An old fisherman tells the legend of a starving polar bear (Charlie) and a penguin (Chilly Willy) who attempted to steal bluefin tuna from his ship 20 years before.
As both Charlie and Chilly Willy rush over to the boat - each with a sack in hand to steal themselves a haul of fish, Charlie manages to tie up Chilly Willy in his own sack and tosses him away, hoping to get all the fish for himself. Charlie however runs afoul of a vicious guard dog aboard the ship, who bites him in his rear end.
As the dog heads back inside of the ship to sleep, Charlie makes his move and begins to grab as much fish as he can. From above, a mischievous Chilly sprinkles black pepper over Charlie's nose in attempt to stimulate him into sneezing, and in conjunction, waking up the dog. Charlie manages to hold in his sneeze, runs outside of the ship, then sneezes, before running back inside to resume bagging fish. Chilly then places a roller skate underneath Charlie's foot just as he steps backward, causing him to slip and land on the dog. To placate the snarling beast, Charlie rocks him in his arms, singing "Rock-A-Bye Baby" to him to make him nod off, which serves as a running gag throughout the short, as Chilly repeatedly attempts to wake the dog up to foil Charlie's plots to steal all of the fish.
Chilly's next attempt to wake the dog up involves placing several lit firecrackers around him. Charlie manages to plug the dog's ears just before the firecrackers burst, then sings him to sleep again. Chilly then ties the sleeping dog to Charlie's ankle with rope, then sticks a lit firecracker into the dog's mouth. As Charlie suddenly realizes this, he drops the fish, unties the rope around his ankle, holds the firecracker in his own mouth, and picks up the fish before running off again. As Charlie puts down the fish and opens the door to exit, Chilly swaps out the fish for the sleeping dog. Upon rushing outside into the snow Charlie suddenly realizes he is holding the dog, and the firecracker explodes, waking up the dog, who bites Charlie in the rear again. Charlie then sings the dog to sleep again.
As Charlie runs back into the ship to grab more fish, Chilly pushes the dog right behind Charlie, who, upon attempting to run back outside, trips over the dog, who once again bites him in the posterior, forcing Charlie to sing him to sleep yet again.
While Charlie gathers more fish, Chilly drops an anvil over the dog to wake him up. Charlie takes the anvil to the head instead, holding in his scream, then runs over to a nearby desk and writes down on a piece of paper, "Ouch!". As he angrily squints, he flips the paper over, revealing a series of symbols indicating profanity. As Charlie puts down the anvil, he accidentally drops it on the dog, forcing him to sing to him again.
Chilly puts a clarinet in the dog's mouth as he sleeps. The dog becomes cranky from the off-key notes coming from the clarinet, but the bear lulls him to sleep by using a nearby music sheet to play "Rock-A-Bye Baby" on the clarinet. Chilly sneakily puts new sheet notes in front of Charlie, who ends up playing "Circus March" instead, thus causing the dog to reawaken. The dog bites Charlie in the rear end yet again, but Charlie knocks him out by clubbing him over the head with the clarinet.
At this point, Chilly lifts the dog's eyelids himself. The dog snarls and runs towards Charlie, who narrowly dodges him and then locks him in the fish storage room. However, the dog manages to break through the iron door and bite Charlie's backside yet again. Charlie attempts to protect himself by covering his posterior with a wooden barrel, but upon feeling a bite, Charlie removes the barrel to find the dog underneath, teeth locked onto his rear. Charlie slams the lid onto the barrel and begins rocking it in his arms, singing the dog to sleep again.
Charlie then decides to take the dog outside into the snow where he cannot cause him any more harm. He runs back inside the ship where he finds Chilly with a bulging full sack. Charlie steals the sack and flicks Chilly away with his toe, then boards a motorboat and speeds off to a nearby tall iceberg. Charlie runs to the top of the peak, ready to eat what he thinks is a large pile of fresh fish, but as he empties the sack, the guard dog falls out. Charlie quickly grabs the dog and sings him to sleep yet again.
At the end of the film, the fisherman finishes the story and says to the audience that if they listen carefully, they can to this day still hear the lullaby at night. Indeed, at the peak, the pair still stand - now both very old and grey - with Charlie holding the dog tenderly and continuing to sing "Rock-A-Bye Baby" at the dog's request.
Production
This is also the second (and last) Chilly Willy cartoon directed by Avery.[3]
Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American animation. His most significant work was for the Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, where he was crucial in the creation and evolution of famous animated characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Droopy, Screwy Squirrel, The Wolf, Red Hot Riding Hood, and George and Junior.
Magical Maestro is a 1952 American animated short comedy film directed by Tex Avery and produced by Fred Quimby for MGM Cartoons. Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the short was released on February 9, 1952. It features the Great Poochini, a canine opera singer who spurns a magician. The magician is able to replace Poochini's normal conductor prior to the show through disguise. In 1993, Magical Maestro was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", making it the only Tex Avery cartoon so far to be inducted.
Walter Lantz Productions was an American animation studio that was active from 1928 to 1949 and then from 1950 to 1972. It was the principal supplier of animation for Universal Pictures.
Walter Benjamin Lantz was an American cartoonist, animator, producer and director best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker.
The Simple Things is an animated short film, part of the Mickey Mouse series, produced by Walt Disney Productions. Released by RKO Radio Pictures on March 27, 1953, the short is notable as the 126th and final regular entry in the Mickey Mouse theatrical cartoon series.
Charles Dawson Butler, professionally known as Daws Butler, was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company and the Walter Lantz cartoon studio. He originated the voices of many familiar Hanna-Barbera characters, including: Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey, Augie Doggie, Loopy De Loop, Wally Gator, Snooper and Blabber, Dixie and Mr. Jinks, Hokey Wolf, Lippy the Lion, Elroy Jetson, Lambsy, Peter Potamus, The Funky Phantom and Hair Bear. While at Walter Lantz, he did the voices of: Chilly Willy, Smedley, Maxie the Polar Bear, Gooney and Sam in the Maggie and Sam series.
Droopy is an animated character from the golden age of American animation. He is an anthropomorphic white Basset Hound with a droopy face. He was created in 1943 by Tex Avery for theatrical cartoon shorts produced by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio. Essentially the polar opposite of Avery's other MGM character, the loud and wacky Screwy Squirrel, Droopy moves slowly and lethargically, speaks in a jowly monotone voice, and—though hardly an imposing character—is shrewd enough to outwit his enemies. When finally roused to anger, often by a bad guy laughing heartily at him, Droopy is capable of beating adversaries many times his size with a comical thrashing.
Screwy Squirrel is an animated cartoon character, an anthropomorphic squirrel created by Tex Avery for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Chilly Willy is a cartoon character, a diminutive penguin. He was created by director Paul Smith for the Walter Lantz studio in 1953, and developed further by Tex Avery in the two subsequent films following Smith's debut entry. The character soon became the second most popular Lantz/Universal character, behind Woody Woodpecker. Fifty Chilly Willy cartoons were produced between 1953 and 1972.
The Heckling Hare is a Merrie Melodies cartoon, released on July 5, 1941, and featuring Bugs Bunny and a dopey dog named Willoughby. The cartoon was directed by Tex Avery, written by Michael Maltese, animated by soon-to-be director Robert McKimson, and with musical direction by Carl W. Stalling. In a style that was becoming typical of the Bugs character, he easily outwitted and tormented his antagonist through the short, his only concern being what to do next to the dog.
King-Size Canary is an animated cartoon short that debuted in movie theaters in 1947. It was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Tex Avery. The canary in this short was a primary inspiration for the design of Maurice, a character from The Wacky World of Tex Avery.
Porky's Pooch is a 1941 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Bob Clampett. The short was released on December 27, 1941, and stars Porky Pig.
Bad Luck Blackie is a 1949 American animated comedy short film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
The character that would evolve into Bugs Bunny appeared in four cartoon shorts before his first official appearance in Tex Avery's A Wild Hare. While this early version is commonly referred to as "Happy Rabbit", animation historian David Gerstein disputes this, saying that the only usage of the term was from Mel Blanc himself; the name "Bugs Bunny" was used as early as April 1938, from a model sheet made by Charles Thorson which was used for the short Hare-um Scare-um. Bugs was also mentioned by name from an August 1939 review of the short in the Motion Picture Herald.
I'm Cold is a 1954 Chilly Willy cartoon directed by Tex Avery and produced by Walter Lantz. It was the first Chilly Willy cartoon directed by Avery. Chilly Willy also got a major redesign by Avery. This cartoon features the debut of Smedley Dog, who would appear in later Chilly Willy Shorts.
Hot and Cold Penguin is a 1955 Chilly Willy cartoon directed by Alex Lovy and produced by Walter Lantz.
Chilly Willy is a 1953 Chilly Willy cartoon and the first in the Chilly Willy series. Chilly Willy would have a major redesign in his next cartoon, I'm Cold, by cartoon director Tex Avery.
Doggone Tired is a 1949 cartoon short directed by Tex Avery. Doggone Tired is one of three MGM cartoons currently in the public domain in the United States.
Cat Burglar is a 2022 animated interactive film created by Charlie Brooker and co-written by supervising director Mike Hollingsworth and director James Bowman, with Annabel Jones as an executive producer. The viewer plays as a cartoon cat burglar named Rowdy who is trying to steal a valuable artwork from a museum which is protected by a security guard dog named Peanut. The viewer must answer a series of trivia questions correctly to advance the story and avoid Rowdy losing his three remaining lives. The film pays homage to the works of animator Tex Avery.
References
↑ Scott, Keith (2022). Cartoon Voices from the Golden Age, 1930-70. BearManor Media. p.232. ISBN979-8-88771-010-5.
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