You're Not a Blue Fin Tuna

There was still life left in Tex Avery’s scenario of a character running outside to avoid making noise inside and waking an angry character. He proved that in The Legend of Rockabye Point (1955) for Walter Lantz. And he showed he could be as subtle as Chuck Jones with expressions.

In this scene, the polar bear realises that instead of a stack of blue fin tuna, he has the watchdog that’s been chomping on him to protect the fish. And then he realises he still has a stick of dynamite in his mouth that he ran outside with. Avery expresses this only with the polar bear’s eyes.



Then.... blam! The noise wakes the dog.



Chomp!



Cut to a wider version of the scene. Tex now employs the running gag—the polar bear sings “Rockabye Baby” to put the dog to sleep. This time, the polar bear rocks the dog with his butt.



Success! The polar bear removes his butt and, in a fine bit of timing, the dog stays in mid-air for eight frames, then drops to the ground in five frames.



Mike Maltese gagged this cartoon for Avery, but the situation is pure Avery. Chilly Willy was never funnier than in the two shorts he starred in for Avery.

Don Patterson, La Verne Harding and Ray Abrams animated this cartoon, my favourite of the four Avery made for Lantz in the 1950s.