Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (March 4, 2024)
The third package in this series, Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice Volume 3 provides a collection of cartoons “intended for the adult collector and may not be suitable for children”. That appears to be code for “shorts that come with potentially controversial elements you might not want the kids to see”.
We’ll see how that prediction plays out across this disc’s 25 reels.
I’ll look at the cartoons in the order presented here.
I’ll provide my plot synopses from IMDB as well as quick thoughts, ratings on a 1-10 scale, and possible reasons Warner decided these cartoons might come with kid-unfriendly content.
A Feud There Was (1938): “Elmer Fudd attempts to end a lengthy feud between two families.”
Feud boasts a version of Elmer who resembles the “known quantity” nearly in name only. Though bald, this Fudd neither looks like “classic Elmer” nor talks or acts like him either.
That curiosity aside, Feud offers a decent short. It lacks much plot beyond “hillbillies who shoot at each other” but some clever and funny moments result at times. 6/10.
Possible controversy? All those weapons plus the portrayal of boozing hillbillies.
China Jones (1958): “Irish private eye China Jones finds a call for help in a Chinese fortune cookie and decides to investigate.”
This short parodies a 1950s series called China Smith, which explains why we get Daffy Duck as an Irish detective in Asia. Perhaps the short works better if you watched the now-forgotten Smith series, but on its own, it seems mediocre. 5/10.
Possible controversy? Rampant Asian stereotypes. The sight of Porky Pig as a Chinese character boggles the mind.
Cinderella Meets Fella (1938): “Cinderella attempts to go to the ball but encounters some snarls along the way.”
We’ve gotten umpteen Cinderella spoofs over the years, and this “Merrie Melodies” one doesn’t bring anything amazing to the table. Still, it comes with some mirth and becomes a watchable little reel. 6/10.
Footnote: this short’s “Prince Charming” looks a lot like the Elmer Fudd of Feud, though he doesn’t talk or act like that version.
Possible controversy? I guess the implication that the Fairy Godmother is a drunk. Cinderella also looks like she’s 10 years old, though I don’t think we’re supposed to see her as a minor.
Dumb Patrol (1964): “Biplane battles over France in World War I between Bugs Bunny and Baron (Yosemite) Sam Von Shamm.”
This one spoofs the film Dawn Patrol, a vaguely odd choice given the timing since that flick came out in 1938 – and it offered a remake of a 1930 flick. Perhaps the movie got lots of TV exposure that left it familiar to mid-1960s audiences and ripe for parody.
Whatever the case, Dumb offers a fairly forgettable short. The plot comes with potential but the final result just doesn’t seem especially funny. 4/10.
Possible controversy? All the gunfire/violence, I suppose – and maybe some German stereotypes, though these feel minor.
Egghead Rides Again (1937): “City dweller Egghead dreams of being a cowboy and he attempts to land a job at a ranch.”
Egghead offers a short-lived and curious character, mainly because he looked a lot like the proto-Elmer seen earlier but remained a separate role. Beyond that trivia note, the “Merrie Melodies” Rides seems pretty pedestrian. 5/10.
Possible controversy? Smoking and gunfire, I guess.
Elmer’s Pet Rabbit (1941): “Elmer buys a rabbit that he pitied seeing in the pet store. The rabbit turns out to be Bugs and makes Elmer's life a living nightmare.”
This set’s first glimpse of “classic Elmer” appears here, though its Bugs offers something of a work in progress. Bugs both looks and sounds different than our usual version, and he demonstrates an angrier and less “wise guy” personality.
Oddly, this came after audiences had already seen “classic Bugs”, which makes Rabbit an anomaly. Still, it’s a pretty good anomaly and the most amusing short so far in this package. 8/10.
Possible controversy? Not sure – perhaps my focus on the unusual version of Bugs distracted me and I missed something.
Hobo Bobo (1947): “Little Bobo the Elephant decides to leave a jungle for a glamorous life in a circus in America.”
Given the nature of the Bobo character, I expected the short to feel more cute than funny, but it finds some quirky humor along the way. 7/10.
Possible controversy? Allusions to drunkenness due to reactions to Bobo as a pink elephant when in disguise, I guess.
Honeymoon Hotel (1934): “Two honeymooning lovebugs find that their love is a little bit too hot.”
The oldest short in this set, Hotel offers a “Merrie Melodies” reel and not “Looney Tunes”. This inevitably leads to musical numbers and a much higher emphasis on cuteness than wacky humor. It never turns into anything especially entertaining, unfortunately. 3/10.
Possible controversy? I suppose implications that the bugs will have sex, with lines like “guests don’t go to sleep ‘til dawning” and other allusions to wedding night antics.
Hop, Skip and a Chump (1942): “Two crows try to catch a grasshopper who is much more difficult to catch than they imagined.”
Substitute the Laurel and Hardy-spoofing crows with Elmer and replace the grasshopper with Bugs and the short would require little adaptation. Still, it manifests reasonable amusement, even if it does feel like a Bugs script in disguise. 7/10.
Possible controversy? Not a clue.
I Only Have Eyes For You (1937): “The iceman is in love with a pretty girl but his dreamgirl prefers crooners like Bing Crosby, Rudy Vallee, or Eddie Cantor.”
Another “Merrie Melodies” short, it comes with that brand’s cutesy tendencies mentioned earlier. Still, it brings more laughs than usual, especially due to the “dreamgirl’s” affected Katharine Hepburn accent and the way a Cyrano act backfires. 6/10.
Possible controversy? I suspect the iceman’s speech impediment makes it seem insensitive.
Mexican Joyride (1947): “Daffy Duck drives to Mexico for a vacation.”
The portrayal of Mexicans didn’t age well, but at least Daffy adds some mirth. The short mainly concentrates on Daffy’s confrontation with a bull anyway. 6/10.
Possible controversy? Rampant Mexican stereotypes plus attempts at suicide.
The Mouse on 57th Street (1961): “A mouse mistakes rum cake for cheese and winds up drunk.”
I anticipated a cutesy reel here. Happily, Mouse fares better than expected and comes with a good collection of laughs. 7/10.
Possible controversy? All those drunken antics and their aftermath.
Mr. and Mrs. Is the Name (1935): “Buddy the merman attempts to woo a mermaid.”
Back to traditional “Merrie Melodies” with this one, and that means the usual emphasis on music and cuteness. Actually, we get some slapstick as well, but the short seems more concerned with adorable antics than real humor, and it tends to feel a bit creepy because the lead characters appear to be awfully young. 3/10.
Possible controversy? The topless mermaids whose boobs appear without the usual tresses to cover them, I suppose – though Warner didn’t go all the way and give the ladies nipples.
Of Rice and Hen (1953): “Slow-witted hen Miss Prissy sets out to land Foghorn Leghorn as her husband.”
Foghorn never rocked my world, and Rice doesn’t really alter that opinion. Still, Miss Prissy’s attempts to woo him give the short surprisingly solid amusement. 8/10.
Possible controversy? Miss Prissy attempts suicide.
Pre-Hysterical Hare (1958): “Bugs discovers a Micronesian Film Documentary in Cromagnonscope showing Elmer Fuddstone and a sabertooth bunny in 10,000 BC.”
The ancient setting gives the usual Bugs/Elmer dynamic a little spice – but not a lot. It doesn’t help that Dave Barry plays Elmer instead of Arthur Q. Bryan and offers a pretty terrible impersonation. This bad take on Elmer becomes a persistent distraction. 4/10.
Possible controversy? I guess guns.
Punch Trunk (1953): “A tiny elephant arrives in the city and spooks various inhabitants.”
Didn’t we see a similar plot with Hobo Bobo? Actually, the lead characters behave differently, but both shorts pursue a theme of city dwellers thrown off due to what they think are hallucinations.
Trunk becomes the less effective of the two, mainly because it doesn’t give the miniature elephant any real personality. This means little more than riffs on how folks react to the sight of a small pachyderm, and that theme gets stale. 4/10.
Possible controversy? Smoking, I suppose.
Quentin Quail (1946): “An exasperated Mr. Quail tries to catch a worm for whining daughter Baby Toots and gets the worst from a tough crow who has designs on the worm himself.”
Sometimes an intentionally annoying character works too well, and that occurs with Toots. She grates so severely that she makes Quail a bit of a chore to watch. 4/10.
Possible controversy? Outside of the phrase “Indian giver”, I don’t see anything.
Riff Raffy Daffy (1948): “Patrolman Porky Pig orders vagrant Daffy Duck out of a gopher hole in the City Park so Daffy takes up residence near a fireplace inside a closed-for-business department store.”
Porky seems unusually hard-hearted here, and it kind of feels beyond his responsibilities as a policeman to attempt to murder Daffy. This becomes a decent but pedestrian Daffy short. 5/10.
Possible controversy? Insensitive portrayal of the homeless, I guess – and guns.
Saddle Silly (1941): “A Pony Express rider's adventures in getting the mail through Indian country.”
Despite what that synopsis implies, Silly focuses more on one of the rider’s horses. It generates some clever laughs. 7/10.
Possible controversy? Unsurprisingly, those scenes in “Indian country” rely on stereotypes.
Sheep Ahoy (1954): “After punching in for work, Sam Sheepdog deals with Ralph Wolf's attempts to steal the flock.”
Does “Ralph Wolf” differ in any way from Wile E. Coyote? The pair boast exceedingly minor physical alterations, but it seems nuts that Warner put out two characters who were nearly identical both in appearance and behavior.
Indeed, this makes Ahoy a Road Runner short in disguise. My disdain for Road Runner carries over to this cartoon as well. 3/10.
Weird anomaly: I billed the characters as “Sam Sheepdog” and “Ralph Wolf” because that’s how all websites credit them. However, as depicted here, the dog is Ralph and the wolf is Sam. Maybe Warner just messed up this one time?
Possible controversy? Not a clue.
The Sheepish Wolf (1942): “A flock of sheep is being watched by a sheepdog so a hungry wolf tries to disguise himself.”
Obviously similar in theme, Sheepish takes a different approach to the plot of Ahoy. It proves more clever and amusing. 7/10.
Possible controversy? A sheep that takes on stereotypical Black characteristics.
There Auto Be a Law (1953): “A take on the development of the automobile in America and the comical effects of cars, traffic, and road design on various kinds of people.”
The 1950s inspired a fair number of spoofs about changes in modern life, and Auto follows this path. It seems dated but comes with a few good moments. 5/10.
Possible controversy? No clue.
Tugboat Granny (1956): “Tweety Bird and his mistress Granny are at the controls of a tugboat that Sylvester tries unsuccessfully to board.”
While preferable to Road Runner, Tweety never rocked my world, and the Granny character didn’t help. Tugboat doesn’t change this view, though some of Sylvester’s antics add a bit of comedy. 6/10.
Possible controversy? I remain at a loss.
War and Pieces (1964): “Wile E. Coyote tries to catch the Road Runner and winds up in Asia.”
As mentioned earlier, Road Runner always left me cold, and Pieces breaks no new ground. It delivers the same-old, which works for some but not for me. 4/10.
Possible controversy? Asian stereotypes.
Wet Hare (1962): “Blacque Jacque Shellacque dams the river and plans to charge everyone a fortune for water, but not if Bugs Bunny has anything to say about it.”
This disc finishes on a positive note. Hare reinvents no Bugs Bunny wheels but it finds some clever twists. 8/10.
Possible controversy? Guns, I guess.
