Bobby Bumps' Fly Swatter
About Bobby Bumps' Fly Swatter
Flies use Pa's bald head as a skating rink. A title magnifies one horse-fly "1,617.557 times." Bobby is busy knocking out flies for Fido and tries to beg off. Pa tells him to come along and knock out a few for him, too. The swatter is labeled up, down, left, right, open, shut. Pa loses his temper. The finish claims there are no flies on Pa now.
Cast & crew
More about Bobby Bumps' Fly Swatter
Earl Hurd made the cartoon at Bray. The Bray Animation Project dates the release 29 June 1916. On Wikipedia's 1916 filmography it sits between Bobby Bumps Goes Fishing and Bobby Bumps and the Detective Story. Paramount was releasing the series.
Themes
Making
The joke is a close view of a bald head and one enlarged fly, which Hurd could hold as a background while the swatter and the fly moved on separate sheets.
Preservation
The cartoon survives, and Wikisource prints the titles, including the magnified-fly card.
Notes
- The magnification gag uses a fake-precise number: 1,617.557 times.
- Bobby's excuse is that he has to swat flies for the dog, not for Pa.
- Direction titles ("UP", "DOWN", "LEFT", "RIGHT", "OPEN", "SHUT") mark the swatter.
- One card calls Pa's scalp an aviation field.
- The closing pun is "There are no flies on Pa, -- now!
- Wikipedia places the short in the 1916 Bray group, after Hurd had left Universal's Joker label.
Scenes
- A title card blows a horse-fly up 1,617.557 times over Pa's scalp.
- Bobby is pulled away from swatting for Fido and aimed at Pa.
- The last card announces that there are no flies on Pa.
Quotes
Pa's ungarnished dome furnishes a perfect skating rink for flies.
There are no flies on Pa, -- now!
