I Haven't Got a Hat
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| I Haven't Got a Hat
Merrie Melodies series |
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|---|---|
| Directed by | Isadore Freleng |
| Produced by | Leon Schlesinger |
| Voices by | Joe Dougherty Billy Bletcher Bernice Hansen Elvia Allman |
| Music by | Bernard Brown |
| Animation by | Rollin Hamilton Jack King Robert Clampett |
| Studio | Leon Schlesinger Productions |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures The Vitaphone Corporation |
| Release date(s) | March 9, 1935 (USA) |
| Color process | Technicolor (two-color) |
| Running time | 7 min |
| IMDb profile | |
I Haven't Got a Hat is a 1935 animated short film, directed by Isadore (Friz) Freleng for Leon Schlesinger Productions as part of Warner Bros.' Merrie Melodies series. Released by Warner Bros. on March 9, 1935, the short is notable for featuring the first appearance of several Warner Bros. cartoon characters, most notably future cartoon star Porky Pig. I Haven't Got a Hat was one of the earliest Technicolor Merrie Melodies, and (because of Walt Disney's exclusive deal with Technicolor at the time) was produced using Technicolor's two-strip process (red and green) instead of its more lucrative three-strip process.
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[edit] Background
This Merrie Melodies cartoon, explicitly modeled after Hal Roach's Our Gang live-action shorts, introduces several new characters as grade school students in the hope that some would catch on. At the time, the only star for the more character-driven Looney Tunes series was Buddy, a meager replacement for the feistier Bosko who left Schlesinger's studio with his creators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising.
The short introduces the following characters:
- Beans the Cat, a mischievous young cat voiced by Billy Bletcher
- Little Kitty, a nervous girl cat, voiced by Bernice Hansen in falsetto.
- Porky Pig, a stuttering pig voiced by Joe Dougherty
- Oliver Owl, a haughty owlet who taunts Beans. (His look is similar to the "Owl Jolson" character from I Love to Singa)
- Ham and Ex, (Hansen and Bletcher) twin singing puppies
Though the star of this short (and the intended new star for the Looney Tunes) is Beans, Porky steals the show with his mixed-up attempt to recite Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride" which he mixes up with Tennyson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade". Audiences had grown tired of characters like Beans, who was essentially a copy of the staple blackface character epitomized by Mickey Mouse, but closely reflected in Oswald the Rabbit, Bosko and Felix the Cat. Porky's shyness and his stutter endeared him to audiences.
Though the gags in this short are still fairly indicative of early thirties cartoons, this short is significant for launching the career of Porky Pig> In addition, the short bears the faintest hint of the developing comic style that was to come in later Warner Bros. cartoons (Porky's and Kitty's recitals).
[edit] Plot summary
The short opens with introductions of Miss Cud (the school teacher), Beans (who is eating out of a jar of beans), Porky, Oliver Owl (both of whom are shown at once), and Ham and Ex (twin puppies), although Little Kitty is absent from this sequence. After this, a poster is shown explaining that the school children are sponsoring a musical and recital for the benefit of teachers and parents.
The school talent show first features Porky Pig reciting The Ride of Paul Revere, but due to his excessive stutter (which causes him to recite his part with incredible strain, and even sweat on some moments), the children of the class whistle and cat-call which causes several stray dogs to burst into the schoolhouse and chase poor Porky out. A small gag involves Porky pointing to offstage students to provide sound effects for his poem (the underside of a turtle's shell for a drum, and falling light bulbs for gunfire). However, he points to the wrong student, but the intended student takes his cue, causing Porky to point to the correct one.
Next up, Little Kitty attempts to recite "Mary Had a Little Lamb". She is so nervous that she forgets a couple lines (even confusing snow for corn flakes) and then proceeds with the rhyme but gradually speeds up her voice to a high pitch. She reaches the end of the rhyme as she makes a hasty exit.
Third, Ham and Ex sing the song "I Haven't Got a Hat", written by Buddy Bernier and Bob Emmerich. During this performance, Oliver Owl (who sits in front of Beans) refuses to share some candy with Beans.
When Oliver goes up for his piano recital, Beans decides it is time for payback and sneaks a stray cat and dog into the piano. Their commotion creates a virtuoso performance of "The Storm" to riotous applause. When the animals jump out of the piano (with the cat chasing the dog rather than the other way around) the ruse is revealed to the audience's disapproval and Oliver, humbled and vengeful, covers Beans in green ink from his pen, causing Beans to fall off his ladder and launch a pail of red paint onto Oliver. Caught in the same predicament, they shake hands as the cartoon ends.
[edit] References
- Beck, Jerry and Friedwald, Will (1989): Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Company.
- Beck, Jerry. (2005) Audio commentary on "I Haven't Got a Hat" for the Warner Brothers' DVD set Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 3.
