Injun Trouble (1969 film)

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Injun Trouble
Injun Trouble (1969) screenshot.png
One of Cool Cat's many encounters with the inhabitants of the reservation.
Directed by Bob McKimson
Story by Cal Howard
Produced by Bill L. Hendricks
Starring Larry Storch
Edited by
Music by William Lava
Animation by
Layouts by
Backgrounds byBob McIntosh
Color process Technicolor
Production
company
Distributed by
Release date
  • September 20, 1969 (1969-09-20)
Running time
6:18
LanguageEnglish

Injun Trouble is a 1969 Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Robert McKimson. [1] The cartoon was released on September 20, 1969, and features Cool Cat. [2] It is noted for being the last cartoon in the original Merrie Melodies series, ending a run that had continued since 1931, as well as the whole original Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies series from 1930-1969. Additionally, this was the 1,000th cartoon short released by Warner Bros.

Contents

This cartoon was the last Merrie Melodies cartoon until The Fright Before Christmas ten years later in 1979. This cartoon was also the last Warner Bros. cartoon to be produced before Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Animation was shut down on October 10, 1969, and the second of the only two Cool Cat shorts directed by Robert McKimson, as well as the last Warner Bros. cartoon to be directed by him. The cartoon shares its name with an earlier short directed by Bob Clampett, which features Porky Pig.

Synopsis

Cool Cat is driving to the town of Hotfoot, when his route happens to take him through an Indian reservation. Two scouts spot him and one of them gives chase, only to fall into a chasm when the weight of him and his horse causes the makeshift bridge to collapse. As Cool Cat drives along, he encounters more Native Americans in the following scenarios:

Finally arriving in Hotfoot, Cool Cat spots two horses playing with human shoes, a "Horse Doctor" who really is an equine, and a showdown between two gunslingers that ends with one's belt being shot, causing his pants to drop. After that, Cool Cat spots a "Topless Saloon" and heads in, but finds out that the only topless person in there is the bartender, a rather burly man. An outlaw named Gower Gulch then arrives and seemingly challenges Cool Cat to a duel, but then settles for a game of poker. Cool Cat gets a good hand with four Aces, only for Gulch to get a Royal Flush and subsequently pull out his six shooter. Announcing that he is "cutting out," Cool Cat produces a pair of scissors and cuts a hole out of the background, which he then disappears into. He then reappears for a moment and ends the cartoon (and the original series' run) with the words "So cool it now, ya hear?"

Controversy

Owing to controversy over its stereotyping of Native Americans (and some racy puns such as "Indian wrestling" with a curvy Native American woman and the "topless saloon", along with the use of the ethnic slur "Injun" and being used as the reel's title), the cartoon has never been shown by U.S. television broadcasters such as Cartoon Network, or released on video. While bootleg versions are available (most commonly with a timecode on the image), it is one of the rarest of all Warner Bros. cartoons, [3] owing to the relative unpopularity of cartoons from this era of the studio (unlike the "Censored Eleven," which were produced during the studio's heyday).

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References

  1. Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 368. ISBN   0-8050-0894-2.
  2. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 69. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  3. The Most Obscure Warner Bros. Cartoons of All Time Archived 2012-07-19 at the Wayback Machine , accessed January 7, 2008
Preceded by Cool Cat shorts
1969
Succeeded by
None (Final Episode)