Release Date:

April 7, 1951

Main Character(s):

Goofy Gophers

Summary:

The Goofy Gophers are playing a game of gin rummy when a persistent dog buries his bone in their hole. After attempting to convince him to bury it someplace else fails, the Gophers get pursued by the dog and heckle him.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1155 and was released as a Looney Tune.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue.

This is Freleng’s first Goofy Gophers cartoon. He would also direct their next three appearances, “I Gopher You” (1954), “Pests for Guests” (1955), and “Lumber Jerks” (1955).

Having left the studio all the way back in 1940, Ben Hardaway made a very brief return to the studio to write this cartoon, making this his only post-1940 involvement with the studio.

This is the last Freleng cartoon to feature animation from Emery Hawkins and the last Warner cartoon not directed by McKimson to do so.

The name on the dog’s doghouse reads “Geo. P. Dog”. Interestingly, in a Bugs Bunny Show episode, Barnyard Dawg was also given the name of “George P. Dog”.

The can of tuna that the Gophers use for their table to play their game reads “Hadley and Co. Tuna” and “Pert” is also shown on the side. Both of these are once again variations on Hawley Pratt.

This is yet another instance where the description for the cartoon on streaming services have poorly copied what was said in Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. In the book, it says, “For Freleng’s first gopher toon, he stresses their gentility over their goofiness”. The description on Tubi says, “The first goofy gopher cartoon. It expresses their gentility over their goofiness”, making it seem like this was their debut, when it is actually their FOURTH appearance, following “The Goofy Gophers”, “Two Gophers from Texas”, and “A Ham in a Role”. I absolutely CANNOT stand how lazy most of the descriptions for the Warner cartoons on streaming services are. If you’re going to summarize something, put it in your own words!

What I Like About This One:

The very catchy rendition of “That Was a Big Fat Lie” over the opening credits (what’s NOT a lie is that this music in particular is a strong example of why Carl Stalling is unquestionably the best cartoon composer).

The Gophers are seen playing their gin game on a makeshift table made from a can of tuna and using alphabet blocks for their respective chairs. The second gopher asks, “Do I draw now?” to which the first gopher answers, “Yes, yes. It’s your turn”. Seeing the card he’s drawn, the second gopher tsks at it, “My, my. I’m having such dreadful luck”. The first gopher asks, “Would you like to draw again?” Second gopher: “May I?” First gopher: “Please do”. The second gopher does so, and asks, “Do you mind if I gin?” The first gopher answers, “Oh, no, no, no, no. Go right ahead”. After the second gopher declares, “Gin!”, he tsks and tells the first gopher, “You’ve lost five in a row. Would you like to lose another?” The first gopher replies, “Oh, yes, yes, yes. I would. I would. I’d like that very much” (animated by Virgil Ross).

The first gopher is about to deal for the next round when the dog’s bone suddenly drops from the ground onto their “table” before they are buried from the dirt the dog digs into the hole. Popping out of the dirt, the first gopher observes, “Quite an avalanche”. The second gopher agrees, “Yes, quite”. “Should I investigate?”, the first gopher asks to which the second gopher approves (animated by Ross with Manuel Perez animating the shot of the dog digging). The first gopher goes up and asks the dog politely, “Pardon me, Mr. Dog. But would you mind burying that soup bone somewhere else? It’s quite disturbing, you know. Quite disturbing, yes, yes, quite disturbing”. The dog initially complies, “Yeah? Oh, okay, buddy” but after the first gopher goes back down, the dog stops walking away and thinks to himself aloud, “Hey, wait a minute! Why should I let that little shrimp tell me where to dig?” and goes back (animated by Emery Hawkins).

The dog again buries his bone in the Gophers’ hole, this time burying it with an irritated expression (animated by Perez). Popping up out of the dirt again, the second gopher assumes, “Apparently, you didn’t impress him”. After the first gopher agrees, “Apparently”, the second gopher asks, “May I impress him this time?” “Yes, I think you should”, the first gopher answers (animated by Ross). The dog waits while scowling and with his arms in a folded position. The second gopher pops up and asks, “Pardon me, but is it necessary that you bury that femur right here?” The dog snarls before grabbing him, “Now what was that you started to say, shorty?” The second gopher gulps nervously and asks, “Do you mind if I yell for help?” Unaware that the Gophers are twins, the dog tauntingly gives him the approval to do so: “Go ahead. Yell your head off”. After replying, “Thank you”, the second gopher shouts, “HELP!” loudly (animated by Arthur Davis).

The dog now realizes there are two of them when the first gopher appears and asks, “Uh, did you call?” Second gopher: “Yes, I did”. First gopher: “Should I, uh, you-know-what?” Second gopher: “Yes, I think you should”. The first gopher hits the dog on the head with a mallet that pushes his face into his collar. Deciding to scram as the dog runs toward them, they argue over who goes into the hole after the other: “After you”. “Oh, no. You first”. “I couldn’t think of it”. Their decision to go in together at the last minute forces the dog to skid to a stop (animated by Davis).

The gophers see the dog sticking his arm down into their hole, attempting to reach for him. The second gopher realizes, “It looks like he’s going to give us no end of trouble”. “Oh, it certainly does. Very definitely does”, the first gopher agrees. They then put a glove on the other end of the hose that is the same color as the dog’s fur and trick him into grabbing hold of a rope they have placed within reach. While the second gopher tugs on the rope that he has tied around the dog’s wrist, the first gopher pulls out the hose with the glove and runs with it across the street, making it look like he’s stretching his arm all the way out into traffic. After a truck runs over the hose, the dog starts jumping around, yelling in pain while holding his arm. Upon seeing the second gopher watching him, he realizes his arm is actually fine and starts to chase him (animated by Perez).

The second gopher attempts to dive into the hole, only to stop in mid-air once the dog blocks it with his hand. He then attempts to run into the other hole, but is stopped by the dog sitting atop it. The dog does an evil laugh and dares, “Ya got any MORE tricks, shorty?” The second gopher does and asks him to draw a card. The dog replies, “Ah, this is an old one!” but draws one anyway. It turns out the card he drew is one that has a picture of a dynamite stick on it with a burning fuse, which explodes on him (animated by Ross).

After the second gopher enters the hole, the dog throws down the blown-up card in anger and returns with some explosives before pouring powder from a TNT barrel down into the hole. The second gopher asks if he can borrow one of his matches. The dog absentmindedly gives him the green light, “Ah, help yourself. Can’t ya see I’m busy?” The second gopher lights the match to the powder the dog has poured in from the other end, resulting in the trail going upward into the barrel and exploding on the dog (animated by Ken Champin).

Deciding to take it on the lam (animated by Champin), the Gophers both go down into the hole with the dog going in after them. Seeing them running down a tunnel, the dog follows them, only to run into the buried part of a telephone pole headfirst (animated by Perez). He then sees a gas pipe with a handwritten sign pointed toward it reading, “They Went In There”. Taking the pipe’s cover off with a wrench, the dog goes in but once he’s inside, the Gophers wrench the cover back on. Being dark in there, the dog lights a match to see where he is, resulting in a big underground explosion! (animated by Champin)

To the tune of “Shuffle Off to Buffalo”, the defeated dog staggers out of the oven (animated by Champin), and reaches into his doghouse grabbing his straw hat and suitcases before departing. Now rid of the dog, the Gophers decide to return to their gin game, walking back to their hole arm in arm (animated by Davis).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕