Release Date:

July 23, 1955

Main Character(s):

Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog

Summary:

The third time is not the charm for Ralph Wolf when he once again attempts to steal the sheep protected by Sam Sheepdog.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1342 and was released as a Looney Tune.

The opening rings incorrectly show the production number as 1343 for some inexplicable reason.

The Ralph and Sam formula is now fully established as they are co-workers who are only enemies during work hours, have their names consistent and correct (“Morning, Ralph”; “Morning, Sam”) and punch in and out at the time clock together.

The title is a pun for the gambling phrase “double or nothing”.

This is the first cartoon to use the 1955-1956 green rings with the red background in the intro and the first to officially use these rings (since “This Is a Life?” only used them in the closing titles).

Philip DeGuard did both the layouts and backgrounds for this one.

The cartoon was restored for HBO Max in 2020, and this same restored print was later put on the Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice Volume 4 Blu-ray set in 2024. However, due to an oversight that somehow wasn’t caught until it was too late, this cartoon is mistakenly included on the Looney Tunes Collector’s Vault Volume 1 Blu-ray set despite already having been put out on disc in restored format on a Looney Tunes-dedicated Blu-ray release (cartoons that had been put out as bonus features on Warner Archive Blu-ray releases of classic Warner-owned movies don’t count since they’re not cartoon-related releases. The specific cartoons are also considered for future volumes, which is why I don’t bother getting these movie releases just to get the cartoons). To make up for this error, the recently released Collector’s Vault Volume 2 has an extra cartoon included.

Favorite Scene:

The climax with the “ACME Patented Hair Grower (Guaranteed)”, or as Thad Komorowski calls it, “a fast-acting hair tonic that doesn’t affect visibility”.

What Happens in This One:

Sam is seen walking to work with his lunch pail in hand before he is shortly joined by Ralph coming from his place. They both punch in at the time clock and exchange greetings, “Morning, Ralph”; “Morning, Sam”. After a shot of their respective time cards, Sam sits down on his spot on the cliff to start watching over the sheep. Ralph walks over to a bush and hides his lunch pail inside there (animated by Richard Thompson).

Once the 8:00 starting time whistle blows, Ralph gets into a sneaking position on all four’s, licks his lips hungrily, and tunnels underground. He tunnels out from behind a tree to make sure the coast is clear, and then continues on his way. The next spot he tunnels up from is in front of Sam peering down at him with a slight smirk on his face. Continuing to dig briefly, Ralph peeks out of this hole and gives Sam a nervous smile. Sam gets a mallet ready to which Ralph turns to the audience and gives an “Uh oh” expression before he gets walloped offscreen. Ralph comes out of the original tunnel he dug, sporting a black eye, before digging it back up. After he’s completely refilled it, Ralph is seen thinking of another idea before sporting an evil grin and looking over to his right (animated by Thompson).

Ralph goes to the top of a cliff and upon seeing Sam in the meadow with the sheep, pins a spear to a tree on the opposite-facing cliff and ties the wire the spear is attached to to the tree on his cliff. He uses the wire as a tightrope and lassos a sheep before pulling him up to take back with him. Once Ralph gets back to where he came from, he finds Sam on the cliff now holding the wire instead of the tree. Ralph sheepishly gives the sheep to Sam and then attempts to run across the wire to get to the other side, only for Sam to let go of it. Ralph manages to jump off and hang onto the spear to which he sticks his tongue out at where Sam was. He climbs up the spear only to find Sam now on this side and holding it. Sam then sends Ralph and the spear flying into the distance and landing behind a mountain (animated by Thompson).

Ralph next fires a rocket with a rope tied to it at Sam, which manages to successfully catch him and send him flying away from his spot. Delighted that this worked, Ralph dances happily down the cliff and after selecting a sheep, prances away in a carefree manner, only for Sam to hit him on the head with a club from overhead. It turns out that the rocket got stuck due to being lodged into a tree branch before it runs out of fuel. Sam then leads the sheep back to a meadow before we cut to a shot of Ralph with a lump on his head from the hit (animated by Keith Darling).

Dressed in drag as Little Bo Peep, Ralph dances up to Sam and taps him on the head with a shepherd cane before showing him the story from a book of nursery rhymes to give him an idea of who he’s supposed to be. He then continues on his way as Sam watches him take a sheep back to his cave. Once inside said cave, Ralph removes his disguise. The “sheep” is actually Sam in disguise and he walks up to Ralph angrily. Upon realizing this after removing the shirt in his disguise, Ralph looks up and sheepishly gives Sam a chin scratch. His attempt to run away is thwarted by Sam grabbing him by the neck before the next shot cuts to the outside where Sam beats Ralph up offscreen before exiting (animated by Darling).

From a helicopter, Ralph dangles a claw out and attempts to catch a sheep with it, only to miss his target. Sam casually walks past and pulls on the rope the claw is attached to, causing the entire helicopter to come crashing down. Ralph dizzily walks out of the wreck and opens his parachute before falling down front-first (animated by Ken Harris).

Ralph puts a plank on a rock from behind Sam to hurl himself over him in the manner of a teeter board. After throwing a rock on the other end to propel himself, Ralph ends up flying smack into a tree and slumping down right in front of Sam, who promptly rolls him up into a ball and throws him backward over his right shoulder into the distance. The sound of bowling pins clattering is then heard (animated by Darling).

Ralph next rolls a cannon up to Sam. Without looking behind him, Sam flips the cannon around so that it fires at Ralph. Ralph attempts to outrun it to no avail as the cannonball ends up landing on his head (animated by Darling).

Sitting in his cave dejected, Ralph takes notice of the rain outside and after scratching his head, gets an idea. He comes up behind Sam with a bottle of “ACME Patented Hair Grower (Guaranteed)”, and pours it on Sam’s red hair obscuring his eyes before sneaking off. After the rain clears and the sun is back out, the hair grower has taken effect as Sam’s hair is now longer and obscuring his nose and mouth as well (with it appearing that way for the rest of the cartoon). Ralph waves a hand on a stick in front of Sam’s face and then his own hand before diving back down. Both times he gets no response. Ralph then gets into eye level in front of Sam before ducking down quickly. He attempts to run off, but Sam only scratches his nose. Becoming overconfident, Ralph waves his hand in front of Sam in a taunting manner, sticks his tongue out at him, and then does a heel-clicking dance before doing a handstand and waving goodbye with his foot. Shuffling his feet, Ralph goes down to the meadow, certain that Sam is unable to see him (animated by Abe Levitow).

The second Ralph attempts to grab a sheep, however, Sam immediately zooms down toward him, grabs him by the throat, and punches him in the face numerous times, revealing that he CAN see with his hair longer and was testing Ralph’s overconfidence. The 5:00 quitting time whistle then blows so Sam stops punching Ralph. They punch out at the time clock and bid each other farewell, “Goodnight, Ralph”; “See ya tomorrow, Sam” before they head back to their respective houses (animated by Levitow).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕