Chow Hound
Encyclopedia
Chow Hound is a Merrie Melodies
animated short directed by Chuck Jones
and written by Michael Maltese
. Released June 16, 1951, the voices were performed by Mel Blanc
, Bea Benaderet
and John T. Smith
.
Unlike most Warner Bros.
-series cartoons featuring cats as the antagonists of their targets (such as birds) and dogs serving to discourage their behavior, Chow Hound uses a different formula, wherein a large bulldog is the merciless bully, and the cat (along with a mouse) are his hapless victims.
to obtain dinner from various residences. The scheme involves the dog, who forever complains that he is "starving
," using the cat to pose as the pet for three residents and a municipal zoo. The cat poses as (in order of appearance):
The bulldog reads the missing animals article in the newspaper for the addresses and reward amounts from the owners and prepares to execute his big scam (telling his cat comrade "C'mon stupid; this is the payoff.") The bulldog returns the cat to each of his masters, collects the reward and then reclaims his cat by means of a trick-bed, the largest of the rewards coming from the zoo. The dog, gloating that he is now "set for life" and will "never be hungry again," uses his ill-gotten gains to purchase a butcher shop, where "acres and acres" of meat hang from the ceiling.
The final scene takes place at a "dog and cat hospital". The bulldog's gluttony has gotten the better of him, as his overindulgence on meat has rendered him grossly obese and unable to move a muscle. After two doctors diagnose "a distinct case of overeating" and depart from the operating room, two visitors march in: the cat and the mouse. The cat--speaking for the only time in the film--says, "This time, we didn't forget the gravy." The mouse jams a large funnel into the dog's mouth and smiles as the cat begins force-feeding the dog from an institutional-sized canister of gravy. The nervously-perspiring dog mutters "no" several times but is helpless to stop them as the picture irises out over the sound of the dog gurgling; with the cat and mouse finally getting their revenge.
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
animated short directed by Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
and written by Michael Maltese
Michael Maltese
Michael "Mike" Maltese was a long-time storyboard artist and screenwriter for classic animated cartoon shorts.-Career:...
. Released June 16, 1951, the voices were performed by Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
, Bea Benaderet
Bea Benaderet
Bea Benaderet was an American actress born in New York City and raised in San Francisco, California. She is best remembered for her wide variety of television work, which included a starring role in the 1960s television series Petticoat Junction and Green Acres as Shady Rest Hotel owner Kate...
and John T. Smith
John T. Smith
John T. "J.T." Smith is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling in the 1990s.-Tri-State Wrestling Alliance:...
.
Unlike most Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
-series cartoons featuring cats as the antagonists of their targets (such as birds) and dogs serving to discourage their behavior, Chow Hound uses a different formula, wherein a large bulldog is the merciless bully, and the cat (along with a mouse) are his hapless victims.
Plot
A large bulldog bullies two unwilling parties — a frightened cat and a tough-talking mouse — into various scamsConfidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
to obtain dinner from various residences. The scheme involves the dog, who forever complains that he is "starving
Starvation
Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy, nutrient and vitamin intake. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, death...
," using the cat to pose as the pet for three residents and a municipal zoo. The cat poses as (in order of appearance):
- "Butch," a turtleneck-wearing feline. The cat timidly walks to the waiting bulldog to hand him his steak, only to get slapped for forgetting the gravy.
- A bow-tied "Harold," who is scolded by his female "mistress" as he comes home. "Harold" tries to eat a leg of chicken when the mistress leaves the room, but is quickly grabbed by the bulldog, who again reprimands him for forgetting the gravy.
- "Timothy," the alley cat who serves as the mouse catcher for an older gentleman living in a brownstoneBrownstoneBrownstone is a brown Triassic or Jurassic sandstone which was once a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States to refer to a terraced house clad in this material.-Types:-Apostle Island brownstone:...
apartment building. The cat swallows the mouse whole, earning more physical punishment; the mouse tries unsuccessfully to get away after he is spit out. After earning another steak from the owner, the cat is again slapped by the bulldog for forgetting the gravy again. The mouse tries to get tough, but is simply hit on the head. - As a "saber-tooth alley catus," complete with fake fangs. The zookeeper shrugs his shoulders at the apparently new, unannounced "exhibit." It is at this point where the cat tries to one-up his captor by wrapping a TNT stick inside the steak. The result is only a small blast in the dog's stomach, which the embarrassed dog apparently misinterprets as gas and excuses himself. He smacks the cat (off-screen) for forgetting the gravy yet again, then starts to complain that "week in, week out, it's the same thing; it's too slow!" He then sees a sign advertising a reward for lost animals and gets a sinister idea: Holding the cat hostage for weeks, the dog accurately anticipates that the cat's "owners" will post rewards in the newspaper. "I've got plans for you!" the dog snarls.
The bulldog reads the missing animals article in the newspaper for the addresses and reward amounts from the owners and prepares to execute his big scam (telling his cat comrade "C'mon stupid; this is the payoff.") The bulldog returns the cat to each of his masters, collects the reward and then reclaims his cat by means of a trick-bed, the largest of the rewards coming from the zoo. The dog, gloating that he is now "set for life" and will "never be hungry again," uses his ill-gotten gains to purchase a butcher shop, where "acres and acres" of meat hang from the ceiling.
The final scene takes place at a "dog and cat hospital". The bulldog's gluttony has gotten the better of him, as his overindulgence on meat has rendered him grossly obese and unable to move a muscle. After two doctors diagnose "a distinct case of overeating" and depart from the operating room, two visitors march in: the cat and the mouse. The cat--speaking for the only time in the film--says, "This time, we didn't forget the gravy." The mouse jams a large funnel into the dog's mouth and smiles as the cat begins force-feeding the dog from an institutional-sized canister of gravy. The nervously-perspiring dog mutters "no" several times but is helpless to stop them as the picture irises out over the sound of the dog gurgling; with the cat and mouse finally getting their revenge.
Censorship
- Almost every television airing of this cartoon in the United States (particularly the airings on the FoxFox Broadcasting CompanyFox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
version of The Merrie Melodies Show, the former WB! networkThe WB Television NetworkThe WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
, NickelodeonNickelodeon (TV channel)Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
and post-2001 Cartoon NetworkCartoon Network (United States)Cartoon Network is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting which primarily airs animated programming. The channel was launched on October 1, 1992 after Turner purchased the animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1991...
) cuts the part where the dog (dressed as a game hunter) returns the cat (dressed as a sabre-toothed tiger) to the zoo because the mouse is depicted as an African savage (making it appear as though the rewards from the "owners" was enough to buy the deli). http://web.archive.org/web/20000303174939/www.megalink.net/~cooke/looney/ltcutsc.html - In addition to the above cut, on Fox, the end of the cartoon is cut before the cat and mouse can exact revenge on the dog ("This time, we didn't forget the gravy!") by dumping gravy into the dog, fading out after the doctors leave the hospital room.
Availability
- Chow Hound is available (uncensored and uncut) on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 6 is a four-disc DVD box set collection of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. Following the pattern of one release each year of the previous volumes, it was released on October 21, 2008....
, Disc 4 and on Blu-rayBlu-ray DiscBlu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
(presented uncensored and in 1080p1080p1080p is the shorthand identification for a set of HDTV high-definition video modes that are characterized by 1080 horizontal lines of resolution and progressive scan, meaning the image is not interlaced as is the case with the 1080i display standard....
high definitionHigh-definition televisionHigh-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
) as part of the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1 is a Blu-ray box set announced by Warner Home Video. It was released on November 15, 2011. It contains 50 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons and numerous supplements.-Disc 1:-Behind the Tunes:...
, Disc 2. It has also appeared in the first Cats & DogsCats & DogsCats & Dogs is a 2001 American-Australian action-comedy film directed by Lawrence Guterman. The screenplay by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra centers on the relationships between cats and dogs. It was shot in Victoria and Vancouver. The film was released on July 4, 2001 by Warner Bros...
.
External links
- Chow Hound at the Big Cartoon DatabaseBig Cartoon DataBaseThe Big Cartoon DataBase is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows and cartoon shorts....