Tuesday 5 January 2021

Cracking Up Spike

Spike thinks he can get rid of the title character in Garden Gopher (1950) by clobbering him with a sledgehammer. The rodent outsmarts him again, and we get Tex Avery’s cracking-up gag—several times for a change—ending with a mini-Spike tapping his foot in disgust.



Grant Simmons is responsible for this scene, with additional animation by Mike Lah and Walt Clinton. Rich Hogan is the storyman.

Disney had a garden gopher vs. dog cartoon the same year, but you know Tex Avery’s is funnier. Poor Tex gets no respect, though. The theatre ad to the right thinks it’s a Tom and Jerry cartoon. The short was re-released March 22, 1957.
Posted by at 07:45
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2 comments:

  1. Jonathan Wilson5 January 2021 at 07:56

    Tom and Jerry did tangle with a few gophers in their later years on TV. "Gopher Broke" and "Son of Gopher Broke" (The Tom and Jerry Show), "Gopher it, Tom" (The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show) and "Whack a Gopher" (2015's The Tom and Jerry Show).

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    1. Jonathan Wilson5 January 2021 at 12:25

      Sorry, 2014 was the year date for recent series.

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