Release Date:

November 23, 1946

Main Character(s):

Hubie and Bertie

Summary:

Hubie and Bertie convince a dumb cat that he’s a lion and persuade him to go after the bulldog who they disguise as a moose and later pass off as a gazelle and a pelican. All the while, the antics drive a confused bird to lose his sanity.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 7-16, the 7th Looney Tune in the 16th release season.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. “Hey Doc” played under the opening credits:

Story: Tedd Pierce and Michael Maltese

Animation: Ben Washam, Ken Harris, Lloyd Vaughan, and Basil Davidovich

Layouts and Backgrounds: Robert Gribbroek

Voice Characterization: Mel Blanc

Musical Direction: Carl Stalling

Directed by Charles M. Jones

Additionally, a print with the original titles is rumored to exist. Hopefully, that gets unearthed for the entire world to see one day (for those of you that are new to this blog, Warner Bros. reissued their cartoons with the original titles and credits removed from September 1943-August 1956. Ever since, these reissues have become a major source of frustration to fans like myself who believe these cartoons should only be viewed as originally intended. While several original titles have been found, some are still elusive to this day. So as you can see, original titles are my most sought after piece of lost media when it comes to Looney Tunes).

This is the second appearance of Hubie and Bertie (with their first being “The Aristo-Cat”), and the last time they have brown and gray fur, respectively. Their next appearance, “House Hunting Mice” (1947) onwards has them switch fur colors.

This is the first Warner cartoon to feature the voice of Stan Freberg. Here, he voices Bertie.

Hubie is not voiced by Mel Blanc here as he is in later cartoons, but rather by Dick Nelson, who also voiced the Edward G. Robinson caricature in “Racketeer Rabbit”.

This cartoon was released exactly 58 years before I was born (I was born on November 23, 2004).

The title is a pun on the 1945 film “Roughly Speaking”.

This is the penultimate cartoon to use the old production number system with the last being “The Gay Anties” (1947).

What I Like About This One:

Hubie and Bertie are first seen carrying off a large piece of Swiss cheese while scatting to “While Strolling Through the Park”. Bertie, who is carrying it from the front, sees that they’re heading towards the sleeping cat and he stops but he and the cheese are pushed into the cat’s mouth. Bertie crawls out through the cheese and runs off, so Hubie asks, “Hey, Bert. What’s bitin’ ya?” Bertie answers in fright before running off again. Hubie looks through the cheese and sees the interior of the cat’s mouth (animated by Basil Davidovich).

Hubie uses a tiny chair to act as a lion tamer to which the cat asks, “Hey, what’s the big idea?” Hubie answers, “Why, that’s the way to deal with a lion. You ought to know that, lion”. “Are you nuts? I’m no lion, I’m a cat”, the cat replies. Hubie gives him some scientific facts: “Look, a lion is a member of the cat family, right? Right. So, a cat is a member of the lion family” and tells the cat he just doesn’t look like one, but that can be fixed. Hubie shaves off the cat’s fur, puts shredded wheat under the hair on the cat’s head and then puts the brush part of a mop around his head for a mane (animated by Davidovich).

When asked to give a roar, the cat only gives out a small pathetic meow. He is asked to try again (animated by Davidovich), to which Bertie gives him a hotfoot, causing the cat to give out a pained yowl (animated by Lloyd Vaughan).

After the cat yowls from the hotfoot, Hubie gives him motivation, telling him he’s hungry and ravenous with appetite. The cat confirms he is indeed hungry and “I feel just like eating a… (licks lips)… mouse”. Bertie is spooked at “mouse” being mentioned but Hubie tells him that it was a slip of the tongue and he actually meant moose. “M-m-moose?”, the cat asks in confusion. Hubie tells him that moose is lion food and whispers to Bertie to put “antlers on the og-day”, to which the cat answers, “He means a dog” (animated by Vaughan).

Hubie convinces the lion that moose is the plural of mouse, which means therefore more and, consequently, bigger and better lion food. Bertie soon returns and giggles that he carried out with the antlers, but Hubie repeatedly slaps him and scolds, “Iet-quay! Iet-quay!” (“quiet” in pig-latin; animated by Vaughan).

The cat is now made to sneak up on the “moose”, which is actually the bulldog wearing twigs that resemble antlers. Seeing this, the bird checks his tongue in the mirror (animated by Vaughan).

The bulldog is woken up by the cat pouncing on him and goes into the “Come on, put up your dukes” bit before getting a load of the cat as a lion and laughing at him. “What are you dressed up for? Where’s the fancy dress party?” When the cat mentions, “Say, you’d better be careful, ‘cause I’m a rip-roaring lion and you’re a moose”, the bulldog laughs at the idea of him being a moose before the cat shows him what he looks like in the mirror, which causes the bulldog to stop laughing and see he’s wearing makeshift antlers. “So I’m a moose. But I still feel like a dog and I don’t like cats!”, he declares, as he punches the cat in the face several times and tosses him out in front of Hubie and Bertie (animated by Ben Washam).

“Hey, don’t let him do that to YOU. You’re a lion”, Hubie tells the cat. The cat’s response is this genuinely hilarious line, “Yeah, I know I’m a lion, but that dopey moose thinks he’s a dog!” (animated by Washam)

Bertie then whispers in the sleeping bulldog’s ear that he’s a gazelle before shouting, “and HERE COMES A LION!” Convinced he’s a gazelle, the bulldog wakes up in fright (animated by Washam) and runs away from the cat. This time, the bird mixes together a frothy drink and downs it after witnessing the unusual chase (animated by Ken Harris).

As the cat is chomping his foot, the bulldog yells in agony before he realizes what’s going on. He politely tells the cat that they both know something’s not right and under the circumstances, there’s only one thing left to do, which is the bulldog chasing the cat and kicking him into the air. The bird starts to lose his mind upon seeing the kick-propelled cat flying through the air (animated by Harris).

The cat is shown piled up in front of Hubie and Bertie with his behind falling a few seconds later and making a hilarious “quack” sound effect. “Some gazelle", the cat tells them. Hubie decides, “Not a gazelle” (animated by Harris).

As the bulldog attempts to go back to sleep, he finds the cat was waiting in his doghouse and is again attacking his foot. Annoyed, the bulldog asks what he’s now supposed to be, which the cat tells him is a pelican. “Who said I’m a pelican?”, the bulldog demands. The cat points to Hubie and Bertie who confirm, “Uh huh. Pelican” as they descend into their hole with the cheese. The bulldog claims that if he was a pelican, he’d have a fish in his mouth. “Well, have I got a fish in my mouth!?” The bulldog opens wide and there IS a fish in there! This causes the bird to finally snap and pull off all his feathers in insanity. Shocked at somehow having a fish in his mouth, the bulldog exclaims, “Holy smoke! I AM a pelican!” The featherless bird flies down to them with a plate on his body and produce surrounding him, “Yeah, and I’m a Thanksgiving turkey!” before flying away and repeating the onomatopoeia for a turkey (animated by Harris).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕