Release Date:

June 27, 1942

Main Character(s):

None

Summary:

A farmer tries to rid his garden of two Brooklyn-born gophers.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The two gophers in this cartoon, a big dumb one named Virgil and a shorter, more clever one, serve as prototypes for the Goofy Gophers, the overly polite twin gophers who would be introduced in “The Goofy Gophers” (1947).

This is the first time a character says one of Jerry Colonna’s catchphrases, “Well, something new has been added!”

Porky is featured in the intro despite not appearing.

What I Like About This One:

The gophers being introduced with a rendition of “42nd Street”.

Virgil constantly saying he wants to go back to Central Park.

The farmer confronting the gophers with a pair of hedge trimmers, to which the clever gopher ducks down into the hole. He also pulls Virgil down into the hole, due to Virgil not paying attention.

The farmer attempting to listen to the gophers’ conversation by putting his ear down against their hole, but the clever gopher shouts, “Let’s not get nosy, bud!” (animated by Cal Dalton)

While the farmer is reading about how to get rid of gophers in the “Grass Growers Gazette”, the clever gopher gnaws at the farmer’s hoe, and yells “Timber!” as the farmer collapses.

The clever gopher telling the audience, “Keep your shirts on, folks. Us gophers go through this all the time” while trying to avoid the farmer’s hoe.

The clever gopher is then confronted by the farmer’s rifle after he assumes “the jerk’s gone”. Peering into the gun barrel, the clever gopher asks, “What’s this? The Holland Tunnel?”

After a chase with the gophers burrowing underground (and stopping at one point to pull some flowers under), the gophers burrow a hole around the farmer, dropping him into the ground. When the farmer comes out, he gets hit by the clever gopher holding a “Be Kind to Gophers Week” sign.

The farmer laughing maniacally while filling the gopher holes with gas and stopping at one point to assure us, “I’m not really a mean man, folks, honest”. The gas only causes the gophers to float up into the air like balloons (with every sniff inflating them).

Upon seeing the gas-filled gophers floating around, a drunk crow disposes of his alcohol bottle.

Virgil commenting that he feels just like a bird around the same time the farmer confronts them again. Seeing the farmer’s bulbous nose, the clever gopher asks Virgil if it’s one of his eggs.

The gophers lose their floating abilities when they hit a tree, causing all the gas to deflate out of them. They land near a tomato, which the farmer catches under his hat along with the gophers. He squeezes the tomato, of course, but the farmer thinks he killed a gopher and is shocked at this.

Having enough, the farmer decides to fill the gopher holes with water. Virgil grips the hose very hard and the clever gopher puts the hose under the farmer so it gushes water at him when Virgil lets go of the hose. The farmer goes nuts from this, and burrows everywhere in the ground, ending with him crashing into the fountain with his head sticking out and gushing water. Virgil comments, “Well, something new has been added!”

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕 ½