A Lamb in a Jam
About A Lamb in a Jam
Wolfie chases Blackie the lamb across a frozen pond with oversized shears, dreaming of a coat made from the black wool. Blackie tickets him as a Keystone cop, leads him into a cave where he shears a sleeping bear, and later finds himself tied to a post while the wolf knits. Promising a coat in ten seconds, Blackie stuffs molasses and chair padding into a boxy garment, shoves Wolfie into it, and locks him in an electric freezer. Blackie then shoots out the bulb on the end card and the picture goes dark.
Cast & crew
More about A Lamb in a Jam
Isadore Sparber directed. Dave Tendlar and John Gentilella animated. Joe Stultz and Carl Meyer wrote the story. Paramount released it on May 4, 1945. The MPAA certificate is 3786.
Themes
Making
The short is Technicolor on 35mm, academy ratio, with a mono track. Thunderbean's 2019 Noveltoons Blu-ray is the source of the circulating HD copy.
Music
Winston Sharples arranged the score, including Rossini's William Tell overture.
Preservation
The opening card still carries a 1945 Paramount copyright notice. NTA did not renew it, so the film entered the U.S. public domain on January 1, 1974. Steve Stanchfield's Thunderbean transfer is the HD source in circulation.
Notes
- Arnold Stang voices both Blackie and Wolfie. It is the last time he plays the wolf. Sid Raymond takes the part from Sheep Shape (1946).
- Paramount released it on May 4, 1945, four days before V-E Day.
- A surviving print runs 6 minutes 46 seconds.
- Commons' copyright check dates the U.S. public-domain entry to January 1, 1974, after NTA missed the renewal.
Scenes
- Blackie, in a Keystone helmet, fines Wolfie ten dollars for speeding on the ice and then burns the cash.
- Wolfie shears a sleeping bear down to red flannel underwear.
- Blackie locks the wolf inside a freezer disguised as a coat and shoots out the end-title bulb.
Also available
- DVD: Noveltoons Original Classics (2012, Thunderbean Animation)
- Blu-ray: Noveltoons Original Classics (2019, Thunderbean Animation)
Quotes
Hope nothing happened to him that ain't fatal.
Nobody likes cold lamb chops.
