Release Date:

October 17, 1953

Main Character(s):

None

Summary:

A fox attempts to steal chickens from the “J.C. Henny Poultry Farm”, only to be outsmarted at every turn by a tough rooster named George.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1274 and was released as a Looney Tune.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue.

The title is a pun for “easy pickings”.

“J.C. Henny” is a pun for “JCPenney”, although back then it was known as “J.C. Penney”.

Having previously been used as the fickle girlfriend in “Muscle Tussle”, Gladys Holland appears in this one as Clara, the hen the fox attempts to seduce in the climax.

The cartoon bears some similarity to “A Fox in a Fix” in that they are both fun fox-centric one-shots from McKimson, both were restored for HBO Max in 2020, both made their restored disc debuts on the Looney Tunes Collector’s Vault Volume 1 Blu-ray set in 2025 via the same HBO Max masters, both appear on the endpapers of Jerry Beck’s 2003 book, “Looney Tunes The Ultimate Visual Guide” as two of the nearly 200 characters present, both have backgrounds by Richard H. Thomas, and Rod Scribner, Phil DeLara, and Charles McKimson all animated on both.

The animator draft for the cartoon can be viewed here.

The William Tell Overture plays various times throughout the cartoon, mostly when the fox runs over or down the hill.

I love the usage of “Rural Rhythm” in this cartoon, especially the rendition over the opening credits.

Favorite Scene:

The scenes with the fake gunpowder-filled chicken decoy and where George scientifically creates an explosive egg to attack the fox with.

What Happens in This One:

The title card and credits are shown from the fox’s binoculars in his point of view before he comes across the sign for the “J.C. Henny Poultry Farm”, and the words “Poultry Farm” enlarging to signify this piques his interest. After looking at the farm’s chickens scratching in the yard (animated by Keith Darling), the fox licks his lips and says in excitement, “Looks like I’ve hit the jackpot! A regular smorgasbord!” He takes his bag and runs with it (animated by Phil DeLara).

The fox arrives at the farm, digs under the fence, and comes back out with a very heavy chicken to take back to his cave, but upon removing the bag, he sees that he caught a smirking George instead. The fox lets out a crazed chuckle in fear and puts the bag back over George before running all the way back to the farm and putting George back into the farm by dumping him out of the bag through the hole he dug (animated by Rod Scribner).

After refilling the hole and patting the dirt atop it down, the fox opens another gate only to find George leaning against it. He screams, “Eee!” upon realizing this, before George punches him on the head, causing the fox to grow a lump. The fox then comes up to a gate that opens like a Dutch door. Figuring he’ll find George behind the upper half of the gate, the fox opens the lower half, but upon seeing George apparently not there, he fully opens it only for George to suddenly appear and punch and him again. Dazed, the fox staggers up to another gate that opens up like a Dutch door, and comes to his senses just before opening this gate’s upper half. He grabs a mallet and opens the upper half to pound George with it, only to find him not there, so he opens the lower half and ends up finding George indeed present. The fox attempts to clobber George, only for a clanging noise to be heard due to George protecting his head with an Army helmet. George grabs the mallet himself and attempts to hit the fox with it, but the fox puts on an Army helmet of his own. George hits him anyway, compressing the fox’s entire body down to where only his helmet, feet, and tail are seen as he runs off back to his cave (animated by Scribner).

The fox runs back down the hill disguised as Paul Revere and riding a toy horse on a stick, frantically yelling for George to open up as the British are coming. George does open the gate but he’s dressed up as a Redcoat and shoots the fox with a bayonet. After getting blasted, the fox again runs back to his cave (animated by Scribner).

Moving around while hiding in a pile of straw, the fox enters the farmyard hidden, only for George to disintegrate the straw with a lit match, forcing the now-uncovered fox to leave (animated by Scribner).

Later, the fox sneaks up to a knothole in the fence and attempts to grab a random chicken within reach after looking through said knothole. George moves the chicken out of the way and returns with a fake chicken decoy that has a zipper pouch. He then pours some gunpowder inside the decoy and after zipping it back up, puts it within the fox’s reach. Upon getting back to his cave, the fox puts the decoy into the oven and begins preparing for his potential meal while scatting to himself. When the oven whistles, the fox attempts to take the decoy out with a three-tonged utensil, only for it to explode. Missing his fur from the chest up after the explosion, the fox believes it was “A little OVERLY done!” (animated by DeLara)

George receives a package (animated by Darling), which is an “ACME Junior Explosive Kit”. He puts on a pair of safety goggles and a pair of gloves that both come with the kit and mixes a potion that he dumps into a small barrel labeled “Corn Hash”. George then goes into the henhouse and feeds his potion to a random hen who ends up laying a seemingly ordinary egg. He tells her, “Attagirl”, goes out (animated by Charles McKimson), and opens the gate to look through a telescope at the fox’s cave. Upon seeing the fox briefly come out of his cave, George throws the egg toward him (animated by Darling). The fox goes back into his cave, just as the egg rolls in and explodes on him, revealing that George created an explosive egg. The fox then staggers out with a few bits of fur missing (animated by DeLara).

That night, the fox goes back to the farm for another attempt and manages to get in while holding a flashlight due to the gate being unlocked (animated by DeLara). George is shown to be reading the paper in an unconcerned manner while a lovesick hen, Clara, is seen up in the top window of the barn and sighing, “What a beautiful moon. What a night for romance”. The fox observes as he puts a rubber glove atop his head to resemble a rooster and then takes out his cutlery, “Hmm. She’s starving for romance. And I’m just plain starving!” He goes through the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet with Clara, who immediately falls for his charms. The fox puts down his cutlery and clears his throat. “Hark! What light through yon window breaks. It is the dawn. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera”. Clara sighs, “Romeo, Romeo. Wherefore art thou, Romeo” before fainting in happiness (animated by Herman Cohen).

“Alas. Fair Juliet swooneth”, the fox says before letting out an evil chuckle. He then puts springs on his feet to bounce up (animated by DeLara) to the window and dumps a bucket of water on Clara to revive her. With each bounce, he continues the romance in a gentleman-like voice, “Hello, baby!” (which Clara chuckles at); “Come on to my house and I will give you-”; “Precious jewels!” while holding a necklace; “Expensive cars!” and due to actually holding one up, asides in his normal voice, “Yeah, and heavy too”. Clara tells him, “Oh! Just give me time to pack my bag, lover boy!”, while he bounces up one more time, and then takes a waiting Clara with her suitcase on his next bounce. Clara is then brought back George, who is now wearing the springs, revealing that she is actually George’s wife as he scolds, “Clara! Act your age!” A confused Clara then turns around to see George bouncing up again, this time with the fox in his grasp and then pulling the glove off of his head to expose him. After an offscreen thud is heard upon them landing back on the ground, George bounces back up (animated by Charles) and gives Clara a fox fur coat, “Here, baby doll!” She is delighted with it, “Oh, Georgie! Oh, it’s lovely!” and then hugs him affectionately, “You shouldn’t have done it, George! You shouldn’t have done it!” (animated by Cohen). From the ground, the dazed fox agrees with this and says up to her, “You can say THAT again, sister! Ya shouldn’t have done it, George! Ya shouldn’t have done it!” The camera pans back to reveal his fur from the neck down to his crotch removed (animated by Scribner).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕