Dog Pounded
| Dog Pounded | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Friz Freleng |
| Written by | Warren Foster |
| Produced by | Eddie Selzer |
| Animation by | Manuel Perez Ken Champin Virgil Ross Arthur Davis |
| Layouts by | Hawley Pratt |
| Backgrounds by | Irv Wyner |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Running time | 7 mins |
Dog Pounded is a "Looney Tunes" (reissued as a Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodies) cartoon animated short starring Tweety and Sylvester. Released January 2, 1954, the cartoon is directed by Friz Freleng. The voices were performed by Mel Blanc.
The title is a play on the business dog pound.
Plot
A destitute, hungry Sylvester rummages through trash in search of his next meal. Nearly out of luck, the cat hears singing coming from atop a tall tree inside an enclosure, looks up and sees Tweety. Sylvester, eager for his dinner, rushes inside the enclosure ... unaware that the enclosure is the city dog pound. Sylvester gets attacked by an army of bulldogs, whose purpose in life seemingly is to protect Tweety from predators.
Wanting to get by the dogs, Sylvester employs the following tricks, all of them ending in failure:
- Holding an umbrella for balance, the cat walks across a guide wire connecting a light pole and the tree. The dogs collectively blow a gust of doggie breath at their foe, causing Sylvester to lose his balance and fall into the waiting horde of dogs.
- A dog suit. The dogs startle their new "companion", causing the head to come loose, and Sylvester quickly tries to secure it before the dogs notice. However, the dogs already have noticed – if they hadn't been not fooled already – and chase after Sylvester. The cat temporarily gets away, but the city dog catcher quickly returns him to his "home" (and a further beating).
- Digging a tunnel beneath the dog pound, to get at the tree unnoticed and snatch Tweety. The dogs, already having anticipated this latest scheme, have dug their own tunnel and wait for Sylvester to break through to their side.
- Mass hypnotism, which momentarily evens the odds; by staring at the dogs, Sylvester is able to freeze the dogs in place. Sylvester easily grabs Tweety, who panics and helplessly yells to his protectors to save him. When Sylvester blurts out the secret to un-freezing the dogs (a police whistle), Tweety instantly provides one and begins to blow ... except Sylvester quickly see that coming and places a glass over Tweety. But Tweety fights back by poking Sylvester's palm with a needle... and it isn't long before the dogs are once again on the attack.
- Blasting himself off in a rocket, the rocket shoots without him and he is shown furless
- Entering an empty dog pound, Sylvester tries climbing the tree ... only to discover the dogs waiting on the branches.
- A swing, which Sylvester hopes will allow him to swing harmlessly above the dogs to the tree. However, the swing's reach is too low, and the dogs are able to get at Sylvester ... who never returns to the outside.
The final attempt nearly works: Painting a phony skunk stripe down his back to scare the dogs away. Just as he grabs Tweety and makes his getaway, he is intercepted by Pepé Le Pew who tries to make love to what Pepé believes in a female skunk. Tweety looks on as the cartoon fades out.
Notes
- This was the only time Pepé Le Pew, a Chuck Jones-created character was used by Friz Freleng. In No Barking, also released in 1954, Tweety, a character used mostly by Freleng by this time, would make his only appearance in a Chuck Jones cartoon.
References
- Friedwald, Will and Jerry Beck. "The Warner Brothers Cartoons." Scarecrow Press Inc., Metuchen, N.J., 1981. ISBN 0-8108-1396-3.
External links
- Dog Pounded at IMDb
- Nuance and Suggestion in the Tweety and Sylvester Series - Written by Kevin McCorry