Not only does Jones switch from rehearsing Rossini’s “Largo Al Factotum” to sing along with Bugs, he happily high-steps to the music. Then he realises what’s happening and stops in a pose you’d expect in the Chuck Jones unit.
Jones (Giovanni) turns in a series of multiples to stalk out the door.
By the way, what is in this painting on Jones’ (Giovanni) wall?
Bob Gribbroek was responsible for the backgrounds in this Jones (Chuck) cartoon. Gribbroek lived part of the time in Taos and painted scenes of the New Mexican desert. Maybe he borrowed from one of his own paintings. It’s a coyote (not Wile E.) holding something with a mandolin and a jug (of wine?) on the ground.
Mike Maltese came up with the perfect story structure where Bugs exacts complete revenge against the opera star with an ending every Warner Bros. cartoon fan must be familiar with. I had the great fortune to see this cartoon in a huge, old theatre. Seated several rows in front of me was Jones (Chuck).
The painting is "The Sleeping Gypsy" by Henri Rousseau.
ReplyDeleteI love this blog!
By golly, you're right. It's been at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC since 1939. This cartoon, for me, represents Jones and his unit at the peak of the powers, delivering a very funny cartoon with a very tidy and fitting ending.
DeleteMinor quibble: the title is "My Gal is a High Born Lady."
ReplyDeleteYou're right. Daniel Goldmark gives this at the title. Somewhere else, it just says "My Gal."
DeleteA classic. Every frame is a work of art, and every frame is hilarious. That’s so great that you were able to see it on the big screen with Chuck Jones himself in attendance. A lot of people complain about Chuck Jones these days, but as far as I’m concerned he was the greatest.
ReplyDeleteWere the lyrics Bugs sings original to the cartoon?
ReplyDeleteMy gal is a high-born stepper
Ginger with salt and pepper
She's a fancy stepper when she dances
Go and see her as she capers and prances
Because it's a minstrel song and the original lyrics are not exactly shall we say enlightened, and even in 1949 that was becoming a concern.
That's an interesting question and I don't have the answer. There's nothing in Maltese's BMI records about this cartoon.
DeleteI didn't realise it was a "c" song. It's jarring to see how many of them popped up on recordings played by radio stations in the early 1920s.
I don't know if there's any connection, but Ronald Reagan sang a few lines from "My Gal is a High Born Lady" (original lyrics) with a couple of girls in the 1942 Warner Bros. picture "King's Row".
DeleteI've got a copy of "Long-Haired Hare" as shown on the Saturday morning ABC show, which I keep as an example of how editing affects these cartoons. In this case, by the time ABC got through with their scisssors, the only thing left of Bugs' early encounters with Giovanni Jones was the singer breaking Bugs' banjo, which makes Bugs' revenge seem way out of proportion to the crime.
ReplyDeleteWhere I used to live, there was a theater that ran a classic film every week. These were almost always preceded by a Warner Bros. cartoon, most often Bugs Bunny. It was fun to see the reaction these shorts got from a full audience, as opposed to watching them by yourself in front of the TV.