gags you don't quite "get"

[mmv3000]

Every once in a while, there's a LT/MM gag that I just don't quite get.

For instance, in one of the earlier Bugs shorts, he's pinned up against a tree by a gun-toting Elmer. Bugs resides himself in being shot, but at the last second, hears chirping. He looks up, sees a bird nest HIGH above him, and takes a step over, out from underneath it.

What exactly was the joke here?

Are there any that you don't "get"?

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally posted by mmv3000
Every once in a while, there's a LT/MM gag that I just don't quite get.

For instance, in one of the earlier Bugs shorts, he's pinned up against a tree by a gun-toting Elmer. Bugs resides himself in being shot, but at the last second, hears chirping. He looks up, sees a bird nest HIGH above him, and takes a step over, out from underneath it.

What exactly was the joke here?

Are there any that you don't "get"?

I don't think that scene was meant as a joke, but rather to show Bugs' concern for others takes precedence over his heckling. The birds were innocent bystanders so Bugs stopped his gag long enough to make sure they were out of harms way. Anyway, that's the way I always saw it.

One joke I never got as a child was in Hurdy Gurdy Hare where Bugs remarks at the end of the cartoon that he hopes "Petrillo doesn't hear about this!" I never knew that Petrillo was the head of the musicians union and that there was a musicians strike going on at the time the cartoon was made.

Another dated reference that I don't get is at the end of Baby Bottleneck when the gorilla mom calls "Mr. Anthony" because she has a problem. I assume Mr. Anthony was some sort of radio host who took calls from troubled audience members.

Hmmm...both cartoons were written by Warren Foster. He must have been big on topical humor.

[Jon Cooke]

Originally posted by mmv3000
What exactly was the joke here?

I thought the joke was that Bugs was stepping out from underneath the birds because he was afraid he might get pooped on.


-Jon

[Larry T]

Originally posted by J. J. Hunsecker
Another dated reference that I don't get is at the end of Baby Bottleneck when the gorilla mom calls "Mr. Anthony" because she has a problem. I assume Mr. Anthony was some sort of radio host who took calls from troubled audience members.

Mr. Anthony was a radio call-in therapist, centralizing his issues around mature subject matter, kind of like our Dr. Ruth Westheimer or Sue (from "Sex with Sue").... that's what makes that joke so funny :D

A gag I never quite understood was in "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt". After Bugs heckles Hiawatha a bit, he goes to jump into his hole after doing a pike. Instead he slams into the ground, missing the hole, and then there's this slow, extremely drawn-out scene where he crawls into it with an ashamed look on his face, then a painfully long fade out. What was the point of that scene?

[Cartman]

One gag I didn't get was the pouring of salt on a bird's tail. It happened in a Sylvester/Speedy Gonzales cartoon, it happened in a Donald Duck cartoon ("Donald's Camera"), and it happend in a Fox and Crow cartoon ("Slay it with Flowers"). Apparently this is supposed to stop a bird from flying.

[rodney]

That's what I was always taught when I was little.

[Daffyfan2003]

One joke I never got as a child was in Hurdy Gurdy Hare where Bugs remarks at the end of the cartoon that he hopes "Petrillo doesn't hear about this!" I never knew that Petrillo was the head of the musicians union and that there was a musicians strike going on at the time the cartoon was made.

Yeah, I didn't get that one at first either. Let's see. There were quite a few of them I didn't get. I didn't know about the "Open the Door, Richard" quote in "High Diving Hare" until I heard the narration in the June Bugs marathon.

Here's another one, that I still don't get. I don't get Foghorn Leghorn's, "There's no 'r' in July" joke from "Weasel Thought." Could someone explain that? In the meantime I'll try to think of some more I didn't get.

[Feslmogh]

Originally posted by Daffyfan2003
Yeah, I didn't get that one at first either. Let's see. There were quite a few of them I didn't get. I didn't know about the "Open the Door, Richard" quote in "High Diving Hare" until I heard the narration in the June Bugs marathon.

Here's another one, that I still don't get. I don't get Foghorn Leghorn's, "There's no 'r' in July" joke from "Weasel Thought." Could someone explain that? In the meantime I'll try to think of some more I didn't get.

Most of the months have the letter "r" except May, June, July, and August.

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by Jon Cooke
I thought the joke was that Bugs was stepping out from underneath the birds because he was afraid he might get pooped on.

Exactamundo.

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by Larry T
A gag I never quite understood was in "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt". After Bugs heckles Hiawatha a bit, he goes to jump into his hole after doing a pike. Instead he slams into the ground, missing the hole, and then there's this slow, extremely drawn-out scene where he crawls into it with an ashamed look on his face, then a painfully long fade out. What was the point of that scene?

Well, we all know that Bugs is extremely self-confident, even *****ure of himself. We also know that Bugs thinks he is too, and feels he's justified in this high opinion of himself. Screwing up one of his headline show-off stunts takes him down a peg, and he knows it. Hence his sheepish, embarrassed reaction. That's the gag: for a change, Bugs blows it big-time, and he knows it.

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by Paul Penna
[B]Well, we all know that Bugs is extremely self-confident, even *****ure of himself./B]

Apparently the software thinks I used an obscenity, but I really didn't, honest. It's a perfectly honorable term meaning "overconfident." The only problem seems to be that there's a C and an O and another C and a K and even an S that aren't in an acceptable order.

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by Cartman
One gag I didn't get was the pouring of salt on a bird's tail. It happened in a Sylvester/Speedy Gonzales cartoon, it happened in a Donald Duck cartoon ("Donald's Camera"), and it happend in a Fox and Crow cartoon ("Slay it with Flowers"). Apparently this is supposed to stop a bird from flying.

This is a real old one, with many occurrences in cartoons and comics. The way it was explained to me (by my mother, I think) was that if you were able to get close enough to a bird to sprinkle salt on his tail, you were also close enough to be able to grab him.

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by Daffyfan2003
Here's another one, that I still don't get. I don't get Foghorn Leghorn's, "There's no 'r' in July" joke from "Weasel Thought." Could someone explain that? In the meantime I'll try to think of some more I didn't get.

I don't have a copy of that one, so I don't know the context of the gag, but could it have anything to do with the old saw about not eating oysters in months that have "R" in them (supposedly because it'd make you sick)?

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally posted by Jon Cooke
I thought the joke was that Bugs was stepping out from underneath the birds because he was afraid he might get pooped on.


-Jon

Wow. Then that joke went completely over my head. (No pun intended.)

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally posted by Larry T
Mr. Anthony was a radio call-in therapist, centralizing his issues around mature subject matter, kind of like our Dr. Ruth Westheimer or Sue (from "Sex with Sue").... that's what makes that joke so funny :D


Thanks! I thought it might be something like that.

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally posted by Paul Penna
Apparently the software thinks I used an obscenity, but I really didn't, honest. It's a perfectly honorable term meaning "overconfident." The only problem seems to be that there's a C and an O and another C and a K and even an S that aren't in an acceptable order.

It was obvious what you meant even with the letters censored. Perhaps the filtering software went off half-cocked? It seems to have erected a barrier against even innocuous terms and those that try to penetrate it's defenses end up getting stiffed, leaving them throbbing with impotent rage. This reduces the members of this board to writing only inoffensive and assinine twattle in their posts. So once again the posters on this board get the shaft! But enough of this tit for tat, cock and bull story...

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by J. J. Hunsecker
It was obvious what you meant even with the letters censored. Perhaps the filtering software went off half-cocked? It seems to have erected a barrier against even innocuous terms and those that try to penetrate it's defenses end up getting stiffed, leaving them throbbing with impotent rage. This reduces the members of this board to writing only inoffensive and assinine twattle in their posts. So once again the posters on this board get the shaft! But enough of this tit for tat, cock and bull story...

I was hoping to make a snappy comeback, but after your posting, the supply of approprate allusions seems to have petered out.

[Daffyfan2003]

Thanks for that info on that "r" in July joke, Feslmoth, but that still doesn't explain why Foggy said it in that cartoon.

Paul, you might be right about it having to do with eating oysters (or in this case weasels) in months with an "r" in them.

[rodney]

That was pure brilliance JJ.

[Howard Fein]

"Here's another one, that I still don't get. I don't get Foghorn Leghorn's, "There's no 'r' in July" joke from "Weasel Thought." Could someone explain that? In the meantime I'll try to think of some more I didn't get."

Actually, Foggy says "There's an 'S ' in December- there's your seal, boy! [actually Dawg in a girdle] Go,go,go,go!!" Unless there's some since-obscured late fifties topicality, the only explanation I can think of is that the WEASEL WHILE YOU WORK is set in December, and seal starts with an 'S'. Lame, yes, but it's typical of Foggy to spurt forth rapid fire non-sequiters.:p

As a kid, a lot of the topical WWII references and sight gags went over my head: Unnecessary traveling (NASTY QUACKS, UNRULY HARE); meat rationing and ration books (THE WEAKLY REPORTER, BEHIND THE MEATBALL, AN ITCH IN TIME, FROM HAND TO MOUSE); hoarding (FONEY FABLES, TICK TOCK TUCKERED, BUCKAROO BUGS); FHA housing (A LAD IN HIS LAMP, RABBIT HOOD); 'Buy Bonds' signs randomly placed (THE WACKY WABBIT, SLIGHTLY DAFFY) and our old friend, the 'A' card. "Turn out those lights!!" made sense to me out of context, because my folks, hoping to avoid large electric bills, often bellowed the same thing.

The ending of HARE CONDITIONING never made sense to me. Shouldn't Bugs be too smart to be scared off the roof by a mirror image of him making the scary face that scared Gildersneeze off the roof?! :confused:

In HOME TWEET HOME there are several scenes with a nanny getting very flustered while reading a book called Amber- so much so that she doesn't notice Sylvester has taken her infant charge's place . Apparently there must've been a racy publication with a similar name around that time.

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally posted by rodney
That was pure brilliance JJ.
*Blushes* Awwww...thanks!

[Howard Fein]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Larry T
[B]Mr. Anthony was a radio call-in therapist, centralizing his issues around mature subject matter, kind of like our Dr. Ruth Westheimer or Sue (from "Sex with Sue").... that's what makes that joke so funny :D

BABY BOTTLENECK has a few other topical references that are horribly dated today. Daffy's fielding phone complaints from forties' icon Bing Crosby ("Sorry, you've used up your quota."); Eddie Cantor ("You still don't have that son? Well, try and try again [snarky laugh]-" :D ); the Dionne quintuplets' next of kin ("Mr. Dionne, puh-lease !"). Cantor's desire for a son after having had many daughters was a regular running gag in many thirties' WB cartoons. Crosby was also a regular target, but more for his mellow-bordering-on-comatose personna and losing streak at the track than his large production of offspring. The Dionne reference completely lost me until recently.

As for WILD HARE, I never once thought that Bugs was looking to avoid getting splattered by those birds! Horse poop and seasickness may have been acceptable fodder for cartoon gross-out humor in those days, but bird poop?! NEVER !! Obviously, we're being told that Bugs is at heart caring and sensitive, not wishing to let those innocent birds risk the possibility of being in the line of fire. Quite an interesting attempt at character development, considering it's technically his first 'official' short!

[rodney]

Originally posted by Howard Fein


In HOME TWEET HOME there are several scenes with a nanny getting very flustered while reading a book called Amber- so much so that she doesn't notice Sylvester has taken her infant charge's place . Apparently there must've been a racy publication with a similar name around that time.

While the cartoon only says 'Amber', the book in question is actually 'Forever Amber'. It was a racy romance novel published in 1944. It was deemed obscene and racy, and was even banned in Boston.

I did a little research, and according to the Massachusetts Attorney State General, the book had 70 references to sexual intercourse, 39 illegitimate pregnancies, seven abortions, 10 descriptions of women undressing in front of men, and 49 "miscellaneous objectionable passages".

If you're interested in knowing more, I found this article that the above info came from (I knew it was a book, but knew nothing more):

http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/classics/0,6121,771986,00.html

[frogboxer]

Originally posted by Jon Cooke
I thought the joke was that Bugs was stepping out from underneath the birds because he was afraid he might get pooped on.
That's what I always thought, too!

One gag I never really "got" is in "Bewitched Bunny." I'm afraid I don't quite understand the whole repeating-of-Hansel's-name-with-confusion gag. Is it just because the name sounds funny or what?

Another gag that I get but was just always curious about was in "Rabbit Fire" when Bugs calls Daffy "Laughing Boy." I've always found this name-calling very funny, but why exactly does Bugs call Daffy that? Was it just some random thing to call him that Chuck Jones or Mike Maltese pulled out of thin air? Was it a partial inside joke? Is Bugs alluding to something that people in the 1950's knew about? Where did it come from? It always seemed to me to be a rather random (albeit funny) thing for Bugs to call Daffy.

I'm pretty sure there are other gags I haven't gotten, but I can't think of the others just yet.

[Thad Komorowski]

Originally posted by rodney
I did a little research, and according to the Massachusetts Attorney State General, the book had 70 references to sexual intercourse, 39 illegitimate pregnancies, seven abortions, 10 descriptions of women undressing in front of men, and 49 "miscellaneous objectionable passages".

Sounds like my kind of book! :p :rolleyes: :o

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally posted by Howard Fein
BABY BOTTLENECK has a few other topical references that are horribly dated today. Daffy's fielding phone complaints from forties' icon Bing Crosby ("Sorry, you've used up your quota."); Eddie Cantor ("You still don't have that son? Well, try and try again [snarky laugh]-" :D ); the Dionne quintuplets' next of kin ("Mr. Dionne, puh-lease !"). Cantor's desire for a son after having had many daughters was a regular running gag in many thirties' WB cartoons. Crosby was also a regular target, but more for his mellow-bordering-on-comatose personna and losing streak at the track than his large production of offspring. The Dionne reference completely lost me until recently.
Lucky for me I knew about the Dione quintuplets when I heard that joke. I believe it is the father of the quintuplets on the phone to Daffy. Daffy's reaction seems to be that the dad is being a little too greedy. I also got the Crosby and Cantor jokes. (I saw this cartoon as an adult, though, so that might explain why. Had I seen it as a child, I probably would have been confused.)

I was also lucky enough to have heard the song "Open The Door, Richard," (by vaudevillian Dusty Fletcher, but I believe I heard the Louis Jordan cover) just a few days before I saw the cartoon High Diving Hare and thus laughed heartily when I heard Yosemite Sam referencing it.


As for WILD HARE, I never once thought that Bugs was looking to avoid getting splattered by those birds! Horse poop and seasickness may have been acceptable fodder for cartoon gross-out humor in those days, but bird poop?! NEVER !! Obviously, we're being told that Bugs is at heart caring and sensitive, not wishing to let those innocent birds risk the possibility of being in the line of fire. Quite an interesting attempt at character development, considering it's technically his first 'official' short!
So now it's two for the "Bugs just being considerate" theory and two for the "Bugs avoiding bird poop" theory. Who will break the tie?

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally posted by J. J. Hunsecker
So now it's two for the "Bugs just being considerate" theory and two for the "Bugs avoiding bird poop" theory. Who will break the tie?

Whoops, I spoke too soon. Looks like Frogboxer broke the tie in the "bird poop" theory's favor.

[frogboxer]

I didn't realize there was such controversy over this gag when I posted my reply (I guess that's what happens when you don't read the whole thread before replying). The reason I agree with the bird poop theory is because of where the birds are located. They're WAAAAY up on the branch of a tree above Bugs' head. I find it hard to believe that Bugs thought Elmer was so bad of a shot that he worried the birds might get hit. I would hardly consider them in the line of fire. Besides, if he really does think Elmer is THAT bad of a shot, then why does he only take one step to the side. After all, if Elmer IS that bad of a shot, then the birds still wouldn't be safe after Bugs has moved.

[Jon Cooke]

Originally posted by Howard Fein
Horse poop and seasickness may have been acceptable fodder for cartoon gross-out humor in those days, but bird poop?! NEVER !!

Just to show that bird poop gags weren't totally off-limits in those days... here's a clip from Famous Studios' Screen Song "Winter Draws On" (http://looney.toonzone.net/picts/poop1948.rm) from 1948 (it's about 300k).

Enjoy!


-Jon

[Andrew Gilmore]

Originally posted by J. J. Hunsecker
Whoops, I spoke too soon. Looks like Frogboxer broke the tie in the "bird poop" theory's favor.

Well, I'm making it a tie again by voting for the "being considerate" theory, which is what I always thought.

[rodney]

I always thought it was the considerate thing too.

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally posted by Jon Cooke
Just to show that bird poop gags weren't totally off-limits in those days... here's a clip from Famous Studios' Screen Song "Winter Draws On" (http://looney.toonzone.net/picts/poop1948.rm) from 1948 (it's about 300k).

Enjoy!


-Jon
There is also a bird poop joke in a Flip the Frog cartoon, where he erroneously believes a bird pooped on his piano. Of course, this was a pre-code cartoon.

Regarding A Wild Hare, though, I thought the birds above Bugs' head where in a birds nest. So he really would be hit with falling fecal matter, since the nest was in the way. If they wanted to make the joke a little more clear, the birds should have been sitting on a branch, sans nest. That is why I didn't believe it was meant to be a joke. A nest signifies eggs, or a family of birds, thus Bugs' concern for their safety. (But I should check the cartoon again to make certain that the birds were in a nest.)

[Jon Cooke]

Originally posted by J. J. Hunsecker
(But I should check the cartoon again to make certain that the birds were in a nest.)

They weren't in a nest.

http://looney.toonzone.net/picts/wildharebirds.jpg


-Jon

[J Lee]

What Avery and Rich Hogan wanted the gag to mean, and what they (or Leon or Ray or Henry) may have told the Hays Office it meant could have been two different things.

With censors -- even up until the early 1980s -- sometimes it's hard to tell leinant from clueless. I would guess when the cartoon was screened for its MPAA approval, if anyone asked about the scene it was just Bugs being considerate. However, whoever brought the cartoon down there from the Schlesinger plant might have been laughing to themselves once the gag was given the OK.

[Brandon Pierce]

There are two lines in SPACED OUT BUNNY I have never been able to figure out.

"A Little carrot between your cheek and gum tastes mighty good."

and

"Hey! whattayouknow?! I'm a flying object lesson!"

[J Lee]

"A Little carrot between your cheek and gum tastes mighty good."

Back in the late 1970s, Skoal chewing tobacco was running commercials featuring Dallas Cowboys fullback Walt Garrison endorsing the product, since he was a real life (rodeo) cowboy in the off-season. His line in the commercial was "Just a pinch between your cheek and gums tastes mighty good."


"Hey! whattayouknow?! I'm a flying object lesson!"

Just a combination of two common phrases -- object lesson and (unidentified) flying object.

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by frogboxer
I didn't realize there was such controversy over this gag when I posted my reply (I guess that's what happens when you don't read the whole thread before replying). The reason I agree with the bird poop theory is because of where the birds are located. They're WAAAAY up on the branch of a tree above Bugs' head. I find it hard to believe that Bugs thought Elmer was so bad of a shot that he worried the birds might get hit. I would hardly consider them in the line of fire. Besides, if he really does think Elmer is THAT bad of a shot, then why does he only take one step to the side. After all, if Elmer IS that bad of a shot, then the birds still wouldn't be safe after Bugs has moved.

The real reason to go with the bird-poop explanation is because it's totally in keeping with the kind of humor (brash, irreverant, prone to double-entendres) that audiences of the time responded to, and which made Bugs specifically, and the Warner output in general, the stand-out favorites of audiences who'd grown bored with cute roly-poly animals and precious storylines.

On the other hand, the "being considerate" interpretation is completely out of character; it reflects the attitudes of today, not of then. Sure, Bugs was frequently shown to be on the side of the underdog. But the way he showed it was not by being touchy-feely, he showed it by shellacking the ever-lovin' heck out of whoever was oppressing the little guy.

Bird-poop gags, as other have pointed out, aren't uncommon in cartoons. Frequently, however, they're "defused" by a strategem which, while letting the audience initially appreciate the gag as really intended, manages to fend off the censors. What happens is that it's an egg that gets shown splatting on the victim, rather than the expected poop.

It's similar to the way bedpan gags were handled. After hitting something "clink!" inder the bed, it turns out really to be a spittoon.

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by frogboxer
That's what I always thought, too!

One gag I never really "got" is in "Bewitched Bunny." I'm afraid I don't quite understand the whole repeating-of-Hansel's-name-with-confusion gag. Is it just because the name sounds funny or what?

Another gag that I get but was just always curious about was in "Rabbit Fire" when Bugs calls Daffy "Laughing Boy." I've always found this name-calling very funny, but why exactly does Bugs call Daffy that? Was it just some random thing to call him that Chuck Jones or Mike Maltese pulled out of thin air? Was it a partial inside joke? Is Bugs alluding to something that people in the 1950's knew about? Where did it come from? It always seemed to me to be a rather random (albeit funny) thing for Bugs to call Daffy.

I think they're both examples of the kind of sophisticated wordplay Jones and his writers were fond of. In the first case, most everybody (probably even today) pronounces the name "Haancel" (at least in the USA). More literate types, or more precisely, self-consciously, pretentiously literate types, would make a big deal of pronouncing is "correctly," or at least with an attempt as correct German pronunciation, just to show the rest of the world how educated they were. Hence, "Hahhhn-zel." It think it's the latter type individual they're poking fun at. On the other hand, Bugs could just be showing us how down-to-earth he is by being confused about why anyone would pronounce "Haancel" "Hahhhn-zel."

"Laughing boy" is a little harder to explain. Like so many cultural attitudes of the past, it's largely a matter of "you had to be there." Humor of of the set-'em-up, knock-'em-down variety was more the norm in days of yore. Straight-forward jokes with set-ups and boffo punch lines. Humor relying on clever turns of phrase or satiric in nature was rather novel in cartoons (and mass-audience entertainment in general), so it kind of stood out as unusually sophisticated, given the context. "Laughing boy" may not, in isolation, seem particularly sophisticated, or even ROFL funny, but like I said, you probably had to be there.

[Emmanuel Cruz]

I originally thought that Bugs was gonna be considerate with the birds in "A Wild Hare." But when I was watching the cartoon with my father, he watched the scene and chuckled a little. I asked him why he laughed. He asked "Don't you get the joke?" I told him that Bugs didn't want the birds to be accidently hit or hear the noise of the gunshot. He said "Those birds are gonna s*** on him!"

Also, I still don't get the whole gag in which you would see pinball lights and then the word "Tilt" appears.

-Emmanuel:bosko:

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally posted by Jon Cooke
They weren't in a nest.

http://looney.toonzone.net/picts/wildharebirds.jpg


-Jon

DAMN IT!!

You win this round, Cooke.

[Rob]

This has always puzzled me...At the end of the fight, the winner says into a microphone "Hello Ma, hello Pa. It was a terrible fight, but I won." Or something along those lines. I've seen this in many cartoons (including, I think, PORKY THE WRESTLER), and in at least one Three Stooges short (if I'm not mistaken GRIPS, GRUNTS, AND GROANS). Did something like this happen at a real fight? It must have been a pretty famous incident to have been parodied so many times. John Garfield has a similar scene early in THEY MADE ME A CRIMINAL, so it could be a spoof of THAT...

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by Emmanuel Cruz
Also, I still don't get the whole gag in which you would see pinball lights and then the word "Tilt" appears.

A pinball machine had a sensor which could detect if the player was tilting it in an attempt to influence the path of the ball fraudulently; if so, the game would abort and the "tilt" light would go off. In effect, the machine was announcing to all in the vicinity, "Hey everybody! This guy's a dirty rotten cheater!" A situation rife with humorous potential.

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by Rob
This has always puzzled me...At the end of the fight, the winner says into a microphone "Hello Ma, hello Pa. It was a terrible fight, but I won." Or something along those lines. I've seen this in many cartoons (including, I think, PORKY THE WRESTLER), and in at least one Three Stooges short (if I'm not mistaken GRIPS, GRUNTS, AND GROANS). Did something like this happen at a real fight? It must have been a pretty famous incident to have been parodied so many times. John Garfield has a similar scene early in THEY MADE ME A CRIMINAL, so it could be a spoof of THAT...

This has been familiar to me, too, since my earliest days of cartoon watching way back in the middle of the last century. The version I'm most familiar with is, "Hey, Ma! It was a tough fight, but I won!" spoken by a boxer sporting multiple black eyes, contusions, bandages and generally looking like he's had the crap beaten out of him. The humor arising from the fact that going by appearances, he looks like anything but a winner.

I also had figured it might be a reference to some well-known quote by some famous fighter, real or fictional, so I thought a Google search might turn something up. Trying different variations of the phrase brought up lots of hits, but so far no "smoking gun." What is most striking, though, is that so many boxers today are still saying the same thing to the media, almost word-for-word. Maybe the gag is just that: it's something every single cauliflower-eared, canvas-kissing pug-ugly can be expected to say at some point.

[cabe624]

I never got that "listening post" gag from Tokio Jokio. What was that all about?

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by cabe624
I never got that "listening post" gag from Tokio Jokio. What was that all about?

It's a pun resulting from taking a common figure of speech literally, like all the gags in Tex Avery's "Field and Scream." In this case, the listening post (meaning a vantage point) is a real wooden post, specifically, a sign post. What makes it a "listening" post are all the keyholes, which spies are stereotypically seen peeking through or listening at.

[Cartman]

Originally posted by Paul Penna
It's a pun resulting from taking a common figure of speech literally, like all the gags in Tex Avery's "Field and Scream."

That was done throughout his Symphony in Slang as well.

[Mibbitmaker]

Originally posted by J. J. Hunsecker
It was obvious what you meant even with the letters censored. Perhaps the filtering software went off half-cocked? It seems to have erected a barrier against even innocuous terms and those that try to penetrate it's defenses end up getting stiffed, leaving them throbbing with impotent rage. This reduces the members of this board to writing only inoffensive and assinine twattle in their posts. So once again the posters on this board get the shaft! But enough of this tit for tat, cock and bull story...


Bugs (to Beaky Buzzard): "You naughty, naughty boy!"
:D

[Jave]

In "Hare Remover" Bugs pulls out various cards with different drawings on them, the first one clearly says "Screwball", the second one is a cracked pot, which means "Crackpot", I don't understand the third one, which has a leaking water faucet, and the last one has various bats flying, which I presume means "That guy has bats in the belfry". Can anyone tell me what the third means? And fix me if I'm mistaken on the last one.

[cabe624]

Originally posted by Javeman
In "Hare Remover" Bugs pulls out various cards with different drawings on them, the first one clearly says "Screwball", the second one is a cracked pot, which means "Crackpot", I don't understand the third one, which has a leaking water faucet, and the last one has various bats flying, which I presume means "That guy has bats in the belfry". Can anyone tell me what the third means? And fix me if I'm mistaken on the last one.

I always thought the leaky faucet ment that the guy had water on the brain :confused: Theres something similar in "Yankee Doodle Daffy" with the Sleepy Lagoon character who pulls out various cards, and one had a bat and a baseball on it. Anyone know what that means?

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally posted by Javeman
In "Hare Remover" Bugs pulls out various cards with different drawings on them, the first one clearly says "Screwball", the second one is a cracked pot, which means "Crackpot", I don't understand the third one, which has a leaking water faucet, and the last one has various bats flying, which I presume means "That guy has bats in the belfry". Can anyone tell me what the third means? And fix me if I'm mistaken on the last one.

I always thought the third one meant Elmer was a "drip," meaning an unhip bore. Though this would make it a rather odd card in the context of the other cards, since they all seem to have the same theme of insanity or craziness depicted on them.

The last card does indeed mean "bats in the belfry."

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by Cartman
That was done throughout his Symphony in Slang as well.

Oops... that's the one I meant. Thanks.

[Billy]

Oh, I thought I had deciphered the third card signified Elmer was 'Cracked' and the fourth one as 'Batty'.

[BlueAngelGal]

As far as the faucet, I just thought it meant "drip," as in "that Elmer, what a drip."

As far as the Bugs/birds thing, I always thought he was trying to keep the birds safe, 'cause the vibration of the shot could knock them out of their nest or a stray pellet/bullet could hurt them. The bird-crap explanation makes a lot more sense, though, I like it. :)

[Jon Cooke]

Originally posted by cabe624
Theres something similar in "Yankee Doodle Daffy" with the Sleepy Lagoon character who pulls out various cards, and one had a bat and a baseball on it. Anyone know what that means?

It's a screw and a baseball ("screwball").


-Jon

[Tom41]

In one cartoon, Bugs Bunny (I think) makes a comment "Screwball in the side pocket!" Is this a reference to pool, snooker, baseball, or what?
I also never understood why TV and radio programmes are interrupted for trivial pieces of news in cartoons. At least, not until Sept 11 when all the TV channels actually interrupted programming for live news coverage.
In "Baby Buggy Bunny", after Bugs throws Finster in the air, he says "Oh dear, I do believe I have forgotten my fudge". What's that all about?
Some gags don't work any more because the cartoons are shown on TV, instead of in cinemas. A good example is Daffy Duck and Egghead, where a silouette comes in front of the screen, and eventually Egghead shoots the person. In a theater, it would look like someone has stood up. Also where Wile.E.Coyote puts up a sign "Wanted: One gullible coyote. Apply to manager of this theater"

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by Tom41
"Oh dear, I do believe I have forgotten my fudge". What's that all about?

It's an excuse to absent-mindedly forget to catch Finster; he's pretending that he just remembered he left something cooking in the oven. He could have said "pie," but "fudge" is a funnier word.

[cabe624]

Originally posted by Tom41
In one cartoon, Bugs Bunny (I think) makes a comment "Screwball in the side pocket!" Is this a reference to pool, snooker, baseball, or what?

A refrence to pool, I believe. When the players are going to put the 8 ball away, they call the pocket that they are aiming for. Something similar was done in "The Timid Toreador" where the bull puts pool chalk on his horns and says, "The screwball in the side pocket". I'm pretty sure that the gag was also used in "Little Pancho Vannila" and "Picador Porky".

[Tom41]

Just remembered another one from Tom & Jerry. This bit of dialogue has been used in both The Zoot Cat and Solid Serenade
"I love you... you set my soul on fire. It is not just a spark, it is a flame... a big roaring flame. I can feel it now... burning... burning..."
Is this a reference to a movie? Or some expression they used in the 40s?

Come to think of it, most of the Zoot Cat doesn't make sense nowadays! The Zoot fashion went out in the 40s and all of the catch phrases don't make sense any more.

[Brandon Pierce]

Originally posted by Tom41
Just remembered another one from Tom & Jerry. This bit of dialogue has been used in both The Zoot Cat and Solid Serenade
"I love you... you set my soul on fire. It is not just a spark, it is a flame... a big roaring flame. I can feel it now... burning... burning..."
Is this a reference to a movie? Or some expression they used in the 40s?

Come to think of it, most of the Zoot Cat doesn't make sense nowadays! The Zoot fashion went out in the 40s and all of the catch phrases don't make sense any more.
Well, apparently they still had Zoot Suits around in the 50s, according to the people who made "Back to the Future".

[Banned Bunny]

I saw a store selling zoot suits just last month.

[Cartman]

In the Disney cartoon Social Lion, there was a scene where a man was whispering to the lion pointing to a large bridge (possibly Brooklyn Bridge). I don't quite get that. Was he trying to sell him the bridge?

[Matt Yorston]

Originally posted by Cartman
In the Disney cartoon Social Lion, there was a scene where a man was whispering to the lion pointing to a large bridge (possibly Brooklyn Bridge). I don't quite get that. Was he trying to sell him the bridge?

I haven't seen the cartoon. What did the man look like? Did he look kind of like a seedy, suspicious con-man? If so, that could very possibly be the intended joke.

[Pietro]

I never fully understood the Fox and the Crow cartoon, "The Dream Kids." It's just so over-the-top bizarre. It's also very confusing.

Another gag I never got was in "Saddle Silly." When the pony express rider addresses his boss as "baranka." What does Baranka exactly mean? I know it might have something to do with an airplane reference.

-Pietro:D

[Paul Penna]

Originally posted by Pietro
Another gag I never got was in "Saddle Silly." When the pony express rider addresses his boss as "baranka." What does Baranka exactly mean? I know it might have something to do with an airplane reference.

"Calling Barranca" was a line repeated during a highly dramatic sequence in the 1939 film "Only Angels Have Wings." Plane in trouble, pilot trying to radio airfield. It caught the public's fancy. Tex Avery also used it in "Ceiling Hero."

[Howard Fein]

Originally posted by Tom41
Some gags don't work any more because the cartoons are shown on TV, instead of in cinemas. A good example is Daffy Duck and Egghead, where a silouette comes in front of the screen, and eventually Egghead shoots the person. In a theater, it would look like someone has stood up. Also where Wile.E.Coyote puts up a sign "Wanted: One gullible coyote. Apply to manager of this theater"

Those 'interacting with the movie theatre audience' gags can be confusing if you're a young child of the sixties or after and believe all cartoons were made for TV. That would include:

HAIR-RAISING HARE: "Is dere a doctor in the house?! Is dere?!" (Silhouette stands up) "I'm a doctor." "Eeh, what's up doc?"
Also: "Look out dere- in de audience." "PEEEEOPLE- Ahhhh !!"

RABBIT EVERY MONDAY": Sam warns a silhoutted audience member leaving his seat not to warn Bugs of his presence ("Yes, sir- yes, sir!) with the threat of shooting him "-an' that goes for the rest of ya- an' I'll do it, too!"

ME MUSICAL NEPHEWS, I think: Popeye finds a place where he thinks can can escape his nephews' noisy musicmaking: the audience that's watching the cartoon!

MOUSE TROUBLE: After Jerry inflicts grave damage on the box Tom's hiding in, he peeks inside, gulps, and holds up a sign with the standard request for medical help, as indicated above.

HARE TONIC: Bugs points out to Elmer all the people in the audience who have contacted rabbititus, including the guy sitting next to the cute 'tomatah'.

Avery does quite a few gags of this nature. In LITTLE RED WALKING HOOD, it's the "guy in the 17th row" who vanquishes the villian. In CINDERELLA MEETS FELLA, she walks right out of the theatrical audience that's watching the cartoon. In at least one of his MGM Wolf/Red pics (RED HOT RIDING HOOD? SWINGSHIFT CINDERALLA?) the characters pass a theatre lobby-style title card for the cartoon in question, then stop to discuss it.

Of course, as made-for-TV cartoons proliferated, the same type of fourth-wall breaking took place, but in the context of it being a TV show rather than a theatrical short subject. This was very common in Jay Ward product and the made-for-TV WB made in the nineties.

[Howard Fein]

I'm glad this thread is still alive, because I discovered one last night. NELLY'S FOLLY aired on the CHUCK JONES SHOW. When our giraffe heroine suffers the ruination of her career, she sadly walks into the sunset. This is observed by two birds sitting on a branch, one of whom says sympathetically in Tweety's voice, "poor wittle giwl."

Is this a paraphrase of some early sixties movie or TV show? The whole cartoon, with its variations of the 'rags-to-riches-to-rags/show biz is fickle' themes, seems very dated as it is.

[Brandon Pierce]

Originally posted by Howard Fein
Those 'interacting with the movie theatre audience' gags can be confusing if you're a young child of the sixties or after and believe all cartoons were made for TV. That would include:

HAIR-RAISING HARE: "Is dere a doctor in the house?! Is dere?!" (Silhouette stands up) "I'm a doctor." "Eeh, what's up doc?"
Also: "Look out dere- in de audience." "PEEEEOPLE- Ahhhh !!"

RABBIT EVERY MONDAY": Sam warns a silhoutted audience member leaving his seat not to warn Bugs of his presence ("Yes, sir- yes, sir!) with the threat of shooting him "-an' that goes for the rest of ya- an' I'll do it, too!"

ME MUSICAL NEPHEWS, I think: Popeye finds a place where he thinks can can escape his nephews' noisy musicmaking: the audience that's watching the cartoon!

MOUSE TROUBLE: After Jerry inflicts grave damage on the box Tom's hiding in, he peeks inside, gulps, and holds up a sign with the standard request for medical help, as indicated above.

HARE TONIC: Bugs points out to Elmer all the people in the audience who have contacted rabbititus, including the guy sitting next to the cute 'tomatah'.

Avery does quite a few gags of this nature. In LITTLE RED WALKING HOOD, it's the "guy in the 17th row" who vanquishes the villian. In CINDERELLA MEETS FELLA, she walks right out of the theatrical audience that's watching the cartoon. In at least one of his MGM Wolf/Red pics (RED HOT RIDING HOOD? SWINGSHIFT CINDERALLA?) the characters pass a theatre lobby-style title card for the cartoon in question, then stop to discuss it.

Of course, as made-for-TV cartoons proliferated, the same type of fourth-wall breaking took place, but in the context of it being a TV show rather than a theatrical short subject. This was very common in Jay Ward product and the made-for-TV WB made in the nineties.
Actually in Little Red Walking Hood, the cartoon pauses while two audience members look for a place to sit. The cartoon your thinking of is CASE OF THE STUTTERING PIG.

[Matt Yorston]

Originally posted by Howard Fein
In at least one of his MGM Wolf/Red pics (RED HOT RIDING HOOD? SWINGSHIFT CINDERALLA?) the characters pass a theatre lobby-style title card for the cartoon in question, then stop to discuss it.


Actually, that wasn't a Wolf/Red cartoon but it was Avery's "The Early Bird Dood It". The bird pursuing the worm notices the promotional picture for "The Early Bird Dood It" on a billboard and so does the worm. Both stop to observe it with the bird saying to worm, "Hey, uh, I hear that's a pretty funny cartoon." The worm replies, "Well, I hope it's funnier than THIS one!" The chase then continues.

[J. J. Hunsecker]

Originally posted by Howard Fein
Those 'interacting with the movie theatre audience' gags can be confusing if you're a young child of the sixties or after and believe all cartoons were made for TV. That would include:

For some reason, even as a child I thought those gags were funny. Maybe some of the jokes still played well even on tv, or perhaps I knew that the characters were talking to a movie audience, I can't really recall.

I would like to add WHAT'S COOKIN' DOC? Bugs leaves it up to the kind people in the audience to decide whether or not he deserves the Academy Award. The audience later "gives it to him" in the form of a booby prize.

[Steve Carras]

Okay, I'll add one.

LOVELORN LEGHORN: Prissy beans the Legster on the head, Foggy yells "we gonna have a nation of lump=pads", provoking a (either Scribner or Hawkins animated here) crying fit from Miss P. I suppose the allusion is to "lumpard", a politically incorrect term for a Prissy-like elderly spinster, given the context a 1984 special all-new material MAD MAGAZINE used it. Explain?

Also, A HICK, A SLICK, AND A CHICK and some GOOFY GOPHRS use "No time like the present".Self-explantory, yes, but what's the origin???????

Thanks.

[Steve Carras]

Originally posted by Howard Fein
Those 'interacting with the movie theatre audience' gags can be confusing if you're a young child of the sixties or after and believe all cartoons were made for TV. That would include:

HAIR-RAISING HARE: "Is dere a doctor in the house?! Is dere?!" (Silhouette stands up) "I'm a doctor." "Eeh, what's up doc?"
Also: "Look out dere- in de audience." "PEEEEOPLE- Ahhhh !!"

RABBIT EVERY MONDAY": Sam warns a silhoutted audience member leaving his seat not to warn Bugs of his presence ("Yes, sir- yes, sir!) with the threat of shooting him "-an' that goes for the rest of ya- an' I'll do it, too!"

ME MUSICAL NEPHEWS, I think: Popeye finds a place where he thinks can can escape his nephews' noisy musicmaking: the audience that's watching the cartoon!

MOUSE TROUBLE: After Jerry inflicts grave damage on the box Tom's hiding in, he peeks inside, gulps, and holds up a sign with the standard request for medical help, as indicated above.

HARE TONIC: Bugs points out to Elmer all the people in the audience who have contacted rabbititus, including the guy sitting next to the cute 'tomatah'.

Avery does quite a few gags of this nature. In LITTLE RED WALKING HOOD, it's the "guy in the 17th row" who vanquishes the villian. In CINDERELLA MEETS FELLA, she walks right out of the theatrical audience that's watching the cartoon. In at least one of his MGM Wolf/Red pics (RED HOT RIDING HOOD? SWINGSHIFT CINDERALLA?) the characters pass a theatre lobby-style title card for the cartoon in question, then stop to discuss it.

Of course, as made-for-TV cartoons proliferated, the same type of fourth-wall breaking took place, but in the context of it being a TV show rather than a theatrical short subject. This was very common in Jay Ward product and the made-for-TV WB made in the nineties.
AND, in keeping with the theme of the DePatie-Freleng theatricals SUPPOSEDLY being made for TV (!!!!!) there's always one ANT AND THE AARDVARK, TECHNOLOGY PHOOEY (1969), where the ant addresses the kids in the audience!

[frogboxer]

Originally posted by Steve Carras
LOVELORN LEGHORN: Prissy beans the Legster on the head, Foggy yells "we gonna have a nation of lump=pads", provoking a (either Scribner or Hawkins animated here) crying fit from Miss P. I suppose the allusion is to "lumpard", a politically incorrect term for a Prissy-like elderly spinster, given the context a 1984 special all-new material MAD MAGAZINE used it. Explain?
I think Foghorn said "lump-heads." The gag was that Prissy had just given him a lump on the head and so he warned of creating a nation of lump-heads, which is just a funnier way of saying idiots, morons, etc.

This is similar to the gag in "Rebel Rabbit" when Bugs makes the hare die/hair dye pun during "Senator Claghorn's" speech. Also, in "The Foghorn Leghorn" Foggy makes the "Keep your eye on the ball ... eye ... ball" gag.

[Davesnothere]

In "Dumbhounded" the wolf takes a corner too fast and momentarily skids out frame, past the sprocket holes in the film and into empty space! This gag is referenced for a microsecond in the Tex Avery Show intro.

In "Hare Trigger" Bugs is tied to the tracks on a railroad bridge with Sam driving the locomotive toward him, and is apparently screwed. The film appears to jam, burn on the bulb and break off. Bugs reappears against the empty space to announce that the picture can't continue. Also, he adds "Confidentially, that film didn't exactly break!" (snip, snip)

Over a decade earlier, in "Ride 'Em Bosko" Hugh and Rudy can't decide how to finish the cartoon, so they go home. Bosko is still riding his horse on the drawing board the whole time. After they depart, he realizes what happened and just stares at the audience pathetically. You can only do that once in a career!

In 1903's "The Great Train Robbery", the leader of the outlaws fires his revolvers toward the camera, appearing to be picking off people in the audience. This was usually at the end of the film, but sometimes it was spliced to the beginning.

In "Tortoise Beats Hare", Bugs reads the title card to the audience (mispronouncing the credits!). In a Screwy Squirrel short I can't remember the name of, he pulls the title card down from nowhere to read it to the villian midway through the cartoon.

In "Duck Amok", the film appears to get out of synch with the shutter (poor splicing jobs sometimes cause this), the effect being that the margin between frames appears in the center with the top and bottom halves of Daffy left to wonder what happened. "What're you doin' down/up there?" "Boy if you wasn't me, I'd clobber you!"

[DarthGonzo]

Originally posted by Davesnothere
In "Dumbhounded" the wolf takes a corner too fast and momentarily skids out frame, past the sprocket holes in the film and into empty space! This gag is referenced for a microsecond in the Tex Avery Show intro.

They also did this in a couch gag on the Simpsons


In "Hare Trigger" Bugs is tied to the tracks on a railroad bridge with Sam driving the locomotive toward him, and is apparently screwed. The film appears to jam, burn on the bulb and break off. Bugs reappears against the empty space to announce that the picture can't continue. Also, he adds "Confidentially, that film didn't exactly break!" (snip, snip)

Wasnt this "Bunny Hugged"?


In "Tortoise Beats Hare", Bugs reads the title card to the audience (mispronouncing the credits!). In a Screwy Squirrel short I can't remember the name of, he pulls the title card down from nowhere to read it to the villian midway through the cartoon.
[/B]

That was either "The Screwey Truant" or "Screwball Squirrel".

Maybe I'm missing something, but in "Tom Turk and Daffy" just what DOES the turkey say in that quick little cut-away shot of him hiding in the snowman? "Whistley"? "Why he...."? Someone please help!

And is there a reason why a whicker basket flies through the air in EVERY Tom and Jerry cartoon when Spike beats Tom up offscreen.

[Davesnothere]

That was "The Screwy Truant". Screwy was explaining to the truant officer who he was.

Oh yeah, in "Bunny Hugged" the wrestling match was going on forever and Bugs was losing, so he did something drastic. But I still think "Hare Trigger" ends the same way.

[Jack]

Originally posted by DarthGonzo
Maybe I'm missing something, but in "Tom Turk and Daffy" just what DOES the turkey say in that quick little cut-away shot of him hiding in the snowman? "Whistley"? "Why he...."? Someone please help! He says "Quisling." Quisling was sort of a Benedict Arnold type durring WWII. I quickly tried to find an article about him: here's one (http://www.mnc.net/norway/quisling.htm)


Jack:bosko:

[Matt Yorston]

Originally posted by Davesnothere

Oh yeah, in "Bunny Hugged" the wrestling match was going on forever and Bugs was losing, so he did something drastic. But I still think "Hare Trigger" ends the same way.

Actually, the cartoon in which that happens isn't "Bunny Hugged" either... the film breaking happens in "Rabbit Punch" which is the precursor to "Bunny Hugged" (boxing instead of wrestling). "Hare Trigger" ends with the mock cliffhanger announcing, "Is this the end of Bugs Bunny?" The answer, of course, is no ("He don't know me very well, do he?").

[Feslmogh]

Originally posted by Jack
He says "Quisling." Quisling was sort of a Benedict Arnold type durring WWII. I quickly tried to find an article about him: here's one (http://www.mnc.net/norway/quisling.htm)


Jack:bosko:

Huh... all this time I thought he was saying "...grizzly..."

[Davesnothere]

Whoops.

[lislebartman]

Originally posted by Tom41
Just remembered another one from Tom & Jerry. This bit of dialogue has been used in both The Zoot Cat and Solid Serenade
"I love you... you set my soul on fire. It is not just a spark, it is a flame... a big roaring flame. I can feel it now... burning... burning..."
Is this a reference to a movie? Or some expression they used in the 40s?

Tom is imitating Charles Boyer, a French movie star who was quite popular in the 1940s & 1950s. He was also the inspiration for Pepe Le Pew.