Thursday, 13 August 2026

Deer Mother-in-Law

In 1910, humourist Irvin S. Cobb wrote the mother-in-law joke was one of only eight jokes in the world, and all others were derivatives of the eight. (The “Peevish Wife” and the “Husband-Who-Comes-in-Stewed” were among the other two).

They were old then. And, more than 40 years later, Tex Avery was putting them on screen at MGM.

In Field and Scream (1955), the narrator tells us “Our old friend Ed here has designed a special deer hunting outfit for the mother-in-law.” Ed even helps her on with it.



It comes with a special accessory.



The mother-in-law strolls out of the scene. We hear a shot off-camera. Ed bows his head in mock sorrow.



A great look to cap the scene.



Grant Simmons, Mike Lah and Walt Clinton are the animators. Designs by Ed Benedict.

If you want an earlier example of a mother-in-law cartoon, here's one from a newspaper from 1903.

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1 comment:

  1. Mike T.13 August 2026 at 11:27

    Mother-in-law jokes may be old, but they still work. A couple examples from my amateur productions that got big laughs:

    From a skit satirizing the Scopes trial:

    WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN: I've met thousands of people in my lifetime, and not one of them ever struck me as having a gorilla for an ancestor!

    JOHN SCOPES: You've never met my mother-in-law.


    From a "Hollywood Squares"-type game:

    HOST: Complete this quotation from evangelist D. L. Moody: “I believe Satan to exist for two reasons: first, the Bible says so; and second … “

    PANELIST: Have you seen my mother-in-law?

    (The correct answer, by the way, is "I've done business with him.")

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