Dog Tales is a 1958 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated cartoon directed by Robert McKimson.[1] The short was released on July 26, 1958.[2]
| Dog Tales | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Robert McKimson |
| Story by | Tedd Pierce |
| Produced by | John W. Burton, Sr. (uncredited) |
| Starring | Mel Blanc Mary Jane Croft (uncredited) |
| Narrated by | Robert C. Bruce (uncredited) |
| Edited by | Treg Brown |
| Music by | Milt Franklyn |
| Animation by | George Grandpré Ted Bonnicksen Warren Batchelder Tom Ray Harry Love (uncredited) |
| Layouts by | Robert Gribbroek |
| Backgrounds by | Richard H. Thomas |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 8:00 |
| Language | English |
Plot
editThe cartoon consists of a series of blackout gags involving dogs (e.g., one in which a doberman pinscher viciously pinches an overweight U.S. Army private identified as "Doberman" (a reference to, and caricature of, the character played by Maurice Gosfield on The Phil Silvers Show); and another in which the narrator can't make up his mind whether the dog pictured is a pointer or a setter, and then finally shows a picture of a "point-setter"). A basset hound declares that she's a TV star (a reference to Cleo the Dog, from the contemporary TV sitcom The People's Choice, who was also voiced by Mary Jane Croft), we learn the unusual breed of a Newfoundland puppy's grandfather, and a great dane named "Victor Barky" plays the piano.[3] Reused animation from Chuck Jones' Often an Orphan (1949) and Friz Freleng's Piker's Peak (1957) is also seen here. In the former case, Charlie Dog makes a cameo - his final appearance in a Warner Bros. cartoon as well as his only cartoon to not be directed by Chuck Jones.
One gag is a backhanded reference to Disney's animated feature, Lady and the Tramp, which was released around three years before this short. The narrator (Robert C. Bruce) solemnly intones "Today, the dog appears in countless varieties of artificially produced breeds," while the screen shows drawings of a Russian Wolfhound, an English Bulldog, an American Cocker Spaniel, a Pekingese, a Chihuahua, a Scottish Terrier, and a Dachshund—all of them nearly identical in their 'artificial' depiction to dogs from the Disney film (Boris, Bull, Lady, Peg, Pedro, Jock, and Dachsie), where they all (with the exception of Peg, played by Peggy Lee) speak English with stereotypical accents associated with their breeds' countries of origin.
References
edit- ^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 309. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
- ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 100–102. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
- ^ "The Warner Brothers Cartoon Companion: B".
External links
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