Release Date:

June 21, 1947

Main Character(s):

Inki, Minah Bird

Summary:

Bored with being the African Wildman of the circus, Inki finds himself being the target of two dogs, one brown and one with red hair, who both want to bury the bone in his hair. Stealing the show once again is the ever-nonchalant Minah Bird.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1029 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. “Sabre and Spurs” played under the opening credits:

Story: Tedd Pierce and Michael Maltese

Animation: Ken Harris, Phil Monroe, Lloyd Vaughan, and Ben Washam

Layouts and Backgrounds: Robert Gribbroek

Musical Direction: Carl Stalling

Directed by Charles M. Jones

Like with all the other Inki cartoons, this cartoon no longer airs on television due to racial stereotyping. Its only home media release was on the Golden Age of Looney Tunes Volume 1 laserdisc box set in 1991.

Because of racial stereotyping, this is the only Warner cartoon from 1947 to not be restored.

Also, like all of the other Inki cartoons, this cartoon does not have any dialogue.

In release order, this is the first Jones cartoon since “Dog Tired” to have animation by Phil Monroe (“A Feather in His Hare” was the first but it wasn’t released until 1948). Monroe had switched to Freleng’s unit in 1942, animated for Frank Tashlin in only one cartoon (“Porky Pig’s Feat”) and animated for Bob Clampett in 1943 and 1944 before briefly leaving. Upon his return in 1947, Monroe animated solely for Jones until departing again in 1952. He would come back in the early 1960’s, however and direct two cartoons that were made by Jones’ unit but weren’t directed by Jones himself, “Woolen Under Where” (1963) and “The Iceman Ducketh” (1964).

“In an 18th Century Drawing Room” plays during the scene where the dogs trip each other up and when they both carry Inki off.

What I Like About This One:

In the cage of the “African Wildman”, Inki’s shadow makes him look menacing, but the camera pans down to reveal he is actually very bored and twirling a yo-yo (animated by Phil Monroe).

The brown dog sticks his nose through a knothole in Inki’s wooden cage and upon sniffing the bone in Inki’s hair, his eye appears in the knothole while his mouth appears in a mouth-shaped hole (animated by Monroe).

Inki is very confused at why a random dog is suddenly next to him and licking his face, unaware he’s trying to get the bone. The brown dog then makes it look like he’s biting at fleas and then goes into a pointer position to get Inki to look in that direction before finally getting the bone in between his teeth and carrying Inki off (animated by Lloyd Vaughan).

The brown dog’s burying of the bone leads to Inki being upside down (animated by Vaughan).

The red-haired dog passes the brown dog, who soon discovers “his” bone got dug up (animated by Vaughan). The dogs then take turns tripping each other up and making off with Inki. The red-haired dog peeks his head over the fence only to get malleted by the brown dog (animated by Ben Washam).

Both dogs find they’re carrying the bone and Inki at the same time and make angry expressions at each other (animated by Washam), but all three are scared off when a large crate and an equally large safe inside the crate both violently open with their nails and locks coming off. Out comes the Minah Bird who does his walk into a hole (animated by Monroe).

Sniffing into the hole, both dogs get their noses tied together by the Minah Bird (animated by Monroe).

Popping out of a water bucket, Inki sighs in relief. When the Minah Bird suddenly appears out of the bucket, Inki wants to shake his hand but the Minah Bird reveals he’s on neither side as he causes Inki’s bone to spin like a propeller (animated by Washam).

The brown dog sniffs after Inki with only one of them being on either side of the circus tent. Eventually seeing each other’s rear end sticking out from the side they are on, both slip a dynamite stick under the other before they both sneak off. After the explosion, they think they got each other but become shocked when they realize they unknowingly nodded in front of the other (animated by Washam).

After a chase into the big top, both Inki and the brown dog realize they’re high up on the tightrope wire. Trying to walk back, they are soon joined by the Minah Bird. The brown dog sees to his horror that the tightrope is coming undone and leaps to the platform (animated by Washam). The Minah Bird is only kept up by Inki repeatedly bouncing back up on the trampoline (animated by Ken Harris).

Inki then gets stuck in the platform with only the bone being visible (animated by Harris). The brown dog is then unable to get it due to the bone being in Inki’s hair (animated by Vaughan).

Seeing Inki and the brown dog swinging on the trapeze, the red-haired dog uses another to get at the bone with his teeth but the Minah Bird shows up in their place and tricks the red-haired dog into grabbing a 1000-pound barbell (animated by Harris).

The barbell causes the red-haired dog to go downward. Letting go causes him to fly upward, and then back down before he, the brown dog, and Inki all fly across to the Loop the Loop, where the bone is now out of Inki’s hair and slides down the Loop the Loop. The dogs go after it on bicycles while Inki only slides (animated by Harris).

All three land in another water bucket as does the bone, but none of them are able to claim it as the Minah Bird comes out now wearing the bone in his top-knot (animated by Washam).

Where Can I Watch It?

At toontales.net!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕