The Elf Nailed It

The Peachy Cobbler (released in 1950) is set up the way Tex Avery seemed to like to do cartoons. There’s the bare framework of a story crammed with a lot of quick gags, in this case without any real dialogue. He and writer Rich Hogan throw in a running gag as well.

It’s their take on The Shoemaker the Elves tale. (Friz Freleng did the same thing with Holiday For Shoestrings in 1946, though that cartoon had classical music to tie it together).

One gag involves an elf hammering nails in the bottom of a shoe, with an assistant handing him the nails. Then they run out. The extremes below speak for themselves.



Avery and Hogan go back to an old favourite to end the short—a catchphrase from the Kitzel character ten years earlier from the Al Pearce radio show where the bird/elves shrug and say “Mmmm...could be!” (At the time this cartoon was made, Mr. Kitzel had been on the Jack Benny show for about four years and the catchphrase had been abandoned).

Walt Clinton, Mike Lah and Grant Simmons are the animators.