Release Date:

June 25, 1955

Main Character(s):

Goofy Gophers

Summary:

In the middle of storing their nuts during the fall, the Goofy Gophers’ new tree gets cut down and taken to a local sawmill where they try to reclaim it.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1305 and was released as a Looney Tune.

This is the final cartoon to use the 1946-1955 Looney Tunes opening and closing themes.

With this being the last cartoon to use any of Carl Stalling’s renditions of the opening and closing themes, this marks the end of an era (after this and up until the original 1964 closure, Milt Franklyn’s renditions would be used on every cartoon except for the one-shots, “Now Hear This”, “Bartholomew Versus the Wheel”, and “Senorella and the Glass Huarache”, which all used the abstract titles that were used in the late 1964-1969 period).

The cartoon was restored for the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 1 DVD set in its correct pitch. When it was re-restored for HBO Max in 2020, the audio was inexplicably low-pitched.

This is the last cartoon to use the 1955 red-purple rings with the blue background in the closing titles.

Like with “Pests for Guests”, the Gophers behave like squirrels here.

The title is a pun for “lumberjacks”.

This is the last Warner cartoon until the DePatie-Freleng era to feature animation by Manuel Perez.

This is also the last Goofy Gophers cartoon directed by Freleng.

The Gophers prove to be able to tell which tree was “theirs” among the many logs in the river and cut up in the sawmill.

Richard H. Thomas did the backgrounds for this one rather than Irv Wyner.

This is the first Goofy Gophers cartoon since “A Ham in a Role” where they get their names above the title. This would also occur in their next appearance, “Gopher Broke” (1958).

Favorite Scene:

In an attempt to save “their” tree from being cut up, the second Gopher ends up getting wood shavings atop his head, making it look like a girl’s curly hair. He then goes up to the first Gopher with the shavings still on his head, and begins to recite, “There Was a Little Girl Who Had a Little Curl”, only to be told off by the first Gopher, “Stop it! Stop it! There’s a time and a place for everything!”

What Happens in This One:

It’s fall in the forest and the Gophers have just moved into a new tree as the second Gopher remarks, “Oh, this was by far the most suitable tree for our new home. Do you like it?” As they walk out, the first Gopher answers, “Magnificent, simply magnificent! Just loads of closets and oodles of storage space!” Second Gopher: “I think you’ve made a simply wonderful selection”. First Gopher: “Well, thank you. I was a little concerned about your approval”. Second Gopher: “Oh, you needn’t have worried. I trust your taste implicitly”. First Gopher: “Thank you. You’re so kind”. The second Gopher then suggests, “I think we should start storing our nuts before the first snowfall”, which the first Gopher agrees to, “Ooh, that’s a capital suggestion! Simply capital!” (animated by Manuel Perez)

After gathering some nuts, the Gophers carry their respective nuts into the tree with them, as they go up some stairs offscreen. The second Gopher warns, “Be careful. Watch that last step!”, only for the first Gopher to seemingly trip on the stairs. Second Gopher: “I told you to be careful!” First Gopher: “I know it. I know you did”. By the time they get to the middle of the trunk, they find the tree has been sawed in half when they come out into the open and drop all their nuts in shock. The second Gopher asks, “What happened?” to which the first Gopher figures, “Apparently, someone has cut our tree down and carried it away”. Second Gopher: “Apparently, VERY apparently”. The first Gopher decides, “I think we should take definite steps to regain our property”, which the second Gopher agrees to, as they both get down from the tree and start searching (animated by Perez)

The second Gopher is soon heard shouting that he’s found it. The first Gopher runs up to him on all four’s, finding him on the edge of a cliff above the river, asking him where it is. The second Gopher points down below, “It’s down THERE”, revealing that he was referring to the several logs in the river. The first Gopher asks, “Don’t you anticipate some difficulty in locating our particular tree?” “Oh, yes indeed”, the second Gopher replies (animated by Perez).

The Gophers search among the logs before the second Gopher announces that “I’ve located it!”, to which the first Gopher remarks, “Wonderful. Ooh, simply wonderful”. The second Gopher decides, “Now, all we have to do is row it back”. Shortly, the Gophers are seen using two small paddles to row the log back to land. As the current begins to pull them backwards, the second Gopher asks, “We’re making very good progress, don’t you think?” The first Gopher replies, “Oh, yes I do. But our progress seems to be in the wrong direction”. Second Gopher: “That’s strange. I’m certain we are rowing in the right direction”. It turns out they are actually rowing towards a waterfall, which causes the first Gopher to tell the second Gopher, “I beg your pardon. But I think there’s something you should know”, before pointing to the waterfall. Once the second Gopher silently reacts in shock, they both attempt to row in the opposite direction away from the falls but end up going over. Fortunately, they manage to row back up the falls to safety (animated by Perez).

Outside of the sawmill, the Gophers are both tired out from their near-disaster. The first Gopher pants, “My, we were in a very precarious predicament, weren’t we?” The second Gopher replies, “Oh, yes indeed. Very precarious. VERY!” The first Gopher then says, “You’ll just have to excuse me while I rest a moment. Frankly, if you’ll pardon the slang, I’m bushed”, as he lays down in a sleeping position. The second Gopher answers, “Oh, that’s perfectly alright. I’m a little uh, (chuckles), bushed meself”, as he too lays down in a sleeping position. The log is then carried on the conveyor belt into the sawmill (animated by Virgil Ross up to here) where the first Gopher is woken up by the noise of the buzz saw slicing between them. He shakes the second Gopher to wake him up and mistakes the cut for the second Gopher’s snoring as he remarks, “My, but you snore loudly!” They both narrowly avoid another buzz saw from behind them. The second Gopher remarks, “We were fortunate. It missed us completely!”, only for the first Gopher to slightly contradict this, “Well, I wouldn’t say completely. Would you?” and turns around to reveal his shaved backside. Second Gopher: “Oh, no. Certainly not. No, indeed” (animated by Arthur Davis).

The Gophers then run off the log when the next blade saws through. The second Gopher wonders, “I wonder what type of place this is”. Seeing some sort of machine, the first Gopher answers, “It definitely looks as if they are bent on the destruction of our forests”. The Gophers watch as a log is cut up into small wooden pieces by the machine the first Gopher was referring to. The wooden pieces are deposited from a chute on the machine’s side into a red mechanical container, have water and glue poured atop them, and then mixed, before they are poured out as goop from the end of the container into an ironing board-type machine that presses the goop and turns it into an artificial fireplace log. The finished artificial log rolls down to join several other artificial fireplace logs. After witnessing all of this, the Gophers turn their heads to the right to watch something else: another log is ground up in a pencil sharpener-like device to be turned into an ACME Toothpick, and rolls into a box of such with other finished toothpicks (animated by Davis).

The second Gopher decides, “We’d better investigate as to what happened to our tree”. The first Gopher agrees, “You’re so logical. So very logical”. As they walk off, the second Gopher replies, “Thank you” (animated by Davis). The Gophers find a room full of wooden furniture and realize the intentions of the sawmill. Second Gopher: “Furniture!” First Gopher (gasps): “So that’s it!” Second Gopher: “They’re going to make furniture out of our tree!” The first Gopher states, “You know, you’ve analyzed the situation perfectly!” before the second Gopher makes a silent shocked take upon seeing something as he gasps, “There goes our tree now”. The log is on the conveyor belt about to be cut up, as the second Gopher runs off, “I shall save it!” The first Gopher warns, “Oh, do be careful!” before the second Gopher gets onto the belt and attempts to push the log backward to no avail (animated by Perez).

Thinking the second Gopher is about to get torn to shreds, the first Gopher makes a silent horrified reaction and turns around, covering his eyes. The machine only makes several wood shavings that the second Gopher comes out wearing on his head, resembling the curly hair of a girl. With his wood shaving wig, the second Gopher comes up to the first Gopher and starts reciting, “There was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of a forest. When she was good-” The first Gopher shakes him around, causing the wig to come off as he scolds, “Stop it! Stop it! There’s a time and a place for everything!” Embarrassed, the second Gopher apologizes, “I’m sorry I acted so silly. Something came over me”, which the first Gopher accepts, “Oh, that’s alright. Let’s get our tree back”. “Yes, let’s”, the second Gopher agrees (animated by Ross).

As they walk out of the mill’s shipping department, the second Gopher figures, “Our tree must certainly be transformed into furniture by this time”. The first Gopher replies, “Undoubtedly. Indubitably”. The second Gopher points to two moving men, “There it goes now”, where the men are carrying a chest of drawers that was apparently the Gophers’ tree into their van. Second Gopher: “That is unquestionably our property”. The first Gopher suggests, “We must think of a way to repossess it”. They pace back and forth before the second Gopher announces, “Idea coming up!” As the second Gopher briefly does a Thinker pose, the first Gopher becomes excited, “Ooh, good! Do tell!”, before the second Gopher whispers his idea to the first Gopher, who chuckles, “Wonderful. Wonderful suggestion”. The second Gopher asks, “Do you really like it?” The first Gopher’s response is “Oh, it couldn’t have been better if I’d thought of it myself!” Second Gopher: “Ah, thank you” (animated by Davis).

The idea is revealed to be siphoning the gas out of the van with the first Gopher doing the siphoning, “Oh, I’m so glad we were able to find this rubber hose”. The second Gopher gives him the green light, “Go ahead. I’ve got this end in the gas tank”. The first Gopher begins blowing into the hose but ends up blowing it too hard to the point that he accidentally inhales a bit of the gas’ fumes, causing him to turn a sickly shade of green while coughing. He has managed to cause the gas to leak out, however, before the second Gopher runs away with him by the hand before the van leaves, “They’re starting! Quick! Get out of the way!” (animated by Davis)

After the van drives off, the Gophers follow a trail of leaked gas, unconcerned. Second Gopher: “There’s no hurry. We’re bound to catch up with them”. First Gopher: “Oh, inevitably. Inevitably”. A while later, the second Gopher informs, “Any time now”, much to the first Gopher’s delight, “Oh, joy”. When they see the moving men walking toward them, they hide behind a nearby sign, “Next Gasoline Station 10 Miles”. With only their torsos and legs visible, the men make the long walk to this gas station with one of them carrying a gas can. One asks, “Are you sure you filled up before we left?”, and the other answers, “Yeah, I’m sure I filled up before we left!” The Gophers then run towards the van with them out of the way (animated by Davis).

Having raided the back of the van, the Gophers have reconstructed their tree out of various pieces of furniture and branches. Sitting atop a dresser in front of a television set, the second Gopher asks, “Isn’t our home much nicer than it was before?” The first Gopher replies, “Oh, yes. Much better. And besides, we have television”. Second Gopher: “Isn’t television just wonderful?” First Gopher: “Yes. And think how much better it will be when we get electricity” (animated by Davis).

Where Can I Watch It?

At toontales.net!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½