Title: Screwball Football
Studio: Warner Bros.
Date: 12/16/39
Credits:
Supervision
Fred Avery
Story By
Melvin Millar
Animation
Virgil Ross
Musical Direction
Carl W. Stalling
Series: Merrie Melodies
Running time (of viewed version): 7:45
Synopsis: A man finds new and different ways to steal ice cream. Plus some gags about football.
Comments: Animated football playing/mallet murder silhouette animation under opening title. Identifiable stadium? (Rose Bowl would be the obvious possibility, even if it's called the Chili Bowl; it doesn't really resemble the older postcard pic tho; the "huge bowl" shot looks especially wrong, but I think that may be meant to look like a stadium built around the Empire State Building.) Teams of dog men. I almost expect Goofy to show up, but that's a different short. THe stretcher gag where they take some object and not the injured person away on the stretcher is super cliche to me; perhaps it was not cliche yet tho. "Mmmmm, could be" line lift. Gun death means this isn't a Blue Ribbon reissue. I had one of those bird whistles as a kid; the bubbling water sounds kinda like a bird. Invisible man gag. Mandog on mandog kiss.
edit 10/19/12: I have this cel from the cartoon:
Contemporary Rose Bowl:
I thought it was based more on the L.A. Colesium.
ReplyDeleteAgree on the Coliseum, which was a mere 7-years-old when the cartoon was made.
ReplyDeleteWhen Avery said he wanted to do gags based on the idea of what the audience would least expect, I think he was talking about the end gag of this cartoon. The gag with the halftime talk between the coach and players also's a pretty good one (and in these days of high-priced pro football divas, closer to reality than in Tex's time).