CONFOUND THOSE DOVER BOYS
May 12, 2015 6:47 AM   Subscribe

The Dover Boys at Pimento University is one of the cartooniest cartoons ever made. The 1942 Warner Brothers short, directed by Chuck Jones and animated by Bobe Cannon, is loosely based on the children's book series The Rover Boys. Quite visually innovative in its day, The Dover Boys probably contains the most outrageous smears and multiples of any cartoon since.

Can't get enough Dover Boys smears? There's a custom Google search for that.
posted by overeducated_alligator (59 comments total) 37 users marked this as a favorite
 
"CONFOUND THEM!"
-- Dan Backslide, coward, bully, cad and thief.
posted by wabbittwax at 7:09 AM on May 12, 2015 [3 favorites]


I'LL STEAL IT

NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 7:12 AM on May 12, 2015 [8 favorites]


This cartoon is one of my favourite cartoons of all time (of ALL time). It is so quirky and over the top. I don't know if Mel Blanc was responsible for the voices, but Dan Backslide is one of the most hilariously unhinged vocal performances by anyone ever.
posted by wabbittwax at 7:15 AM on May 12, 2015 [3 favorites]


Chuck Jones discusses this in "Chuck Amuck" and mentioned his boss hated all those gimmicks because they made it look like a cheaper animated cartoon.
posted by inthe80s at 7:15 AM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]


CAPS LOCK is not sufficient to convey his inflection.
posted by wabbittwax at 7:15 AM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]


This cartoon appeared on some generic Best of Looney Tunes DVD that I bought for my daughter when she was a toddler. She is prone to scrolling back and repeating part of videos she finds particularly funny, and I cannot tell you how many times we had to hear "UNHAND HER DAN BACKSLIDE" through her incessant giggling.

Even by the usual anarchic standards of the artists in the Warner Bros lot, the Dover Boys remains one of the weirdest outputs in their oeuvre.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 7:21 AM on May 12, 2015 [7 favorites]


In fact, I'm amazed by how many places I've seen this short referenced. Unlike a lot of Looney Tunes stuff, there were no recurring characters. It was just a one-off blurt of hilarity. But I've seen dialogue from it referenced in gaming communities especially. Yes, there's even cosplay. The true mark of immortality.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 7:25 AM on May 12, 2015 [5 favorites]


I wonder why it was set 30 years before it was made. I bet there's a lot of stuff we modern audiences are completely missing in this. ... and what's with the old fella in the bathing suit?!
posted by barnacles at 7:49 AM on May 12, 2015


But I've seen dialogue from it referenced in gaming communities especially.

It also got referenced by the hardcore animation fans who were the seed that sprouted into the early Brony community, in particular the exasperated cry of "CONFOUND THESE PONIES! They drive me to watch!" This memetic mutation probably helped MLP:FiM get noticed by other deep-geek animation enthusiasts so quickly.
posted by radwolf76 at 7:53 AM on May 12, 2015 [3 favorites]


Man, I wish I still had my Handbook of Useful Information.
posted by delfin at 7:56 AM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]


I bet there's a lot of stuff we modern audiences are completely missing in this.

I was watching a Looney Tunes cartoon some time ago, and it features a scene on a studio backlot wherein Bugs either chasing or being chased, runs by a Celebrity Caricature trying to get an Oscar out of a claw machine and failing.

Still not entirely sure what that was about.
posted by griphus at 8:06 AM on May 12, 2015 [3 favorites]


I wonder why it was set 30 years before it was made. I bet there's a lot of stuff we modern audiences are completely missing in this. ... and what's with the old fella in the bathing suit?!

Because it's spoofing a culture that (at the time of creation) no longer existed, but was recent enough that contemporary viewers would understand. Prior to WWII, American colleges had a very unique culture, built heavily on an internal class structure built around the year levels. For example, the garb we see Larry (the youngest brother) in clearly delineates him as a freshman. It was very much an artifact of the fact that at that time, college was primarily for the upper class men of society.

As to why that culture went away, well - blame the GI Bill. The flood of veterans into colleges, whom had just been through the horrors of war and had no wherewithal for the artificial class structure of college social life, which pretty much killed it dead.
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:13 AM on May 12, 2015 [17 favorites]


I was watching a Looney Tunes cartoon some time ago, and it features a scene on a studio backlot wherein Bugs either chasing or being chased, runs by a Celebrity Caricature trying to get an Oscar out of a claw machine and failing.

Still not entirely sure what that was about.


If I'm not mistaken, the celeb being caricatured was Bob Hope, who routinely cracked jokes about not being up for an Oscar (one of the classic examples of this being him saying that in his household, the evening of the Academy Awards was known as Passover.) I believe he ultimately received the Lifetime Achievement and Thalberg (humanitarian work) Oscars.
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:18 AM on May 12, 2015 [3 favorites]


If it were being made today, Bob Hope would be replaced by Leo DiCaprio.
posted by radwolf76 at 8:27 AM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]


FWIW, that's real semaphore the scout's doing, and it ain't gibberish neither.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:31 AM on May 12, 2015 [4 favorites]


If I'm not mistaken, the celeb being caricatured was Bob Hope

It could have also been Edward G. Robinson, but I've also seen the gag done with Clark Gable. I'm guessing this was the 1930s way of saying "they was robbed!"
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 8:34 AM on May 12, 2015


Def. wasn't Robinson or Gable; they always drew the two of those very distinctly. This guy was definitely a caricature of a celeb, but definitely a plainer looking one than either of those. Could've been Bob Hope, though.
posted by griphus at 8:37 AM on May 12, 2015


HOW BEST TO REMOVE YOUNG LADY FROM TREE (FIG.1).
posted by plinth at 8:43 AM on May 12, 2015


Wow, I'm not sure I've ever seen that one before. What a delight!

The first thing I noticed about it was that Dora was built on the same body model as the old lady who owns Tweety. The second thing I noticed is that Dora was perfectly capable of thrashing Dan Backslide on her own without help from the Dover Boys. (Go Dora!)
posted by immlass at 8:49 AM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]


Here it is unstretched!
posted by ReeMonster at 8:50 AM on May 12, 2015 [5 favorites]


Unlike a lot of Looney Tunes stuff, there were no recurring characters. It was just a one-off blurt of hilarity.

A favorite such cartoon for me is Chowhound, which is rather less silly, and in fact has one of the darkest depictions of unrepentant evil in any WB cartoon, a dog who practically enslaves a poor cat and mouse in a scheme to bilk a whole neighborhood for food night after night. But the comeuppance at the end is sweet.
posted by JHarris at 9:27 AM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]


JHarris: "Unlike a lot of Looney Tunes stuff, there were no recurring characters. It was just a one-off blurt of hilarity.

A favorite such cartoon for me is Chowhound , which is rather less silly, and in fact has one of the darkest depictions of unrepentant evil in any WB cartoon, a dog who practically enslaves a poor cat and mouse in a scheme to bilk a whole neighborhood for food night after night. But the comeuppance at the end is sweet.
"

I would have said the comuppance was more savory than sweet, but YMMV.
posted by Samizdata at 9:39 AM on May 12, 2015


Too bad the "remaster" fucked it up so bad. E.g., wheels are supposed to be round.
posted by goatdog at 9:55 AM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]


I tried watching this muted. They ain't called Merrie Melodies fer nuthin'. Going to have to come back to it later when I can hear this Dan Backslide fella.
posted by infinitewindow at 9:55 AM on May 12, 2015


Too bad the "remaster" fucked it up so bad. E.g., wheels are supposed to be round.

The "remaster" didn't fuck it up. The dickhole who pirated it and put it on YouTube (8thmandvd.com) fucked it up. You can get the original cartoon in 1080p glory on Blu-ray, and ReeMonster helpfully linked to a (lower-resolution) version in the proper aspect ratio earlier in the thread.
posted by Mothlight at 10:17 AM on May 12, 2015


I loved this cartoon! Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies taught me a lot about the popular culture of my grandparents and great-grandparents.
posted by Countess Elena at 11:05 AM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]


Great stuff. I wonder if someone intentionally omitted the pedals on the penny farthing as they roll past the saloon (c.f. its initial appearance).
posted by exogenous at 11:27 AM on May 12, 2015


When I was just starting out in animation I watched this cartoon, frame by frame, more times than I can count. It's just perfect from start to finish. I wish I could find decent links to Tex Avery's "The Cat That Hated People" & "Bad Luck Blackie", two of the other perfect gems I spent a lot of time studying.
posted by biddeford at 11:31 AM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]


"... Then Dora must be ALONE AND UNPROTECTED!!!!!"

Mel Blanc was a comedy wizard in his [long and fruitful] prime.

Now for a spirited game of "hide, go, and seek."
posted by Flexagon at 11:41 AM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]


There was once a time when the classic Warner Bros cartoons were ubiquitous, in theaters, Saturday morning cartoons and on cable. Now, I couldn't tell you where they can be seen.

Kids today have the real danger of growing up without ever having seen anything other than watered-down retreads like the Duck Dodgers series or that sitcom-ish "Looney Tunes" show. Nothing needs the salvation of the public domain more than the classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts.

And it's not just the WB shorts. What about classic Tom & Jerry and the other MGM cartoons? I just did a search for "cartoon network tom & jerry" and encountered THIS. It's badly paced, it's badly scored, it's badly timed, the sound effects are overdone, and it seems to have been animated in Flash. It's not even well edited! Why would someone pay money to create such a poor copy when they hold the rights to the originals, which are brilliant and little seen anymore?
posted by JHarris at 12:00 PM on May 12, 2015 [5 favorites]


barnacles: "and what's with the old fella in the bathing suit?!"

So...was this a reference to something? It felt oddly specific.
posted by Chrysostom at 12:46 PM on May 12, 2015


mothlight, I appreciate your concern for piracy. (I work in physical media, among other things.) Oddly enough, though, this particular short seems to be in the public domain.

The wrong aspect ratio is of course abhorrent.
posted by infinitewindow at 2:57 PM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]




So...was this a reference to something? It felt oddly specific.

Already answered. I think he's a sailor.
posted by JHarris at 3:37 PM on May 12, 2015


No, I get the college culture of yore stuff - I have a 1916 freshman initiation poster from my college. I just didn't specifically get the weird hopping guy.
posted by Chrysostom at 3:57 PM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]


NoxAeternum: "As to why that culture went away, well - blame the GI Bill. "

As the cartoon was released in September 1942, I think it's a stretch to assign causality to the GI Bill, which didn't come into law until June 1944.

It occurred to me after asking the question that it's probably pretty simple:
1. Chuck Jones was born in 1912. He's poking fun at his parents.
2. The 1930s and the Depression were too recent to use that as the time to mock. In the 1920s, there was no legal alcohol in the 1920s to use as a sign of how upstanding the Dover Boys were, so that was out. From the mid-1910s to 1919, WW1 was on, so that was out. Going back to the '00s through mid-10s was the earliest clear and easy target time period.
posted by barnacles at 4:52 PM on May 12, 2015


Chrysostom: " I just didn't specifically get the weird hopping guy."

I'd love to know the answer to this one! He absolutely felt specific -- almost like we should have known him from some other cartoon or maybe a movie. Gotta be a cartoon historian blog around here somewhere ...
posted by barnacles at 4:53 PM on May 12, 2015


JHarris, when I want to be depressed I'll think about this stuff too. When I was a little kid it wasn't weird to turn on the TV and see old cartoons, old Little Rascals or Laurel and Hardy shorts, reruns of black and white TV shows. Pop culture was still chock full of things from before I was born. It bred a curiosity in me to seek out the past. I got into old movies, old radio shows, old comics. Being old didn't make something bad, it made it more interesting.

These days, I don't think that happens to kids. Anything black and white would just be weird. Their idea of "classic old stuff" probably doesn't go back much further than the fuckin' Fresh Prince. The only way they'd get into old stuff would be if they have parents who watch a lot of old things. Nobody's going to stay up past their bedtime, turn on the TV and become a Charlie Chaplin fan at 2 in the morning.

I say all that as somebody who doesn't have kids or hang around with people who have kids. Maybe kids get into old stuff in ways I don't know about. And I know that kids have access now to all kinds of stuff online, stuff from many eras and places. But if you don't grow up with 1945 Bugs Bunny as a part of your childhood, will you ever find him? Will Bugs ever be anything more than a character wearing sunglasses and a backwards baseball cap on some cruddy t-shirt?
posted by Ursula Hitler at 6:09 PM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]


I say all that as somebody who doesn't have kids or hang around with people who have kids. Maybe kids get into old stuff in ways I don't know about. And I know that kids have access now to all kinds of stuff online, stuff from many eras and places. But if you don't grow up with 1945 Bugs Bunny as a part of your childhood, will you ever find him? Will Bugs ever be anything more than a character wearing sunglasses and a backwards baseball cap on some cruddy t-shirt?

Yes, because you will have Gen X parents like me who foist our childhood delights on our own children. Not that it doesn't happen by accident, either. Welcome to YouTube, where everything is uploaded and the weirdest, most unrelated shit will turn up in the right-hand margin as Related. This is how my kid found Nu, Pogodi!, which is not only a couple generations old but in a whole other language.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 6:18 PM on May 12, 2015


Looney tunes and Tom and jerry and others show on the Cartoon Network. I know, because I tivo them. I also have all of the golden age on dvd, and some specialized character discs...but don't buy the foghorn one, it sucks. Point being, the first opera I took Boy to see was the looney tunes one, and he wasn't the only kid in the audience who knew all the songs. I credit bugs bunny for Boy being willing to go to real opera, and symphonies and other art that kids are not generally exposed to.
posted by dejah420 at 6:22 PM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]


Oh, and this cartoon is by and far one of my very favorites. I've always loved Dora and her ability to save herself.
posted by dejah420 at 6:24 PM on May 12, 2015


Spear and magic helmet?
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 6:31 PM on May 12, 2015 [3 favorites]


Sorry, force of conditioning.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 6:31 PM on May 12, 2015


Magic Helmet?
posted by griphus at 6:37 PM on May 12, 2015 [1 favorite]


'Magic helmet.'
posted by KHAAAN! at 6:47 PM on May 12, 2015 [2 favorites]


Well, just to clarify, I DID refer to parents exposing their kids to older stuff, and kids happening upon older stuff online. But those strike me as lucky breaks. It seems like most kids are probably kind of stuck in a world where very little happened before... 1990?

The other day I saw on the TV schedule that I Love Lucy was airing on some local station at like 6 PM on a weeknight, and I was amazed. A black and white show, on a broadcast channel? When I was a growing up in LA a whole lot of the stuff on daytime and Saturday TV would be really old. It wouldn't seem weird to watch the very first Daffy Duck cartoon and then flip over to channel 9 to watch some Danny Kaye movie. I didn't have to seek this stuff out, and my parents didn't have to expose me to old stuff. (Although I did, and they did.)

I hope I'm just being too cynical.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 6:57 PM on May 12, 2015


You are, so don't worry. In a way, you were exposed to this stuff deliberately by an older generation who had an affection for the older stuff. Nick At Nite is pretty much the childmind of a bunch of Boomers. Now it pops up on YouTube, and can be found in bargain bin DVDs at the supermarket, among other places.

I mean you say you don't have kids nor are in any contact with them, so rest assured maybe a lot of your worries are unfounded.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 7:07 PM on May 12, 2015


> I wonder why it was set 30 years before it was made.

This has been answered a couple times already but I think it's basically for the same reasons that '80s and '90s images and media are getting revived and appropriated in the current decade. It's just old enough to be nostalgic for people in their young adult years, while they're at the peak of their own creativity, culture and fashion.
posted by ardgedee at 8:22 PM on May 12, 2015


Point being, the first opera I took Boy to see was the looney tunes one, and he wasn't the only kid in the audience who knew all the songs.

I saw Die Walkure recently and I was all over the Spear and Magic Helmet action.
posted by immlass at 8:25 PM on May 12, 2015


Ursula Hitler: "Well, just to clarify, I DID refer to parents exposing their kids to older stuff, and kids happening upon older stuff online. But those strike me as lucky breaks. It seems like most kids are probably kind of stuck in a world where very little happened before... 1990? "

I'm thinking you're underestimating how much parents show their kids old stuff, perhaps because back when we were kids (assuming your age is close to mine) our parents didn't show us old stuff, we just saw it on TV. But that's because 1) it was on TV, so our parents didn't need to show it to us, and 2) video tapes were expensive back then! I think the Tim Burton Batman was the first major "cheap video tape". Before that, video tapes cost around $100, because people didn't buy video tapes, rental stores did.

But thinking about my own kids, they've seen lots of Tom & Jerry, and a bit of Looney Toons, and some old Disney movies, because you can find stuff for free on YouTube or pick up $5 DVDs at the store. Plus even with TV I've seen them watching random 80s cartoons (Duck Tales, Chip & Dale). And the same seems to be true of my friends' kids, though the specific things they see may differ. And none of us are particularly retro-oriented people. I think that's just how raising kids is nowadays.

Now, non-cartoons are a different issue. I can't think of any black and white movies or TV shows they've seen. But when I think about the black and white TV shows and movies I watched as a kid, I don't think they're missing much. B&W movies for adults have some classics, but old B&W kids' stuff was, generally...not so good.
posted by Bugbread at 8:56 PM on May 12, 2015


Yes, because you will have Gen X parents like me who foist our childhood delights on our own children. Not that it doesn't happen by accident, either. Welcome to YouTube, where everything is uploaded and the weirdest, most unrelated shit will turn up in the right-hand margin as Related.

That's not as simple a matter as you may think. Because how are they going to find them to do the foisting? Warner Bros has gotten a lot better at catching their copyrighted material on YouTube. For the moment you can still find it on other sides like Vimeo or may get them via (gasp!) bittorrent. But those channels may not be around forever either.

Not to mention, my parents never really introduced me to much they enjoyed as a kid. I can't say for sure why. I do know that my mother enjoyed Foghorn Leghorn cartoons. My father seems to dislike cartoons, or anything with the appearance of kids' stuff, of any type. Just saying, I had to discover how great these cartoons were by myself.
posted by JHarris at 1:38 AM on May 13, 2015


I don't know if Mel Blanc was responsible for the voices.....

I'd offer up Mel as the voice of Dan Backslide, wabbittwax, purely on the evidence of his hiccup in the bar! (I'd also take a guess at the telegram boy.) Here's Mel having an attack the same year in Spike Jones and his City Slickers' Clink! Clink! Another Drink.

.....there were no recurring characters.

None per se, Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane, but the gait of the old cove, who walks away with Dora on his third appearance at the end, does strongly resemble the Minah Bird's in Inki and the Minah Bird (also 1942), for what it's worth.
posted by On the Corner at 3:08 AM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


That's not as simple a matter as you may think. Because how are they going to find them to do the foisting? Warner Bros has gotten a lot better at catching their copyrighted material on YouTube. For the moment you can still find it on other sides like Vimeo or may get them via (gasp!) bittorrent. But those channels may not be around forever either.

Warner Bros has also gotten a lot better at pumping out those cheap-as-hell Best of/Collection DVDs, happily enough. If you can't find them in your local stores, they're easy enough to buy online.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 6:02 AM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


Bugbread: "But when I think about the black and white TV shows and movies I watched as a kid, I don't think they're missing much. B&W movies for adults have some classics, but old B&W kids' stuff was, generally...not so good."

I don't know. I loved Abbott & Costello as a kid. The Three Stooges are stupid, sure, but no stupider than 95% of kid TV today.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:45 AM on May 13, 2015


Chrysostom: "I don't know. I loved Abbott & Costello as a kid. The Three Stooges are stupid, sure, but no stupider than 95% of kid TV today."

Agreed, but that's kinda what I'm saying. If a kid sees no Tom and Jerry or Bugs Bunny, they're missing out on something good. If the kid sees no Car 54 Where Are You or the Munsters they're missing out on stuff that is...just as stupid as what they might otherwise be watching. In other words, not really missing out.
posted by Bugbread at 7:50 AM on May 13, 2015


But there's a holdup in the Bronx, Brooklyn's broken out in fights, there's a traffic jam in Harlem that's backed up to Jackson Heights!
posted by Chrysostom at 7:52 AM on May 13, 2015


If the kid sees no Car 54 Where Are You or the Munsters they're missing out on stuff that is...just as stupid as what they might otherwise be watching. In other words, not really missing out.

Why do you hate Fred Gwynne?
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 8:01 AM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


AND Al Lewis! Charlotte Rae! Nipsey Russell!

Okay, hating Joe E. Ross is reasonable.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:34 AM on May 13, 2015 [1 favorite]


That was…huh. My entire childhood was pretty much narrated by Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies, but this feels like some sort of meta-parody aimed at other professional cartoonists at the time.
posted by LMGM at 4:51 PM on May 13, 2015


« Older Words ain't good enough   |   Summertime. Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments