Woolen Under Where

The Ralph Wolf and Sam the Sheepdog series was short-lived and overlooked, and unjustly so. It was a very good, and at its best brilliant, series of cartoons, and some of the best of Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies later output.

Even the weakest of their cartoons, for me their last cartoon, is still solid, and of the short-lived series in the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies output featuring less famous and less iconic characters the Ralph vs. Sam series is a contender for the best and most consistent. 'Woolen Under Where' is the weakest of their cartoons, mainly due to Chuck Jones not being involved as director, but it is a good note to end on.

Conceptually, the series was one of Jones' best and most creative, even if it was essentially the same plot in all the cartoons but there was so much good material throughout the series and there were so few pacing issues that what could have been a problem didn't matter whatsoever. 'Woolen Under Where' is solidly paced and there isn't a gag that fails really, but story-wise it is the least inspired in how it executes the concept.

Animation-wise, 'Woolen Under Where' is animated beautifully, for a series of cartoons made late in Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies' prolific output the Ralph and Sam cartoons were generally some of the better-looking cartoons from this period, being colourful and inventively detailed with smooth and fluid character designs. The music is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed.

Gags and humour are clever and funny, overall very nicely done, if again lacking the imagination of the cartoons with Jones' involvement as director. The ending line is indeed priceless though. Was a little disappointed in the dynamic between Ralph and Sam. Not Ralph, he is still very funny and interesting, but Sam is a much more effective character when played straight, having him clumsy felt out of character and gave an odd vibe to the dynamic. Mel Blanc as ever is exuberant.

On the whole, a good cartoon but not as good as the previous cartoons, which ranged from very good to classic. 7/10 Bethany Cox

The final Ralph & Sam short and the only one not directed by Chuck Jones. This one's directed by former Jones animators Phil Monroe and Richard Thompson. For those not familiar with the series, it basically goes like this: every day friends Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog clock in to work, where they become enemies as Ralph tries to steal the sheep Sam is guarding. When the work day is through, the two clock out and become friends again. In this one, they are shown to also be roommates but I think this is the only time where that's the case. Also in this one Sam is shown to be pretty clumsy, walking into things and off cliffs because his hair is in his eyes. I believe that bit was used sparingly in a previous short or two but here it's done a lot at the beginning and then forgotten. It's a weird choice as Sam is the "straight man" of these things and giving him bits of business like that throws off the dynamic. The animation is fine; nothing special but by early 60s standards at WB it's pretty good. Nice music and voice work. None of the gags are particularly clever or funny. The last shot is one of the best of any final cartoon in any of the classic Looney Tunes series.

This is the last of the series and I'm tempted to say they went out with a bang (well, almost, at any rate) but they did close it out perfectly, in my view. The concept behind this still holds up very well and the ending to this one is just wonderful! The closing line is perfect! This runs on Cartoon Network fairly often and is well worth seeing. An excellent short! Most recommended.