Acme Hour 7/12/01

[hiphats]

Now for the complete rundown on today's ACME...

Theme: "A-Hunting-We-Will-Go"

1. "Foxy By Proxy" (Bugs, WB)
2. "Henpecked Hobos" (one-shot, MGM)
3. "Cat-Tails For Two" (Speedy, WB, BR w/credits)
4. "Hound Hunters" (one-shot, MGM)
5. "Hoppy-Go-Lucky" (Hoppity Hopper, Sylvester, WB)
6. "Red Hot Rangers" (one-shot, MGM)

Yes, Speedy is back on ACME! And although half the cartoons were officially "one-shots", they used the same nameless characters!

[Pietro]

All those George and Junior cartoons weren't one-shots - they were George and Junior cartoons. I missed "Henpecked Hoboes" - was it unedited? And I think today's theme was big, dumb characters.

-Pietro

[hiphats]

For the record, officially the three George and Junior toons were one-shots. Officially in the MGM aura the George and Junior toons weren't as established as Tom & Jerry.

By the way, when I saw the first cartoon ("Foxy By Proxy"), I thought this was going to be a show about foxes...there's a Droopy cartoon where he tries to catch a fox but as it turned out the fox calls all the foxes for a steak dinner with Droopy and at the end they all sing "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" (can't remember the title of the short). Of course, the trick is to look at the ENTIRE show to get the point of the program.

[PorkyandDaffy]

An all-dumb characters/”Of Mice and Men” spoof show. One of my favorite themes, so I really enjoyed this Acme Hour.

FOXY BY PROXY - Seems like a Freleng/Bugs Bunny version of Avery’s OF FOX AND HOUNDS. That one was better, but this was good, too. I’m surprised Bugs didn’t scream in pain when the dumb dog clipped off his tail at the end. Wouldn’t that have hurt?

HENPECKED HOBOES - I love George and Junior and I’m mad that Avery didn’t use them more often. To me, he’s better than Droopy. This was a hilarious cartoon, and one of my favorites. All the gags were hilarious, and the ending was great, albeit a little risque today.

CAT-TAILS FOR TWO - So this is shown regularly now, huh? Strange considering Speedy Gonzales is more offensive in this cartoon, than the other cartoons he’s in. Anyway, a great cartoon. Benny appears again, after HOPPY-GO-LUCKY, this time with a real friend named George. I wish they were in more cartoons. All the gags were hilarious, and notice how most of them involved dynamite – this would really have gotten a hatchet job if ABC ever showed it.

HOUND HUNTERS - Not up to the usual George and Junior cartoon standards. The gags were funny, but this was missing something very important – George kicking Junior in the hiney whenever he would mess up the plan. It had all the set-ups, but the scenes faded out with George just looking at Junior with a mean face. What was with that? Didn’t that big dog that Junior disguised as look like Lonesome Lenny?

HOPPY-GO-LUCKY - The first cartoon with Benny. Sylvester calling himself ‘George’ just to please Benny seemed kinda tacked on, but okay. The ending was great.

RED HOT RANGERS - Another great George and Junior cartoon. I remember seeing this all the time when I was a little kid, and remember the part with that flame eating those “no smoking” signs like a sandwich. The flame was funny, and George and Junior were great as usual.

[Jack]

The opening shot of "Foxy By Proxy" must have well liked, it showed up in three cartoons, a one shot by Avery at WB ("Of Fox and Hounds"), "Foxy By Proxy," and a Droopy cartoon at MGM. John Johnson painted the background for all three (well, two really).

I never understood why Freleng reused that opening shot for "Foxy By Proxy," it doesn't match the rest of the cartoon at all, it looks wierd.

I really like "Of Mice and Men" spoofs, they often provide a good relationship between a stupid character and a little hothead "smart" character. Is it true that some people thought George and Junior were dogs instead of bears?


Jack:D

[Crazy Tom]

Originally posted by Pietro
I missed "Henpecked Hoboes" - was it unedited?

Not quite, Pietro. One scene is missing where I believe Junior presses down on the TNT box...George is standing by the TNT--and, after being given directions, Junior reiterates to "press down", thus the explosion that leaves George in blackface, and he says "OK Junior, bend over" after Suwanee River is played in the background. That has been edited for some time now. Fortunately, I have a taping of the cartoon from TNT from about 10 years ago where the scene was shown untouched.

What is it with these edits??

[Crazy Tom]

Originally posted by hiphats
...there's a Droopy cartoon where he tries to catch a fox but as it turned out the fox calls all the foxes for a steak dinner with Droopy and at the end they all sing "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" (can't remember the title of the short).

The title you're looking for is "Out-Foxed", which was done in 1948 by Tex Avery.

[Jon Cooke]

I've been enjoying the return of the themed Acme Hours this week. Great show today. With all those Of Mice and Men spoofs today, I'm surprised we didn't see Avery's "Lonesome Lenny" ("I had a little friend once... but he don't move no more!").


-Jon

[DR. BELCH]

"Foxy By Proxy" (WB)
Do I want to know why Bugs has a fox costume just lying about? he says it was left over from Halloween, but...Interesting that the big dumb dog got the best of the slick grey hare. Fav line: "Eh....just call me Stubby". Then he turns his denuded bum to the camera. As for whether it would hurt--well, unlike a dog or cat's tail, the whole thing isn't alive, I don't think. If one could snip where the live nerves end--assuming the rabbit held still--it could be done. They do crop puppies' tails, though (Dobermans and poodles), just as routinely as circumcision (and I imagine anti-cropping propaganda is just as nasty and loud as anti-circ....)

"Henpecked Hobos" (MGM)
Surprised the gag at the end didn't get sut for promoting domestic (fowl) abuse! The edit was painfully obvious as one joke ends and another starts much too fast. George looks a little too comfortable with himself as he minces about in chicken drag....Fav bit: after he tells Junior to hit the first thing that comes out of the hole, he turns around and says, "One more t'ing..." WHAM! Also liked the repeated cuts to the rooster meandering his way home throughout the short, each with a different and appropriate musical score....

"Cat-Tails For Two" (WB)
Surprised this one is okay to show on CN, as with that gold tooth and dark complexion Speedy looks almost Negroid! Fav bits--the cheese and dynamite and the crate of anvils. Fav line: "P-E-T-R-O-L. That's a funny way t' spell 'water'."

"Hound Hunters" (MGM)
George is in drag again--and why does Junior dress up as a giant male dog to kiss him? Very yaoi--as is, if taken out of context, George's repeated command of, "Bend over, Junior". :p Why didn't Junior bait the trap with his own lunch? Very touching, though, that the little dog decided to ride the rails with them in the end and not hold a grudge.

"Hoppy-Go-Lucky" (WB)
"But I can't say 'Sylvester', George." Fav scene: Sylvester's pep talk to himself. "A mouse is a little creature, about so long...[sees the baby kangaroo] So long...so...long...[pauses] Well...so long!"

"Red Hot Rangers" (MGM)
Fav scene: Junior runs all the way back to the ranger station to attatch the hose to the sink...then has to double back to turn on the water. A bit of a moralizing tone at the end...I don't know what's scarier, Junior spanking George or the fact that you can see his buttcrack.

Other possibilities would be Pete Puma in "Rabbit's Kin", or any short with Jones' Three Bears...although I guess they were going for smart/dumb duos a la Of Mice and Men...what, Popeye never did a take on the Steinbeck novel?