An Itch in Time

Elmer Fudd is at home reading his Porky Pig comic by the open fire with his dog asleep by his side. When a flea enters the house it heads straight for the dog, making both the dog's and Elmer's night a misery. However getting rid of him is not so easy.

When this cartoon started I had reasonable hopes as I thought it might be a Bugs Bunny cartoon due to the presence of Elmer Fudd. However not only wasn't it, but Elmer himself seems to be in there simply to have a well known character in the cartoon. The main characters are actually the dog and the flea – neither of which are very good characters. The dog is OK but the flea is an annoying little fellow with a high voice that just grated on me.

The jokes are OK without ever being very good. I think what pit me off the most was just the weakness of the characters – they weren't very interesting and, although their jokes would have made me laugh if other characters had done them, the weaknesses in their characters just seemed to drain a lot of the laughs out of the cartoon.

Overall this could have been better and, indeed, many viewers may well find it funnier than I did. But for me a cartoon is not simply the jokes, it is also the characters and the plot framework. Here neither of those factors came into play and the already weak cartoon was just made weaker.

Bob Clampett's 'An Itch in Time' milks seven minutes of crazy action out of a very small premise. Elmer Fudd tells his dog that if he scratches himself just once more that he will be given a dreaded bath. Unfortunately for the dog, a relentless flea makes it all but impossible to stop from scratching. The cartoon switches between the flea's progress inside the dog's fur and the dog's desperate attempts to cope with it. In a great sequence that really captures the frustration of an itch that can't be scratched, the dog changes colour from brown to blue to red to polka dotted to plaid! It sounds ludicrously surreal but it perfectly evokes the indescribable feeling of an itch in a way only Clampett could. There are several other elements which make 'An Itch in Time' pure Clampett. There's the grotesque concept itself, which leads to some graphic scenes of the flea munching on the dog's flesh. There's the unrestrained violence that rears its head in any scene featuring the cat. Most notably, there's the dirty jokes including a huge shot of the dog's behind which causes the flea to wolf-whistle and a hysterical sequence in which the dog attempts to scratch himself by dragging his backside along the floor. He momentarily breaks off to address the audience: "Hey, I better cut this out. I may get to like it"! With a very limited concept, Clampett manages to make 'An Itch in Time' a unique, minutiae-based cartoon. Like an early episode of 'Seinfeld', 'An Itch in Time' is practically about nothing but very funny with it.

One of the many Merrie Melodies cartoons that entertained American moviegoers during WWII, Bob Clampett's "An Itch in Time" portrays a hobo flea settling on Elmer Fudd's dog. The little guy turns into a real sadist while making a home on the dog's back, but Elmer warns the dog: "One more scwatch and I'll give you a bath!" Meanwhile, the flea is setting up dynamite on the dog!* And that's not the end! I noticed that in one scene, Elmer is reading a comic book featuring Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig. Obviously, Elmer and Bugs frequently co-starred but Elmer never co-starred with Porky (unless you count the very short "Any Bonds Today?"). But to me, the thought of Elmer reading about these other famous characters from his same genre stresses the metaphysical nature of his world, as though he knew of their existence within his universe even though they don't appear in this cartoon.

Of course, I'm probably going too far in my analysis. I'm sure that the cartoon was intended as pure entertainment, and it certainly entertains. As for the "I might get to like this" line, it sounds as though that was something that the censors wouldn't have allowed but somehow missed; I, for one, don't actually know what it was supposed to sound like. Was it something sexual? As for the end, had I thought that I'd seen everything, I would have been tempted to look for more, rather than do what the cat did (although it was a neat trick).

*The guys behind these cartoons sure had a thing for TNT, didn't they?

Elmer Fudd is laughing while lounging in his easy chair and reading his comic book, his dog comfortably nearby sleeping in front of the fireplace. All is peaceful until a flea comes bouncing by. (The flea is dressed in a farmer's-type outfit with a big sombrero and is carrying a satchel with the name "A. Flea" on it.) He gets out his telescope and spots the dog. (We see a big shot of the dog's butt and the flea whistles in excitement, screaming "T- Bone!" He then sings, "There's food around the corner; there's food around the corner!")

That sets up the storyline of this cute-but-obnoxious flea tormenting the poor dog. The mutt is hilarious as he reacts to the flea.

The drawings of his huge teeth chomping right next to the fleeing flea are clever and the dog's dialog made me laugh out loud a few times. This might be the funniest canine I have ever seen in a cartoon! The poor pooch, under a threat of having to take a bath, as to NOT react when the stupid flea causes him pain. It's almost painful to watch as the flea uses pickaxes, jackhammers and the like on the dog. He puts firecrackers in the dog's behind. It's brutal!

A hobo flea spots a dog in Elmer Fudd's peaceful home. To him, this is a heavenly buffet. The dog is beside himself from scratching, but he is also afraid of Elmer giving him a bath.

Elmer Fudd has had various dogs over the years. I don't know which one is this one. It would be great if he has more consistent side characters. Being the lead, the dog should be more famous. Elmer is probably the only known character and he's not doing his hunting. Honestly, this would be the same for anybody's dog. Elmer is just a big name character. As for story, it is pretty simple and fine. I don't have any issues with it.