Release Date:

January 18, 1947

Main Character(s):

Porky Pig, Barnyard Dawg

Summary:

On Groundhog Day, Grover Groundhog must evade hunter Porky Pig and Barnyard Dawg (here as Porky’s dog and named “Mandrake”) as Porky needs a groundhog to complete his set of stuffed animals.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1015 and was released as a Merrie Melodie. This is also the first cartoon in production order to use the four-digit production number system.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. “Chittlin’ Switch” played under the opening credits:

Story: Warren Foster

Animation: Richard Bickenbach, Cal Dalton, Rod Scribner, and I. Ellis

Layouts: Cornett Wood

Backgrounds: Richard H. Thomas

Voice Characterizations: Mel Blanc

Musical Direction: Carl Stalling

Directed by Robert McKimson

The cartoon was originally titled rather simply “Grover Groundhog”.

The title is a pun for “one meat ball”.

The scene of Grover singing about how a groundhog and his shadow are a remarkable pair (it was actually an original tune written by Warren Foster) was originally animated by Arthur Davis, but due to him recently becoming a director, his animation stops mid-scene and Rod Scribner takes over the animation.

This is the second appearance of Barnyard Dawg and the first of four cartoons where he appears without Foghorn with the other three being “Daffy Duck Hunt” (1949), “Don’t Axe Me” (1958), and “Gopher Broke” (1958), all of course being directed by McKimson.

This was the first attempt to give Dawg a name. Here, he is referred to as “Mandrake”. In the aforementioned “Don’t Axe Me”, he is named “Rover”, while in a Bugs Bunny Show episode, he is named “George P. Dog”. None of these stuck, however, so he is just simply known as “Dawg” (during the summer before I entered eighth grade, I read a book that had a character named “Dawg”, so naturally I imagined him with Barnyard Dawg’s voice).

When this cartoon appeared on the Looney Tunes Super Stars Porky and Friends Hilarious Ham DVD in 2012, it was inexplicably unrestored and presented in its 1995 Turner dubbed version print. The cartoon would later be restored for HBO Max in 2020, with this same restored print later appearing on the Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice Volume 2 Blu-ray set in 2023 (and also to newcomers, once I have finished doing a post on every Warner cartoon at the end of April 2027, I will also be doing posts on all of the essential DVD and Blu-ray releases of Looney Tunes, since I also love physical media).

Like “Draftee Daffy”, this cartoon is another instance where “It Had to Be You” plays during a scene that doesn’t have to do with romance or stripteasing. In this case, it plays during Grover’s sob story to Dawg, and when Porky scolds Dawg for presumably eating Grover, unaware that Grover is whispering to him what to say and is imitating his gestures.

The cartoon has a total of nine animators (Fred Abranz, Richard Bickenbach, Cal Dalton, Arthur Davis, Izzy Ellis, Manny Gould, Anatolle Kirsanoff, Rod Scribner, and Don Williams), one of the largest groups of animators for any cartoon (of course, Disney’s animated movies released during the Golden Age had a lot more animators than that).

You can find out who animated what scene here (McKimson had saved nearly all of the animator drafts for every Warner cartoon he directed from when he became a director in 1946 up until the original studio closed in 1964. Animator drafts are the sheets that assigned animators to a specific scene and in the 21st century, they are very useful for confirming who animated what scene in a specific cartoon).

This is the only Warner cartoon centered on Groundhog Day.

What I Like About This One:

Tearing off a page in his calendar, Grover is delighted that it’s “my day” (animated by Richard Bickenbach) and performs a catchy original song called “A Groundhog and His Shadow”: “A groundhog and his shadow are a very famous pair (animated by Arthur Davis before his animation stops), they forecast the weather together, a trick that is rare. Oh, the one little thing that bothers me when out of doors I go, now does my shadow mean springtime or 16 feet of snow? Never know which, I just can’t remember, will it be warm or make like December? Oh, the whole thing just confuses me and that is why I sing, a groundhog’s shadow just doesn’t mean a thing” (animated by Rod Scribner).

Grover’s shadow then does various tricks, including walking like ducks who all form into one (animated by Fred Abranz).

Hearing on the radio that several photographers have gathered outside his home to see if Grover will appear with or without his shadow, Grover humbly appears outside to greet his “public”. Said photographers turn out to be hunters who rapidly fire bullets at Grover, who makes a run for it (animated by Anatolle Kirsanoff). Running out of sight, Grover pants, “Whew. This meat shortage is sure tough on us animals!” (animated by Abranz)

Meanwhile, Porky is telling Dawg about his plans to shoot a groundhog and shows him a picture of one that looks like Grover. Porky also sprays Dawg with “groundhog scent” before Dawg runs over the hill. He comes back seconds later, but Porky is not pleased to find out that what Dawg came back with is an old shoe. After being shown the difference between a shoe and a groundhog, Dawg resprays himself with the groundhog scent and goes off again (animated by Cal Dalton with Kirsanoff animating the shot of Porky telling Dawg to “g-g-go get ‘em!”).

Sneaking around some trees, Dawg is startled by Grover popping out of one and saying, “Boo!” before he realizes, “You’re a groundhog” (animated by Bickenbach). Grover gives him a dollar, “That gives you one dollar. Care to try for two?” (animated by Kirsanoff) before he runs off into a bush (animated by Izzy Ellis).

When Dawg sticks his head in the bush, Grover berates him, “Snitch! Stool pigeon! Squealing on little woodland creatures! You ought to be ashamed of yourself! Oh, you do all right for yourself! Get food handed to ya, a house to sleep in! And what have I got? (animated by Bickenbach) It ain’t fair I tell ya! It ain’t fair!” Grover stops sobbing to confide, “Dogs are suckers for a sob story” (animated by Scribner).

And indeed Dawg is, as he growls at Porky when he shows up at the bush and starts attacking him while Grover hits Porky in the knees with a stick (animated by Dalton). Porky is annoyed at Dawg for letting Grover make a sap out of him (animated by Abranz), and puts earmuffs on Dawg, so he can’t hear Grover. To Porky’s shock, however (animated by Kirsanoff), Grover just simply continues his sob story by speaking into a radio mic that he attached to Dawg’s earmuffs; “Wife and 72 children, no coal in the cellar”; before running off upon seeing Porky (animated by Manny Gould). Feeling ashamed when Porky scolds him (animated by Abranz), Dawg brings out a water pistol and squirts himself with it. Porky slaps it out of his hand and gives him one more chance (animated by Don Williams).

Seeing Dawg running towards him, Grover leaves out a sign: “Free Food: Take ONE Only” with a bone and Grover as options. Of course, Dawg chooses the bone, but Porky, who hears Dawg gnawing loudly on the other side (animated by Kirsanoff), assumes that Dawg consumed Grover and is shocked (animated by Bickenbach).

Unaware that Grover is whispering into his ear, telling him what to say (animated by Kirsanoff with Izzy Ellis animating the second closeup of Grover doing this), Porky repeats them aloud and is also oblivious to Grover imitating his gestures (animated by Scribner). Once Porky sobs about how Grover “had to r-roll his own cigarettes, wife has no nylons” with Grover still imitating him, Dawg gets wise and shows Porky the picture of Grover (animated by Bickenbach). Seeing Porky glare at him, Grover responds, “I’m only three and a half years old!” before running off (animated by Ellis).

Grover jumps into a pail which Porky shoots into. Grover pops out, bragging, “You missed me!” (animated by Ellis)

Chasing Grover into his home, Porky is stopped from entering by Dawg who blocks the entrance. Porky pushes him out of the way and Dawg goes in after him. A fight seemingly ensues, judging by everyone’s shadows (animated by Abranz), but it turns out that only the shadows are fighting via literal “shadow boxing”. “Th-th-this way no one gets hurt”, Porky confides (animated by Dalton).

Where Can I Watch It?

At toontales.net!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½