Release Date:

July 22, 1950

Main Character(s):

Cat and Bulldog

Summary:

A cat attempts to catch a hummingbird who literally hums, but repeatedly disturbs a mean bulldog, who gives him a variety of unique punishments every time he is accidentally disturbed.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1122 and was released as a Looney Tune.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. When it was restored for the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 6 DVD set in 2008, the original opening rings were put back in.

Speaking of which, this cartoon is included on the fourth disc of that set, where that disc’s theme is one-shots. While this one technically isn’t a one-shot (reason stated below), I’m still glad it has a restored disc release (that’s how I feel with every Warner cartoon, of course. And original titles being intact are always a major plus).

The same cat and bulldog would appear again a year later in “Early to Bet”, also directed by McKimson. This time, the third character is an insect called the “Gambling Bug” whose bite causes the urge to gamble, and the bulldog is a lot less meaner than he is here, as the cat’s punishments are penalties for losing the various games they play, and he eventually gives up when he declares the cat too unlucky.

This was the cartoon that Jerry Beck had seen that inspired him to become a historian on animation as it stood out to him so much, he wanted to know more about these cartoons (and I very much thank him for that, since he’s also the reason research on cartoons has become a whole lot easier than it was back then, and he’s also responsible for all of the essential DVD and Blu-ray releases of classic animation).

The title is a pun for “It’s summer time”. Interestingly, this cartoon was released around the time summer vacation would be nearly over for people in school (indeed, tomorrow’s cartoon, “Golden Yeggs” was released on the first Saturday after Oconee County Schools would have had their first day had the district existed back then. Saturdays were also when Warner cartoons would be released).

The cartoon was originally titled rather simply, “Hummertime”.

The Internet likes to say that the cat in this cartoon is the Supreme Cat from “Paying the Piper” and the similar-looking cat from “Swallow the Leader”. They clearly AREN’T because the design and voice are very different (similar to what the Internet says about Claude Cat, you shouldn’t be believing everything you read on the Internet regarding Looney Tunes).

The cat’s design would be reused for the respective cats that appear in “A Fractured Leghorn” (released two months later) and “Leghorn Swoggled” (1951).

The bulldog’s design is reused from the one in “Hippety Hopper” and would be used again six months later in “A Fox in a Fix” (1951).

The cartoon implies that the cat and bulldog have had this punishment thing going on for a while as the cat seems to know exactly how torturous each of said punishments are.

The animator draft for the cartoon can be viewed here.

“Powerhouse” plays during all of the scenes where the cat begs not to be given a certain punishment, and also during the “Fence”, “Thinker”, and “Works” scenes.

Presumably due to the small amount of footage he animated on this one, Emery Hawkins is uncredited.

This is one of the few post-1946 cartoons to have the director credit as “direction” rather than “directed by”.

This is the first cartoon where Harry Love is the effects animator.

The bulldog borrows Tweety’s catchphrase, “I tawt I taw a putty tat” at one point.

The sign that says, “Don’t be half safe” is based off of the pitch for Arrid deodorant.

What I Like About This One:

The rendition of “Carolina in the Morning” over the opening credits.

Flying along while humming to “I’m Looking Over a Four-Leafed Clover”, the hummingbird flies down to a random flower (animated by Emery Hawkins), only to discover that a bee has already claimed it, with this bee raving at him in buzzing gibberish (animated by Charles McKimson).

He then spots several signs pointing towards a “bird bath”, including one that reads “Don’t Be Half Safe”, and flies toward it, where it’s revealed to be the cat posing as a statue and holding a dish full of water and having a hose placed above his head for the water to come out like a fountain (animated by Hawkins). To the tune of “By a Waterfall”, the cat attempts to grab the hummingbird but the hummingbird is already wise to this trick as he spits water at him and also kicks water into his face (animated by Charles). The cat then chases the hummingbird in anger and accidentally slaps the bulldog when jumping over the doghouse (animated by Bill Melendez).

The bulldog takes the cat over to the fence, as the cat pleads, “No. Not ‘the fence’. No, not that again! Please! No! Don’t! NOOOOOOOOT ‘THE FEEEEEEENCE’!” As the bulldog makes the cat’s tail pointy for it to go through the fence’s knothole, the cat attempts to talk some sense into him, “Now, let’s talk this over. There must be some other way. Let’s be grown up. Let’s talk it over man to man. Let’s not be hasty”. But the bulldog doesn’t listen as he sticks the cat’s tail through the fence (animated by Rod Scribner up to here) and on the other side, he pulls him through the knothole. After the bulldog walks away, the cat exclaims, “Ooooooooh. I HATE that!” (animated by Phil DeLara)

The cat removes a phonograph speaker that looks like a flower and has it stick out of the bush with his mouth on the other end. The hummingbird puts a dynamite stick in the speaker and after the explosion, the cat spins the destroyed speaker like a propeller (animated by John Carey).

Now with a net, the cat goes after the hummingbird while the latter is humming “Ain’t We Got Fun”. The hummingbird flies up to the bulldog still humming the same tune. Finding the humming catchy, the bulldog starts dancing to it as he makes his way near the cat (animated by DeLara). Seeing the hummingbird flying around the wall, the cat ends up getting the net on the bulldog’s head instead as the latter turns the corner. The bulldog drags him off as the cat begs, “No. Not ‘Happy Birthday’! No, not that! Please! No! NOT ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAAAAAAAYYYYYY’!” (animated by Scribner) The “Happy Birthday” setup has the bulldog lighting a cake with dynamite candles. The cat attempts to blow them out, but the cake explodes in his face anyway (animated by Charles).

The cat next ties a lure that looks like a flower to a fishing pole and attaches a balloon to it in order for it to float as he casts it out. Not fooled at all, the hummingbird paints the cat’s face on the balloon (animated by DeLara) and has it float down towards the bulldog’s house. The bulldog sees the balloon with the cat’s face and utters a borrowed catchphrase, “I tawt I taw a putty tat”. He then attempts to bite at the “cat” but ends up popping the balloon instead. Initially confused, he then notices the fake flower lure and pulls on the fishing line (animated by Charles). Thinking he’s caught the hummingbird, the cat ends up reeling in the bulldog who takes him all the way up to the roof for this next punishment: “The rain pipe! No! No, don’t do it! Not the rain pipe! Oh-ho! NOT THE RAIN PIPE!” (animated by DeLara) The cat is seen atop the roof tied to a rope going through the drainpipe with the other end of the rope tied to a hay bale that the dog pushes off the first story in a nearby barn. After going through the drainpipe, the cat angrily beats said drainpipe with a baseball bat, denting it in order for the bulldog to not use this punishment in future (animated by Carey).

Pacing back and forth in annoyance, the cat follows the hummingbird all the way to the doghouse (animated by Carey). Spotting the hummingbird in the dog’s dish of bones, the cat turns to the audience licking his lips, failing to notice the hummingbird leave (animated by Charles). The cat attempts to look through the dish, and upon seeing the bulldog watching him with an “Are you kidding me?” expression, the cat gives us an “Oh no” look. He attempts to run away but the bulldog quickly runs in front of him and trips him up before taking him over to a cement mixer for the next punishment: “Oh no. Not the ‘Thinker’! Not that! Not the ‘Thinker’! Please! NOT THE THIIIIIIIINNNNNKER’!” After the bulldog puts him in said mixer (animated by Melendez up to here) ,which has specific options for one to be turned into a statue of either the “Thinker”, the “Flower Pot”, and the “Bird Bath”, he selects the “Thinker”, to which the mixer spits the cat out posing as the statue of the same name with an irritated expression (animated by Scribner).

The hummingbird flies toward the sleeping bulldog and puts one of his feathers on the bulldog’s lip to make it appear he’s in the bulldog’s mouth. He then hides behind the corner of the doghouse and after looking through a book on ventriloquism, “How to Throw Your Voice”, the hummingbird starts humming “Baby Face” to make it convincing. The cat runs into view and after dropping the feather on the bulldog’s lip, runs off upon seeing the bulldog start to wake up, but upon seeing nothing, the bulldog shrugs and goes back to sleep (animated by Scribner). The cat then pours sneezing powder on the bulldog’s face in order for him to open his mouth while he looks inside for the hummingbird with a flashlight. Eventually, the bulldog sneezes which causes him to close his mouth shut on the cat’s head. The bulldog then takes the cat off to the final and most extreme punishment: “No! Not the ‘Works’! Don’t do it! In the name of humanity! NOOOOOOOOOT THE ‘WOOOOOORRRKS’! (animated by Melendez)

Said “works” is revealed to be the cat being set up to go through the fence knothole from earlier, through a ladder’s rungs, through a mud puddle, over the stone stairs up a wall, through a hole at the bottom of a tree, into the river, up the watermill, through a different drainpipe, through a twisted pipe on the ground, through the hole in the same wall, through a pile of logs, and finally into the cement mixer. The hummingbird then reveals that he’s on nobody’s side as he ties the rope for the “Works” to the bulldog’s leg without the bulldog knowing and ties the other end to the cat’s chest (animated by Charles). When the bulldog starts up the “works”, he ends up going through everything too along with the cat (animated by Carey). After both end up in the cement mixer, the hummingbird turns it on and presses the button for the “Bird Bath”, so that when the mixer spits them out, both cat and bulldog come out as a double statue holding a bird bath (animated by Scribner). The hummingbird pulls out the cat’s tongue to use as a diving board and getting in his only line of dialogue, does an imitation of the cat: “Oh no, not the bird bath! Not that!” before diving in for a swim (animated by Charles).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕