Release Date:

June 6, 1953

Main Character(s):

None

Summary:

A spot-gag cartoon on automobiles. Features a running gag about a meek motorist trying to get directions from a guy who owns a hamburger stand on how to get off a difficult cloverleaf highway.

That’s Not All, Folks:

The production number is 1247 and was released as a Looney Tune.

This is the first Warner cartoon in about 10 years or so to use the spot-gag format, which is cartoons that don’t really have a plot and are more or less just gags related to a particular topic.

This cartoon marks the beginning of when the backgrounds would become more stylized due to cartoons becoming more expensive to make as the years went on, due to the rise of television (and as I will explain further in a special Saturday post in about two months when we get to 1955, one of the most absolutely frustrating criticisms I have seen from fellow cartoon fans is that they complain about the animation in late 1950’s and especially 1960’s cartoons becoming more limited, even though these were because of budget constraints and there was clearly nothing that Warner or any of the other studios could do about it without losing a significant amount of money if they went for full animation in those periods). The UPA (United Productions of America) studio (best known for creating Mr. Magoo) became famous for initiating the stylized backgrounds trope and soon all of the studios would adapt to this format.

Two years prior at MGM, Tex Avery also did a spot-gag cartoon on automobiles called, “Car of Tomorrow”, albeit a more futuristic look at automobiles (that one was actually the second of four “of tomorrow” spot-gag cartoons he made at MGM that are futuristic looks on certain things. The other three include 1949’s “The House of Tomorrow”, 1953’s “TV of Tomorrow”- which was coincidentally released on the same day as this cartoon-, and 1954’s “The Farm of Tomorrow”).

John T. Smith is the narrator in this cartoon, marking the only time he did so, and one of the few times where is neither a gruff character or a villain character.

The title is a pun for the phrase, “there ought to be a law”.

When the cartoon was restored for HBO Max in 2020, the cartoon contained a very amateurish error where instead of zooming in like always, the Warner Bros. shield irises in. Since this error appeared to be unfixable, this error was still present when this same restoration was later put on the Looney Tunes Collector’s Choice Volume 3 Blu-ray set in 2024. Fortunately, that is the only thing wrong with the restoration, as the cartoon itself looks absolutely gorgeous.

“Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals” plays during the massive traffic back-up scene up to the point where it’s revealed this is caused by a lady who has stopped to put on lipstick.

The man in the horseless carriage sounds very similar to Yosemite Sam.

The hot rod driver wearing the eye mask who gets passed by the horseless carriage is a caricature of Ken Harris, who was a car buff himself (so basically, he was to cars as I am to physical media sets of the content I enjoy watching).

The car model representing the year of 1952 (when this cartoon was in production) is a Hudson Hornet, which is of course, the same model as Doc Hudson from Pixar’s seventh movie (and one of their absolute greatest), “Cars” (2006).

The animator draft for the cartoon can be viewed here.

One of the vans in the traffic back-up is inscribed “Pierce Van Co.” This is of course a reference to Tedd Pierce.

Favorite Scene:

One man revs himself up by siphoning gas out of a tank and goes off sputtering like a car.

What Happens in This One:

“The story of the development of the automobile is truly a remarkable one”, the narrator begins as two men are seen hammering a “Garage” sign over one that says “Livery” on a barn. A man riding in a horseless carriage then passes by, “The earlier ones like this model were built by carriage-makers, and were known as horseless carriages”. The horseless carriage then struggles to get up a hill, before the man brings out a whip and begins yelling, “Yah, mule!” as he whips out the front of the carriage like a horse to make it go faster (animated by Rod Scribner).

Another old-fashioned car is described as “This is one of the early pusher-types. So called because your friends had to push you to start it”. Two men are seen pushing this car for the driver, and end up getting blackened by the exhaust once the car starts off. “You lose more friends that way” (animated by Herman Cohen).

“Later models were equipped with a crank. This sidewinder you crank on the side”. The driver of this car is seen doing so, but he ends up spinning while holding onto the crank when the car manages to start up (animated by Cohen).

A series of still pictures of cars from over the years are then shown. “Improvement followed upon improvement- making possible the luxurious comfort and pleasure of motoring as we know it today”. We then fade to a massive traffic back-up, causing several wrecks, getting several people angry, and numerous fights as the camera pans across to show everyone involved. It’s revealed that this is all due to a woman who has stopped to put on lipstick! She responds to all of the honking with, “Ah, shut up!” (animated by Charles McKimson)

“Many of the old-fashioned intersections gave way to the safer, more simplified cloverleaf-type highway crossing”. On said cloverleaf, the motorist’s car is seen driving all around it before he stops at the hamburger stand (animated by Charles) and asks the owner, “Pardon me, sir. But could you tell me how to get back on the highway? I’ve been trying to get off this thing for hours”. The owner replies, “Why, sure. You go right on down that-a-way. Just keep bearing to the right. Ya can’t miss”. The motorist thanks him (animated by Cohen) and then drives off (animated by Charles).

A toll gate is seen on a bridge and it usually charges 50 cents but today is charging only half-price for 25 cents (animated by Keith Darling). The camera pans across to reveal that the reason is due to the bridge being only half-finished as one by one all the cars on the bridge drive off and plunge into the water (animated by Charles).

A man (who is also used in other gags) drives up to an intersection and upon finding no one approaching from either direction, begins to cross only to be hit by a car speeding from his left (animated by Charles).

“The automobile is the American’s prized possession and he will use every precaution to prevent scraped paint and dented fenders”. The man is now seen driving a red car as he enters an auto court. He gets out of his car with a ruler and walks up to the garage to measure it. “This driver takes no chances when entering an unfamiliar garage”. After measuring every side, the man realizes he’ll be able to fit his car as he tells the auto court manager, “Three feet to spare, all around”. He then proceeds to enter, only for the car’s interior to get ripped out from the exterior due to two trees close to each other creating a small space too narrow for the car to get through (animated by Phil DeLara).

The cloverleaf is shown again as the narrator realizes, “Say, that car looks familiar. What’s he doing back here?” This time, the motorist stops in front of the hamburger stand in the opposite direction (animated by Charles). He asks, “Pardon me, but could you tell me how to get back on the highway, hmm?” The owner answers, “Why, sure. You go right on down that-a-way. Just keep bearing to the left. Ya can’t miss”. After thanking him once more (animated by Cohen), the motorist drives off (animated by Charles).

A sign on a dirt track reads, “Hot Rod Trials Today” as the narrator explains, “Familiar to motorists are the fast-stepping hot rods. These stripped-down stock cars are capable of achieving great speeds. Here comes one now”. Everyone in their own hot rods watches one driver wearing an eye mask speeding past in his number 6 car (animated by Scribner). The speedometer is shown as the narrator remarks, “Must be just about the fastest thing on four wheels”. This hot rod, however, is then passed by the horseless carriage from the start of the cartoon who is still whipping and yelling to go faster (animated by DeLara).

“Parking lots are provided where one may leave one’s car in the safe hands of courteous attendants”. The man, now driving a green car, drives into the lot and hands the attendant a ticket for him to park his car. He reacts as the attendant seemingly has trouble parking his car offscreen as evidenced by crashing noises. The man shrugs and shortly comes back with another ticket as the attendant tells him, “That’ll be 50 cents for overtime”. The man gives it to him and he drives his car out of the lot, revealing that it’s apparently had no damage done to it as he remarks, “My goodness. I don’t see how you ever get these cars in and out of such narrow spaces”. As he drives off and turns a corner, his car is revealed to be very scrunched up when not shown from the sides (animated by Scribner).

The man is then seen driving through a rural area in a brown car as the narrator informs, “The motorist is often called upon to render aid to a fellow motorist in distress”. He is stopped by a man who was driving a blue car who informs and asks the man, “My battery’s down, mac. Mind giving me a push?” The man agrees, “Why, certainly. I’d be glad to”. He does indeed help the other man by giving him a push, who thanks him: “Thanks a million! So long!” As the other man drives away, he obliviously pulls out the man, his engine, and the frame, and takes them all with him due to the latter having accidentally put his front fender atop the blue car’s bumper. Now without the engine and the frame, the brown car deflates (animated by DeLara).

“More frequently, it’s… out of gas”. Another man with a gas can waves the man down, who is now driving a green Hudson Hornet-lookalike. The man informs the guy in need of gas, “You can siphon some out of my tank if that’ll get your motor started”. After telling the man, “Thanks, mister”, the other man siphons out of the tank but it turns out he needed gas for himself as he begins moving around and sputtering like a car (animated by DeLara).

The cloverleaf is shown one final time. “Now don’t tell me he’s still trying to get off the overpass” (animated by Charles). The motorist pleads the hamburger stand owner, “Please, mister! Won’t you PLEASE tell me how to get off this thing? Hmm?” The owner begins to explain, “Why, sure. You just go-” but then remembers something and confesses, “Nope. Come to think of it, you can’t get off of it from here. Same thing happened to me ten years ago. Had to open this hamburger stand to keep from starvin’ to death!”, as the motorist is seen leaning out of his window in defeat (animated by Cohen). Sometime later, the motorist has opened his own stand of mustard and pickles to accompany the hamburgers (animated by Darling). The cartoon ends with the horseless carriage now entering the cloverleaf and presumably about to be unable to get off of it himself (animated by Charles).

Where Can I Watch It?

At archive.org!

Carrot Rating:

🥕🥕🥕🥕 ½