier. Because the water in the tub is not shallow enough for Tom's size; he is at the brink of drowning.

He ends up gurgling water out of his mouth, as he screams for help hopelessly 'Help!' from his perspective; with his father absent, and the yellow bird outside, this is surely presented as dramatic and putting the father in a poor parenting position...but may, that's going too much in the reality side. The bird looks through the window with curiosity and finds Tom Thumb in trouble; just like the cartoon title. The bird, makes a preparation to fly backwards, and then flies straight through the window like a bullet that the window glass smashes. The father, busy cutting wood with his axe, stops his work and rushes back to the house concerned.

As the father makes his way back home, believing there is a emergency; the bird already attempts to pick up and rescue Tom from the soap water, and yet carry him out of the tub with its small wings. Chuck paces the shots around where as the bird retrieves Tom safely out of the tub; the father's legs run back towards the house; which makes the suspense illuminating.

Just as Tom Thumb is lying down from concussion; the bird waves its wing around attempting to awaken Tom. The door opens, and to the bird's shock; Tom Thumb's father looks towards the bird with a cold glaring look.

The staging and layout of the father's stare is completely outstanding and believable, that it makes an audience feel intimidated and fearful by his expression. It is completely human and only the great expression speaks for itself.

From the father's perspective; he takes the action at the wrong foot; where it looks like the bird is seen as the perpetrator due to his angle; and he looks towards his window; finding it has been smashed. The father walks towards the bird slowly and angrily. The bird, completely afraid and perplexed; walks backwards from Tom very slowly before making an attempt to fly off. The father makes an attempt in smashing the bird with his hand but misses. The bird flies around the house, attempting to dodge the father's hand but makes it out of the window in time. The father, missing the bird with his hands; looks out with the window; a revolting look.

Afterwards; the father looks down at an unconscious Tom where he asks: 'Did that bad little bird hurt you?'. He picks up Tom with his hand, feeling guilty for deserting Tom and leaving him home alone whilst at work. 'I shouldn't have left you at alone, I know. You're so little and helpless'.

Tom Thumb, then wakes up and attempts to explains about the bird; but the father believing he is still in shock, attempts to let him rest.

He places him on the pillow very gently and places the pillows on top of him. He comments softly: 'Everything will be alright in the morning'. Tom Thumb attempts to explain, 'But, Dad..', but he walks away not wanting to hear anymore. Just as enough time passes by and the father is seen asleep; Tom Thumb then writes a note on paper in explaining about the bird situation. As written; he explains the bird is a friend of his, and also for saving his life and attempts to go through a dangerous journey in searching for the yellow bird.

Tom Thumb leaves the house where he is on the search looking for the yellow bird during a blizzard. The door is being left open; as Tom struggles his way through the woods. A lot of the following shots have a heavy influence of live-action; particularly the shot of the door which slams itself where it creates mystery and also shows a lot of intense lighting.

The father then wakes up from the sound of the door closing. To check if Tom is safe; he finds the note pinned next to him on his pillow. At this point, the father becomes very afraid for Tom and he calls outside the window: 'Tom, Tom? Where are you?'.

He looks out the blizzard and shouts, 'Tom! Come back!'. The sequence itself is certainly given a rather pleasant and believable effect. The father's mind is almost about to explode; as he is extremely concerned on the disappearance of his son, and is doing all he can in being faithful to find if he is still alive. As its been noted before; the short itself really shows so much realism in a lot of areas: realism in emotions, realism in movement, realism in personality, and animation of course. It possibly did inspire the staff and other directors at Warners who turn out realism in their humour as well as character personalities: whereas prior that, they really only specialised in humorous and satirical shorts which didn't have too much realism like this short, and shorts that succeed this one.

While the cries for help continue to soar through the woods; at a tree: the yellow bird's eyes then appear to glow through the hole. The bird, wakes up from the noise but then makes a take and realises that Tom Thumb is in trouble. The yellow bird then flies around the forest looking for Tom Thumb.


After a lot of frantic searching, the yellow bird then spots him walking through the woods and struggling to make it. The bird then dives down to pick up Tom, and also to fly him back home.

Back at home; the father lies down with his arms folded and his head down, completely crest fallen. He cries, believing he has lost his only son. 'My son! My son!' he cries, 'Why did you do it? Where have you gone? Tommy, my boy'.

After he looks up; lo and behold; Tommy has returned, completely safe and with help from the yellow bird. He greets his father with boy, and the father, overwhelmed of Tommy's safety, then sheds a tear with joy. At this little, subtle scene, Chuck has already mastered the tear technique; not how its animated, but how we've captured the emotions from his father. Back at home; we find Tom Thumb and his father asleep happily; and who doesn't like a happy ending. The yellow bird is sleeping on top of the father's beard, like a bird's nest as the cartoon ends.

Overall comments: By far, probably the most dramatised and Disney-ish cartoon that Warners ever made, which there is no doubt about. However, would you look at this short as a flaw for Warners, because it is so unlike their cartoons, and due to how it is almost gag-less? Of course not. I consider this short, even if this is still early days for Chuck, to be a rather considerate achievement for early on in his career. This is definitely not one of Chuck's masterpieces, and far from being one of the best shorts he has directed but it has such a desirous quality to it that Chuck really had the crew and brains in making this short possible. To make the human anatomy of the father very accurate; his answer was Bob McKimson who successfully animated the father, and most likely, without much effort. Chuck has always had a great talent for drawing expressions which would appear believable towards an audience; which is what he's really famous for in his career.

He could pull expressions that make you laugh and cry; but here he pulls off expressions that are completely human, honest, and commanding; particularly with the facial expressions of the father where he stares coldly at the bird. It's one of the best read facial expressions seen in a animated cartoon which most animators today wouldn't be able to pull off. The personality and warmth of the father and son relationship is already well established. We see that the father is the only person who has complete custody and responsibility of Tom Thumb, and is completely caring towards him, and his concerns over him are understood and touched by audiences; that Chuck really knew how to engage the audience's hearts, especially in this cartoon. I must give credit towards Shepperd Strudwick who gives a very soft and warming performance for the father; and is just the perfect touch for making the father completely human. Of course; the cartoons like this one, would be one of Chuck's very few attempts to use in his own cartoons as when he really moved onto funnier, and more broader cartoons, he wouldn't really experiment with this type of drama again. But the short itself is a good bracer on Chuck's career; and to show what is to become in his later and successful years.

289. The Chewin' Bruin (1940)

starring PORKY

Warner cartoon no. 288.
Release date: June 8, 1940.
Series: Looney Tunes.
Supervision: Bob Clampett.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Mel Blanc (Porky Pig) and Robert C. Bruce (Old Timer) (Thanks Keith Scott).
Animation: Norm McCabe & Vive Risto.
Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: An old-timer tells the story to Porky Pig of how he caught a bear, and stole his tobacco.

Taking place on a dark, rainy night where the weather is at a rather poor condition in what appears to take place in a Western village; and inside a shack; belongs to the residence of the old-timer and Porky Pig. Starting with a silhouette on the wall; the old timer then explains about the bear which he had shot; and with its head hanging on the wall.

Porky then becomes amazed and eager at his story; and his grandfather remarks about how the bear he had shot was 'wild about tobaccy'.

Sounding like a completely ridiculous story for Porky; he buffs: 'Aww, that's silly. You expect me to believe a story like that. Why that's impossible. It's unbelievable (stutters the word); was it really?'.

The grandfather; responds as he scoffs tobacco inside his mouth explaining about how he caught in the bear. 'Yes sire; I done a heatin' with him. Thought I'd seen everything. But I  was dead wrong. The close-ups of the grandfather where he chews tobacco has some lovely squash and stretch animation-wise. He spits the tobacco out, and what is seen as a outrageous Clampett gag; he spits on a silhouetted spittoon which then goes into a crazy and funny reaction. The grandfather then begins the story: 'It was up in the North Woods, about 30 year ago as I can remember, I was out a-huntin' with ma favourite dog'.

The flashback then takes place back in the time as the old-timer is seen as an avid hunter and his hunting dog is following his tracks as they walk carefully around hunting for particular animals. As the grandfather remembers; he spotted a reindeer from a particular distance.


Just as the hunter watches towards the reindeer from the distance; a close-up is trucked in where he is remembers from his memories. Described as seven feet long; the hunter remembers him for 'his beautiful horns'.

The horns then make a sound which I believe is meant to be a original Stalling cue. After the deer; the hunter then continues to look around and he spots a group of chipmunks where they are eating their acorns with enjoyment. The hunter then scares them when he faces them at gunpoint as a tease. The chipmunks turn and they exit very afraid. They then nibble themselves into a log where the log ends up reading: Goodbye Mr. Chips. Another very corny gag which has Warner Avery-esque quality.

Whilst the hunter and his dog continue to trail along the path, he admits he wasn't interested in hunting small creatures, where he was interested in hunting for the opposite. As the hunter continues to walk through the North Woods; and as his dog follows--a huge bear creeps up behind them.

The bear is walking behind the dog and also copying his walk movements. The dog; unaware that he is danger, bumps into the hunter's rear end just as the hunter already made a stop. The hunter hushes the dog for quietness.

The dog, then turns back and hushes the bear to be quiet. Just as the dog is about to continue following the hunter; he makes a double take as he realises there is a bear behind him. The dog then turns 'scared stiff' which Clampett uses the metaphor as a visual gag; as he freezes which makes the sacredness of the dog believable as well as amusing. The bear then pulls the dog out of the little bit of ice and continues to follow the hunter, instead of killing the dog.

The bear follows the hunter, but of course, it is meant to be the wrong type of suspense the audience is supposed to feel. In a close up shot; Clampett lightens the atmosphere. As the old timer mentioned earlier, the bear was extremely hooked on tobacco; and so he finds a tobacco inside the hunter's back pocket. He attempts to grab the tobacco but it slides all the way down his pocket.


The bear then makes a attempt in grabbing his hand as he reaches inside his back-pocket. The hunter being touched in the rear end, then squirms with uncomfortableness. A very typical Clampett gag, which is a little bit of adult humour; where it implies the hunter is being sexually harassed.

The hunter turns around where he remarks sternly: 'Take it easy, Daisy' and he smacks the bear with his shotgun. The bear's head vibrates slightly but the smack on the head has increased the bear's anger. He roars violently towards the hunter; where he gets a scared feeling.

The hunter, shaky, turns his head down from his rear end where he is staring face-to-face towards the bear. They slide their pupils up and down; already making eye contact. The hunter then smiles sheepishly and greets him timidly: 'Hello'. Very expressive and amusing facial expression which is a very popular expression all the directors would use, apart from Chuck Jones. The bear roars furiously and the hunter scrambles out of the way frantically and carries his frozen dog with him. In a series of quick-paced shots: Clampett puts in little bits of visual gags; particularly when the hunter rushes through the snow and the footprints appear afterwards.

The hunter then rushes inside an empty cabin where its fear of the bear already goes as far to the point where not where he places a bear trap outside the snow, but when he removes the 'Welcome' mat from the porch. The bear follows the tracks of the hunter's footprints.

Believing the bear trap may be the solution to the hunter's problem, the bear manages to get caught in a bear trap; but proves to be mightier than the trap.

The bruin then makes the bear trap out of his paw; where the trap ends up yelping like a dog and rushes out into the horizon. A very creative gag which only Clampett would interpret or even create in contrast to the other Warner directors.

Meanwhile inside the cabin; the hunter and the dog are adding additional parts of wood towards the doors to block the bear from entering the cabin. The bear ends up knocking on the window; where small from the roof falls. Discovering a part of a wall is free; he lifts it up like window blinds. He walks through inside the cabin where the hunter is in peril. The dog, holding a hammer after blocking the door, discovers the bear right next to him and faints stiffly.

After the hunter has finished nailing the doors as well as additional bits of wood; he then spots the bear behind him and goes into a frantic take. He then scrapes the nails off the wood which all, as a gag, land into a box of nails. After pulling all the bits of wood out, he attempts to escape but the bear grabs hold of his shirt, not wanting to eat him.

The hunter zips out of his own outfit so fast that the bear is only holding onto his overlay. The hunter finds himself cornered but plans to shoot the bear. The gun turns out to have life but then flops after getting roared at by the bear. Realising that even the gun was hopeless, the hunter is in a hopeless situation.

The bear and the hunter then get into a fight which is covered with swirls as well as dust effects; in another a 'cartoon fight effect' for lack of better word.

The old timer admitted he didn't mind fighting the bear; but when it got to the point the bear had grabbed his tobacco and chewed it; this broke the camel's back for the hunter. "That's what really got me steamed up!" remembers the hunter; with steam rising from his ears. The fight then ends up turning aggressive where the hunter kicks the bear in the rear end; and after some intense punching the bear then hits the ground and causes a hole. The hunter places a sign which reads 'Man at Work' where he is busy in beating the crap out of the bruin.

Back towards the present day; the old timer then concludes the story as to how the bear had never ever touched his tobacco since then; as his head had been a carving from then on. The bear, listening to the story; then ends up questioning 'Oh yeah?'.

 He then makes a big chew from his tobacco where the tobacco strikes towards the spittoon in silhouette; with the same silhouetted gag which was seen earlier in the short. Porky and the old timer then hold onto one another; believing the head carving is cursed; whilst the bear nods his head with a 'So there' attitude whilst the cartoon irises out.

Overall comments: The short itself feels like a part of it has some of Clampett's own wacky, silly humour has been considered when making this cartoon. Some particularly wacky gags which are very much Clampett's contributions would be the bear trap gag. Clampett has used that gag several times as it is a very amusing and well executed one. The deer's horn as well as the chipmunks were of course; short gags but also very much under the influence of Tex Avery. There is at least some adult humour particularly when the hunter is 'touched' when the bear digs his hand through his back pocket. The whole concept that the bear is completely obsessed with tobacco that it carries all through the toon is another cartoony concept; that I suppose Clampett would be one of the few stalwarts to create into a cartoon short..and he did, and even deliberately used Porky as a child so the story of 'the chewin' bruin' would be the main focus of the short. Thanks to Keith Scott, who helped me with my quest for identifying the voice of the old timer in this short being voiced by Robert C. Bruce. Its great to see Bruce actually get a chance to voice a character, apart from his usual typecast assignments by being the narrator: even though he's quite possibly best at that. It's also the same voiced which was used previously in The Hardship of Miles Standish. Overall, with not too much to comment on; this was a hit-and-miss Clampett short; it had its funny moments, it paces through rather evenly, but it isn't particularly very extraordinary at all.