Release Date:

July 10, 1948

Main Character(s):

None

Summary:

A mother turtle buries her eggs at the beach, but while she’s away getting a sun lamp for them to hatch, one egg named Clem hatches out his feet and wanders away to a nearby barnyard for someone to hatch him out. After Clem briefly wanders under a dog, the dog believes he just laid the egg and tries to get him back in order to gain fame as the first ever dog to lay an egg. He battles with a tough rooster over it, as he believes the dog stole it from under a hen.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1045 and was released as a Merrie Melodie.

The cartoon was given a Blue Ribbon reissue. “Rip Van Winkle” played under the opening credits:

Story: Warren Foster

Animation: Charles McKimson, Manny Gould, and I. Ellis

Layouts: Cornett Wood

Backgrounds: Richard H. Thomas

Voice Characterizations: Mel Blanc

Musical Direction: Carl Stalling

Directed by Robert McKimson

Sadly, this was the only time that Carl Stalling had ever used the “Rip Van Winkle” tune which is an absolute shame as it is a very lively tune and it would’ve been great to hear his rendition of it. For that reason alone, this cartoon has been at the top of my list of “original titles I want to be found” since around the end of the 2010’s.

On the plus side, though, after this cartoon, every Warner cartoon exists with its original opening credits, meaning that as of this writing, this is the last Warner cartoon to not have its original titles found yet. Only five more cartoons released after this one had credit-less reissues but all five have had their original titles found. Shortly, afterwards, the reissues made the very smart decision to keep the original credits intact, so those reissues are nowhere near as frustrating as the credit-less ones.

Like with “Gorilla My Dreams” and “Hop Look and Listen”, Mel Blanc voices a female character here, in this case, the mother turtle. It’s very coincidental that all three of these happen to be McKimson cartoons.

The animator draft for the cartoon can be viewed here.

The cartoon is a reworking of “Booby Hatched” but with a few differences such as being focused on turtles instead of ducks, taking place in the summer instead of winter, and someone else wanting to get the egg for a different reason rather than a meal. Some notable similarities between the two cartoons include both being written by Warren Foster, having Izzy Ellis as one of the animators, and prominently featuring a Raymond Scott tune throughout the soundtrack (“Booby Hatched” used “The Toy Trumpet”).

Speaking of which, “The Penguin” plays during the scenes where Clem first walks into the barnyard, wanders up to a cow, gets swatted at by said cow, and gets hit like a golf ball by the cow’s tail toward the barn, the scene where Clem wishes something would happen that would break his egg shell, oblivious to the fact that he’s narrowly missing a horse’s feet, and during the scene where Clem briefly wanders under the dog up to the point where the dog realizes his potential fame as the first dog to lay an egg.

Clem and his family resemble Cecil Turtle.

Clem’s three siblings are respectively named Tom, Dick, and Harry after the Rover Boys.

In the end, Clem’s voice sounds different due to Davis’ storyman Lloyd Turner voicing him for the last scene rather than Mel Blanc, who voices him throughout the rest of the cartoon.

What I Like About This One:

The mother turtle is first seen skipping along the beach, scatting to the tune of “Arkansas Traveler” (animated by Manny Gould, with Izzy Ellis animating the first shot of the cartoon).

As she buries her eggs in the beach sand, a nature note appears onscreen: “Turtles put their eggs in the sand to allow the hot sun to hatch them”. Irritated, the mother turtle pushes it away: “Oh, my goodness! Those people know that, for heaven’s sake!” before she walks off (animated by Gould).

Clem hatches out his feet just as dark clouds form overhead (animated by Izzy Ellis). Sensing this, Clem walks away from the beach saying, "Hey! Who turned off the heat just as I’m half-hatched? I gotta finish getting hatched somehow. I bet a guy could miss a lot of things living in a shell” (animated by Fred Abranz). He attempts to cross the road, only for two vehicles to nearly run him over, much to his annoyance (animated by Anatolle Kirsanoff).

The mother turtle, again scatting to “Arkansas Traveler”, returns with the sun lamp, just as Clem crosses a creek by jumping across some rocks and exiting on a turtle emerging from the creek, who is confused at seeing an egg walk across him (animated by Kirsanoff) before Clem enters the farmyard (animated by Charles McKimson). Seeing that a sleeping cow is kind of warm, Clem walks on it, hoping to find a soft spot to get hatched (animated by Ellis). The cow’s tail swats at him, and although he can’t see this, he shouts at the cow to stop doing that. The cow just sets him up like a golf ball (animated by Charles) and uses his tail like a golf club to send Clem flying onto the barn roof (animated by Ellis).

Clem falls through a drain spout, and exits under a horse’s feet (animated by Charles). Just as he wishes something would happen to break his egg shell, he narrowly misses the horse (animated by Kirsanoff).

Meanwhile, Tom, Dick, and Harry start to hatch (animated by Kirsanoff) singing their names separately, before singing them together in perfect harmony (animated by Charles). The mother turtle has them walk along with her, before she makes a wild take upon realizing there are only three and after using an adding machine, realizes Clem is missing (animated by Gould). She frantically starts digging up the beach with a shovel. Using their own separate shovels, Tom, Dick, and Harry all sing to the tune of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad”: “We are looking for our brother, all the live long day” (animated by Abranz).

Figuring, “You’d think SOMEONE would have a warm spot for me”, Clem briefly wanders under the dog, who watches Clem walk off sadly and say to himself, “I find a warm spot and then lose it. What a start in life I’ve got.” At first, the dog is unconcerned: “So I laid an egg” before making a realization: “LAID AN EGG!? A dog laying an egg! Hey, I’ll be famous! The dog who laid an egg! Radio! Movies! Liver three times a day!” He watches Clem wandering off: “There he goes; mother’s little darling” before chasing after him: “Now, stand still, Junior. Mother will sit on ya!” After missing him several times, the dog thinks, “Heh. Lively little devil; he wants to play” (animated by Charles).

Clem zooms into a henhouse (animated by Kirsanoff) and under a hen, where the dog takes him out from under her. When the hen squawks in alarm, thinking the dog is stealing one of hers, he slaps her: “Ah, quiet! It’s my egg”. She still squawks for help, which alerts the tough rooster. Catching the dog walking out, he asks, “Well?” The dog hides Clem behind his back (animated by Ellis), just as the rooster asks, “What’s in your hand?” The dog shows he’s got nothing in his left, so the rooster asks to see the other one. Nothing is in his right either (animated by Charles), as Clem is actually on the dog’s tail. After Clem confides, “This could get very tiresome” (animated by Abranz), the rooster peeks over the dog’s shoulder and slaps him before referring to him as “Cad!” (animated by Ellis)

The mother turtle and Clem’s brothers are still digging with shovels, as Tom, Dick, and Harry now sing in tune to “Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone”: “Oh where, oh where can our brother be? Oh where, oh where has he gone?” (animated by Abranz)

The dog drops a barrel over the passing rooster (animated by Kirsanoff), but once the dog reaches into the barrel, the rooster bites his fingers. Angry at the rooster for chuckling at this, the dog says in anger, “Why, you…” and jabs at the rooster by sticking a pole through the barrel’s hole. The rooster surrenders with a white flag, and gives him Clem allowing the dog to run into the distance with him (animated by Ellis).

The mother turtle is now using a steam shovel, making massive holes in the sand (animated by Kirsanoff). Using a toy steam shovel and buckets, Tom, Dick, and Harry sing in tune to “Billy Boy”: “Oh where can you be, brother Clem, brother Clem? Oh where can you be, darling brother? Oh, we know you’re down below. Come on up and say hello. You’re a young thing and cannot leave your mother” (animated by Abranz).

Tired out from running (animated by Ellis), the dog finds a large mystery present with a sign next to it reading, “Warning! Do Not Open This Box”. This piques the dog’s curiosity so he opens it. The rooster pops out of it, causing the dog to make a wild take and exclaim in incoherent bewilderment. After a fight inside the box (animated by Gould), both dog and rooster chase Clem all the way to the beach, where the mother turtle spots this and scoops them all up in the steam shovel’s bucket (animated by Kirsanoff).

After knocking out the dog and the rooster with a mallet, the mother turtle reclaims Clem who is now begging, “Get me out of this shell! Get me out of here! Get me out of this shell!” The mother turtle runs to the sun lamp, as Tom, Dick, and Harry repeat Clem’s plea in unison, “Get him out of his shell! Get him out of his shell! Get him out of his shell!” (animated by Charles)

Finally fully hatched, Clem pops his head out of his turtle shell, but upon seeing that he’s an animal meant to live in a shell, his joyfulness disappears. “Well, now wouldn’t you just know it? I’m still in a gob-blang shell!” (animated by Abranz)

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

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