Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!
Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! | |
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Directed by | Rudolf Ising (uncredited) |
Produced by | Hugh Harman Rudolf Ising Leon Schlesinger |
Animation by | Drawn by: Friz Freleng Carman Maxwell Additional drawing: Larry Martin (uncredited) |
Color process | Black-and-white (later redrawn colorized in 1992) |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
Running time | 7 minutes |
Smile, Darn Ya, Smile! is a Merrie Melodies cartoon short (September 5, 1931) and also the title of the song performed in the cartoon. This is one of only three Merrie Melodies cartoons to star Foxy; the other two are Lady, Play Your Mandolin! (August, 1931) and One More Time (October 3, 1931). This short is a remake of Trolley Troubles, a Disney short featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in whose creation Hugh Harman had once been involved.
A colorized version was produced in Korea by Fred Ladd, for Sunset Productions, the copyright holder at the time. It was made by re-drawing the cels and backgrounds. The animation in this version is inferior, since many drawings were left out, causing jerky movement.
Synopsis
Foxy is a trolley engineer whose problems include a fat lady hippo who can't fit into the trolley and a set of wheels that detach from the trolley car while it's moving. Foxy picks up his vixen girlfriend and gives her a ride, but along the way, the car is blocked by a cow wearing a dress, and glasses, and who won't get off the track. A group of nearby hobos sing the title song while Foxy tries to move the cow; he finally runs the car underneath the cow and goes on his way.
The trolley then goes down a hill and runs out of control; Foxy tries to stop it, but the brakes don't work. Finally, the trolley runs off of a cliff, throwing Foxy right into the camera... and then he falls from bed, waking up from what has turned out to be just a nightmare. The radio by his bed is playing the title song, and the annoyed Foxy smashes the radio with a bedpost upon hearing it.
The song
The theme song later appeared in Robert Zemeckis's Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Christoph Waltz also sang it when he hosted Saturday Night Live.
Availability
- Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6
- Return of the 30s Characters
External links
- 1931 films
- 1931 animated films
- 1930s American animated films
- 1930s animated short films
- Merrie Melodies shorts
- American black-and-white films
- American films
- American film remakes
- Dreams in fiction
- English-language films
- Films scored by Frank Marsales
- Animated films about foxes
- Films directed by Rudolf Ising
- Films featuring Foxy
- Rail transport films
- Short film remakes
- 1931 songs
- Songs about happiness