Release Date:

February 11, 1939

Main Character(s):

None

Summary:

Three squirrels decide to play Robin Hood. The smallest squirrel is forced into being the villain while the bigger two are Robin Hood and Little John, respectively. The bigger two are lured into a trap by a hungry fox impersonating Maid Marian. It’s up to the smallest squirrel to save them.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. Although no elements of the original title card have been found, the music that played over the original title card still exists, thanks to being included in the 1938 Christmas blooper reel of the cartoon staff (albeit with sound effects from a scene of sound effects man Treg Brown cutting paper). The credits were:

Supervision: Charles Jones

Story: Dave Monahan

Animation: Bob McKimson

Musical Direction: Carl W. Stalling

The cartoon is in the public domain and is the earliest Jones cartoon to be in the public domain.

Jones would parody Robin Hood again with two of the greatest Warner cartoons ever made: “Rabbit Hood” (1949; with Bugs Bunny) and “Robin Hood Daffy” (1958; with Daffy Duck and Porky Pig).

The fox’s stove has the label “Binder” on it. This is a reference to Henry Binder, one of Leon Schlesinger’s assistants.

What I Like About This One:

The squirrels arguing over who’s going to be Robin Hood.

The middle squirrel talking the smallest into being the villain (“Don’t get so excited. All you gotta do is march through the forest with your treasure and we’ll rob you and give it to the poor. Won’t that be fun?”). When the smallest reluctantly agrees, the middle squirrel says, “He WANTS to be the villain”.

The smallest squirrel lamenting his role: “I don’t know why I always have to be the bad guy. I’d like to be the good guy once in a while, I guess”.

The song the bigger two squirrels sing when going up against the smallest.

When the fox calls out in Maid Marian’s voice, the squirrels don’t know who Maid Marian is until they look her up in their storybook of Robin Hood and find out she’s supposed to be Robin Hood’s sweetheart (Schubert’s “Unfinished Symphony” can be heard when they look at the shot of Maid Marian).

When the bigger two squirrels have the smallest get the book from the bottom of the tree, the fox tries to get him, but the smallest squirrel is so quick, that the fox ends up catching a bunch of flowers in his mouth instead.

When the squirrels call out to “Maid Marian”, the fox accidentally answers in his normal voice before correcting himself and switching to his “feminine” voice.

When the smallest squirrel sees his friends held captive by the fox, he runs off before tripping over an abandoned horn and getting an idea.

The smallest squirrel getting a moment of awesome when he uses the horn and his vocal range to make it seem like hunters and hounds going on a fox hunt have arrived at the fox’s cabin. The fox literally turns yellow and becomes frantic (brilliant performance from Mel Blanc) and demands to be let out while running away with the locked door in front of him.

The bigger two squirrels going out of the cabin and saying, “Gee fellas, thanks a lot” and being puzzled to find no one outside. They are instead met by the smallest squirrel who asks, “WHO’S gonna be Robin Hood?”

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕