Release Date:

September 24, 1938

Main Character(s):

Egghead

Summary:

It’s a typical day of feuding between the hillbilly families of the Weavers (with black hair) and the McCoys (with red hair) but they both really hate peacemaker Egghead who finds their fighting pointless and wants to put a stop to it.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. “Arkansas Traveler” played over the opening credits. Additionally, the original title card exists in very poor quality. The credits were:

Supervision: Fred Avery

Story: Melvin Millar

Animation: Sid Sutherland

Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling

The restored print uses the incorrect ending theme.

Egghead’s motorcycle is inscribed as “Elmer Fudd, Peacemaker”. While Egghead and the eventual Elmer Fudd are not the same character, Egghead would lead to Elmer’s creation.

This is the first cartoon to use the 1938-1939 green rings and with this cartoon, the opening shield permanently reverts back to red for all color cartoons.

What I Like About This One:

The Weavers’ snoring being so powerful the cuckoo in the clock compares it to a hurricane.

The Weavers being woken up by the sound of the cuckoo pulling a cork out of a jug.

A Weaver using an undershirt from another Weaver as a towel after washing his face (the clarinet in the score for this scene is also really pretty).

Two Weavers snoring a saw with two sails back and forth on a log.

Another Weaver getting hit on the head by a loose apple from a tree and he says “Ouch” in a slow lethargic voice (animated by Irven Spence; what’s even more hilarious is that a book on Mel Blanc published in 2012 refers to this character as “Apple-Bonked Weaver”).

Four Weavers singing a song insulting the McCoys as a radio tune (animated by Spence).

A deep-voiced child Weaver yelling out to the McCoys from the chimney, “McCoys is skunks! My pa said so! You’uns can’t shoot straight! McCoys is varmints! McCoys is skunks!” The McCoys shoot at the Weavers, with their bullets spelling out, “Do Ya Mean It?” They shoot back with the response, “Yas, We Mean It!” (animated by Spence).

A Weaver accidentally shooting a pig and chicken who turn into ham and eggs, respectively!

A McCoy having multiple triggers on his rifle and then telling the audience, “In one of these here now cartoon pictures, a body can get away with anything!”

When an elderly Weaver gets his beard shot off, he says “The old gray hair ain’t what she used to be!” and laughs at his joke. Embarrassed that he failed to get a laugh, he says, “Well, it sounded funny at rehearsal anyway”.

One of the McCoys’ wives yelling “The Weavers is sissies!” so they fire a bullet through her coffeepot so that she ends up pouring multiple cups at once (animated by Spence).

A hen’s eggs getting shot into yolks. She tsks, “Three days work, shot to pieces”.

Both families shooting Egghead in the behind whenever he goes up to their doors, asking for peace (animated by Spence).

One McCoy being called out for being off the boundary line separating the feuding families.

Both families beating up on Egghead when he asks for peace one final time. When the smoke clears, Egghead is the only one standing. He bids us “Goodnight all”, and leaves before a Weaver in the audience shoots him in the behind yelling, “Goodnight!”

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½