Farm Frolics
Encyclopedia
Farm Frolics is a 1941
Warner Bros.
cartoon in the Merrie Melodies
series. It was directed by Bob Clampett
, animation by Rob Scribner, and musical direction by Carl Stalling
. The vocal group heard at the beginning is The Sportsmen Quartet, who often harmonized in Warner Bros. cartoons of the period, later becoming the resident singing group on Jack Benny
's radio and TV shows.
) describes the action.
package in general, as many color cartoons in that package would be reissued as Blue Ribbons, opening with that version of the theme. That theme would even be played on the a.a.p. logo itself.
1941 in film
The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
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,...
cartoon in the Merrie Melodies
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,...
series. It was directed by Bob Clampett
Bob Clampett
Robert Emerson "Bob" Clampett was an American animator, producer, director, and puppeteer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes animated series from Warner Bros., and the television shows Time for Beany and Beany and Cecil...
, animation by Rob Scribner, and musical direction by Carl Stalling
Carl Stalling
Carl W. Stalling was an American composer and arranger for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts produced by Warner Bros., where he averaged one complete score each week, for 22 years.-Biography:Stalling was born to Ernest and...
. The vocal group heard at the beginning is The Sportsmen Quartet, who often harmonized in Warner Bros. cartoons of the period, later becoming the resident singing group on Jack Benny
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
's radio and TV shows.
History
This is one of the cartoons that Warner would occasionally produce that featured none of its stable of characters, just a series of gags, usually based on outrageous stereotypes and plays on words, and topical references, as a narrator (Robert C. BruceRobert C. Bruce
Robert C. Bruce, Jr. was a voice actor, and the son of Robert C. Bruce who was also an actor. He was the narrator for a number of Warner Bros. cartoons in the 1930s and 1940s...
) describes the action.
Production
This cartoon was also one of the first to carry the 1941-45 opening theme for the Merrie Melodies series. It would come to be associated with the a.a.p.Associated Artists Productions
Associated Artists Productions was a distributor of theatrical feature films and short subjects for television. It existed from 1953 to 1958. It was later folded into United Artists. The former a.a.p. library was later owned by MGM/UA Entertainment and then Turner Entertainment. Turner continues...
package in general, as many color cartoons in that package would be reissued as Blue Ribbons, opening with that version of the theme. That theme would even be played on the a.a.p. logo itself.
Plot Sypnosis
- A realistic looking horse is seen, whinnying (courtesy of Mel BlancMel BlancMelvin 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...
), and a comic tripleTripleTriple, a doublet of "treble" or "threefold" , is used in several contexts:* Triple metre, a musical metre characterized by a primary division of three beats to the bar...
plays out: The narrator asks the horse to do a trot; the horse obliges. The narrator asks for a gallop; the horse again obliges. The narrator then asks the horse to do a "canterCanterThe canter is a controlled, three-beat gait performed by a horse. It is a natural gait possessed by all horses, faster than most horses' trot but slower than the gallop, and is used by all riders. The speed of the canter varies between 16-27 km/h , depending on the length of the stride of the horse...
". The horse turns from realistic to a cartoon horse, with the bugged eyes of, and singing "I'm Happy About the Whole Thing" (by Harry WarrenHarry WarrenHarry Warren was an American composer and lyricist. Warren was the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song eleven times and won three Oscars for composing "Lullaby of Broadway", "You'll Never Know" and "On the Atchison,...
and Johnny MercerJohnny MercerJohn Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
) in the style of, the vaudeville star Eddie CantorEddie CantorEddie Cantor was an American "illustrated song" performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter...
, vocally impersonated by Kent RogersKent RogersKent Rogers was a Hollywood impressionist who appeared in several live-action shorts and features and a voice actor for Warner Bros..-Career:...
. The narrator admonishes the horse, who grins sheepishly. - The family dog is seen lazing on the porch, springing to alertness when the newspaper arrives. The dog makes a mad dash to the end of the driveway, gets the paper, comes back to the porch, and immediately starts to read the paper himself, starting with the Sunday comics. He turns to the audience, and speaking in Blanc's early version of Barney Rubble, says, "I just can't wait to see what happens to Dick TracyDick TracyDick Tracy is a comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a hard-hitting, fast-shooting and intelligent police detective. Created by Chester Gould, the strip made its debut on October 4, 1931, in the Detroit Mirror. It was distributed by the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate...
today!" - A hen leaves her eggs unguarded, and a mean-looking weaselWeaselWeasels are mammals forming the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family. They are small, active predators, long and slender with short legs....
stealthily creeps into the henhouse while the narrator frets. Just as he is about to grab the eggs, they all hatch at once, and the chicks shout "BOO!" in unison. The frightened weaselWeaselWeasels are mammals forming the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family. They are small, active predators, long and slender with short legs....
evokes a Joe PennerJoe PennerJoe Penner was an American 1930s-era vaudeville, radio and film comedian. He was an ethnic Hungarian born as József Pintér in Nagybecskerek, Austria-Hungary...
catch-phrase, "Don't ever DOOO that!" and gasps as his heart pounds. - A group of birds put a little twig, a bit of string, and piece of straw until they make a house approved by F.H.A. (Federal Housing AdministrationFederal Housing AdministrationThe Federal Housing Administration is a United States government agency created as part of the National Housing Act of 1934. It insured loans made by banks and other private lenders for home building and home buying...
), singing, "There's no place like home!" - A group of ants is seen coming and going at an anthill. The camera and mike zoom in to allow the viewer to see and hear as a mother summons her son: "Hen-REEEE!" "Coming, Mother!" (referring to the catchphrase from the radio show, "The Aldrich FamilyThe Aldrich FamilyThe Aldrich Family, a popular radio teenage situation comedy , was also presented in films, television and comic books. In the radio series' well-remembered weekly opening exchange, awkward teen Henry's mother called, "Hen-reeeeeeeeeeeee! Hen-ree Al-drich!", and he responded with a breaking...
"). - A mouse mentions that he is kind to the cat he's snuggling against, and nods with the narrator's observation they're friends. When asked by the narrator if he has anything he'd like to say to his friends in the audience, the mouse yells, "GET ME OUT OF HEEEEEEEEERE!!!!!!!!!"
- A recurring gag has 6 piglets eagerly watching an alarm clock. When it finally hits 6:00 p.m., one of the pigs yell "Dinnertime!" and they dash off to their mother, to the tune of the military bugle call "Mess Call". She braces for the onslaught as the sucklings pile into her side. Zoom in on the mother pig's rather dejected face, who speaks to the audience in the manner of ZaSu PittsZaSu PittsZaSu Pitts was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas and comedies, transitioning to comedy sound films.-Early life:ZaSu Pitts was born in Parsons, Kansas to Rulandus and Nellie Pitts; she was the third of four children...
: "Oh, dear... every day, it's the same thing!" Iris-out.
See also
- Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1940–1949)
- List of Bugs Bunny cartoons
- Looney Tunes Golden CollectionLooney Tunes Golden CollectionThe Looney Tunes Golden Collection was an annual series of six four-disc DVD box sets from Warner Bros.' home video unit Warner Home Video, each containing about 60 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated shorts...