A Waggily Tale

In 1955, Friz Freleng directed a short called A Kiddies Kitty, which was an unpleasant piece of business where Sylvester is repeatedly mistreated by a clueless little girl who doesn't know how to take care of pets, and eventually decides the lesser of two evils by goading a bulldog to chase him instead. Comedically, that cartoon didn't work, because the "comedy" was all about Sylvester getting abused over and over, and none of it was because of his own doing. He was a hapless victim.

Well in 1958, Friz remade the cartoon, only this time he did it right. In this one, Junior is a similarly clueless boy who mistreats his dog, and is reprimanded by his mother for it (something missing in A Kiddies Kitty), which ultimately results in him being sent to his room. Junior dreams that he himself is a dog, and gets a taste of his own medicine when he's mistreated by a little girl in dog form. This is the right way to do this kind of story, since Junior learns empathy. Also, it helps that the girl is a bit more likable than the girl in A Kiddies Kitty, even when she's doing things like stuffing Dog Junior in the washer/dryer and brushing his teeth with soap.

The ending is also superior, with a true mind screw line that makes you laugh for just how bizarre it is.

After looking at pictures of characters from various one-off Looney Tunes shorts on Behind The Voice Actors, this was one of the three shorts I decided to look up and watch online late last night/early yesterday morning. Once viewing this one, I think my memories all started coming back and it seemed familiar even after not seeing it for years. I find it to be one of the more entertaining Looney Tunes cartoons of the late '50s and it's interesting to see the late Daws Butler credited as part of this series in an early role.

Junior is a boy who mistreats his dog, Elvis. Following a few times of doing so, he's sent to his room by his mother. When he takes a nap, he dreams that he's now a dog himself. At first, he sees the benefits of being a dog, like not going to school, but then he sees the disadvantages of being a dog as well, such as trying to talk but nobody being able to understand him. He is bought and brought home from the pet shop by a little girl, and her father. She is somewhat of a better dog owner than Junior ever was, though she naively goes about the improper ways of caring for him. After a few mishaps, Junior then wakes up from his experience as a canine. He's glad and grateful to be himself again, learns his lesson, and decides to be a much better owner to Elvis from now on. I won't mention the ironic twist there is at the end. It's similar to the previous WB cartoon shorts from the same decade, Boyhood Daze and A Kiddie's Kitty, from which the inspirations are drawn, and the parallels among them are evident. Despite this, I like them all equally.

I think this is one of my favorite Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies shorts (one-off or otherwise) of the '50s. I wish this and the two others (There Auto Be A Law and Mixed Master) were available on DVD. They would've fit at home on the fourth disc of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 6 set. Maybe hopefully they'll show up in a future volume of the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection DVD set. Whether or not you're a dog person, it's still an enjoyable enough short to watch. What more I can say about this short is that although for some time at this point this is one of those featuring a different art style from some certain, earlier ones, the animation quality is still good. The colors are moderate, the music is nice. The writing is well-written, the characters are well-voiced. Every technical thing about it is well-done. It was great seeing this again and I recommend it.