The Bone Ranger

Anyone reasonably familiar with Terrytoons could tell some changes had been made if they watched The Bone Ranger, a 1957 release. Backgrounds were now sketches with variations on one colour. Instead of constant saxophones, a steel guitar and even a viola made appearances to augment the action. Characters had a thick ink line.

Gene Deitch had arrived to shake up the studio and make the cartoons look more modern, despite the same animators, background artists and storymen (augmented with a few hires from UPA). How much of an influence he had on this cartoon, though, is unclear.

The Bone Ranger has an ending which doesn’t remind you of anything in an old Heckle and Jeckle cartoon. A junkyard dog named Sniffer spends the entire cartoon chasing after a bone for his daily meal. He finally achieves his goal. As he’s about to chomp down on it, there’s a sound. There’s a slight eye movement.



Cut to an emaciated whimpering Chihuahua.



The annoyed mongrel tries to shoo him away, but the forlorn Chihuahua licks his leg in friendship.



Sniffer gives in and gives the little dog his bone, sighing in resignation and using his tail as a belt to indicate his stomach is empty.



The hungry dog toddles off. He turns to head into the distance and the background changes colour from brown to blue as Phil Scheib’s orchestra plays a simple and suitable string arrangement.



Scheib does a fine job scoring and arranging this short, which was originally released in Cinemascope. Connie Rasinski directed.