Release Date:

May 11, 1957

Main Character(s):

Foghorn Leghorn, Barnyard Dawg

Summary:

A crafty fox attempts to steal chickens from the farm Barnyard Dawg guards, and tricks Foghorn Leghorn into various scenarios where he unknowingly harms Dawg.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1442 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. In late 2021 or early 2022, a 16mm print with the original opening rings was found.

This is one of three McKimson cartoons to be written by Michael Maltese, with the other two being “Rabbit Romeo” (released seven months later) and “Weasel While You Work” (1958).

The title is a pun for the breed “fox terrier”.

Carl Stalling scored this one.

Unfortunately, the animator draft for the cartoon doesn’t exist anywhere online.

This is one of the few cartoons where Foghorn unintentionally causes trouble for Dawg.

The cartoon was originally titled “Fowled Up Fox”.

This is the other cartoon besides “The High and the Flighty” where Foghorn and Dawg team up in the end to dispose of a greater foe.

Favorite Scene:

The scene with the magic folding box.

The fake quiz show bit is a runner-up.

What Happens in This One:

The cartoon begins with the alarm going off at the farm as the fox jumps over the fence with a bag. From his doghouse, Dawg hears the alarm and runs over to the yard barking. He only sees a little green rooster being the one to sound the alarm with a cord labeled “In Case of Fox, Pull Cord”. The green rooster pantomimes to Dawg about the fox, but Dawg misinterprets it, “Oh, I get it. Come on. I’ll take ya”, and drags the green rooster off by the hand with the latter pointing towards the direction the fox ran off to no avail. Dawg peeks from out from behind the side of the barn and chuckles to the audience, “The little fella wanted a drink of water”, believing the green rooster was pulling a false alarm (animated by Keith Darling).

Meanwhile, the sulking fox hears Foghorn walking past with a fishing pole and singing to the tune of “Camptown Races”, “Fishing’s fun, I like to fish, doo-dah, doo-dah, Helps to make a dish delish, oh, doo-dah, day!” Thinking up a scheme, the fox sneaks off. Foghorn encounters the fox disguised as a yellow and plaid suited peddler reading a “Racing Sheet”, with the fox beckoning him with, “Hey, bud”. Foghorn asks, “Eh, who, me?” The fox answers, “Yeah, c’mere. Where you going?” Foghorn replies, “Why, I’m a, I say, I’m going fishing!”, only for the fox to contradict, “Uh uh”. Foghorn: “Uh uh?” Fox: “Uh uh. Ya got a hunting dog?” Foghorn answers somewhat hesitantly, “Why, uh, yes!” The fox advises, “Get him and go hunting”, to which Foghorn excitedly agrees to, “Well, boll, I say, boll my weevil! I’ll do it!” He drops his fishing pole and walks toward Dawg. Delighted that Foghorn fell for this, the fox removes his disguise and rubs his hands happily, “Ooh, he’s a GOOD one!” (animated by Ted Bonnicksen)

Carrying a noose and a rifle, Foghorn goes up to the sleeping Dawg with them, putting the noose around Dawg’s neck, “I nee-, I say, I need a pointer and that Dawg’s got just the head for it. Pointed, that is! (chuckles)” Foghorn begins dragging Dawg off with him as he sings another variant of “Camptown Races”, “Hunting’s fun, I like to hunt, doo-dah, doo-dah-”. Choking and coughing from being dragged off, Dawg futilely tries to get Foghorn to stop, “No! No! Uh-uh! No! I gotta guard the chickens! No! Eh eh! No!” The fox sneaks back into the yard once Foghorn and Dawg are out of sight, with all of the chickens running away from him (animated by George Grandpre).

The green rooster pulls the cord again, with the fox frantically fleeing when Dawg comes running back on all four’s upon hearing the alarm. With Foghorn still holding the noose and being dragged along from doing so, he tries to get Dawg to slow down, “Whoa, mule! Whoa! Whoa, mule! Whoa, whoa, I say, whoa, whoa! Aw, come on, mule, wh-!” Dawg eventually reaches the yard and jumps over the fence, causing Foghorn to fly headfirst into a birdhouse and getting stuck in there (animated by Grandpre). Dawg again sees nothing when he approaches the green rooster a second time and again misinterprets his squawking. This time, he is rather rude about it, “Oh! So it’s you again? Alright, come on. This kid sure is thirsty” (animated by Darling).

Having gotten out of the birdhouse and walking away, Foghorn says to himself, “Bird, I say, birdhouses is strictly for the birds. Now, uh, let’s see, where was I?” With Foghorn oblivious to the fox having sneaked away behind him, the fox reappears dressed as a quiz show host, pushing Foghorn into a cardboard booth, “And our next contestant is ready to try for the 64 million dollars!” The fox then appears with a card, “Careful now. Here’s the question. What poem mentions the colors red and blue? When you come to the words red and blue, press the buzzer you have in the booth”. Foghorn is shown thinking for a while, unaware that said buzzer is actually connected to wires rigged to detonate two dynamite sticks in the sleeping Dawg’s mouth. Once Foghorn nods, the fox tells him, “Time’s up. Do you know the answer?” Foghorn replies, “Why, man, yes! Rose-, I say, roses are red-” and pushes the buzzer. This causes the stick hanging out of the left side of Dawg’s mouth to blow up and char the left side of his mouth area. Waking up from the explosion, Dawg spits out the blown-up stick and angrily marches up to Foghorn, shoving the other stick into his beak offscreen. Dawg then finishes the answer in a threatening tone, “-and violets are blue!” as he pushes the buzzer himself. After getting this explosion, Foghorn, dazed and missing most of his feathers, slumps down, “Somebo-, I say, somebody knocked! (groans)” (animated by Grandpre)

Later, the fox is seen chasing the green rooster around but makes another run for it when the green rooster manages to pull the cord. When Dawg arrives this time, he silently splashes the green rooster with a pail of water (animated by Darling).

The fox takes out a “Magic Folding Box” and sneaks over to Dawg, asleep again, with a bone. Waving it in front of his face, the fox has Dawg fetch the bone, throwing it into the folding box, “Here, boy! Get the bone! Get the bone! Go, go, go! Get it! Get it! Get it! Go! Go!” Once Dawg jumps into the folding box, the fox folds it down into a very small cube. Foghorn passes by again with his fishing pole continuing his earlier variant, “Fishing’s fun, I like to fish! A-doo-dah, a-doo-dah! I’ll catch a lot if I get my wish, oh, a-doo-dah, day!” He comes across the fox disguised as a Swami with the cube as he asks, “Eh, uh, what have we got here?” Speaking in an Arabian accent, the fox answers, “A lucky charm, effendi, to help you catch lots of fish. Only 10 dollar”. Foghorn: “Lucky charm?” Fox: “Very lucky”. Foghorn: “Lots of fish”. Fox: “Great quantities”. Foghorn decides to take it, “It’s a deal!”, giving the fox a 10-dollar bill. The fox leaves and instructs, “Thank you, effendi. Just blow on it three times and throw it over your left shoulder”. Figuring, “Hmm, lots of fish, eh?”, Foghorn follows the exact instructions, throwing the cube into a nearby well (animated by Bonnicksen).

Foghorn then walks over to the well as he sings, “I’m a lucky fisherman, doo-dah!, a-doo-dah!”, only to come face to face with a battered, bruised, and fuming Dawg. “Wha-, I say, what happened to YOU, Dawg? You look like two miles of bad road!” Dawg then starts folding Foghorn up like the box, much to Foghorn’s confusion, “What you doing there, Dawg?” Once he’s folded Foghorn down to the exact size of the cube the fox folded him into, Dawg blows on it three times and throws it over his left shoulder into the well (animated by Bonnicksen). Hearing the alarm again, Dawg realizes, “I know who THAT is!” He goes up to the green rooster, “I’ve got something for you… AND IT AIN’T A DRINK OF WATER!” as he pulls out a mallet. The green rooster gets the upper hand and clobbers Dawg on the head with a bigger mallet, causing him to stagger off dazed (animated by Darling).

Foghorn climbs out of the well and stops Dawg, “Hold it, Dawg! How come ya do me like ya do-do-do?” Once Dawg regains consciousness, he answers Foghorn angrily, “Because you’ve been trying to keep me from my job!: guarding the chickens!” When Foghorn tells him the truth, “Why, I don’t wanna keep you from guarding the chickens!”, Dawg replies, “Well, SOMEBODY does!” Foghorn looks over at the fox sneaking into the yard again and puts two and two together, “And I think I know who that somebody is! Look!”, as he points over to the fox. Realizing there really was a fox, Dawg begins to go up to him angrily, “Why, that no-good, I’ll-!”, only for Foghorn to stop him. “Whoa, back up, boy. I got a little old idea. Come on”. He and Dawg then leave (animated by Grandpre).

The fox cuts the cord off, taking it with him. The green rooster notices him and then sees the cord is gone when jumping over to pull it. Seeing the fox holding it, the green rooster pulls it from the fox’s hands, proving the alarm still goes off with the cord disconnected. The fox runs out again (animated by Darling) and is beckoned by Foghorn and Dawg both dressed in the same yellow and plaid peddler suits he was dressed in and calling in unison, “Hey, bud! C’mere!” The fox comes up to them with a meek “Who? ME?” Foghorn and Dawg answer, “Yeah. Where ya going?” The fox’s attempts to explain come out incoherent as Foghorn and Dawg reply, “Uh uh” and then spin around to change into two dueling men. They take their paces and turn and fire their pistols at the fox. Defeated and with most of his fur missing, the fox runs away for good. Foghorn and Dawg spin around again, this time disguised as a fox hunter and horse, respectively. After blowing his bugle, Foghorn remarks, “We fix, I say, we fixed that fox! And that’s ONLY the beginning!” Before they can ride off, they hear someone else tell them, “Hey, bud” (animated by Bonnicksen). It turns out to be the green rooster in his own peddler disguise, “Uh uh” and folds out his “Racing Sheet” for it to say “The End” (animated by Darling).

Where Can I Watch It?

At toontales.net!

Carrot Rating:

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