LOONEY TUNES Survey #1: SIGHT GAGS

[Jerry Beck]

I am working on a new Looney Tunes project (which I am not allowed to talk about at this time), and I'd like to get your opinion on three different 'Best Ever' cartoon gag surveys

The readers of this board are indeed Looney Tunes biggest fans and harshest critics - so your input will be strongly considered, and besides, I think you'll have fun coming up with the answers.

The groundrules:

1. I'm looking for examples in 1940s & 50s cartoons.
2. No examples from wartime cartoons.
3. I'd prefer character cartoons (Daffy, Tweety, Speedy, Bugs, etc.)
4. No "censored 11" cartoons or blackface gags.

Survey #1: BEST EVER SIGHT GAGS

examples:
Daffy redrawn as a four-legged flower headed creature in DUCK AMUCK;
Marc Anthony’s facial reactions in FEED THE KITTY;
Daffy Duck twisting Neon Noodle into an “Eat At Joe’s sign - in THE GREAT PIGGY BANK ROBBERY;
Charlie Dog’s “Large Soulful Eyes” in OFTEN AN ORPHAN;
The dog turning all colors (including plaid) while stifling an itch in AN ITCH IN TIME;
Bugs dressing Elmer Fudd in drag in THE BIG SNOOZE;
Daffy Duck turning into a giant eyeball for two frames in BOOK REVUE.

Any suggestions?

[Jackwarner]

I always liked 'Yakee Dood It' when the elf turns into a mouse when somebody says the magic word "Jehosophat." Don't know if that's what you're looking for or not.

[Pietro]

Here are a few sight gags I always enjoyed:

"Tabasco Road" (1957): When Speedy rescues his friends from the cat so quickly we can't see it. Speedy then "replays" in "slow motion." McKimson displays an perfect rate of timing here.

"Hopalong Casualty" (1960): The gag involving Wile E. trying to making the earthquake pills work. He swallows the whole bottle but then realizes that it's "Only effective on Road Runners." Wile E.'s facial expressions during this scene are absolutely hilarious. Even though this isn't from the 50s or 40s it definetly deserves a mention.

"There They Go-Go-Go" (1956): When Wile E. finds out that the huge boulders he set up to clobber the Road Runner won't fall he tries poking it with a stick. After realizing what he's doing he pulls out a "What in heaven's name am I doing?" sign before the boulders fall.

"Ali Baba Bunny" (1957): The "wave" lines from Daffy's eyes while looking in total awe at the gold. This occurs right after Bugs says "What's Up Duck?"

"Porky's Last Stand" (1940): Daffy giving that HUGE sheepish grin at the bull.

"Wabbit Trouble" (1941): When Elmer sees the bear his eyes bug out.

"Tick Tock Tuckered" (1944): Daffy shooting the sun with the musket always cracked me up.

That's All for Now Folks!

-Pietro:D

[absolutpaul]

Porky Pig's imitation of a fish in The Sour Puss.

Bugs Bunny's "Stag Reel" in What's Cookin' Doc?

Wile E. Cyote falls off a cliff and asks "How about ending this cartoon before I hit?" (I forget which one that was.)

[Matthew Hunter]

In "Porky's Party" (1938), the goose cuts a slice of cake and then quickly eats the rest of it, leaving the slice for everybody else.

"Much Ado About Nutting"(1953) all the frustrated reactions of the little squirrel trying to open the coconut.

"Guided Muscle"(1955): at the end of the cartoon, Wile E. Coyote drags a want ad for a "gullible Coyote, apply to manager of this theater"...before dragging the "That's All Folks" card on over it.
-Matthew

[Pietro]

I just got another one: Sylvester "suffocating" from the limburger cheese in "Here Today Gone Tamale"

-Pietro:D

[Brandon Pierce]

CINDERELLA MEETS FELLA- Egghead tipping his hat AND his head.

[Tintin]

Claude changing color of his head's in Hypo-Chondri-Cat

Bugs Bunny say "I am Elmer J. Fudd, Millionaire, i am a empire and a yatch" in Hare Brush

[Howard]

Daffy Duck "disguised" as a rooster with a glove and feathers in a plunger in "You Were Never Duckier"

The two chefs in "French Rarebit" that Bugs dressed up as rabbits to show them how to cook him.

Sylvester painted yellow and stuck in a bird cage to fool Granny in "Fowl Weather".

Daffy Duck as the motor (for which Porky has a permit!) in "Boobs in the Woods"

The turkey marionette scene in "Wakiki Wabbit"

[J. J. Hunsecker]

A Corny Concerto -- Bugs turns green and literally crumples to the ground during his big death scene. Later on, baby Daffy turns into WWII p-40 Tomahawk plane for a few frames.

The Great Piggy Bank Robbery -- Daffy puts his head through his (empty) magnefying glass while searching for clues on the street. Daffy's silouhette turns into the real Dick Tracey for a few frames at the beginning of the cartoon. Also, the blindfold he is wearing, for the pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game, is revealed to have an eyehole cut out of it.

Kitty Kornered -- Porky appears as Santa after getting thrown into snowback and emerging with strategically placed snow. (Elmer also appears as Santa, with his dog as a reindeer, because of soap suds in An Itch in Time.) Later Porky gets licked on the face by his hand shadow "dog."

Horton Hatches the Egg -- Daisey Mae has literal "bags' under her eyes. (Not one of the major characters, I know.)

Hare Remover -- Bugs holds up signs with illustrations of "screw ball," "bats in the belfry," etc.

Then there is the multitude of scenes in many cartoons involving characters cross-dissolving into lollipops ("suckers"), heels, jackasses, and wolves.

[Larry T]

How about:

Porky's Five and Ten - any of the bizarre effects that happen to the fish after encountering Porky's merchandise.

Porky's Poor Fish - Take your pick of any of the joke "descriptive signs" and weird fish in this cartoon.

Injun Trouble (1938) - There's some good ones where Injun Joe displays his formidable reputation.

Saps In Chaps - This whole cartoon is based on sight gags.

Hobby Horse Laffs - This whole cartoon is based on them too.

Porky's Preview - isn't this entire cartoon really just a sight gag in itself? :)

[David Gerstein]

Hmm. In BALLOT BOX BUNNY, the Rabbit— listening to Sam's political speech from afar— is in the middle of first opening, then chugging down a can of carrot juice. It's timed perfectly so that Bugs is taking a deep drink just as Sam announces his policy of rabbit genocide. Cue the greatest spit-take ever animated.
Another of my favorite sight gags comes in WHICH IS WITCH. Bugs is swimming through a jungle river toward a distant freight ship, submerged with only his rabbit ears sticking up from the water. The ears approach a hungry crocodile, who opens his mouth wide to catch the oncoming Bugs. Then the ears improbably spread out and zip independently around the croc's jaws. How they do this while remaining attached to Bugs' head we're evidently not supposed to ask.

[Theking]

I can't remember the name of the cartoon but I always liked the Roadrunner cartoon when Wile E. is trying to get the rocks to fall from their holder and he is poking them with a long stick.

and little pebbles start raining down and he puts up a sign that reads "What the heck am I doing?" *at least I think that is the wording* And then the bolders all fall down on him.

Way too funny

TheKing

[Rob]

One of my favorites...on his way out of Peter Lorre's castle, and as if leaving on a trip, Bugs carefully packs several suitcases (of, I assume, Lorre's belongings), and is even wearing some of his clothes. After a long "Gooodbye!," Bugs tells him not to think "it's been a little slice of Heaven...'cause it hasn't!" Bugs then hightails it to the door, leaving behind all the stuff he's packed. All to a peppy rendition of "California Here I Come." From HAIR-RAISING HARE.

[Rob]

Jerry, I just thought of another, this one from HURDY-GURDY HARE. When Bugs is menaced by the ape high on the building's ledge, he says "That's a good trick, Doc. But can you do THIS?" He then inserts his index finger into his mouth, inflates his cheecks, and "levitates" himself briefly. The ape tries to do it, and actually floats in mid-air! Bugs gives him a little nudge so he's positioned just beyond the building's ledge, and scolds the gorilla with "You're a big boy now! Take your finger out of your mouth!" The gorilla does, and then plummets to the street below.

[Mibbitmaker]

Another from
Great Piggy Bank Robbery - Rubberhead rubbing out Daffy ("...and furthermore, it's unbelieva.....bo"), and the crooks all grabbing Daffy, with the little black duck wiggling out.

Wabbit Twouble - Elmer, while quickly packing up, grabs the huge tree, then puts it back and shrugs to the audience.

The Stupid Cupid - Daffy all over Elmer during his "canvas back cassenova, a henpecked duck" speech.

Porky's Badtime Story/Tick Tock Tuckered - The garage turning inside-out as Porky and Gabby/Daffy drive away.

Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid - Bug's "Gruesome, isn't it" bone gag.

Duck Dodgers in the 24 and 1/2 Century - "Well, whaddaya know...it...disintegrated."

Long-Haired Hare - The opera singer's reaction to alum

[cabe624]

Lets see:

Fresh Hare Bugs is tunneling under the snow with Elmer following him. He comes to a tree and his ears go around the trunk of the tree but Elmer bangs into it, shakes the snow off the tree, and turns into Santa Claus. Something similar to this also happens in The Heckling Hare.

If you don't consider Draftee Daffy a wartime cartoon then theres a lot of sight gags there - but I would consider it a wartime cartoon so you probally can't use it.

[barnyarddawg]

My Favorite Duck- Daffy flips Pokry's boat and Porky swims through the air.

Hare Brained Hypnotist - The bear flying like a bird, and Elmer standing behind Bugs feeding him carrots.

Wabbit Twouble- Bugs blows up like Elmer and says "That'll howd'em awight, heh,heh,heh."

[Thad Komorowski]

Porky's Last Stand - Daffy Duck shows hilarious slapstick through this whole cartoon! "With plenty of gravy on you, hoo-hoo-hoo!" "Hey, Ferdinand!!!"

Buckaroo Bugs - Bugs Bunny robbing Red Hot Ryder, and the entire scene of Red and his horse falling down the cliff.

To Duck or Not to Duck - "Ya mean, none of this---" *WHACK* "Or this---" *SLAM* "Or this---" *BAM* "How about a little of--- THIS!" *WHAM*

[J Lee]

So many possibilities, so little time. So here are a few, just from the 1940s Bugs shorts:

Bugs' mimicking of Willoughby's facial expressions in "The Heckling Hare," followed by the 'Silly, isn't he?' sign and the club, as Willoughby gets caught up in the action (Maltese would trot this gag out again for Bugs vs. the Wolf in "Little Red Riding Rabbit," and Bugs vs. the Gashouse Gorilla in "Baseball Bugs" working with Freleng, and capped it with the Bugs vs. Daffy vs. Elmer's gun barrel variation in Jones' "Rabbit Fire.")

The door gag from either "Little Red Riding Rabbit" or "Bucaneer Bunny"

Bugs' visual discription of Rabbititus from "Hare Tonic" capped by his series of fits turninf him into the Frankenstein monster.

Bugs' emergence from the 'Lengerie Department' doing wolf whistles while chasing the lace-clad floorwalker in "Hare Conditioned," capping the chase though the store's departments(this is also the short that made me ask as a youth "What the heck is lengerie?" Who says cartoons aren't educational.)

Two from "Hare Remover" -- Elmer's abilty to keep his feet planted far away from the wall and still smack his head into it, followed by his facial gyrations and color changes after he drinks his own "fiend" formula.

Sam's emergence from the Club Car fight in "Hare Trigger" totally punchy and ready to keep punching, before porter Bugs loads him down with luggage and then -- after getting a 25 cent tip from Sam -- escorts him off the side of the train.

Bugs reading the book 'How to Multiply' at the start of "Easter Yeggs" and quickly closing the cover when he realizes there's someone nearby.

"Bugs Bunny Rides Again" -- Sam taking the buck-and-wing on cue from Bugs, and then doing a high-stepping finish into the elevator shaft.

Elmer getting waylayed over and over by the nicotine-addicted audience headed to and from the lobby in "Hare Do."

Pretty much any of the Sam-off-the-board gags from "High Diving Hare" though my favorite is Bugs diguised as the Indian guide, and the board complete with a 'Short Cut' sign and a dead cow's skull for Sam to head off of.

Giovani Jones' joining in Bugs' singing twice, and then suddenly finding he had a tuba for a voice at the start of "Long-Haired Hare."

The Sheriff of Nottingham building his six-room Tudor in the middle of the King's Garden in "Rabbit Hood" and then slowly realizing what he's done before hammering his head down into his shoulders.

[angilbas]

Originally posted by Theking
I can't remember the name of the cartoon but I always liked the Roadrunner cartoon when Wile E. is trying to get the rocks to fall from their holder and he is poking them with a long stick.

and little pebbles start raining down and he puts up a sign that reads "What the heck am I doing?" *at least I think that is the wording* And then the bolders all fall down on him.

Way too funny

TheKing

That's the end gag from "There They Go-Go-Go!" ... which begins with a great set-piece in which Famishus Fantasticus bakes a mud bird, then tries to eat it.


-Tony

[Jerry Beck]

A quick "Thank you"! Great answers from all!

[frogboxer]

Let's not forget Daffy's reaction to Elmer's line, "But I haven't got a wicense to shoot a fwicasseeing wabbit," in "Duck, Rabbit! Duck!"

[Matt Yorston]

Originally posted by frogboxer
Let's not forget Daffy's reaction to Elmer's line, "But I haven't got a wicense to shoot a fwicasseeing wabbit," in "Duck, Rabbit! Duck!"

Yeah! That one's absolutely classic. Booiiiinnngg! I like how it was used in "Chuck Jones: Extremes and In-betweens" to demonstrate facial expressions ("Sometimes the eye moves where something's happening and suddenly you go... what??!!").

[Howard Fein]

8-BALL BUNNY: Bugs peeks into the kitchen window to find the pen-goo-in hanging upside down next to two dead chickens en route to ending up on the menu. Playboy manages to tip his little tuxedo hat in greeting! :)

Freleng seemed to excel at quick throwaway gags:

HARE SPLITTER: After Casbah receives a 'kiss' from a disguised Bugs (actually from a plunger with lipstick), a rabbit Cupid appears and hits him in the head with a hammer. Casbah then slips Cupid a cigar. :D

ALONG CAME DAFFY: During the introductory tracking shot of the cabin, among the many visuals to show how lacking in food it is, is a cobweb strung between two kitchen utensils on a table, with a spider casually swinging on it, hammock-style! :cool:

RABBIT TRANSIT: During the introductory tracking shot of the hot spring spa Bugs is vacationing in, one of the 'geysers' is actually shown as contained in a water cooler! :p

SNOW BUSINESS: Sylvester sticks his burning hand (having carelessly placed it on a hot stove) out the window, and all the snow for miles around instantly melts away! :D

HARE DO: At the ending iris-out, Bugs slams the mouth of the lion (who's just devoured Elmer) shut! "Yep, he made it." :)