D' Fightin' Ones
D' Fightin' Ones is a 1961 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Friz Freleng.[2] The short was released on April 22, 1961, and stars Sylvester.[3] It is a parody of the 1958 film The Defiant Ones, a movie about two escaped inmates—one black, one white—who are shackled to each other.
| D' Fightin' Ones | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Friz Freleng |
| Produced by | John W. Burton, Sr. |
| Starring | Mel Blanc |
| Music by | Milt Franklyn |
| Animation by | Gerry Chiniquy Arthur Davis Virgil Ross Harry Love[1] |
| Layouts by | Hawley Pratt |
| Backgrounds by | Tom O'Loughlin |
| Color process | Technicolor |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date | April 22, 1961 |
Running time | 6 minutes |
| Language | English |
Plot
Sylvester and a bulldog (both voiced by Mel Blanc) are on a truck headed for the pound. Both are shackled to each other and hate each other's guts. After a little scuffle, the truck hits a bumpy road, causing the back door to open, dumping Sylvester and the bulldog out. Just as the truck stops and turns around to pick them up, the two quickly run for cover, which is easier said than done due to being stuck together.
After fighting over some food, Sylvester and the bulldog realize the first thing they must do is get the chains off. However, attempting to blow up the chains with TNT and chiseling them apart both fail. Later, while walking near railroad tracks, they escape an approaching train, but not the caboose; the caboose of the train snags their chain and soon leaves them dangling on a water silo. That night, the two sneak into the city and see animal control personnel heading their way; the two quickly take brief refuge in a shed and avoid the spotlights. After avoiding the spotlight, the only thing they can do now is flee the city, but need to avoid detection from animal control personnel; Sylvester and the bulldog take turns disguising themselves in human clothes while the other animal hides in a suitcase. As soon as the two reach the bus station, they try to hop aboard a bus out of town, but quickly hightail it out of there when they find that their bus is revealed to be headed for Sing Sing.
In the final set piece of the cartoon, it would seem the situation is hopeless, but then, the bulldog gets an idea: they hang below a train trestle that goes between two mountains, and once the train runs over their chains, it will cut them free. However, both realize too late it's a bad idea when Sylvester points downward, indicating that once the chains are broken, they'll fall hundreds of feet to the ground. Sure enough, Sylvester and the bulldog fall into a junkyard after the train cuts their chains. At first, both continue to argue about how dumb the plan was, but are joyous when they realize they aren't shackled together anymore, but their joy is short-lived when they look down and notice they're now connected by leg via a pipe. They hear police sirens coming their way and hop down the road to escape as the short ends.
See also
References
- Beck, Jerry (1991). I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat: Fifty Years of Sylvester and Tweety. New York: Henry Holt and Co. p. 147. ISBN 0-8050-1644-9.
- Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 331. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
- Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 140–142. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.