Release Date:

July 10, 1954

Main Character(s):

None

Summary:

An oil-rich Indian named Moe Hican and his butler, Jarvis, go hunting moose in the mansion’s hunting room. Despite this moose being a midget, Moe finds him difficult to catch and Jarvis keeps getting the short end of the stick.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1298 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

The cartoon no longer airs on television due to Native American stereotyping. Fortunately, this one got lucky and was restored for the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 6 DVD set in 2008. Despite the stereotyping, though, this is among the funniest of McKimson’s one-shots.

Sid Marcus wrote this one.

The title is a pun for “early American”.

The animator draft for the cartoon can be viewed here.

Favorite Scene:

Every time Jarvis mistakenly gets hit with one of Moe’s weapons and keeps returning them to him such as “Your arrow, sir”.

What Happens in This One:

At Moe’s mansion, 128 So. Sioux St (with the S’s as dollar signs), “Tepee Terrace”, the estate has countless oil wells, with fountains even having oil in them instead of water. A delivery truck arrives while the driver goes up to the door (animated by Keith Darling) and rings the doorbell, which plays “We’re in the Money”. Jarvis answers and asks a lethargic “Yes?” The delivery man informs him, “Here it is, Jarvis. You want I should bring it in?”, to which Jarvis confirms, “Please do. I shall notify the master it has arrived” (animated by Charles McKimson).

Jarvis walks all the way up the stairs and into a large room where Moe has a tepee in the middle of a living room setting. Jarvis then beats two tom-tom drums, which summons Moe into peeking out of his tepee. Jarvis: “Good morning, sir. I have jolly good news. Uh, the animal has arrived for your daily hunt.” Moe: “What we hunt today?” Jarvis: “Moose, sir”. Moe becomes excited at this, “Moose!?” and asks, “Where moose now?” Jarvis answers, “Downstairs in the forest room, sir” (animated by Charles).

In the forest room, the moose in question is seen bellowing with his head sticking out of the crate he’s in. Meanwhile, Moe comments, “We make-um ready, hunt moose. Catch-um, put him up there”. Several mounted heads on the wall are shown, with those being an elk, a deer, a tiger, and a yak, along with one labeled “moose” that is empty (animated by Charles). Jarvis walks up to a lion statue that when turned on pours out water from its mouth to create a stream. He and Moe then get in a canoe in front of the statue to row their way down to the forest room. Once stopped, they enter said forest room with Jarvis carrying a golf bag of necessary supplies (animated by Darling).

Upon coming up to the moose’s crate, Moe requests, “Bow. Arrow”, to which Jarvis hands them to him, “Yes, sir”. Moe then instructs, “Open door!”, which Jarvis again answers with “Yes, sir”. Seeing the moose sporting an angry look, Jarvis warns, “Do be careful, sir. He has a mean look in his eye”, only for Moe to dismiss it, “Me not afraid! Let heap big moose charge out!” Jarvis nervously asks, “Ready, sir?” when he’s about to open the door as Moe confirms, “Me ready”. To their surprise, this is a midget moose, whose lower half was hidden by the shut door, with Moe’s arrow only firing into a piece of wood below the moose. After the moose jumps down to the ground, Moe is utterly bewildered at his size, “This a moose!?” The moose then runs off while bellowing, knocking Moe down in his path, and leaving several footprints, along with some on Moe’s outfit. Moe gets up and remarks, “Shrimp moose’s goose is cooked! Me track-um down!” (animated by Herman Cohen)

Moe and Jarvis walk along holding a moose call and rifle respectively. Moe blows the moose call. From behind them, the moose blows an “Indian Love Call” that sends Moe running towards that direction. He again blows the moose call, to which the moose blows the Indian love call from up in a tree. With his Valentine-shaped heart pounding, Moe goes all the way up to the tree. The moose then comes down and uses his right antler as a saw to cut it down (animated by Rod Scribner). The tree, with Moe still in it, ends up crashing atop Jarvis, with the impact of it landing on his head slicing the cut tree in two. Jarvis calmly remarks, “Uh, timber” before fainting back-first (animated by Cohen).

Sneaking along again, Moe instructs Jarvis, “Blow-um moose call”. Jarvis does so and remarks, “It’s a living”. Moe stops upon seeing, “Moose!” The moose’s large shadow is seen cast against a rock before the camera pans to the left to reveal the moose sitting down atop a table. The moose then runs off with Moe in pursuit, jumping into a wall with a painting of a trail, and Moe running smack into said wall. The moose comes out of the painting of a lake on the wall from the other direction and runs out (animated by Phil DeLara) of the forest room and up the stairs. A chase through several doors on the upstairs floor ensues. Every time Moe has trouble opening up a door with two doorknobs, the moose kicks him in the rear with his back feet. They then chase around it like a revolving door, before Moe chases the moose into his tepee. After chasing him around the tepee in several rapid blurs, Moe loses sight of him, and is oblivious to the moose moving the fire outside of his tepee under his outfit. Moe realizes, “Me smell Mohican burning. ME last Mohican! Must be me!” Upon realizing this, Moe runs off while shouting in pain and turns on a sink below a painting to put his burning behind out. The water comes from the painting instead like a waterfall (animated by Scribner).

Back in the forest room, the moose is eating leaves while Moe and Jarvis attempt to use a large bow and arrow on the moose with Jarvis holding the bow. After Moe backs up and fires the arrow, Jarvis walks up to him revealing that it got fired into his behind. “Your arrow, sir”, he tells Moe after pulling it out and giving it to him. Moe then chases the moose with a slingshot and fires a pellet at him. The moose catches the pellet like a baseball in his antlers, and sends it flying past Moe and hitting Jarvis offscreen. Coming in with the pellet on his left eye, Jarvis gives it back, “Your pellet, sir”, now sporting a black eye (animated by DeLara).

Moe next chases the moose with his tomahawk before throwing it towards him. The moose puts a tom-tom drum in his antlers to send the tomahawk bouncing off and flying back towards Jarvis, again hitting him offscreen. With a lump on his head, Jarvis walks up to Moe again, “Your Thomas-hawk, sir” (animated by DeLara).

Jumping around a bit, the moose sees Moe approaching and runs into a hollow log. Moe puts a cannon up to the log’s entrance and fires into it, only for the moose to turn the log around, which sends the cannonball flying back out, hitting Jarvis once more (animated by Scribner). With the cannonball in place of his head, Jarvis is heard muffled, “Your cannonball, sir”. After said cannonball rolls off of him, Jarvis’ injured head pops out from under his outfit and then shows, “And my resignation, sir!”, with a handwritten note, “I Quit. Jarvis”. Jarvis then takes his bags and departs, “Good day, sir!” (animated by Cohen).

Not caring one bit about his butler quitting, Moe decides, “Me LONE hunter. Me hunt moose alone” (animated by Cohen). He resumes the chase armed with his bow and arrow, with the moose running out of the mansion and down the driveway (animated by DeLara). Moe shoots his arrow to go after the moose but ends up shooting it up into the air instead, causing something from the air to fall to the ground and land with a crash. It turns out to be Jarvis having left in a helicopter! (animated by Charles) Coming up to Moe with the arrow stuck in his rear and with the propeller-powered engine having the arrow sticking through its holes, Jarvis pulls the arrow off of his rear with the engine falling off. Sitting down on the engine in a kneeling position, Jarvis spanks Moe with the arrow and tells him in an annoyed tone, “Your arrow, sir” (animated by Cohen).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕🥕