422. Meatless Flyday (1944)

Warner cartoon no. 421.
Release date: January 29, 1944.
Series: Merrie Melodies.
Supervision: Friz Freleng.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Cy Kendall (Spider), Mel Blanc (Air Raid Warden).
Story: Michael Maltese.
Animation: Jack Bradbury.
Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: A fat, jolly spider attempts to catch a fly for prey; but his traps are consistently foiled.

THE COBWEB HOTEL
(Fleischer, 1936).

The premise of a malicious spider preying on helpless flies was already a cliche in cartoons, by the time Meatless Flyday was in production. The source material can be traced back to John Heywood's pseudo-epic poem, The Spider and the Flie in 1556. Mary Howitt's opening line in her poem of the same name: "Will you come into my parlour? said the spider to the fly", remains one of the most recognisable quotes in English poetry.

Courtesy of Devon Baxter.

By the early 1940s, the Schlesinger studio began inserting twists to old cartoon formulas, ranging from cat-and-canary shorts like Puss 'N Booty. The "victims" were being portrayed as hecklers to the antagonist, which called for stronger gag dynamics and hilarious characterisation.


Michael Maltese's take on the spider vs. fly formula is enriched by some aesthetic characterisation for the short's antagonist. The spider is portrayed as a jolly, loveable rogue - whose sinister motive marks as a deliberate contradiction to his personality.

His persona echoes Tex Avery's laughter and mannerisms, that he previously portrayed in shorts like The Bear's Tale and Ghost Wanted. Tex had already settled at MGM in 1941; so the character's voice is performed by Cy Kendall. Kendall is best remembered as a prolific character performer for over a hundred features, and his Tex "impersonation" works fine. A part of myself suspects that the characterisation has traces of Thockmorton P. Gildersleeve, despite the lack of his signature laugh.

The opening scenes establish conventional traps plotted by the spider, but his bubbly personality almost overlooks them. His first plot is to entice the fly with a sugar cube, attached to a string. He jovially laughs: "Come and get it". It's already indicated that the mute fly is a heckler to the spider, as he advances towards the sugar cube to pick it up. The spider, holding onto the piece of string, is caught by the force of the fly, who holds the cube on top of the ceiling.


In an impressive 3/4 down shot, the spider is hanging perilously from the thread. But, the spider cuts the rope with scissors - leading to the spider's fall as his head is clobbered by several sugar cubes. The spider's jovial personality increases his likability by laughing off his foiled plan and addressing to the audience: "Caught me off my guard."


The following sequence sets up another scenario, only to be foiled again by the heckling fly. The spider is seemingly watching the fly perform a trapeze act with the kitchen hooks - and awaiting his fate. The spider still finds some humour in the scenario as he mocks the fly, "Look at him, tryin' to heckle me! A poor man's Bugs Bunny". So, he laughs some more!

In the spider's first attempt to eat him, the fly narrowly escapes a close call. He stretches his tongue like a rubber band and releases it, causing him to stagger. In the second attempt; the spider is hanging onto one of the hooks; and momentarily traps him. A la Bugs Bunny, the fly kisses the spider and gives him the hot-foot.


Michael Maltese's lighthearted approach to the spider enhances the comedy to more the standard scenarios, seen in the earlier sequences. The spider finds himself in greater peril compared to the previous scene, once he's falling from the hook with his burning feet.

Even when facing calamity, he continues to find amusement from it. He laughs and speaks to the audience: "Look folks, I'm a Zero!". It serves as a funny metaphor that implies the spider is portrayed as a kamikaze pilot, plummeting to disaster. Instead of destruction, he's clobbered again by sugar cubes.

For the following sequence; Friz Freleng's use of direction and dynamics turn to a more menacing approach. The first few shots puts emphasis on the spider's hand preparing another plot for the fly: which involves painting a buckshot, to disguise it as candy. It's nicely executed in staging to emphasise peril.


For a moment, the plan succeeds as the fly gulps a handful of buckshots down his mouth. The weight of the buckshots make it incredibly difficult for the fly to leap out of sight - resulting in a small chase scene.

Freleng's crisp timing starts to takes its course, once the spider casually holds a magnet out for the fly. As he attempts to resist, the power of the magnet increases to the point when a door forcefully opens; leading to knives and other cutlery speeding towards the spider. Freleng's timing turns to a brutal effect as the knives supposedly finishes the spider off.


The camera pans to reveal that the spider narrowly evaded his end. Friz adds an additional piece of horrific value, when a meat cleaver supposedly slices off a part of his leg. In a close-up, the audience are reassured that his toes remain intact, as they pop up from his partly-cut shoe one-by-one.

Freleng's timing solution works to great effect in a detonation gag. The spider spots the fly posing as a figurine in the ambiguous feature of a wedding cake in a household. The spider poses next to the fly's disguise as a groom, and cackles with cruel irony: "Hello, Sweetie-Face". The scene is at first depicted in close-up of the spider, but the camera trucks back to reveal a firecracker the fly replaced off-screen. The spider menacingly says, "How about a little kiss?" to the "fly", unbeknownst to him. As the spider kisses in anticipation, the cracker detonates. A classic testament of how comedy is executed through clarity and staging.

Friz Freleng's masterful timing is highlighted in an elaborate chase sequence, of the spider and the fly's chase through an electrical conduit. The chase is comically interpreted through effects animation. The fly is visually represented as a yellow light; and the spider being red.

Some wonderful touches are added for comedic effect; such as the fly's take, which reads as "Yipe!". The pair chase run down the conduit separately, creating a figure eight until they crash into each other.

Soon, the effects animation depicting the chase becomes more absurd. At the center of a conduit, random pieces of imagery like flowers and other assorted things start to flash to Carl Stalling's score. The gag is reminiscent of a neon billboard gag, seen in Freleng's Light's Fantastic. It also serves as a forerunner for the mine sequence in Chuck Jones' Beep Beep, many years later. 

The multicoloured flashing lights catches the attention of an air raid warden, who yells: "Put out that light!". And so, the lights flickers out in succession - leading the pair back inside the house. It's probably an animated highlight of the entire cartoon. It's beautifully elaborate and funny, to the credit of Freleng and Stalling; and the effects animation.

For the closing sequence; the spider finally catches the fly. The scene fades in to reveal the spider scraping his knife, ready to feast on the fly. The audience are expecting a twist that intervenes with the fly's demise. But, the payoff is a tad disappointing and predictable. The fly points a calendar to the spider, which reveals the date to be "Meatless Tuesday": a WW2 government campaign to encourage the public by rationing their meat for the war effort.


The spider responds with great irritation and angst, that he takes the matter over to the U.S. Capitol. The final shot of the Capitol's window depicts the spider's off-screen complaints to government officials: "You can't do this to me! You just can't!".

It's a satisfying and humorous gag to close the cartoon, but a part of the problem of its predictability is that it links to the cartoon's parodying title: Meatless Flyday. The payoff would've been executed had a different title been suggested. Despite my nitpicking, it's plausible that WW2 audiences overlooked that detail.

To conclude: Meatless Flyday, despite being relatively short, serves as a nice potboiler; enriched by funny characterisation. Michael Maltese's forward-thinking approach to story makes a somewhat tired formula feel fresh and inventive. A portion of the gags are heavily themed with wartime references, but the premise itself has a timeless quality. As discussed, the electrical conduit sequence wonderfully showcases Friz Freleng and Carl Stalling's timing - which is a challenging feat from a lot of levels. Despite the jolly, Tex Avery-persona used several times in cartoons - it never fails to charm.

Rating: 3/5.

Sam Armstrong (1893-1977)

Sam Armstrong might not be strongly associated with Warner Bros' cartoon legacy - but he certainly contributed his fair share to the Golden Age of Hollywood animation. Armstrong was present during the glory years of Disney's most lavish feature productions - having worked on Snow White, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi. His brief tenure at Warner Bros. however, is largely overlooked.

He's only credited for layouts on two shorts: Hare-Abian Knights (dir: Ken Harris) and Really Scent (dir: Abe Levitow). Both cartoons were released in 1959, and the studio was past their prime then.

Neither cartoons are particularly outstanding. Hare-Abian is simply a filler cartoon that showcases Bugs Bunny's better performances - through clip shows. While that era might've been staled by economic factors, the layout and colour styling maintained dynamics and atmosphere.


Armstrong's layout work in these cartoons certainly channels the UPA influence that took the Hollywood animation studios by storm in the 1950s.

Whilst the influence is unanimous; Armstrong's staging evokes the talent and profession that forever earned his solid reputation as an artist and director at Disney.

Samuel John Armstrong was born on November 7, 1893 in Denver, Colorado, to parents John and Nettie Armstrong. His father, a native of England, was a travelling salesman. By 1900, the Armstrong clan resided in San Francisco. Armstrong's art training took place at the Philadelphia School of Industrial Art. According to Sam's draft registration from 1917, he worked as a commercial photographer for the Los Angeles Express Tribune. He lived in Tacoma, Washington from 1918 to 1929, where he worked as an art editor for the News Tribune. In 1923, he founded the Armstrong School of Art in Tacoma. By the 1930s, he had moved to Santa Barbara where he painted a mural for Amy C. du Pont's home, nearby Montecito. For more information on his mural work, see Yowp's post here:

For most of his life, Armstrong lived with his mother - and he resided in Glendale during the 1930s. The U.S. 1940 Census indicates that Armstrong and Nettie (his mother) lived in Valley Spring Lane. At one point, he was a neighbour of Adrian, an infamous costume designer for a number of MGM features.

Sam Armstrong joined the Disney Studios in the publicity department on June 6, 1934, and soon afterwards he transferred to the background department. He painted backgrounds for various shorts, like The Country Cousin and The Old Mill.

Walt clearly admired Armstrong's talent, as he was blessed with the position of supervising the backgrounds for the studio's first full-length feature, Snow White, for which he was responsible for "approximately two-thirds of the key backgrounds." For the promotional film, A Trip Through Walt Disney Studios, filmed in July 1937 by Bill Garity - Armstrong is briefly seen painting a watercolored background for an interior of the dwarf's cottage.

In a rare 1939 interview that was recently published in Didier Ghez's Walt's People - Volume 20, Sam went into great detail about the background process that embellished Snow White. He spoke in great detail about the experimentation of colour and the search for a subtle atmosphere, which would be a huge step up from the Silly Symphonies.

In one passage, he said: "I had many, many conferences with Walt about the thing he had said all through the earlier inceptions of the work that he wanted the color kept almost monochromatic. He felt that we had overplayed our hands in coloring the shorts and that in Snow White, it being a long picture, and still being an unknown quality, in cartoon form, he thought it would drive the audience out of the theater if we used the type of coloring that we used in the shorts up to that point."

Sam was later made a director on the "Toccata and Fugue" and "Nutcracker Suite" segments in Fantasia. Don Lusk, an animator on the "Nutcracker" segment, saw a different perspective of the director, when Joe Campana and myself spoke with him on September 9, 2017. He recalled:

"His mother would bring him to work, and his mother would pick him up [every day]. He was the director [on the fish ballet], but I never knew anything he directed. Walt directed it. Sam didn't know anything. I don't know what the connection there was. We'd go into the sweatbox and run [the rough animation] I'd done. And Walt did all the talking. Sam never said 'boo'. I don't think he knew how to say it."

Unfortunately, Armstrong isn't remembered fondly by some of his former colleagues. Maurice Noble thought he was a "selfish, ambitious person". He also recollects his brief tenure at Warners: "One time, many years later, I was working at Warner Bros. and that's the last time I saw Sam. They were considering hiring him for something, to do some layout work or something like that. It turned out that he was too ingrained with the Disney snob. And he couldn't fit into what we were doing at Warner Bros. He came in and saw me in my room a couple of times. Then all of a sudden he disappeared and that's the last I ever saw of Sam." Although Armstrong's career at Warners was relatively short-lived; none of the layouts for those two cartoons suggest his failure to adapt to the stylised look.

Armstrong left the studio on September 12, 1941. Little is known about what jobs he took between leaving Disney's and his brief tenure at Warner's. In 1951, he did illustrations alongside ex-Disney employee Riley Thomson for a Woody Woodpecker children's book, Peck of Trouble. Joe Campana's research indicates that Armstrong might've worked briefly for John Sutherland - but when he worked there, or how long his stay was - I don't know. He never married. There are several conflicting sources regarding his death - but based on Joe Campana's reliable research, he died on January 24, 1977 in Los Angeles, California.

(Thanks to Yowp, Didier Ghez, David Johnson and Joe Campana).

Blog notice

It's been no secret that these past few years, by postings have been somewhat erratic. I wish I could be continuously involved with my blog. Unfortunately, I don't have the ideal amount of free time as I once had when I was 15 or 16 years old. Growing up and finding my own life has been a factor of it.

I'm currently in my final year at the University of Winchester. I've invested a great deal of my time on my own projects. Right now I'm in development of an animated short, "Chopper" - which is a part of my final major project - and with animation done in the Golden Age style! I've been working on it for months - and animation is already underway. It's going to be a great deal of work from now until it's final deadline in April.

I've been hoping to get some reviews done, but the blog would serve as a distraction to my work. At the end of the day, I'm just aiming to get a good degree.

For the time being, I'm going to be putting my blog on hold - at least until April. The next few months are going to be very hectic, very stressful times. I understand that it will take a very long time to fulfil the blog's target: review every single Warner Bros. cartoon. If it takes a VERY long time, then so be it!

Once those monstrous next months have flown past and I make it out alive - hopefully, I can resume work on this blog.

I hope you're all quoting Leon Schlesinger: "He'll be back".

SNAFU: Booby Traps (1944)

Director: Bob Clampett.
Release date: January 1944.
Starring: Mel Blanc (Snafu),
Robert C. Bruce (Narrator).
Music: Carl W. Stalling.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: Private Snafu claims he's smart enough to spot
booby traps but soon finds himself inside a chamber
that consists of them.

Today's cartoon informs soldiers of the potential dangers of booby traps. As indicated by Bob Bruce's narration, some booby traps are "more alluring and ingenious than others." For entertainment and educational purposes, much of the devices and traps are exaggerated - a hint for soldiers to take no chances.

For the cartoon premise, Snafu's duty involves patrolling the North African desert. Although the base was abandoned by the Axis; a lot of traps remain intact to deceive the ignorant. Snafu however, mimics childishly: "I ain't no boob and I won't be trapped!".

Snafu's careless regard of duty is wonderfully emphasised by his carefree skip jump. To begin with, Snafu is almost deceived by a camel with a contact mine for an udder. Although Snafu realised the danger before it was too late; it serves as a foreshadow for what lies in store for him. Soon afterwards, he discovers a desert bordello, featuring multiple attractive beauties. Driven by sexual desire, Snafu lures himself inside the chambers - blinded by the potential consequences.

Animation by Rod Scribner.

Much of the traps established in this cartoon are burlesqued with sexual imagery. Snafu has already been established as a character with sexual desires - and how it corrupts his concentration. Snafu's sexual frustration becomes his undoing. It's fitting that Bob Clampett is assigned to direct this entry - who utilises his more juvenile, sneaky humour to its fullest extent.

Clampett uses the term "booby" cleverly throughout the cartoon. Earlier on, the narrator remarks: "If you are a boob, you will be trapped!" - leading to Snafu's denial of his "boob" persona. In the hands of Bob Clampett, a lot of fun can be made from the word.

Clampett later takes the "booby traps" concept literally during the harem sequence - by putting the 'booby' in booby trap. A lot of the saucy, risque humour serves as a hilarious plot device to fool Snafu.

Snafu is seated next to a barely-clad woman - increasing his arousal. He attempts to hit her on, "Hiya, toots! What cooks!". Snafu anticipates an action of slapping her rear end, but his hand gets a bad reaction from the impact - met by Rod Scribner's funny expressions, as seen in the screen grab.

In a revealing close-up; Snafu's hand moves around the curves of the buttocks to observe the texture. Unbeknownst to Snafu, the cheeks are replaced by circular bombs. He flicks the iron of the bombs - and impersonates Jerry Colonna, "Something new has been added!".

The girl's brasserie drops - also reveals her breasts to be explosive bombs! Snafu stutters with astonishment, utilised by Mel Blanc's hilarious delivery, "B-b-b-booby trap", and screams! The sequence remains hilarious as it's built entirely on visual gags, to enhance the alluring qualities of a booby trap. It still remains a fascinating insight of the liberties Clampett took, without the interference of the Production Code.

The cartoons also features one of the most recycled gags in the Warner Bros. cartoon library - Endearing Young Charms. The 1808 song, written by Irish poet Thomas Moore, has been immortalised by the WB shorts. Snafu encounters a piano, with a music sheet for the song. He attempts to play the first few notes - but hits the wrong key, which happens to be connected to a bomb device!


After hitting the wrong note several times, Snafu quickly gives up: "Ahh, the hell with it! I never could get that last note anywho!" - and moving on to the next booby trap.

Warren Foster repeated the gag several times in some of Freleng's cartoons, notably Ballot Box Bunny (1951), and Show Biz Bugs (1957). The gag might've originated in a Clampett cartoon - but overtime, the gag was refined and timed out better by Friz Freleng for comedic value.

The gag was used to enhance funnier conflict, whether it involved Yosemite Sam or Daffy Duck. In this situation, it highlights Snafu's naivety and ignorance.

The gag continues its purpose later in the cartoon, when a Hitler-esque mechanical figure chimes the correct notes of the song inside Snafu's ear. And so, Snafu rushes inside the harem; to play the correct notes - only to end with his demise! Snafu's vulnerability towards booby traps is further exaggerated in the final gag. Even in heaven, Snafu's harp is a booby trap!

Although Clampett only wound up directing two Snafu cartoons - Booby Traps showcases some of his most risque humour that serves as his pride in his work. By putting the "booby" in booby trap; some of Clampett's more juvenile tastes adds up to a charming cartoon - supported by hysterical character animation and pacing. The use of Snafu's sexual desires to multiply his danger - works wonderfully in comedic values! At the same time, the message still serves its purpose. Each soldier must be very cautious whilst patrolling the enemy's barracks - no matter how sexually frustrated or one soldier can be.

421. What's Cookin', Doc? (1944)

featuring BUGS BUNNY
Warner cartoon no. 420.
Release date: January 8, 1944.
Series: Merrie Melodies.
Supervision: Bob Clampett.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny); Robert C. Bruce (Narrator).
Story: Michael Sasanoff.
Animation: Bob McKimson.
Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: Bugs Bunny demands a recount from the Academy voting during the Oscars ceremony.

The Oscars are a mixed bag of opinions. Some will consider it a prestigious ceremony that sets the standards by which all movies are judged. Others might see it as politically driven or biased - especially Bugs Bunny in this Bob Clampett cartoon.

The Warner Bros. cartoon studio didn't win an Oscar until 1947, for Tweetie Pie. The shorts had been nominated beforehand, but were always overthrown from the multiple Oscars won by Disney during the 1930s, and MGM's Tom and Jerry series throughout most of the 40s and 50s.

What's Cookin' Doc feels like a subtle allusion to the studio's lack of success with the Oscars; with Bugs Bunny portrayed as a symbol of disdain. I don't doubt a lot of cartoon studios felt that competition was biased - as expressed from Bugs' words; "It's sa-boh-ta-gee". For the film's premise; Bugs Bunny is competing for an Oscar awarding the Best Actor in a lead role - but angrily demands a recount after the category is awarded to Jimmie Cagney. Cagney had won an Academy Award a year prior for Yankee Doodle Dandy.

The Oscars as a subject of satire in a Warner Bros. has comedy merit - with Bob Clampett being an interesting choice for director. Unfortunately, it appears this short is a victim of Clampett's haphazard management skills. It's no secret Clampett was typically a cartoon or two behind the studio's schedule. His wartime filmography consists of both masterpieces and "cheater" shorts.

This cartoon is frustrated by its obvious use of cutting corners. New animated footage is reduced extensively - with stock live-action footage and extended clips from older cartoons compensating the cartoon's screen time - and likely its costs.


The first two minutes are made up of newspaper/magazine cuttings and live-action footage taken from establishing shots of Hollywood, featured in David Selznick's A Star is Born (1937). Technicolor footage from the film works effectively enough in its attempt to deceive audiences from the idea of stock footage.

Bob Bruce's narration serves primarily as exposition surrounding the Academy Awards presentation and hype around Hollywood. The prolonged opening feels forced in its attempt to narrow new animated footage.

Despite economic constraints hampering the cartoon - Clampett at least tries to benefit this with the occasional gag. In one scene, a wolf howls at the night sky; a deliberate misplacement from night shots of Hollywood landmarks. The narrator gets caught up in the moment: "Well, how did he get in here?"

Later in the cartoon, a clip from an early Bugs Bunny/Friz Freleng cartoon: Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt eats up a part of the running time. The clip is meant to showcase Bugs Bunny's "best scenes"; which involves Hiawatha attempting to cook Bugs - whose crudely drawn in one of his earliest cartoons. Of all Bugs Bunny shorts prior to 1944 - is this really the best example of Bugs' funniest moments? Unless, in Clampett's case - it could be savagely ironic.

Bob Clampett portrays Bugs Bunny as arrogant and egotistical, in a similar vein to Tortoise Wins by a Hare. Both shorts showcased Bugs' frustration and delusion. Clampett experimented with different personalities and behaviours for Bugs, for the sake of his directing style - that either worked or backfired. For this short, at least Bugs' ego problem is built from strong characterisation.


Bugs Bunny is deluded to believe that the voting system is rigged - as he demands a recount to the Academy voters. Bugs' pathetic attempt in staying humble is wonderfully felt as he says: "I'll leave it up to youse intelligent people in this audience, whether I deserve the Oscar or not!".

Bugs' arrogance is displayed comically as he charades across the stage - in a desperate attempt to plead the audience. He starts off in boisterous fashion as he bangs on a drum, reading: "Let Bugs Have It"; and soon showers them with free cigars. But, the audience "give it to him" by throwing an abundance of fruit and vegetables at Bugs.

The minimal use of animation in this cartoon is blessed by Bob McKimson's top-notch draftsmanship. Like Falling Hare, McKimson's gives Bugs at the dining table humanistic qualities through his animation. Bugs' interaction with the audience is believably communicated. Beautiful little touches like Bugs acknowledging the ceremonial fanfare to the audience, is enough to give him your undivided attention.

Bugs is self-confident by the thought of winning an Oscar, "it's in da bag; I'm a cinch to win". Bugs begins mimicking iconic Hollywood stars like Katherine Hepburn, Edward G. Robinson and Jerry Colonna, not only by their mannerisms - but in caricatured form, too.

Animating caricature is difficult enough, but McKimson's ability to morph Bugs' face into movie stars, without losing its appeal, is an astounding effort! For a character that consists of familiar stock poses, it's a surrealistic, unorthodox gag only Clampett would dare to tackle, and quite possibly achieve - thanks to McKimson's draftsmanship!

McKimson's animation continues to shine in the following sequence of Bugs self-assuringly insisting the host's comments of "consitently high performances" are directed at him. The host, seen in silhouette, points out the "actor's" attributes for drama, comedy, romance and being "equally good in character roles".

Bugs' over-confident nature shines by wanting to prove he fits that profile through his zany charades. At one point, Bugs morphs and mimics the mechanical traits of Boris Karloff in Frankenstein. And so, Bugs breaks into a flabbergasted take when it's revealed that the Oscar was been awarded to James Cagney instead. Much of the attributes indeed fit with Cagney's screen persona - who had a knack for melodramatic performances, like The Public Enemy, or comedy such as The Bride Came C.O.D.

Some of Clampett's more dirtier gags goes unscathed in this cartoon. When Bugs tosses pile a film cans to "Smokey" (a nod to cameraman Smokey Garner); a "stag reel" is projected on the screen. The gag itself has aged through the years as attributed to many factors like the sexual revolution; but its context remains risque.


Bugs' defensive reaction as he yells, "HEY!" is priceless in capturing Bugs' embarrassment and pervertedness. To fool the censors; an illustration of a deer stag for the title card is a funny touch to hide its suggestive scenario.

For the final scene; Bugs is given a "boozy prize" Oscar, shaped in the form of Bugs himself. Bugs cherishes and caresses the statue; by romantically saying: "I'll even take you to bed with me every night". The statue comes to life, quoting Bert Gordon's Mad Russian, "Do ya mean it?", and puckers Bugs on the lips. Clampett's rapid firing spontaneity provides charm to that innuendo.

The newly animated sequences contains elements of Bob Clampett's eye for entertainment. Bob McKimson's animation is sublime for refining Bugs' egotistical persona. Despite some of its values, the cartoon holds up as a lacklustre in comparison to Clampett's better works. Its economical factors involving the forced use of stock footage and an old clip brings this short down in that retrospect. Clampett attempts to make up for it with some entertaining sequences of Bugs - framed in a way to make a cheater cartoon worth watching. Not a terrible short by all means, but without Bugs' appearance, there really isn't much to recommend in this cartoon. Despite what the title suggests, consider this an underwhelming short.

Rating: 2/5.