Release Date:

March 13, 1948

Main Character(s):

None

Summary:

A country bumpkin mouse named Elmo goes to see his girlfriend, Daisy Lou, but finds that he now has a rival, a slicker mouse named Blackie (not at all a racial stereotype). Everything Elmo does to impress Daisy Lou, Blackie does it better. Eventually, Elmo decides to give Daisy Lou an ermine coat but doesn’t know what an ermine is. After mistakenly getting drunk, Elmo assumes that a cat named Herman is what he’s looking for.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1073 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

The cartoon was produced in Cinecolor, resulting in it being finished early. It also uses the 1948-1949 green rings with the red background in the intro, and the 1949 orange rings with the blue background in the outro.

The cartoon is a slight reworking of Tex Avery’s MGM cartoon, “The Hick Chick” (1946) which featured chickens instead of mice, and had the slicker character imitating Charles Boyer and being an actual villain. In this one, Blackie is only an antagonist due to his attitude and being a jerk to Elmo.

This cartoon shows that “Elmo” was a name long before a certain other character with that name was created.

Due to Elmo being a country hick, it’s always this particular cartoon I tend to think of when driving in rural areas (particularly in southern Oconee County).

This is the latest one-shot to be included on the Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice Volume 2 Blu-ray set (that set contains mostly one-shots).

The cartoon is seen in the background of the opening scene of the 1978 film “Up in Smoke”.

This was Davis’ personal favorite of all the cartoons he directed. And I really don’t blame him, as I have adored this one since the first time I saw it in late 2016.

The name “Daisy Lou” would be used again in the other romance-themed cartoon of 1948, Freleng’s “Hare Splitter” (one of the few times before Lola Bunny was introduced in “Space Jam” in 1996 where Bugs was shown to have a girlfriend).

What I Like About This One:

I absolutely love the entire score of this cartoon, especially the usages of “Rural Rhythm” and “Why Don’t You Fall in Love with Me?”

Elmo begins the cartoon brushing the fur atop his head like hair and singing a ditty in tune to “Rural Rhythm”: “My best girl is in the city; she ain’t smart; but she’s a-pretty; that’s why I sing this ditty; just to tell ya that I’m-a going to see her; got my tie, got my collar; and I’ll bet my bottom dollar; I will be the guy she’ll foller; foller to the church some day!” He then kisses Daisy Lou’s picture where the heart coming from his kiss floats upward and pops on a nail sticking out of the wall. He then continues the song in the same tune: “Goin’ quick; nothing can tarry me; taxicab, it’s gonna carry me; I will ask that mouse to marry me; we’ll be livin’ happy ever after!” and turns out the lights- a candle which is blown out by a bellows popping out of the wall (animated by Don Williams).

A nice-looking car drives up to where Daisy Lou lives. Elmo pops out of the hubcap and dances up to the door announcing in tune to “Rural Rhythm”: “Honey-punkin’, here I am!” (animated by Basil Davidovich) Upon seeing Daisy Lou and Blackie smooching, Elmo shuts the door and blushes in embarrassment, thinking he went to the wrong address. “Oh, uh, pardon me, I thought this was 2706!” He then makes a realization: “It IS 2706!” before opening the door again and saying Daisy Lou’s name in shock. Daisy Lou politely greets him and introduces him to Blackie. Blackie appears to be friendly when he asks Elmo for a handshake, but his grip hurts Elmo’s fingers badly, forcing him to straighten them out. Blackie then looks at the audience and slyly wiggles his ears (animated by Bill Melendez).

Elmo shows some flowers he brought Daisy Lou. She tells him, “Oh, how nice, Elmo. Put them over there by Blackie”. The camera pans to reveal that Blackie has a massive collection of flowers. This causes Elmo’s flowers to shrink back down to seeds. Elmo briefly puts on an angry face and imagines himself using Blackie’s head as a punching bag. He then entertains Daisy Lou by playing a tune on a jew’s harp, but Blackie taps him on the shoulder with, “Eh, cousin”. Blackie sits down at the piano and plays a boogie-woogie tune (animated by Davidovich). Daisy Lou is won over, but Elmo feels the exact opposite and imagines himself in a hunter’s outfit with Blackie’s head mounted on the wall. Elmo then shows off his small muscle (animated by Emery Hawkins). Blackie tells him, “Not bad. But watch THIS” and flexes a large muscle. He then moves his fist in Elmo’s direction and punches him. Now livid, Elmo’s thought is now a tank firing on all cylinders. He marches up to Blackie in anger, but walks into Blackie’s fist which sends him across the street. Elmo marches through busy traffic back up to the door, but is met by Blackie’s fist again (animated by Davidovich).

With a very beautiful tune playing in the background, Blackie presents Daisy Lou with a mink, which she is enamored with. Elmo returns, to which Blackie responds, “Oh, a wise guy, eh? I suppose YOU can give her ermine.” Elmo replies he can, and when Daisy Lou wonders how, he answers, “Duh… I’ll CATCH one”. Blackie insults Elmo’s intelligence with, “Don’t be a dope! How can you CATCH one?” Elmo walks out telling them not to worry and that he can get an ermine (animated by Williams). On the other side of the mouse hole’s door, he scratches his head: “Wonder what a ermine is” (animated by Davidovich).

Elmo calls out for “Ermine” and fails to find one under a rug and under a stamp. He walks into a champagne bottle and gets himself drunk (animated by Davidovich). He then sees Herman sleeping and spots his milk bowl which has Herman’s name on it, but Elmo doesn’t see the “H” and believes he found it. “Hot diggity! (hiccups) A ermine!” before falling off the table. “Well, no time like the present. Sure, is a big one maybe (hiccups). Looks a lot like a cat too.” While scatting to “Rural Rhythm”, Elmo goes back into the mouse hole to measure Daisy Lou’s height while she’s sharing a kiss with Blackie before going back out to measure Herman (animated by Hawkins).

Just as Herman wakes up, Elmo leans on his nose and tells him: “What pretty blue eyes you got, Erman. Prettiest blue eyes I ever-” but he hiccups again and falls down (animated by Hawkins). He believes Herman shoved him and when Herman yowls, Elmo sees multiple swirling images of Herman. Thinking Herman is ganging up on him, Elmo attempts to put up his dukes against him, but is only saved from Herman grabbing him with his drunk hiccups. Herman does eventually grab him, but Elmo’s next hiccup results in him jumping into Herman’s mouth (animated by Melendez).

Elmo then falls into Herman’s milk bowl, which causes him to become sober again and realize the danger he’s put himself into. After chasing him to the kitchen table, Herman slaps a middle board which hits him in the face and knocks him out cold (animated by Melendez). Elmo confides, “Uh, you know for a minute there, I thought he was gonna get away!” (animated by Davidovich)

Returning with an ermine coat (animated by Davidovich), Elmo has finally won Daisy Lou over and after he puts her new coat on her, he asks, “Uh, shall we go?” (animated by Williams) Elmo opens the door for her like a gentleman as Blackie can only stare in bewilderment. After they both leave (animated by Davidovich), Blackie ponders in confusion (animated by Williams), and then says aloud outside of the mouse hole, “I wonder where he got that ermine coat”. Herman punches him back into the mouse hole and angrily tells him off in Jimmy Durante’s voice, “Don’t get nosy, junior!” As Herman walks away, a coat-shaped cutout on his rear end is shown, with a coat-shaped iris-out ending the cartoon (brilliantly animated by Hawkins).

Where Can I Watch It?

At toontales.net!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕