The Busy Barber

The Busy Barber
Oswald stealing a tiger's tail for a barber pole.
Directed by	Walter Lantz Bill Nolan
Produced by	Walter Lantz
Animation by	Ray Abrams Fred Avery Bill Weber Jack Carr Charles Hastings
Color process	Black and white
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Running time	6 minutes

The Busy Barber, also known as Busy Barbers in some reissues, is a short animated film by Walter Lantz Productions, starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. It is the 64th Oswald short by Lantz and the 116th in the entire series.

Plot

Oswald opens a barber shop. A hippo and its mother are walking along while the hippo sucks on a lollipop. A dog steals the hippo's lollipop, causing him to cry. The mother takes the barber pole and gives it to her son to lick. Oswald notices his barber pole is gone. He finds a tiger sleeping on the ground. Oswald finds the tiger's tail a good substitute. The rabbit then picks up a saw and cuts the tail off the big cat.

Oswald returns to the location of his shop, and sticks the tail on the street just in front. In no time, customers start to come inside. The first one is a bloodhound who comes for a haircut despite not having too much hair. After receiving the service, the bloodhound attempts to leave without paying. This patron, however, gets grabbed by the cash register which appears to have a mind of its own and shakes every cent it could get.

Next to come in is a small fuzzy spaniel. All Oswald wants to is trim the length of its hairs. As a mistake, he shaves too much on the little dog's rear, making it bald in that area. Nevertheless, the spaniel shows little emotion, and therefore leaves the shop quietly.

The third visitor is a rat who doesn't seem to need any service. However, Oswald takes off the rat's nose and puts in a lightbulb. To the rat's amusement, the rabbit lights up the bulb by inserting the rodent's tail into a socket. The last client was a hippo who wants a shave. Although, the hippo's beard keeps growing back quickly, Oswald completes the task in three different methods.

Things are going well for Oswald until the tiger, which awakened already, walks into the shop. The tiger is pretty annoyed about what it lost earlier and is seeking vengeance. When the rabbit tries to flee, the big cat nabs and swallows him, although Oswald is able to crawl his way out. Understanding the tiger's disgruntlement, Oswald finally picks up the tail and puts it back on the striped beast. The tiger is then overjoyed and runs off peacefully, no longer wanting to wreak havoc. Relieved of his trouble as well as feeling happy for the big cat, Oswald simply laughs.

See also

• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit filmography

External links

• The Busy Barber at the Big Cartoon Database
• Busy Barber on YouTube