Nelly's Folly
Encyclopedia
Nelly's Folly is a Merrie Melodies
cartoon short, released in 1961, which was written and directed by Chuck Jones
. A singing giraffe leaves the jungle to pursue a singing career, but finds herself lonely and out of work following an affair.
Nelly waves a tearful goodbye to her friends in the jungle as she leaves for civilization, captivated by the idea of show business. Once she arrives in New York City, she is put to work singing jingles for "Algonquin Rutabaga Tonic" - a cure for ailments, puts on live stage shows, and produces a line of giraffe-neck sweaters. The camera closes in on a turtle reading a magazine article on the giraffe-neck clothing. He turns to the camera and says, "Well, that's show business".
Nelly releases several albums, but over time becomes lonely with fame and longs for male companionship. One day she wanders into the Zoo and falls in love with a male giraffe, but she finds out he's already married (albeit unhappily, as the "wife" catches him looking at her). Scandal ensues and her agent tells her she's ruining her career (reduced to performing in empty opera houses and taking roles in foreign movies). She leaves show business to go back to her lover, who is back together with his wife and wants nothing to do with a has-been celebrity. A devastated Nelly decides to return to Africa.
Back in Africa, Nelly is seen singing a beautiful love song as we see her sad reflection in a pond, tears dripping from her eyes, and from the eyes of her jungle friends. Moments later, another male giraffe begins singing along with her. The two fall in love and the cartoon ends.
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,...
cartoon short, released in 1961, which was written and 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...
. A singing giraffe leaves the jungle to pursue a singing career, but finds herself lonely and out of work following an affair.
Story
The cartoon opens as a camera pans across the continent of Africa where the narrator describes how dark and terrifying it is, amid jungle sounds and roars. As the camera pans across the darkest area, we hear the melodious sound of someone singing. A second later the camera opens on a singing giraffe named Nelly, who is performing for her animal friends. A hunter appears from out of the bush, and exclaims, "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't heard it with me own eyes!" and immediately has her sign a contract offering her fame and fortune.Nelly waves a tearful goodbye to her friends in the jungle as she leaves for civilization, captivated by the idea of show business. Once she arrives in New York City, she is put to work singing jingles for "Algonquin Rutabaga Tonic" - a cure for ailments, puts on live stage shows, and produces a line of giraffe-neck sweaters. The camera closes in on a turtle reading a magazine article on the giraffe-neck clothing. He turns to the camera and says, "Well, that's show business".
Nelly releases several albums, but over time becomes lonely with fame and longs for male companionship. One day she wanders into the Zoo and falls in love with a male giraffe, but she finds out he's already married (albeit unhappily, as the "wife" catches him looking at her). Scandal ensues and her agent tells her she's ruining her career (reduced to performing in empty opera houses and taking roles in foreign movies). She leaves show business to go back to her lover, who is back together with his wife and wants nothing to do with a has-been celebrity. A devastated Nelly decides to return to Africa.
Back in Africa, Nelly is seen singing a beautiful love song as we see her sad reflection in a pond, tears dripping from her eyes, and from the eyes of her jungle friends. Moments later, another male giraffe begins singing along with her. The two fall in love and the cartoon ends.
Trivia
- Nominated for an Academy Award in 1962, for Best Short Subject, Cartoons.
- Ed Prentiss, the narrator of this film, used to be "Captain MidnightCaptain MidnightCaptain Midnight is a U.S. adventure franchise first broadcast as a radio serial from 1938 to 1949. Sponsored by the Skelly Oil Company, the radio program was the creation of radio scripters Wilfred G. Moore and Robert M...
" on radio in the 1940s. - Ed Prentiss also narrated Chuck Jones' "Martian Through GeorgiaMartian Through GeorgiaMartian Through Georgia is a 1962 Looney Tunes cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones, Maurice Noble , and Abe Levitow, and produced by Warner Bros., although it features none of the established Warner Bros. characters. It is a "one-off" tale of a sad and bored Martian who travels to Earth in search of...
" 1 year later. - Gloria Wood sang the original "Rice-A-Roni, The San Francisco Treat" TV jingle.
- Gloria Wood was also the vocalist for Kay Kayser's "The Woody Woodpecker Song" and was dubbed the singing voice of Marilyn MonroeMarilyn MonroeMarilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, Vera Ellen, and Betty GrableBetty GrableElizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...
. - Nelly's Folly did not end with the familiar "That's all, folks!" title card, but rather, with a slide that read: "Merrie Melodies: A Warner Bros. Cartoon. A Vitaphone Release". These words appeared multi-colored against a black background.
Music
- "Auld Lang Syne"
- "The Flower of Gower Gulch", written by Michael MalteseMichael MalteseMichael "Mike" Maltese was a long-time storyboard artist and screenwriter for classic animated cartoon shorts.-Career:...
- "Voices of Spring", by Johann StraussJohann Strauss IIJohann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
- "Aloha Oe", by Queen Liliuokalani
- "Columbia, Gem of the Ocean", aka "The Red, White and Blue"
- "Then You'll Remember Me", from Balfe's opera "The Bohemian GirlThe Bohemian GirlThe Bohemian Girl is an opera composed by Michael William Balfe with a libretto by Alfred Bunn. The plot is loosely based on a Cervantes tale, La Gitanilla.The opera was first produced in London at the Drury Lane Theatre on November 27, 1843...
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