Die Dover Boys oder die Rivalen aus Roquefort Hall

Dover Boys at Pimento University or The Rivals of Roquefort Hall, The (1942)

** (out of 4)

At one time Chuck Jones said Warner almost fired him because of this cartoon and it's very easy to see why. This here is without question one of the strangest shorts I've seen from the studio. Three brothers, Larry, Tom and Dick, are taking their fiancé out when a rival kidnaps her. I'm really not sure what to say about this film but I guess the best way to put it is that this is either a great masterpiece of originality or one of the worst films ever made. I'll let you decide but I thought the film was pretty bad but at the same time I couldn't help but admire how different it was. The characters are strange, the color scheme is strange and pretty much everything else is strange including the humor. I'm really not sure what this thing is trying to do or if it's trying to spoof something but this here is one you'll have to see for yourself.

Dastardly Dan Backslide has kidnapped Dora, a dainty but deadly damsel. Can her shrill cries for help reach the heroic Dover Boys (Tom, Dick and Larry) in time? In making this entertaining, high-speed parody of the Rover Boys adventure books, Jones was an early adopter of what was later referred to as 'limited animation' (time and budget cutting techniques effective here but later criticised when overused in, for example, the myriad of Hanna-Barbara cartoons of the late 1950s and 1960s). The 80-year old cartoon is a parody of stories that take place in the early 1900s, so there are numerous dated 'culture-jokes' that might evade younger modern viewers, but as the cartoon is considered a milestone in the evolution of animation, there is no shortage of analysis and explanations on-line. The characters are funny, the songs amusing, and the sight-gags are great (especially Dora). Typical of Jones work, there are in-jokes, the imagery approaches surrealism at times, and there is a touch of meta-humour. #49 in the '50 Greatest Cartoons'

This early Chuck Jones short is a bit on the long side at 9 minutes, but it's also very humorous in a snide and subversive kind of way. The Dover Boys, Tom, Dick and Larry of Pimento University (or P.U.) have to save their love Dora Standpipe (yea they share one) from the clutches of coward, bully, cad and thief Dan Backslide when he kidnaps her during a long game of hide and seek. It's been said that this is Chuck's first true classic, I don't know about that as I did enjoy some of his earlier shorts as well, but at the same time I can figure out why some feel that way as it is a good cartoon and spoof. This animated short can be seen on Disc 2 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2. It also features an optional commentary by Micheal Barrier.

My Grade: A

I consider The Dover Boys to be Chuck Jones' first classic cartoon at Warner Bros. Before this cartoon Jones bored his audiences with weak imitations of cute Disney cartoons. Some of these earlier efforts had no humor in them at all, and the animation and timing were slow and plodding. He made a radical departure with The Dover Boys. Since it was a parody of gay nineties melodrama Jones has the characters strike very exaggerated poses. Because the poses were so strong they were easier for the eye to "read," and required less animation in between them. This also led to quicker timing of the action. Jones also invented a new way to animate speed. Up until this point in animation history speed was indicated by "drybrushing" streaks of paint following a fast moving character. Here, though, as the character moves from one extreme pose to the next he stretches like taffy (or "smears") for a few inbetween drawings. This created a more believable illusion of speed. (One has to watch these scenes frame by frame to appreciate it.) Besides all this inventiveness, the cartoon is incredible funny, too. Jones forsook Disney "realism" and has the characters move in humorous ways (Dora Standpipe never walks but glides across the floor). Mel Blank provides one of the funniest voices in his career for villain Dan Backslide. Jones got into some trouble for this experiment and it would be some time before he would use the lessons he learned from this cartoon again (mainly in the late forties). A real gem, highly recommended

A gem from the early 1940's, Jones took a path that would lead to the UPA animation revolution of the fifties with "Dover Boys". Although this film was hated by studio brass (and Jones almost canned because of it) it has become an animation classic--if anything else, the pursuit of "sweet Dora Standpipe" by vile Dan Backslide is hilarious. Listen for the Dover Boys' tendancy to break into barbershop harmony at inappropriate times, and the most unusual hide-and-seek game in civilized history.