232. Robin Hood Makes Good (1939)

Warner  cartoon no. 231.
Release date: February 11, 1939.
Series: Merrie Melodies.
Supervision: Chuck Jones.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Berneice Hansell (Squirrels) and Mel Blanc (Fox).
Story: Dave Monahan.
Animation: Bob McKimson.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling.
Synopsis: Three squirrels decide to play and act as 'Robin Hood' characters and it turns out a cunning fox notices their fun as they are in peril.

Here - Chuck Jones already attempts to make a cartoon based on a famous legend, and its the first time that Chuck tries out something based on reality. The title itself sounds like a title of what Tex Avery would try out for a Robin Hood satire - but is THIS going to be a Robin Hood satire? In a early Jones cartoon, of course not. But years later he would satirise the Robin Hood tale in Rabbit Hood wonderfully, and then again with Robin Hood Daffy.

The cartoon begins as we see the canopy of the forest and we vertically pan down, then fade in to find a group of squirrels reading a book of the legend of Robin Hood. All I can question is, where and how did they get a book? Did they steal it or something? I don't know.

One of the squirrels pops out - who is the youngest of the three and is rather enthusiastic of the story, 'Boy oh boy'. Of course Berneice Hansell provides the voices for the squirrels which certainly helps as I'm going to be sitting through this cutesy cartoon.

The younger squirrel thens reps out and suggests of playing Robin Hood and wanting to play the lead character. The older and bigger squirrel gets up and then asks rather sternly, 'Who's going to be Robin Hood?' with the younger squirrel acting rather meekly and backs down and responds, 'You're going to be Robin Hood'. Then it comes to the older and bigger squirrel who responds the exact same question, and then he backs down and is now Robin Hood. Ahh yes, I'm sure you have all come across these games where everyone wants to play the hero but the big guys are always selfish and demands for the role. In fact, I'm unsure if the biggest squirrel is Hansell or not.


Afterwards - the two squirrels decide amongst themselves and decide that the big squirrel will be the hero and the middle one will play Little John; his sidekick. Then they come to decide who shall play the villain as they think in their heads. The little squirrel thinks to himself until the bigger squirrels make their decision and they look directly towards him.

The little squirrel realises that he is the victim who has to play the villain as of course - little and weak people were always given the characters or villains that nobody else wanted to play. As he is the chosen victim - he attempts to run away in a coward way but the medium squirrel picks him up.

In a close-up scene which I suspect is Bob McKimson's animation for the glossy look it has, and also the head-bobs it has. The squirrel then threatens, "Don't get so excited. All you gotta do is march through the forest with your treasure, and we'll rob ya and give it to the poor". He glares at him in a threatening mode, "Won't that be fun?" as the little squirrel quickly gives up and nods to avoid being hurt.

He then places him down as he remarks, 'He WANTS to be the villain' and glares at him again in a threatening tone, 'Don't ya?' and the little squirrel. Geez, Berneice Hansell's voice acting here isn't even convincing enough; as she can't make a threatening effect. At least they show about how kids can be so cruel. Just at that moment the little squirrel tries to escape again but the big squirrel holds his tail so he can't escape. They then place an outfit for the little squirrel like a wooden sword, the bag of money and a pot on top of his head.

Afterwards, the little squirrel then walks out complaining of his role. "I don't know why I have to be the bad guy. I'd like to be the good guy once in a while". He is caught by the big squirrel who is playing Robin Hood and they have a sword fight and we find that the little squirrel is already suffering as he keeps on tripping. He is singing a crappy version of the revised lyrics in the tune of For You singing about Robin Hood.

During the play fight - they are playing rather violently for him as his pot hat then falls out and the bag falls out. Although it certainly is very slow-paced which makes the animation not believable at all; and it all sticks out like a sore thumb - especially on the male squirrel who is struggling to fight.

Meanwhile a fox in silhouette suspects of the squirrels that are playing and having some fun (well the bigger ones anyway). He then suspects as he grabs out the Robin Hood book and reads through so he can understand what is going on. The effect from silhouette to colour was rather decent - as we have identified it is a fox. After quickly reading through the book - there is that cool facial expression which is pure Jones. It shows he was even using that technique in his early days.

After finishing off their song - the squirrels then hear the sounds of the fox pulling on a falsetto voice as he cries, "Help! Help!" - and the squirrels rush out of the scene leaving out their swords and hats tied to the ground which is cute.

After they hide out in the tree - the biggest squirrel pops out and asks, 'Who's there?'. The fox replies, 'It's me - Maid Marian'. He then sniggers to himself as they are falling into a trap.

The two oldest squirrels look towards each other as the biggest one responds, 'Now who could Maid Marian be?'. Seriously? All three are fans of the Robin Hood tale as they read the book and they don't even know who is Maid Marian? These squirrels must have brains that require 16 bits.

The little squirrel then follows on. As the fox is hiding under a bush at the bottom of the tree - the two squirrels notice the book, and they ask the little squirrel to get the book. The little squirrel refuses and then the two toss him down leaving the little squirrel hanging on a branch before climbing back up. The little squirrel then dashes down to grab the book very briskly and the fox manages to miss him by grabbing the flowers. The pacing there is rather neat on the dash. The fox then notices he is holding onto the flowers and he spits them out.

The two squirrels then look through the book to research on Maid Marian. From what they are looking at; she is a rather gorgeous sweetheart as the illustration shows. The biggest squirrel comments, "Gee, she's my sweetheart. We've gotta save her!" They agree and they call out for 'Maid Marian' asking for her 'whereabouts'.

As they are easily falling into the fox's trap - the fox listens to the calls for 'Where are you, Maid Marian?'. He hides behind the tree and continues his plan. He replies with a 'Here I am' in his normal voice before coughing up in a falsetto voice, 'Here I am'.

This is Blanc's impressions that are really unfunny as he had a funnier falsetto impression which Bugs Bunny would use whenever in drags - but then again he could be taking orders from Chuck. The squirrels then go out on the search for her as they continue to call for 'her'. The fox then peeks out from a tree and yells, 'Help, help! Here I am!'. The little squirrel has been left out of the situation and then runs over to try and catch up with the two squirrels. The two squirrels continue to run over as they continue to call for help to where Maid Marian's voice is and continue to follow the trap.

The fox then leads the trail by running inside a shed and then making calls outside the shed to confuse the squirrels that they the calling is coming from there. The two squirrels looking at each other determined to hurry and they end up going inside the shed. As they are inside, the big squirrel asks 'Where are you, Maid Marian?'


The fox then laughs rather evilly as he replies in a falsetto, 'Here I am, Robin Hood'. He walks over to the squirrels as he stares at them with hunger, 'And I like little squirrels. Very, very much!'. The shot of the squirrel's back turned behind them with the fox staring that them is a rather good shot as we see measurements of them in comparison towards the fox.

The little squirrel then runs over to the shed where the big squirrels are located and as he opens the door - he finds that they have been captured by the fox. We find that they are all tied up in a rope ready to be eaten by the squirrels. The fox continues to entice himself by scaring the squirrels, 'And I love little squirrels. Big, fat, juicy squirrels. Especially with carrots, potatoes, and um...onions! Doesn't that just make your mouth water?".

Is there a breeze? I could swear I heard wind. That fox is as scary as oven mittens. The little squirrel sees that his friends - or bothers (whichever you prefer) and he runs off to try and find out how to save them. He then bumps into a French horn which appears to be as small as him and yet lying in the middle of the woods. Annnnd, who hasn't seen a small French horn in the middle of the woods?

The little squirrel walks out with the French horn as he obviously has a plan to save those two squirrels.

Meanwhile the fox is inside the cabin and he already plans on cooking the squirrels as brings out a pot (but its not boiling) and he pours some gravy (looks awfully yellow for it) with a ladle. He then hears the sounds of the French horn playing, A-Haunting We Will Go and is rather afraid as he hears the sounds of the squirrel making fake sounds of hounds entering the area as the fox is tricked to being hunted.

He then runs over to the door and attempts to open it - from the pacing and timing I'm seeing the pulling on the doorknob is just useless. The squirrel then continues to make fake voices of a hunter, and then acts out, "Guess we better break down the door". He uses the French horn to beat firmly at the door as the fox is about to go into hysteria.

The fox keeps changing colours as he turns yellow with fright and he then begs for the squirrels to set him free and he tries to break open the door. He hears the sounds of the squirrel as a hunter suggesting, "Guess we're having fox stew tonight, boys". He runs over to the squirrels and shouts, "Look fellas. I'm young, strong and healthy. Don't let 'em kill me!" he runs over to the back door banging like mad as he screams.

The animation there of the fox freaking out and banging on the door is just some of the very sloppy animation you will find - the banging on the door looks very unreal as it feels like a softie is punching, and it all lacks weight. The fox breaks open the door running away as he shouts out 'Lemme out! I'm afraid to die!'. Its pointless adding those speed lines since it does not look like fast animation. The squirrels then dash out as they are free. They try to find the 'hunters' who saved them. The young squirrel is leaning by the barrel as he clears his throat and asks in a very wise-guy tone, 'Who's going to be Robin Hood?' as he managed to save their lives.

Overall comments: Gad, this cartoon was certainly a slow one to follow. If you call that a satire to Robin Hood then you clearly don't know what you are saying. This cartoon is about as funny as a brick. There are no gags in this carton whatsoever, well - no funny gags. The animation at the beginning is probably the only highlight of the actual cartoon as we see some very solid acting of the squirrels suggesting to be who. Only Ken Harris or Bob McKimson would've animated those scenes as the rest of the cartoon just had some horrible animation pacing and timing that just sticks out as very sloppy. In fact, the cartoon's story construction is just a mess. The French horn was just added into the script as they couldn't have been more imaginative and they add it as an item just lying in the middle of the forest. The backgrounds of this cartoon are just very plain with colours (although I'm probably being biased as I may be comparing it to poor TV print quality). But the overall outlook and even art direction of the cartoon is very boring and dull. I'd rather watch paint dry than see this cartoon. The voices for those characters for the squirrels is also poor. Berneice Hansell is just not funny. I don't understand the appeal of her baby voices as they are just utterly annoying.

Mel Blanc's voice of the fox is alright - but average at best. The fox in this cartoon feels like an attempt to add some comedy or vaudeville into the cartoon with Blanc's voice but if anything, the comedy of the fox was an utter failure. The sequence at the end with the fox freaking out is just not even funny as I am only distracted at the weakness of the animation and the pacing of the story, and to just how the French horn turned up? Of course, it ended up in the public domain - luckily I was never plagued into growing up with the cartoon as it never existed in my PD tapes. Before that, (and only knowing the title) I thought it was going to be a parody of the Robin Hood legend but forgetting it was an early Jones cartoon showed I was wrong. The only part of the cartoon which I thought was rather convincing or gained my interest was the beginning of the cartoon where the squirrels decide whose characters will be who. Mainly because it comes from experience where everyone would be cast to play characters they don't want to play. Hell, my drama teacher at one point casted me to play 'Demetrius' in A Midsummer's Night Dream and who on earth would want to play a lover?! I suppose Chuck wanted the audience's sympathy to rely on the little sympathy - but since those squirrels are so obnoxious how are we supposed to rely on them.

Merry Xmas...

Just a little quick message to write to readers and followers, I hope you have a good Christmas with your family and I hope you enjoy the turkey and the gifts you were given.

231. Hamateur Night (1939)

Warner cartoon no. 230.
Release date: January 28, 1939.
Series: Merrie Melodies.
Supervision: Tex Avery.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Mel Blanc (Egghead/Audience with Crushed feet/various contestants), Sara Berner (Flea/Juliet Hen), Phil Kramer (Host) and Tex Avery (Hippo).
Story: Jack Miller.
Animation: Paul Smith.
Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: It's Hamateur Night playing with several contestants, and Egghead interrupting a few times but who is bound to win?

This is Irv Spence's final animation here (that I've noticed) he has done for Avery at Warner Bros. before he leaves and goes off to M-G-M where his famous career. continues. It appears around this time that Tex was rather eager in using other actors from radio shows to do some characters; here he's using Phil Kramer for the voice of the show who had appeared on the Grouch Club with Arthur Q. Bryan, and Lescoulie. And - he would use Q. Bryan for Dangerous Dan McFoo and later on would voice Elmer Fudd.

The cartoon begins as we see the sign outside a theatre where the name of the theatre is the typical parody name Warmer Bros. Theatre  for these Warner cartoon. As well as a parody with bright lights that read "Four Daughters with Selected Shorts" - as it is supposedly used  as an attraction.

The amateur show then begins as a conductor begins to play the music with the gag showing (instead of an intense opening) it already begins with some jolly music to It Looks Like a Big Night Tonight. Then the conductor and his orchestra grab out trumpets as they play together their own introduction to amateur night. A rather cool introduction with a fine gag on the conductor about to start off with a serious introduction.

The host then steps out and the voice acting is done by Phil Kramer who does a superb job at it. The host certainly has that unenthusiastic look on his face, only taking his role as 'just a job' which I find funny. He starts off with his rather low, humble voice:

"Hello folks, tonight is Hamateur Night - next we have...". As he is about to introduce the next act - Egghead enters the scene spoiling the introduction by singing She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain When She Comes. Some hooks then arrive at the sop and Egghead is quickly dashes out which is some funny, loose animation by Irv Spence there - who animates most of the scenes with the host. A funny little scene which is just out of nowhere of Egghead to come through as it makes the host feel like a host, and I love how he doesn't show any stimulation in himself and the hooks just toss him away.


The host continues as he announces, "Next we have Maestro Palawitsky". The curtains then collapse as we find Maestro Palawitski sitting on his piano on the stool. We notice that he has a flock of hair that covers his face and he unravels it as we see his face. I wonder if the name or even the hair is meant to resemble Leopold Stokowski - even though there is no indication other than the name.

He then grabs out a coin in his pocket and plays it in the slot of the piano which is a little amusing as we know he is completely talentless and just sits there and as though he is not at all bothered with the piano playing The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down.

I love how the piano is presented as some juke box. The judge at the back of the curtain is appalled at the act (knowing what he did) and then slams the bell and his piano falls as well. Afterwards; we find that a member of the audience is already seated with his feet resting on a chair in front of him.

However, a hippo audience member arrives at the spot he is resting his feet and sits on them. The audience member then gets up shouting at the top of his voice, "OUCH! I give up! I give up!" The hippo then gets up and the dog notices his crooked feet and he walks out of the audience weeping like a baby - "Oh look at my feet. They're all crooked and everything!". Now that is certainly amusing; and the jerky animation is cool. The next amateur then focuses on an opera singing raven who sings so loud that it causes him to rise in mid-air. He even starts to sing in a falsetto which is just crazy and Tex is having fun with gags. higher and higher until the bell rings and he falls down upon hearing which is just wacky.

The next scene we find that the hippo audience member is already becoming a pest as he breaks out into Tex Avery's own infectious laughter as he laughs so loudly an audience member in front of him is disturbed. The hippo laughs out, "It's a killer!" at the amateurs that he starts to become unaware of his actions and ends up whacking the audience's derby hat and his hat ends up having his whole body down to his waist.

The timing of him striking the hat to his waist is just really funny and perfect comic timing by Avery. Afterwards - the man walks out of his seat and leaves the theatre in disgust. The curtains rise for the next act with the host standing by the wall:

"Next on the program - the Hindumistic Swanee River and his basket trick" rather amusing he's named after the Swanee River in Florida. We then pan to the Hindumistic who is standing at the center and we hear Hindu music in the background. The close-up of Swanee River is Irv's animation (and I think he did the scene before that).

In the close-up; the Hindumistic demands for his trick, "I must have a subject for the audience". He then calls out for a certain person who he spots. We know it is Egghead is the chosen member of the audience - as you can tell in the silhouette. Egghead arrives on stage, the Hindumistic then points to basket to enter the basket - and he enters. He then sticks his sword into the basket a few times stabbing him inside. The sound effects are very funny. The trick he made then failed as he tries to ask him back into the box; but instead he finds that he is already (and likely dead). He then  hands over the basket to the usher, and asks "Usher. Give the gentlemen his money back".

The host then walks over as he announces the next act to be the "world's smallest entertainer" - who is "Teeny Tiny Tinsy Tinny Tin-Tin". The flea then jumps out of the dog and hops over to the spotlight - which is a cool sound effect used by an electric guitar.

The flea also appears to have the world's highest voice that it almost sounds like it is going to break. This is certainly an ambitious gag for Avery as he would have probably Sara Berner to provide a voice and edited it to a high output. The flea is reciting the poem of Mary Had a Little Lamb and then concludes the first verse, and laughs. The act is rejected and falls down the rejection floor. It turns out to be a really long fall for the flea that there is a terrible crashing sound afterwards which is just very amusing and wacky for Tex...very humorous. Cool shaky effect in the camera which was (probably) done by Smokey Garner.

The next scene the host introduces the next act where it involves a walrus trainer named Fleabag McFoodle who can train his dog with expertise. The walrus then trains his dog the basic tricks like to roll over and the dog rolls over. Then he trains for the dog to play dead - and the pose of the dog playing dead is pretty decent. Fleabag McFoodle then trains for him to sit up, and then to speak...

The music cue for the dog scene is Where, O Where Has My Little Dog Gone? The dog then gets up and starts to speak and repeats the quote of what an actor from a play would say. He starts off with the typical line, "Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking...from the rockbound coast of Maine - to the sunny shores of California". I don''t know if its a reference - but obviously Maine and California are very far apart.

I love how he wriggles his own stomach for that. I suspect it might have been a Virgil Ross scene (only suspect) as it feels like the movement he would use. However, the dog ends up rejected and falls. Afterwards; the hippo then goes into hysterics again when he laughs so loudly he uses his own elbow to barge the other audience member. He barges them so violently that they all line up together and crash out of the building as they have already broken a wall.

The next sequence then focuses on a fox who is an amateur actor who likes to act Shakespeare plays. He then starts off by quoting the notorious line off Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. He then quotes, "To be - or NOT to be!" and the audience disapprove of Shakespeare (probably) then throw tomatoes at his face. The fox actor then realises that every time he quotes the quote - a tomato comes shooting straight for his face.

Once he realises that it is already becoming a habit - he then quickly quotes the line and covers himself with the tomato not aiming for his face - just freezes. He then steps back and tries to quote the rest of the line, "...that is the ques--" and the tomato splats on his face.

That is some real amusing comic timing there and I love the fluidity of the tomato splats. The host then reaches under the curtains announces the following sequence to be the 'balcony scene from Romeo & Juliet. Afterwards a tomato then aims for the face of the host which is some great timing by Tex - also an Irv scene.

The sequence of Romeo & Juliet begins as we find the hen playing Juliet is up at the balcony as she quotes the famous line: "Romeo, Romeo ... where for art thou Romeo?" as she does her Katherine Hepburn impression. Here those characters from Daffy Duck in Hollywood and its appropriate to use them again. The Romeo actor then approaches, "Here, my love. In the bushes at the bottom of the garden".

He uses a ladder to climb up as they both share a kiss. Beautiful effect on the moon melting which gives it some atmosphere. Juliet then shares another famous line: 'Goodnight, goodnight. Parting is such sweet sorrow' and then impersonates Hepburn, 'Rarely it is'. At that moment the hippo at the back then starts to laugh out so loud at the scene.

The laughing scenes sure do amuse me a lot - as it creates such an awkward moment for classic Shakespeare plays. Afterwards, he continues his lines (which certainly aren't from the play), 'Oh my darling, my only one. I love you more than anything--' the hippo laughs again until the chick actor steps down to shoot the hippo in the audience. Certainly a big move for Tex Avery with these gags as he has gone all the way to sadism - but then again its still very funny, and even many other WB cartoons used that afterwards. Afterwards; he tries to take the play more seriously but it turns out that the infectious laughter was really from her - making the actor a killer - now that is excellent satire! After the curtains close - he shoots her.

The amateur show concludes and the host enters the spot as he is going to find out who the winner of Hamateur Night is. He begins as he comments, "Now folks..." but Egghead comes in to interrupt the show by singing She'll Be Coming Around the Mountains before the hooks reach in and yank him out (also his hat). He walks over with a bib as he announces, 'Let's see who wins the cup!'. He walks over in chronological order.

The penguin opera singer has been rejected by the audience, as well as the Hindumistic and is rather surprised at the feedback. Then walks over to the dog that speaks but still boos, then the fox actor (well he's obviously getting them). Hang on a minute, what happened to the flea that was reciting nursery rhymes? The actor (who is still alive as the Juliet actress has been shot) and I admit its really dark.

Then the bib goes over to the final contestant who is...Egghead. He gets all the praise from the audience as the host is appalled. He looks at him and then the audience. The wacky part turns out that the entire audience are full of multiple Eggheads. All I can say is - what happened to the audience? Did they somehow get mutated or put under a spell and evolve into Eggheads?

Overall comments: Probably one of the more stronger cartoons of this year - and its one of my favourite cartoons that Avery has made at Warner Bros. Tex Avery has already made some parodies of famous stories, or legends but here this cartoon pretty much has a simple story where we see an amateur show that is put on. It follows on with a string of gags and most of them work pretty well. Egghead here is used only a few time - but I don't think him very focused on the cartoon as he only appears a few times in the cartoons - and it would have been funnier or even more broader if he appeared in and out all through the cartoon just singing She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain but the gag part at the end was a bit amusing but would've been funnier if he was used a little more often, even it would become a little obnoxious. The hippo character certainly did steal the show - whenever the gags of the amateur show were getting a little weak, and I think Avery here in this cartoon shows a great deal of him working hard at comic timing. It feels like this cartoon is a practice for his timing which of course he would be the expert of in his MGM years. The timing of the hippo bashing the hat is just really funny as well as the tomato splating.

The cartoon feels like that it is an end of some era for Tex in his WB career. For three years he's mainly been focusing on making cartoons that are humorous for cinema audiences who would want to come in and laugh at his cartoons which would have fine gags and even references. Afterwards, and with Irv Spence's departure - it seems to feel as though Tex then focuses on a new level and it feels he's sending his unit to art school as Avery somehow gets hooked with making travelogue parodies - which he would continue making until his Warner Bros. departure. The voice casting in the cartoon has been chosen very well, and its appropriate casting for Mel Blanc who pretty much voices almost all the contestants, as well as Egghead. You couldn't have chosen a better person (perhaps) than Phil Kramer who was popular in radio, and he definitely sounded the part. After this cartoon, Avery would then start to meteorite in his cartoons for the next two years (although every once in a while he would turn out some decent material) as he would focus on spot-gags, and even his cartoons start to get slow-paced.

230. It's an Ill-Wind (1939)

starring PORKY
Warner cartoon no. 229.
Release date: January 28, 1939.
Series: Looney Tunes.
Supervision: Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton.
Producer: Leon Schlesinger.
Starring: Mel Blanc (Porky Pig / Dizzy Duck).
Story: Melvin Millar.
Animation: Herman Cohen.
Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling.
Sound: Treg Brown (uncredited).
Synopsis: Porky and his pal Dizzy Duck go fishing. While it rains, they enter a abandoned building which they believe is haunted.

The cartoon starts off with a long-shot as we discover a dog running up the harbour and so is Porky Pig and his 'friend' Dizzy Duck as they are going to go fishing today. The dog follows behind Porky as he gets a fright and shouts, "Go on home - you're a pest. Go on! Beat it. Scram!" Now that type of scene was what reminds me of the Bosko cartoons where a dog follows and he orders the dog to leave. As the dog leaves rather sadly from Porky and enters an abandoned building. The dog then starts to sniff at the scene looking for food; and takes something out of the bin which is a rotten (and already eaten) trout.

Porky and Dizzy then sit at the edge of the harbour as Porky has his fishing rod out. He warns for Dizzy to remain ever so quiet. Mmm, if there is another duck friend then why couldn't the directors have used  Daffy since he has already been established by around this time. Porky then asks for Dizzy to be quiet whenever asking for fish.

Oh god, it turns out that the cartoon couldn't get any worse or annoying as Hardaway has already included an annoying duck who appears to constantly talk at 24/7 asking an abundance of questions - and somehow that is funny? Tex Avery; you've made a big mistake for creating a character like that in I Wanna Be a Sailor. Porky is already irritated and asks for Dizzy to hush. Wait a minute; even if characters like Porky who would find it annoying then why add it for a gag - its just going to make it annoying for the audience. It gets even worse when Dizzy acts incredibly annoying by shouting, "Bet, you can't do this" and ends up playing the trumpet with his beak and irritates him.

The dog walks in at the scene carrying the used trout and then the pong starts to spread towards Dizzy and Porky. Porky turns his head around to find where the scent is going from and discovers it is coming from the dog. After spotting its the dog he wakes up, "Didn't I tell ya to go home, get outta here, skit!" and the dog leaves.

After he asks for the dog to leaves, he starts to get back to his fishing. Just at that moment - a terrible storm then breaks out as lightning strikes. Porky notices the storm about to break and it would stop his fishing activity.

He then gets up, "Come on - there's a terrible storm coming!" Dizzy Duck then responds back, and appears to be quoting almost the exact same lines that we have heard from I Wanna Be a Sailor - and here is Hardaway's contributions for you. Porky drags Dizzy's hands and they rush out of the harbour - and the  weird part is that it appears to be quite a run for them; and the abandoned building was standing JUST a few feet near them?

They arrive into that abandoned building and then Porky asks for anyone's identifications in the place, "Hello is anybody there?". A mysterious voice (provided by Danny Webb) responds: "No there ain't nobody bluh-bluh-blee-bluh there!" as he is just mocking Porky's accent. Now that is definitely amusing - and I'll give them credit there.

The door then suddenly closes on itself and the room darkens. Porky and Dizzy both get a fright - certainly creates a mystery there. The scene then goes into a blackout and we only find Porky and Dizzy's eyes that glow.

He then strikes a match and lights the candle to look around the area. Porky holds onto Dizzy's hands and then makes his away towards the hallway until they hear a knocking on the door. It turns out the knocking from the door was from the dog who was scratching with his foot banging on the door - mmm, who on earth would come up with THAT idea? Porky then hushes Dizzy as he remarks; "This place may be haunted" and then Dizzy Duck blurts back with a question not even realising to be quiet; 'What does haunted mean, Porky'. Porky grabs him by the bill to quieten him, and Dizzy shouts back in a louder tone, and yet this is meant to be funny? Porky opens the door rather carefully but then a flock of bats fly out with a bat flying in perspective which is a cool effect.

Porky and Dizzy then enter through the door rather quietly to check if they are alone in the house. Porky then steps on a cloak and somehow the cloak stands up - giving Porky a fright and dashes out of the scene. The Porky 'take' was cool, and that candle effect - but that scene makes NO sense. You can't just have a cloak standing up after just stepping on it as it just. doesn't. work. that. way!

After he runs back - he then steps back to check if the coast is clear. After stepping back - it turns out that he has caught himself in a fishing rod. The fishing rod then drops as Porky gets a fright - okay, it makes more sense than stepping on a cloak.

After the fright - Dizzy then arrives at the spot and hurts, 'Oh boy, a fish' and he starts to unwind the reel believing its a fish - but why would he be so ignorant to have caught one - not knowing they live underwater. So there is a sequence where Porky is stuck on the hook and then Dizzy tries to unwind to catch him.

 Porky struggles to break out as he is being dragged along. The gag isn't very funny; as it feels its presented rather serious but the animation certainly has some weight in it. So; as Dizzy continues to unwind - a part of Porky's suit then gets torn and the hook flies out - but the timing of it flying out is incredibly slow. As the hook files back, the hook then starts to end up being caught by a bear rug and it ends up being dragged along through a wheelie chair. As Dizzy unwinds; he scrams and then the bear rug approaches and from his viewpoint it looks like a bear. That certainly is pretty clever there - but that bear looks, perhaps a bit too real.

Dizzy then bangs on the door to let him in, until it opens and he walks in. Just as Dizzy attempts to explain what he saw to Porky - he acts it out through demonstrations and then the door opens - why when nobody opened the door?! Just after the door opened the bear rug enters. How is that possible?? What the hell is it - some inanimate door?! Hhgfdfghrwfssrqewyyu!?! Okay, maybe I'm a bit too far there.

Anyway, as the bear rug enters - Dizzy makes a take and dashes out - and followed by Porky who runs away from the bear rug. It just feels absolutely pointless where the bear rug just keeps on moving in that wheelie chair as it would obviously stop moving since the floor is at no level of causing it to wheel.

As Porky is about to dash out - he then makes a take as he almost falls in as he reaches the end of the mysterious building. The bear rug approaches and falls. There is no explanation as to how the bear rug in the wheelie chair even escaped!!! Porky is already hanging onto a pole as he has nearly fallen over.

Meanwhile the dog who appears to be some of the cause of this cartoon is then following a turtle, and yet somehow it is never explained how the turtle even came into the room. The turtle notices the dog following him and ends up biting the dog on the nose and stretches his body out of the way like a slingshot.

The dog ends up crashing into a treasure chest where an underwater helmet falls on top of his head. The dog then struggles to take the helmet off his own head as he shakes it a few times, and even attempts to unwind it.

The effect it causes for him is his body ends up twisting around. The gag would've worked better if his neck would end up with tangles and at least having it shown because it would make the comic timing even better.

The dog then ends up having his own tail caught in a mousetrap as he yelps and also jumps high in the air. I swear that there are just a bunch of objects added in the building in order to try and make funny gags.

The dog ends up trapped in chains and runs out of the scene. Dizzy arrives at the spot looking around and then spots the dog escaping and from that image - its a rather scary appearance. He jumps out of his spirit into a barrel, and then grabs his spirit into the barrel. That is certainly funny, I would have to admit and probably the only funny part of that cartoon. In fact, as the dog jumps into that barrel and we have a whole sequence of just Dizzy and the dog staring at each other is probably the only funny scene of the whole cartoon as the comic timing is very funny and Stalling's music cliches to go along with it. They both end up in the same barrel as they have a scared and wild take before the barrel breaks and they scram.

Dizzy then flies out of the scene in which he ends up having his own shirt caught in an umbrella. As he is about to leave - Dizzy is about to lave and then the storm flies straight into the seen with the 'Storm sequence' of William Tell heard. Afterwards he ends up flying out the window.

During the rain he has the umbrella up and it saves him from soaking wet in the rain. While at the top he shouts out, "Hey, uncle Porky help me down here!" the thunder then strikes and Dizzy ends up falling down and lands on the chimney, through the fireplace, balances on the logs, and then hits a portrait. He finds his own head caught on the portrait as he is not amused.

Afterwards - Porky opens up a door to the floor as he is trying to suspect of who is in the house. As he does so - a turtle walks past the scene with a candle attached to his shell. This burns Porky a little as he gets a fright and ends up falling down with more mysterious misunderstandings under place. He is caught under the house as he is struggling to get up and pulls for Dizzy. The rope isn't attached so it almost falls down with him.

Dizzy Duck hears the sounds for help as he runs down the stairs and notices the rope. He grabs the rope and starts to pull rather firmly so he can rescue Porky. As Dizzy manages to save him so far by holding onto the rope - he walks past and accidentally slips on margin oil. The oil makes it slippery and he then lets go of the rope losing his balance and Porky falls back down and the door is closed.

Dizzy pulls the rope back up hoping he has managed to save Porky but discovers that he is not holding onto the rope. Instead, he finds Porky is standing right at the corner, and Dizzy opens the door in a naive way before he realises he is found. More noises is heard but Porky grabs Dizzy's hand as they make an escape.

It turns out to be the dog with the underwater helmet still on his head and the chains are stuck at the banister of the stairs. I don't see how this is amusing. The dog has a helmet and chains caught around him. Geez, that dog could suffocate or get strangled by the chains.

Porky and Dizzy then make their escape but the dog ends up falling down the stairs and all three of them crash together at the same time. Afterwards they are tossed outside of the harbour as the storm has evidently cleared up and their adventure is over.

As all three of them are outside, Dizzy then remarks, "Boy, did he scare you? There wasn't anyone in there, was there?" The dog then realises on that statement and then makes a quick comeback inside the mysterious house and he dashes through these fast-pacing shots where he is just dust striving through.

He approaches the turtle and decides to make his comeback towards him. He runs back and finds the turtle stuck inside his shell. He knocks on the turtle's shell as the turtle's head pokes out to find an answer. The dog then punches the turtle, and what is the point in going back in there for more trouble? He blows out the candle as the cartoon ends.

Overall comments: I really despise the cartoon - one of the worst Porky cartoons yet. The gags of this cartoon are really unfunny, and most of them aren't even that clever. The cartoon's story is just rather stupid to feature a mysterious building in a middle of a harbour where it would have worked better if hit were set in an abandoned house that wouldn't necessarily be haunted. The whole cartoon really focuses on a lot of gags where they are supposed to lead up to the characters believing in haunted conspiracies; but most of those gags aren't even explained too well - I mean; how the hell did that turtle just walk past with a candle attached to his shell when it was never explained. The gags lack a lot of that. Also, it certainly doesn't help when Hardaway always steals the idea of using that really annoying duck character who constantly never stops talking and asking loads of questions which aren't even funny, as the character is just obnoxious. Also, it's even more unfortunate that even Clampett in his weak era would use that character later on this year.

With that aside, I have already mentioned that I find the only highlight of the cartoon to be that brief barrel sequence where they just pop out of each other's heads before they appear in the same barrel - the only scene where I think Dalton (or Hardaway) have got their comic timing right. I think as these two directors; they weren't very capable of even making funny Porky characters, as he was just the straight man of the period. I still wonder why those two had to pair; was it because they were both very incapable that they both had to pair up in order to try and turn out better results for the cartoons? I guess it would aim for Dalton as Hardaway had already directed cartoons alone. Also, it even appears that in 1939 that there were quite a lot of Porky cartoons with titles that bear his name that have 'starring Porky' as well as many cartoons with Porky that have single titles. I suppose his popularity must have been rising that they wanted the audience to know that Porky was definitely going to be in the cartoon perhaps.