Release Date:

April 16, 1955

Main Character(s):

None

Summary:

Professor Calvin Q. Calculus, a scientist, invents the portable hole, solely intended for good usage. Unfortunately, a crook steals the holes and uses them to go on a crime spree, gaining him the alias, “The Holey Terror”.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1330 and was released as a Looney Tune.

The cartoon is notable for having an impressive feat about it. As all of McKimson’s animators had left by this point and he had yet to assemble a new team of animators, McKimson not only directed the cartoon, but also animated the entire cartoon HIMSELF.

This is also one of McKimson’s personal favorites among all the cartoons he directed, due to it being a very unique cartoon.

This is the final Warner cartoon to feature the voice of Bea Benaderet, who voices Gertrude, Calculus’ nagging wife, as well as the housewife in the newsreel.

Sid Marcus wrote this one.

The title is a pun for “the whole idea”.

Richard H. Thomas did both the layouts and backgrounds.

Due to McKimson being the sole animator on the cartoon as well as the director, we will not be pointing out who animated what scene this time around.

The newsreel that demonstrates the usages of the portable hole has the credits: “Camera: Selzer” and “Narration: Moray”. These refer to Eddie Selzer and Norman Moray, the latter of whom was a key executive of the Vitaphone Corporation, which was Warner’s short-subject division.

“Powerhouse” plays during the camera pan across the busy city when the inventions of the then-present world are shown. While not heard clearly due to being obscured by the sound effects, it can be heard on the cartoon’s music-only audio track on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 6 DVD set.

How the Holey Terror knows exactly where Calculus lives when he steals his samples is presumably due to him having looked him up in a phone book (similar to how Cousin Eddie presumably finds out Frank Shirley’s exact address in “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”).

Favorite Scene:

Calculus disposing of Gertrude at the end by having her fall through a large portable hole, only to find that the Devil can’t stand her either when he brings her back (“Isn’t it bad enough down there without HER!?”).

What Happens in This One:

The cartoon begins with a red-tinted flashback in prehistoric times, “This is the story of science and invention. It started in the early days when man picked up a limb of a tree, and used it as an implement”. A caveman removes a branch from a tree and uses it as a stick to whack someone offscreen with it. It turns out he caught himself a wife, when she is dragged by the hair into view. “Thus, the age of invention had begun”.

In present day with a pan of the busy city showing numerous vehicles at work, “And today, striving to make this world a better place to live in, great inventors are still at work. But there is none greater than that unsung genius, Professor Calvin Q. Calculus”. In his home, Calculus is seen mixing some liquids into a test tube before pouring it into a beaker and testing it by using a small pump to squirt some of it onto the table. He becomes excited upon seeing the success, “Eureka! I did it. I did it. I did it. I did it. I did it!”, before calling, “Gertrude! Come quickly! I’ve done it!”

Gertrude comes in and asks, “WHAT have you done?” Calculus proudly answers, “At last. At last. At long last, I have succeeded”. Unimpressed, Gertrude asks in a rude-sounding manner, “Well, what have you invented THIS time?”, to which Calculus takes what he squirted onto the table and shows it to her, carrying it like a pancake, “A portable hole”. Gertrude’s reaction is “Portable hole!?” before scoffing, “You and your silly inventions”. She then tells him off, “Now you listen to me. I slave to keep a roof over this house while you waste time with those idiotic ideas of yours”. Calculus just squirts out several more holes of various sizes onto the table before putting them into a briefcase as Gertrude continues, “First, it’s dry water, and then round squares! And now, portable holes! I’m getting mighty sick of it all. You don’t care anything about me. You forget our wedding anniversary, you never say anything nice to me! I’m weary and tired of being a lovely, sweet, silent wife to you, and one of these days, mark my words, you’re going to regret it. Do you hear me? You are going to regret it”. While she’s still talking, Calculus simply puts on his hat and coat and leaves with his briefcase to go out the door and into the city.

A paper boy is seen calling out while holding up a newspaper, “Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Inventive Genius Makes Great Discovery”, with the headline being the latter sentence verbatim. “Extra! Extra! Read all about it!”, the paper boy repeats.

At the theater, a black and white newsreel from Warner Pathe News titled “Flash. Professor Unveils Greatest Discovery”. Calculus is seen taking his bows in front of the press as the narrator is heard, “Professor Calvin Q. Calculus proudly displays his latest invention: the portable hole. In the following scenes, the professor will demonstrate a few of its many uses”.

A housewife is seen at the kitchen sink, “This is one way of using it in the home”. The housewife calls to her husband who’s reading the paper, “Henry, come dry the dishes!” Henry, not wanting to do chores, runs to the wall, puts a portable hole against it and dives into it to get away. In “Fireplug”, Florida, “the portable hole will also make a dog’s life easier”. A dog uses the portable hole to bury his bone. At the “Cherry Hill Country Club” in Colorado, “And for golfers too, the portable hole would be ideal”, as a golfer uses it to get a hole in one. In “Leaking”, Pennsylvania, “Here, we have a baby locked in a safe”. The grieving parents are unable to open the safe, but then Calculus enters and uses the portable hole to rescue the baby. The overjoyed parents kiss Calculus on the head several times. In “Oldman”, Missouri, “Professor Calvin Q. Calculus receives the Mo-Ball Award”. After he is given the very certificate, someone asks for him to make a speech. Calculus does so, “Ladies and gentlemen, I invented the portable hole for the good of humanity. But let us all hope, it will never be used for evil purposes”. The camera pans back to reveal the Holey Terror has been in the audience watching as he sneaks out. He trips at one point, before he continues walking out.

That night, the Holey Terror opens Calculus’ window and steals his briefcase of samples while he’s asleep. The newspaper headline the next day reads, “Portable Hole Stolen”, with the article, “Taken While Prof. Speaks. Thief Unknown”. Sneaking around the alley, the Holey Terror makes his way up to the Last National Bank which assets 100,000,000 dollars. He uses a portable hole to get into the bank and steal all the money, wiping away the 1 digit and leaving the assets reading “00,000,000”. Four cops chase after him, only for the Holey Terror to dispose of them by dropping another hole in the street, which they fall down into.

More newspaper headlines read, “Crime Wave Hits City” and “Portable Hole Blamed”. The Holey Terror is next seen outside of a jewelry store and uses another hole to take all of the jewels out and put them in a shopping cart. He also uses it to get all the gold in Fort Knox and transport it all in a pickup truck. A literally pale-skinned newsman is heavily dismayed about all of this as he announces, “Ooh, there’s bad news tonight!” The next newspaper’s headline reads, “Holey Terror Still on the Loose”.

The Holey Terror comes up to the stage door entrance where a burlesque show is in progress. He uses a hole to steal one of the showgirls before the cops approach again, forcing him to drop this showgirl. The Holey Terror runs all the way to the edge of a mountain and uses a larger hole to escape. This ends up backfiring as he gets chased by a train suddenly coming out of there. He uses another hole to jump into the ground and avoid getting run over. The chase continues, and the Holey Terror soon finds a whole army of cops confronting him. He makes another run for it and finds himself at a dead end upon running into a corner. Having only one sample left, he uses this final hole to enter through the wall. One of the cops immediately takes it off after the Holey Terror enters, before the camera pans upward to reveal that he just unwittingly entered the State Prison!

Back at home, Calculus reads the newspaper headline, “Holey Terror Captured”, and is glad about this. “Good. Serves him right. Crime does not pay”. Gertrude starts nagging him again, “Well, if you ask me, it’s a crime the way you’ve been treating ME! And if you think I’m going to put up with your silly nonsense any longer, you’re sadly mistaken”. Calculus squirts out another portable hole from his pump and throws it on the ground, unbeknownst to Gertrude, who continues as she walks out, “This house is not big enough for the two of us. One of us must go!” She ends up stepping right into the hole and falling several feet, landing offscreen with a crash. Calculus comments, “My! That was a DEEP one, wasn’t it?” She is brought back to Earth by the Devil, who makes it clear even he can’t stand her, “Isn’t it bad enough down there without HER!?”

Where Can I Watch It?

At toontales.net!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕