Here’s a bully dog’s realisation take from Chow Hound (1951). Note the expression of the cat on the held drawing. Devon Baxter has identified this as Lloyd Vaughan's work.
The dog looks to the side.
Cut to a sign. Jones has the word “REWARD” zoom forward for emphasis.
To me, this is one of Mike Maltese’s best-constructed stories. During the cartoon, he perfectly sets up the revenge by the cat and a mouse at the end.
Carl Stalling’s choice for the tune over the opening titles seems to be an odd one unless it is meant as irony, considering the ending. The song is “It’s A Great Feeling” from the Warners musical of the same name. Hear the virginal Doris Day sing it below to a lovely arrangement.
Stalling seemed to like using popular songs over the titles during this period, even if they didn't pertain to the subject matter of the cartoon. See also The Ducksters, which used "I'm in Love".
ReplyDeleteTruely one of the darkest shorts Chuck and Maltese ever concocted. It would've been cool if we had a few more shorts that starred the cat, dog and mouse from this cartoon.
ReplyDeleteOne of Chuck Jones' less acknowledged bursts of inspiration was the capacity to make a dog the villain. This one at least is punished at the end, unlike rotten Shep in "Fresh Airedale."
ReplyDeleteSomeone aptly described the plot as being straight out of an EC comic.
ReplyDeleteOne of the great commentaries on the directors' techniques was on "Tiny Toon Adventures." They took a class, Wild Takes 101, from Professor Bunny. The takes included the "Avery Ay-oo-gah," the "Friz Frieze," and the "Chuck Out of Luck Pathetic Eyes." The most dangerous one was the "Clampett Corneal Catastrophe," where the character morphed into an eyeball. Sad to say, they ignored McKimson.
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