Release Date:

December 19, 1953

Main Character(s):

None

Summary:

A five-inch tall bull elephant causes various reactions out of the citizens of New York City.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1273 and was released as a Looney Tune.

This is the last cartoon (barring “Lumber Jack Rabbit” released a year later) to use the original larger rings and large background for the shield in the opening credits.

The ship the elephant comes off of is called the “S.S. Michael Maltese” (who, of course, wrote this cartoon. The cartoon itself is also one of many great examples of how excellent the Jones-Maltese partnership was).

When the cartoon was restored for HBO Max in 2020, there was originally a brief but abrupt blackout after the narrator says, “Out of a stalk of bananas”, with the screen going back to normal when the elephant is first shown. Fortunately, this was fixed when this same restoration was put on the Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice Volume 3 Blu-ray set.

The radio announcer is named Mr. Pratt, which is a reference to Hawley Pratt.

The scientist who is brought on to express his doubts of the elephant existing and oblivious to the elephant taking the microphone away from him is named “Dr. Robert Bruce Cameron”. Cameron was Robert Bruce’s middle name and while Bruce doesn’t voice that character (he’s voiced by Mel Blanc), he does voice the narrator as well as the psychiatrist who switches places with his woman patient, Delores, after seeing the elephant on his desk, and Mr. Pratt.

“Foster Television”, the television several citizens watch Dr. Cameron’s speech on, is a reference to Warren Foster.

The title is a pun for “punch drunk”.

The cartoon was originally titled “Little Doubt”.

Despite using the 1954 orange rings with the blue background in the intro, the outro uses the 1953 green rings with the red background, making this cartoon the last usage of the latter.

This is the first of a few Warner cartoons that references Stan Freberg’s novelty record “John and Marsha”. Others include “Wild Wife” (1954), “The Unexpected Pest” (1956), “Bedevilled Rabbit” (1957), and “Unnatural History” (1959).

Maurice Noble proves how skilled of a layout artist he is when he makes the scenery actually look distorted during the scene with the drunk.

The cartoon was used in the 1988 compilation movie, “Daffy Duck’s Quackbusters”, making it one of the very few one-shots to appear in one of the compilation movies.

Genevieve, the girl whose dollhouse the elephant briefly takes up residence in, looks a bit like how Jones and his unit would portray Cindy Lou Who in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (1966).

I absolutely love the upbeat rendition of “I Cover the Waterfront” over the opening credits.

Favorite Scene:

The scenes with the birdbath and the dollhouse.

What Happens in This One:

We begin with opening narration, “The whole incredible thing started on a fine spring morning at the foot of Canal Street. The S.S. Michael Maltese was unloading a cargo of tropical fruit at Pier 38. When suddenly, out of a stalk of bananas, IT came”, with “IT” referring to the elephant. “As big as life! Well, anyway, as small as life. A full-grown bull elephant, but only five inches tall”. The elephant trumpets and one of the dock workers upon seeing how small the elephant is, collapses. “Before anyone could recover from the shock, he disappeared into the city and was not heard from again. Until…” (animated by Ken Harris).

The next morning, the elephant is taking a bath in a birdbath, much to the birds’ annoyance and causing the man whose yard the birdbath is part of to smoke nervously while he is seen calling the police department. “I-I want to report an elephant in my birdbath. 112 North Highland. Yeah, that’s right. Please hurry”. He hangs up and looks out the window in a worried manner. One of the birds begins ranting at the elephant in unintelligible gibberish, but the elephant only responds by spraying this bird with water. The man begins to nervously light his cigarette, only to become delighted upon hearing the door knock. However, he is tied up in a straitjacket and taken away to an asylum! “Steady, now, lad. Easy does it”, one of the asylum officers assures him. The man tries to explain, “But I did! I DID see an elephant in my birdbath!” The same asylum officer answers sarcastically, “Sure, sure. I know. I keep a giraffe in mine” (animated by Lloyd Vaughan).

A woman is hanging her laundry out to dry and is initially oblivious to the elephant watching her from behind. The elephant decides to help her by handing her the next clothespin with his trunk. She absentmindedly takes it and after a few seconds, makes a scared take, before diving into the washing machine and hiding in there (animated by Harris).

A man who has just gotten new glasses from an optometrist walks out in a good mood to the tune of “I Only Have Eyes for You”. Upon seeing the elephant, he believes his glasses are making him see things, and goes back to punch the optometrist offscreen. The angry man walks out, while the confused optometrist, now with a black eye, watches him leave (animated by Ben Washam).

That night at a penthouse, a woman named Marsha notices her kindergarten-aged daughter, Genevieve, walking up to her, She asks, “Genevieve, what are you doing up?” Genevieve explains, “There’s an elephant in my dollhouse, Mommy”. Marsha believes this is because of “too much television” and takes her back to bed by carrying her, “Now you just pop right back into bed like a good girl and forget all about those nasty dreams” as Genevieve gives the audience a shrugging look. Marsha later notices Genevieve walking past her with a cake and asks, “Genevieve, where are you going with that food?” Genevieve: “It’s for Teeny”. Marsha: “Who in the world is Teeny?” Genevieve: “Teeny is the elephant that lives in my dollhouse”. Having enough, Marsha again carries Genevieve back to her room and scolds, “Alright, young lady. Mother’s going right into your room and look into your dollhouse and prove to you how naughty it is-”, only to be confronted by the elephant appearing from one of the dollhouse’s windows and trumpeting at her once she looks into it. This causes her to pass out and exclaim, “John….” Her husband, John, picks her up and says in a tone of lament, “Marsha…” (animated by Washam).

Later that night, a drunk staggers out of the pool hall amidst a background that is actually distorted. The elephant trumpets at the drunk who turns around and gives him a slightly angry look. After looking at his watch, the drunk tells him in annoyance, “You’re late” before continuing to stagger away, “He always used to be pink!” (animated by Harris)

During the dawn hours at the circus, the trained elephants walk into the tent with their keeper before one of them notices the tiny elephant in the middle of it and the regular-sized elephant in front and drops its jaw all the way to the ground in shock. This elephant dashes off in terror and balances standing on its hind legs atop the tightrope. A cat then chases a mouse into the tent and seemingly catches it in its mouth, but it turns out the cat actually caught the elephant instead. The cat only realizes this upon hearing the elephant trumpet, causing the former to react by imitating a monkey (animated by Vaughan).

Another woman named Delores is seen lying on a couch while talking to her psychiatrist, “Then, Mother used to scold me when I was only three. She’d say, ‘Delores, you’re not seeing little lavender men in the sugar bowl’. But I did, Doctor. Then, when I went to nursery school, my teacher, Mrs. Watson, she was this very blonde. Well, Mrs. Watson used to spank me; spank me hard, even when-” In the midst of Delores talking, the psychiatrist has attempted to take a drink from his cup of water only to discover the elephant having drunken it all himself. Bewildered at this, he switches places with a confused Delores and begins to tell a story of his own, “I think it all began when Father refused to take me to the circus. I was a fragile child at six-” (animated by Vaughan).

Several citizens are watching a painter painting the pole atop a skyscraper before the elephant appears behind them and trumpets loudly. They are all so frightened by this that they all go up to the top of the pole and hang on to it (animated by Washam).

The newspaper headlines read, “Mass Hallucination Grips City”, “Hundreds Claim to Have Seen Tiny Elephant”, and “I Seen It” with the latter having a picture of a man with an uneasy expression. Another one reads, “Picayune Pachyderm Panics Populace” with the article, “Circus Cat Goes Insane. Strange Malady Strikes”, along with a final one in red all-capitals, “Noted Scientist to Take to Air to Calm Alarmed Citizenry”. Several citizens gather around a television set and watch Mr. Pratt announcing, “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight it is my privilege to bring to you one of the great scientists of our times, who will explain to all of us just why it is impossible for a five-inch elephant to exist- Dr. Robert Bruce Cameron”. Dr. Cameron begins, “Thank you, Mr. Pratt. Ladies and gentlemen, this mythical elephant is simply a product of our troubled times. Uh, too much anxiety. Too much worry. Pressures. It is quite obvious to the ordinine that such a thing as this tiny elephant could not possibly exist”, but is oblivious to the elephant stealing the microphone from him and taking it back to a shocked Mr. Pratt. Mr. Pratt announces, “Ladies and gentlemen, the public opinions of this speaker do not necessarily represent those of this station” before fainting. The elephant lets out one final trumpet for the iris-out (animated by Washam).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕